CHAP. VIII.] THE FOURTH DAT. 203 



better for not being common : but with my direction you 

 must take this caution, that your pike must not be a small 



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, 

 but not perpendicularly ; now drawn with the stream, and 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 off* with it to his haunt, and in about ten minutes, or more, 

 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. [If the line slackens before that time, it is a signal he 

 has pouched the bait ; but if you see a great number of very small bubbles 

 rising from the spot where you know by the direction of the line, the jack 

 is lying, you should forbear to strike, it being a certain sign that he has 

 not pouched. ED.] 



THE OTHER WAY OP TAKING PIKE, VIZ. 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 remember, that there are two ways of 

 snapping for pike, viz. 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. 



OP HOOKS FOR "THE DEAD-SNAP there are many kinds. One, which, after 

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

 description and use is as follows, viz. 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 his mouth close ; and then, having a swivel to your line, 

 hang on the gimp. 



IN THROWING THE BAIT, 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. 



