90 DAYS AMONG THE PIKE AND PERCH 



good, fair, and clean plan. Some owners of private waters 

 object to any other plan, and in my opinion rightly so. 



A pike float is in the shape of a hen's egg, and very nearly 

 the same size ; there is a hole lengthways through the 

 centre, in which the line is threaded, and a plug stuck in 

 fastens the float securely in its proper place. Some good 

 pike floats are made rather longer and thinner than the 

 usual pattern ; some that I have seen are four or five inches 

 long, and about as thick as your thumb. The tops of these 

 floats should be coloured to suit the varying lights and 

 shades, and to suit the eyes of the angler. 



The " Fishing Gazette " float is one of the most useful ; 

 it has a slit down the side into which the line can be put, 

 instead of removing trace and tackle. 



Cork is the best material for a float, although I have seen 

 them made from wood, celluloid, etc. etc., and once I saw 

 one made like a small india-rubber bladder, that could be 

 blown up to any size required ; but that one came to grief 

 on a thorn bush the bubble was pricked so I do not 

 strongly recommend them. About two or three feet above 

 the larger float there is a much smaller round one, not more 

 than three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The object 

 of this small float is to keep a certain quantity of line on 

 the surface, and to prevent the main line from sinking 

 down and getting mixed up with the tackle. Sometimes 

 three and even four small pilots are used a yard from each 

 other when fishing shallow places. 



Red and green and white and green are good colours 

 for a pike float. The angler should always study his 

 own eyes. 



Traces for live bait differ slightly from the one used for 

 spinning. A drop lead is not a necessity. A couple of 

 feet of strong salmon gut, o copper gimp, or oo Hercules 

 wire gimp, is ample for a live bait trace ; this should have 

 a loop at one end to knot the reel line in, a buckle swivel 

 at the other, and a barrel lead about as thick as a pipe 

 stem, and one and three-quarter inches long ; it should be 



