CHAPTER X 

 TROLLING WITH A DEAD GORGE 



What trolling is The tackle for it Baiting the dead gorge 

 How and where to use the dead gorge Personal experiences in 

 dead gorging Harry Norledge and the big Trent pike* 



r "1T s HIS chapter deals with a branch of pike-fishing that 

 JL I don't hold with ; but still it is a necessary evil 

 sometimes, so it must be tolerated ; but the chapter will 

 be a very short one. 



{ Certain waters contain good pike, but are so choked up 

 with weeds that there is scarcely a clear space a yard square 

 in which an ordinary pike tackle can be got, and so dead 

 gorging must be indulged in. 



The advantage of the dead gorge is that when moved up 

 and down in a sink- and- draw movement, and a fish swal- 

 lows it, there are no hooks, no lead, no float, to catch among 

 the weeds, the gorge hooks being down the belly of the pike, 

 and if he does thread himself among those weeds you stand 

 a chance of getting him out, if line and tackle are strong 

 and the weeds rotted down somewhat, and tender. I 

 once saw a very large pike captured by this method, weigh- 

 ing close on twenty pounds, but he was so embedded in a 

 mass of weeds that he could not be seen. 



The rod for this fishing should be very strong ; the best 

 I ever saw was built from an old salmon fly rod, and was 

 owned by the late Harry Norledge ; this rod was nearly 

 thirteen feet long, and I never handled such a punishing 

 rod in my life. 



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