THE PIKE. 57 



thus ; make a hole with a sharp pen-knife j.-v the 

 side of the bait-fish; then put the gimp that is 

 fastened to your hook into it, and draw it out at 

 the mouth, till the spring hook comes to the 

 place where the incision was made; which when 

 it is, put it into the belly of the fish, then have 

 a piece of >ead, about the size of a hor$e-bean, 

 though of an oval form, with a hole through it 

 from end to end, large enough for the gimp to 

 go through ; draw it down to the fish's mouth, 

 then put it in it and sew it up. Or you may 

 make an incision in the skin only ? and draw rhe 

 gimp out at tne bone behind the gills, then enter 

 it again under the gills, and bring it out at the 

 mouth, which I think is the be^t method, be- 

 cause the hook has only the skin to hinder its 

 fixing in the pike; whereas in the nrst method 

 it must pierce through the flesh and skin before 

 it can touch him ; and if it is not very large, 

 may hook him so slightly as to spoil all your 

 sport. There used to be a way also of taking 

 pike, called huxing, but as the use of trimmers is 

 now so generally known, it would be needless for 

 me to insist farther upon it. 



I shall now communicate to the reader a me- 

 thod which I have taken more pikes and jacks 

 with than any other way. The hook which you 

 must use, is to be like the first hook that I have 

 mentioned,with this exception only, that the lead 

 of a conical figure must be taken away : then, 

 before you fix the swivel on the botioin of the 

 line, put on a cork float that will swim a gud- 

 geon, then put on your swivel, and fix your hook 

 and gimp to it : put a swan shot on your gimp, to 

 make your float cock a little, and of such a weight, 

 that when the hook is baited with the gudgeon, 

 it may do so properly. Your gudgeons must be 



