WITH PATERNOSTER AND LEGER 101 



Hooks for legering are various ; some of my friends 

 favour one, some another, some simply use an ordinary 

 double gorge hook, some use a single very large lip hook, 

 while others have a modified snap; but whatever hook 

 or hooks you use they should be neat and fit nicely to the 

 bait. I generally used two very large single hooks, one 

 passed through both lips of the bait, and the other hooked 

 crossways under the back fin, so that a good portion of the 

 point, barb, and even bend projected on the other side. 

 I got a couple of very good jack one day in a flooded 

 water with that tackle, and they were securely hooked, 

 when struck lightly, after running no more than three or 

 four yards ; that big single hook under the back fin side- 

 ways had fairly got hold. This was my old friend Bentley's 

 tackle, and I generally used it on the very few occasions 

 I have legered for pike ; but Bentley was a daisy boy for 

 a leger for any sort of fish, and he always maintained that 

 a leger in a deep hole, when the river had been in heavy 

 flood, was the most certain method of getting them. 



It will be an advantage when using a leger for pike to 

 have a very rough-and-ready float, and the more it is 

 jagged about the better. This can be cork, and it should 

 have a slit in it, and fixed on the gut or gimp about half- 

 way between the lead and the bait ; the cork has a ten- 

 dency to rise, and prevents the bait from rooting into the 

 bottom ; in fact, I am of opinion that it keeps him an inch 

 or two away from the bottom. 



In live baiting, a kettle to carry the baits is a necessity ; 

 the oval one that has an inside strainer is far and away the 

 best, one about eleven inches long being a good size. 

 Some kettles have an air-pump attached to them to aerate 

 the baits. 



If the fisherman wants to keep a stock of baits in the 

 river he will find an old hamper, with a closely-fitting lid, 

 the best thing he can use ; a wooden box is not a huge 

 success. I remember at one place that I lived there was 

 an old red sandstone trough in the yard ; that trough 



