140 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



for I have tried it, and it is somewhat the better for not being 

 common. But with my direction you must take this caution, 



than what most writers on this subject have mentioned ; whereas the 

 others here described are late improvements : and this is a hook, either 

 single or double, with a long" shank, leaded about three inches up the 

 wire with a piece of lead about a quarter of an inch square at the greater 

 or lower end : fix to the shank an armed wire about eight inches long. 

 To bait this hook thrust your wire into the mouth of the fish, quite 

 through his belly, and out at his tail ; placing the wire so that the point of 

 the hook may be even with the belly of the bait-fish ; and then tie the tail 

 of the fish with strong thread to the wire : some fasten it with a needle and 

 thread, which is a neat way. 



Both with the troll and at the snap, cut away one of the fins of the bait- 

 fish close at the gills, and another behind the vent on the contrary side ; 

 which will make it play the better. 



The bait being thus fixed, is to be thrown in, and kept in constant 

 motion in the water, sometimes suffered to sink, then gradually raised : 

 now drawn with the stream, then against it ; so as to counterfeit the 

 motion of a small fish in swimming. If a Pike is near, he mistakes the bait 

 for a living fish, seizes it with prodigious greediness, goes oft' with it to his 

 hole, and in about ten minutes pouches it. When he has thus swallowed 

 the bait, you will see the line move, which is the signal for striking him ; 

 do this with two lusty jerks, and then play him. 



The other way of taking Pike, namely, with the snap, is as follows : 



Let the rod be twelve feet long, very strong and taper, with a strong 

 loop at the top to fasten your line to. Your line must be about a foot 

 shorter than the rod, and much stronger than the trolling line. 



And here it is necessary to be remembered, that there are two ways of 

 snapping for Pike, namely, with the live and with the dead snap. 



For the live snap, there is no kind of hook so proper as the double 

 spring hook. To bait it, nothing more is necessary than to hang the 

 bait-fish fast by the back fin to the middle hook, where he will live a long 

 time. 



Of hooks for the dead snap, there are many kinds : hut the one which, 

 after repeated trials, has been found to excel all others hitherto known, 

 we subjoin the description and use of as follows, namely, Whip two hooks, 

 of about three-eighths of an inch in the bent, to a piece of gimp, in the 

 manner directed for that trolling-hook. Then take a piece of lead, of the 

 same size and figure as directed for the trolling-hook above mentioned; 

 and drill a hole through it from end to end. To bait it, take a long needle 

 or wire ; enter it in at the side, about half an inch above the tail, and with 

 it pass the gimp between the skin and the ribs of the fish, bringing it out at 

 his mouth : then put the lead over the gimp, draw it down into the fish's 

 throat, and press nis mouth close, and then, having a swivel to your line, 

 hang on the gimp. 



In throwing the bait, observe the rules given for trolling; but 

 remember, that the more you keep it in motion, the nearer it resembles a 

 living fish. 



When you have a bite, strike immediately, the contrary way to that 

 which the head of the Pike lies, or to which he goes with the bait ; if you 

 cannot find which way his head lies, strike upright with two smart jerks, 

 retiring backwards as fast as you can, till you have brought him to a 

 landing place, and then do as before is directed. 



There are various other methods, both of trolling and fishing at the 

 snap, which, if the reader is desirous to know, he may find described in. 

 the Complete Troller, by Ro. Nobbes, 12mo. 1682, and the Angler's Sure 

 Guide, before mentioned. 



As the Pike spawns in March, and before that month rivers are seldom 

 in order for fishing, it will hardly be worth while to begin trolling till 

 April ; after that the weeds will be apt to be troublesome. But the prime 

 month in the year for trolling is October ; when the Pike are fattened by 

 their summer's feed, the weeds are rotted, and by the falling of the waters 

 the harbours of the fish arc easily found. 



