THE TROLLER'S OUTFIT. 79 



early age their principal enemies being their own parents, 

 who, when pressed for food, do not hesitate to bolt one of 

 its own species, though it perhaps prefers the offspring of 

 the dace, roach, or gudgeon. A hundred anecdotes rise 

 up in the memory of them seizing every living and moving 

 thing from the bowl of a spoon to the hand of a child. I 

 can only indicate the interesting nature of this subject, and 

 refer the curious reader to Mr Cholmondeley Pennell's 

 " Book of the Pike," which is beyond dispute the most 

 complete treatise on the subject in our voluminous angling 

 literature. I leave this subject, and confine myself to the 

 mode of capture, merely remarking that as an edible the 

 pike, when captured, is by no means a despicable dish. 



The necessary outfit of a troller is somewhat different 

 from that of the bottom and fly-fisher : in fact it should 

 be special, if success is to be achieved or desired. The 

 rod, for instance, should be light, firm, strong, and easily 

 wielded. If it could be so arranged as to be lengthened 

 when fishing with the live bait, a rod of twelve feet long, made 

 either of bamboo or hickory, would answer every purpose. 

 I like a fourteen-feet rod, but I know my case is an excep- 

 tional one. The top joint of a good trolling-rod should be 

 made of greenhart, and hickory is allowed to be best 

 adapted for the other joints by the common consent of tho 

 best trollers. Three tops of different lengths and elasticity 

 are necessary, however, to suit the varieties of trolling, 

 and the different width of rivers, and they should vary 

 six inches in length. The end of the rod should be fitted 

 with a knob of some hard wood to rest against the hip-joint. 

 The rings of a trolling-rod are very different from those 

 on a general or fly-rod. They are solid, and jut out firmly 

 from the side of the rod, as they are formed by braz- 



