THE PIKE, AND PIKE FISHING 

 wire. I think It is eight to sixteen strands of very fine wire plaited, it 

 makes a soft, pliable bit of line, is very strong, and not easily cut by a 

 pike's teeth, like gimp is, or gut. The single hook should be about seven- 

 eighths of an inch long in the shank, and three-eighths of an inch across its 

 gape from point to shank, with a square bend and slight ** sneck," i.e., 

 with the point twisted slightly to one side, not quite parallel with the 

 shank. The dace or other fish is baited by passing the hook through the 

 upper lip, or through both lips, when the straight shape enables the 

 bait to breathe freely. One good pike angler advises putting the hook 

 down through the top lip and then through the bottom lip, and says he 

 finds this hooks a pike or perch better. Having baited your tackle, all 

 you have to do is to cast the bait out lightly by one of the methods described, 

 let it sink to the bottom, wind up the slack gently, so you can just feel 

 it anchored by the lead, then wind in a yard or two, wait a bit, and repeat 

 this until it is wound in to the boat or bank, always keeping the line tight 

 by holding the rod up. Very often a pike will take the bait directly it sinks 

 to the bottom; to be sure it is a fish and not a weed hold the rod quite still 

 with the line just taut, and wait a few seconds. If it is a pike he will shake 

 the line and slowly move away; let him take out line till he stops, then 

 wind in as you lower the rod towards the fish, then hold the reel, and bring 

 up the rod steadily without a jerk, and keep a good strain on it to get the 

 hook in. In this style of pike fishing you can carefully search every likely 

 bit of water, deep or shallow, as the keeper or a friend slowly rows the 

 punt or boat along, or as you walk along the bank. It is much the least 

 injurious way of fishing with a live bait, and it is a very deadly way of 

 presenting the bait to the pike. Then, if you come to water which is too 

 weedy at the bottom for the ** paternoster *' you can slip a ** Fishing 

 Gazette ** or other pike float on to the line and the same bait and tackle 

 are ready for float fishing. 



GAFFING A PIKE 



Jardine and I gaffed hundreds of pike for each other when fishing to- 

 gether, and we invariably preferred to put the gaff under the head of the 

 fish and slip it in by a quick upward lift, into the wide flat under-part of 

 the jaw, and then quickly lift the fish into the punt or boat or on to the 

 bank. The gaff is held vertically so the fish hangs like a pot does from a 

 long hook over a farm-house kitchen fire, and there is no side strain 



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