146 



adding scarcely anything perceptible to the bulk. A line of 

 this sort, however, is quite unsuited to the ordinary Thames- 

 style of casting, and to any other mode of fishing in which the 

 line is intended to any considerable extent to hang free of 

 the reel, whether it be held in the hand or coiled on the 

 bottom of a punt or on the ground. 



The observations previously offered (p. 76) on 

 rod rings, joint fastenings and reel fittings apply 

 equally to trolling and spinning rods. A few notes 

 on a conveniently portable form of pike-gaff 

 will be found at p. 53. 



All triangles used in spinning - flights ought 

 to be brazed together in one solid piece, and 



TRIANGLE OF ' PEN- 

 NELL SNECK ' HOOKS, should be of the " sneck - head " pattern 



(without twisted points) or (better) my variation of it. They 

 should not be too short in the shank. The difference as regards 

 its penetrating power between the worst and best forms of hook 

 when employed in triangles is not less than 100 per cent. 



ARTIFICIAL SPINNING BAITS. 



Of artificial pike baits of which the name is simply legion 

 my experience has been, I must say, uniformly unsatisfactory. 

 Moreover pike taste in such matters appears changeable. What 

 will kill, perhaps, fairly well on a particular river or lake one 

 season will hardly secure a run the next, and even the time- 

 honoured ' spoon ' seems of late years on many waters to have 

 entirely fallen into disuse. 



More recently composite baits half spoon, half red wool or 

 feather have found advocates, who, we may presume, have had 

 cause to be satisfied with their performances. One of the latest 

 forms of these is the " Fluted Spoon bait," made by Messrs. G. M. 



