70 ANGLING. 



lower the point of the rod till it is about parallel with the 

 surface of the water. The butt of the rod should be rested 

 on the hip or thigh, and then with the left hand draw the 

 line home through the rings about a yard at a time, and 

 let it fall at your side, raising and plying the rod at every 

 pull to make the bait shoot and dart in the water ; and if 

 this be done properly it should come spinning and darting 

 along in a way very attractive to the pike, who, if inclined 

 to feed, will often dash at it and single it out among a 

 crowd of baits. When the pike seizes it, you will feel a 

 check or a drag, more or less pronounced, at the rod top. 

 Strike directly and smartly, and then hold him hard for a 

 minute or two if you can, so as to be sure the hooks work 

 home over the barbs ; for a pike's mouth is very hard and 

 gristly, and if two or three hooks chance to stick in, it 

 requires much force to make them penetrate over the 

 barbs ; and if they do not so penetrate, the first time the 

 pike opens his mouth and shakes his head, away come the 

 hooks and you lose your fish. When this happens cast 

 again directly without losing a second if your bait is still 

 on, no matter whether it spins or no, and it is not more 

 than about three to one that he will not seize it again 

 directly. If, however, you give him time while you are 

 adjusting the bait, &c., reflection will probably make 

 him wary. 



There are all sorts of theories as regards striking, but 

 none of them are infallible, and none can always be carried 

 out so as to have the desired effect. The alteration in the 

 position of the fish makes all the difference, and, as there 

 are about fifteen or twenty various points of the compass 

 whence a fish may come at the bait, and every one alters 

 the position, and consequently the result of the strike, 

 perhaps one way is as good as another; so strike as is 



