THE PIKE. 55 



in the ground, or stump of a tree, near the pike's 

 haunt, '"letting the line pass over the fork of a 

 stick placed for that purpose, and suspending the 

 hook hy a yard of the line in the water ; but so 

 as when the pike bites the fork may give way, 

 and let him have line enough to go to his hold 

 and pouch the bait. If you bait with a frog, put 

 the arming-wire in at his mouth, and out at his 

 gill ; then tie the frog's leg above the upper joint 

 to the armed wire. Secondly, the walking-bait 

 is that which the fisher attends to himself, and is 

 called trowling, from the French of trailer, to 

 move or walk about. Before I proceed any fur- 

 ther In this mode of angling for the pike, I shall 

 give the angler a description of that kind of rod, 

 line, and hooks necessary to be used. Your rod 

 must be a strong one, an-d ringed tor the line to 

 pass through, and about three yards and a half 

 long ; your line, about thirty yards long, wound 

 upon a winch, to ,;e placed on- the butt end of 

 your rod, and with which yoti may always keep 

 your line to any length ; * at the end of your 

 line next your hook let there be a swivel.^ The 

 hooks that are most general arc the two follow- 

 ing ones : they arc formed and baited in this man- 

 ner. The first is m> more than two single hooks 

 (though you may buy them made of cne piece ot 

 wire) "tied back to back, with a strong piece of 

 gimp between the shanks; in whipping the ti^j* 

 and hooks together, make a snnail loop, and t^ke 

 into it two links of chain, about an eighth of 

 an inch diameter; and in the lower link (hy 

 means of a staple of wire) tasten by the g -'eater 

 end a bit of lead, of a conical figure, and angular 

 at the point. The second 'hook may be cither 

 single or double, with a long shank, and leaded 



F 3 



