FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 

 fish, from salmon and tarpon, down to minnows, are caught on a single 

 hook than with more than one. To bait the Jardine snap tackle for pike 

 a hook is put through the back fin at the base and another at the angle 

 of the mouth (and I am sure two fairly large single hooks would be as 

 killing as two triangles); a pear shape cork float is put on the line at the 

 depth you wish the bait to swim, with a lead on the trace a foot or eighteen 

 inches above the bait to keep it down. The bait and float are cast out gently 

 into likely places, you wait till the pike float is pulled under, and then wind 

 in the slack line until you just feel the fish, count sixty, and then tighten 

 on the fish without a jerk and keep a steady pull on him to get the hooks 

 in. In playing a pike the chief point to remember is that although he does 

 not often make a quick, dashing long run like a salmon or trout, he very 

 often, after coming in quietly for a few yards, gives a sudden vicious heavy 

 plunge, and if you do not instantly give line, something will break, if it 

 is a fish of any size— even if it is only the hold in the fish's mouth. 

 Jardine's thirty-seven pounder gave him a great fight, the fish had often 

 been hooked before, and had learned by experience; when over fifty yards 

 away from the boat it jumped clean out of the water like a salmon does. 

 I have frequently had small pike jump out as I was playing them; and 

 fish in a good strong stream fight, as a rule, better than lake fish. As 

 regards the size of bait for live baiting a dace of about five inches is what 

 I prefer. 



PATERNOSTERING FOR PIKE 



I infinitely prefer *' Paternostering " for pike with a single hook, and 

 so I think did Mr Jardine when the water was clear enough of weeds 

 for that style of fishing. The " Paternoster " tackle is very simple. A yard 

 of medium salmon gut, stained blue with Stephen's blue-black ink, with 

 a loop to fasten it to the reel line. I prefer a green undressed plaited silk 

 line of about twelve pounds breaking strain. At the other end of the gut 

 I have a good strong buckle swivel, to which is attached a foot of trout 

 gut, with a small pear-shaped " pater " lead; the object of having the 

 trout gut is that if you get " hung up " it will break, and so save the rest 

 of your tackle. About fourteen or sixteen inches above the lead on the sal- 

 mon gut make a loop — ^I prefer making it by whipping with strong waxed 

 silk to making a knot in the gut. This loop is to loop the hook-length 

 to, say, six or eight inches of really good gimp, or, as I prefer, plaited 

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