THE PIKE, AND PIKE FISHING 

 up, 80 that he never gets a straight pull on the line to the reel. Put the 

 check on the reel, if it has one, and, in addition, hold the line pressed 

 against the rod by the hand which grasps it above the winch. If a good 

 fish makes a sudden rush when the line is loose and merely pulled off the 

 winch it is quite likely he will be able to shake the bait out of his mouth, 

 as he oft«n tries to do, at the end of a run, whereas, if you can keep the 

 line taut his effort will very likely fix the hooks in firmly. A pike will 

 hold a natural dead bait firmly between his jaws, and make a good 

 run with it in that position, and you may think he is well hooked, and 

 then the bait comes away; what has happened is what I have just tried 

 to describe; the bait was only held, not hooked into his jaw, and he 

 shakes it out. Of course with a hard metal or other bait, he tries to eject 

 it at once. 



It is well to have a few leads of different sizes for your spinning trace. 

 I prefer strong stained gut with a short length of fine wire next the bait 

 to the old-fashioned gimp, which is unreliable, even when new, and looks 

 much stronger than it is. 



LIVE-BAITING FOR PIKE 



Any small live fish can be used: dace, roach, gudgeon, or even perch, in 

 live-baiting for pike. Gorge-bait fishing is, I am glad to say, quite out 

 of fashion, and whether one fishes with float tackle or paternoster tackle, 

 or trolls a dead bait in the old gorge -bait style, there is no giving the 

 poor pike five minutes, or even longer, to gorge the bait; the striking, or 

 rather tightening the line on the fish, as previously described, is done in 

 less than a couple of minutes after the bait is taken. The Jardine two 

 triangle snap tackle for float fishing with a live bait is the best ever in- 

 vented, and is sold everywhere. I hope that some day we may all come 

 to discard the use of triangle hooks in all kinds of fish. One or more single 

 hooks standing out well from the bait should be all we need, either for 

 hooking or holding, and they are far more humane. If a fish breaks your 

 line and gets off with one or more triangles in his mouth he is practically 

 doomed, as he may have his jaws or his throat locked by the hooks of 

 the triangle, and so must starve, or may even be suffocated if the mouth 

 is held firmly closed. I feel sure that every angler who wishes to give 

 the fish fair play will agree with me on this matter; in some parts of the 

 United States the use of more than two hooks on a bait is illegal. Far more 



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