CHAPTER II. 



MY tackle for pike was the same as for 

 trout, but the hooks larger and stronger. I 

 used strong small gimp, the swivel close up 

 to the hooks for holding the head of any 

 small fish known as their food in loch or 

 river. I kept my tackle three inches long, 

 which would take on a small fish or trout 

 about four inches long,* but the hook that 

 goes through the centre of bait to turn 

 the tail, would require to be a No. 1 round 

 bend, put through so as to put a skew on 

 the tail that it may turn once in six inches, 



* I was always very reluctant to take par for pike bait, 

 it having been ray opinion for thirty years that they were 

 young salmon. I have seen them, when they were three 

 years old, spawning with the large female, and the male 

 chasing them away until he ran himself aground. The 

 female first migrates to the sea, and comes back and 

 spawns when about five or six years old. While watching 

 the spawn beds in May, I have seen the young par come 

 wriggling through the gravel, with the brand on their side, 

 but ill-proportioned, having large heads. 



