THE PIKE. 77 



of the others. The small ones are used for hooking 

 the bait on, and Mr. Jardine says that they interfere 

 less with the motions of the bait, and keep him alive 

 longer than any other. In float fishing he puts the upper 

 triangle in at the lip, and the lower or end one in at the 

 dorsal fin. In paternostering he reverses them, and puts 

 the upper triangle through the root of the dorsal fin, 

 and the end one through the root of the pectoral fin. 

 There is a space of nearly two inches of gimp bare between 

 the triangles. This does for moderate-sized baits. The 

 bait should be either a small gudgeon, roach, or dace. 

 They must not be too large, as the object is to get the pike 

 to take as much of the bait into his mouth at a gulp as 

 possible. In small baits with single hooks or triangles it 

 is best to hook them on through the lip, as they live longer 

 and are more lively so ; but in baits a size or So larger 

 you should hook them on through the root of the back fin. 



The method of using a paternoster for pike is just the 

 same as that used in perch fishing, only it is best 

 when you get a bite to give the pike a little more time 

 before striking if possible ; and when you do strike him 

 take care never to slacken line more than you can help. 

 When pike come into your swim while barbel or roach fish- 

 ing, you may often put a bait on the ledger hook with 

 effect; but it is as well to put a gimp hook on before 

 doing so. 



The most common method of fishing with the live 

 bait, however, is to use a float and a single bait. This 

 float should be a big-bellied one, made of cork, and 

 shaped like an egg. They are made from the size of a 

 bantam's egg for small baits up to a common hen's egg 

 for large ones, and the tackle must be leaded sufficiently 

 to keep the bait down into the water ; and, to prevent ita 



