WITH LIVE BAIT AND FLOAT 93 



old pike ; a couple of small hooks lying snug and tight on 

 the bait are in my opinion ample. 



There is the Bickerdyke snap, the Pennell snap, and a 

 combination of two or three, all rolled into one. I give 

 an illustration of my own snap, from which the reader may 

 derive some idea of what snaps are like in general. For 

 ordinary river fishing don't have the hooks of the snap 

 too large ; but for deep lakes, where pike run big and large 

 bait must be fished deep down, you can venture to try 

 them two or three sizes larger. 



In using a snap tackle down the current of a streamy 

 river that curls round into an eddy, it is best to fix the 

 float so that the bait is about two-thirds of the depth of 

 water ; this is preferable for fishing clear-running rivers, 

 that have pikey-looking corners and eddies, into which a 

 current gurgles and glides, with the bottom, generally 

 speaking, clear from weeds, and if an overhanging row of 

 bushes or sedges lines the spot all the better. 



In this stream-fishing with a snap, fix the small pilot float 

 about a foot above the larger one, and drop the bait on 

 the outer edge of the stream and let it work gradually down 

 the current at the further side of the eddy, letting it go 

 fast enough to prevent it being swept towards the bank 

 on which you stand. If this is properly done the bait will 

 search that eddy well ; and good pike often lurk on the 

 outer edge of these umbrella-like curls. The quieter parts 

 of these rivers, where a nice little current glides into an 

 eddy, and then seems to divide into two, with a wedge- 

 shaped pool between, should always be well tried, even if 

 you have to toss the bait some distance to reach it. 



In this style of fishing the bait may be lively and the 

 float bob clean under ; the inexperienced angler thinks 

 he has a run and strikes too soon. The best plan is to 

 wait until both floats disappear under the surface, and 

 sometimes they go one after the other like a shot, and then 

 tighten with a slight jerk. Heavy striking is to be con- 

 demned ; the line is generally tight from finger to bait, 



