68 THE SONG OF THE REEL. 



The mention of baits for perch-fishing recalls the fact that the 

 perch itself is occasionally substituted for other fish as a lure for 

 the voracious pike. It may reasonably be supposed that the 

 attractiveness of perch as a pike-bait was discovered very many 

 years ago, even before Walton's time ; and that, in certain waters, 

 this fish has been used effectively ever since, though, doubtless, the 

 majority of anglers have removed its spinous dorsal fin before 

 mounting the perch upon their tackle. However, Mr. W. Carter 

 Platts, whilst discussing pike-baits in the Yorkshire Weekly Post, 

 says: 



" Although I have never personally tried it, I have a sneaking 

 conviction that a small perch might be usefully employed as a live 

 bait in some waters, such as lakes in which perch abound. It is a 

 common fallacy that pike will not eat perch, it being speciously 

 argued that the large and spiny dorsal fin of the latter fish would 

 lacerate the gullet and that the pike knows it. As the outcome of 

 much observation, it is satisfactorily proved that the pike, like 

 cannibalistic fish in general, invariably swallows its prey head first. 

 Gulped down in this way, the spines of the perch fold back and 

 cause the pike no inconvenience." 



In the next issue of the same paper, another angler states that 

 when using perch (with dorsal fin intact) as bait he has killed hun- 

 dreds of pike, chiefly in lakes where perch abound in Derwent 

 Water, Esthwaite Water, Grasmere, Rydal Mere, Windermere, and 

 such-like waters. 



Of the methods of perch-fishing the most popular and sporting 

 one is that known as " paternostering," which, perhaps, is also the 

 most successful. When the three-hooked paternoster is used, the 

 fish have three different kinds of bait to select from namely, worm, 

 gudgeon, and minnow, for instance. The angler roves from one 

 spot to another and quietly drops his lures into the favourite " holts " 

 of the perch. The line is held taut, with the plummet resting on 

 the bottom of the river, and every now and then the lead is gently 

 raised, so that the baits may be slowly moved this way or that ; and 

 a large extent of water is covered accordingly. 



