24 



you will frequently find that the hook, instead of 

 having gone through the jaw, rests hy a very slight 

 hold of the point of some tough part* from which it 

 is easily displaced ; when such is the case, your hook 

 is in danger of snapping at the hend, against which 

 the point acts as a lever when so situated. 



Trolling for pike is a pleasant method of taking 

 them. The trolling-rod has several small rings 

 fixed on the different joints ; upon the butt-joint is 

 fitted a reel with its winch. On the reel is wound 

 twenty, thirty, or forty yards of silk line, which 

 passes through the rings on the rod, and is then 

 fastened to the gimp with which the hook is armed. 

 The hook is made by bracing two small perch- 

 hooks back to back. From between the hooks 

 hangs a little chain, at the end of which is a small 

 plummet. The plummet is to be sewn into the 

 mouth of a dead fish, such as a roach or gudgeon, 

 the hooks being left just outside, exposed to sight. 

 The bait, thus fastened, is to be kept in constant 

 motion in the water, sometimes suffered to sink, 

 then gradually raised, now drawn with the stream, 

 and than against it, the better to counterfeit life. If 

 the pike be at hand, he will take it for a living fish, 

 seize it and run off to his lurking-place, and in 

 -about ten minutes gorge it. Give a sudden jerk, 

 play with him till he is tired, draw him towards the 

 bank, and with a landing-net carefully take him 

 out of the water. He must not by any means be 

 lifted out of the water with the rod and line only ; 

 for although to all appearance the fish may be tired, 

 yet the moment he quits the water, he will open his 

 mouth, and, by tearing his stomach with his own 

 weight, get quit of the hook; and the fish will not 

 only be lost, but he will die in the water. 



