WHEN TO FISH FOR PIKE. 87 



kept however. Keep him out of the weeds and bushes at 

 any risk, or you will lose both tackle and fish. It will be 

 better to risk losing the latter than both. When thoroughly 

 exhausted, he may be brought to land ; float him on his 

 side, or he may still give you trouble, particularly if he gets 

 entangled among weeds. A knife gaff, or a double one, is 

 perhaps the best assistant the troller can have to lift Esox 

 out of the water ; but beware of his teeth they are sharp. 

 The best plan of extracting the bait is to make a small slit 

 in the belly where the hook is, disengage the trace from the 

 line, and draw it through the aperture. 



"With respect to baits, the best of all is a gudgeon. A 

 bleak or dace are also useful, particularly in murky weather, 

 and when the water is cloudy. In clear weather and light 

 water a smaller bait may be used than in high streams and 

 dull weather. Baits should, if possible, be kept alive until 

 about to be used, when they may be killed by a blow or 

 two at the back of the head. When dead, they are best 

 kept in bran. A cloth kept damp also preserves their 

 freshness. Do not handle the bait too much. 



Sometimes it is necessary to preserve the bait ; brine is 

 used in country districts, but spirits of wine or strong gin 

 will answer the purpose best, if they can be nicely laid flat, 

 and the air kept from them. Mr Pennell suggests that they 

 might be preserved in sardine air-tight cases, and sold at the 

 tackle-shops. 



Pike may be caught in almost any weather when a breeze 

 is blowing, from June to the end of January ; and the river 

 haunts of the pike generally are under the shade of the 

 water-lily leaves, between the opening of the bulrushes, and 

 generally opposite to the deeper waters, where its prey 



