34 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH, 



3. The proper place to gaff is as near as possible behind the 

 shoulder. 



4. The critical moment havmg arrived, rapidly, but at the 

 same time steadily, extend your gaff over and beyond the 

 shoulder of the fish, bringing it gently down upon it, as it were. 

 Then a short sharp jerk from the wrist and elbow will drive in 

 the gaff without prematurely frightening the fish or endangering 

 the tackle. 



5. Once more, above all thmgs avoid anything like giving a 

 blow with the gaff. This is likely to prove fatal to everything — 

 except the fish. 



But to continue the question of the fisherman's equipment. 

 A subject not yet treated of in this volume is that of how to 

 carry the fish when they are caught — I mean Fishing-baskets 

 and Bags. 



In the first volume (pp. 92-97) some descriptions will be 

 found of the latest improvements in the matter of creels and fish- 

 carriers. For purposes of pike-fishing, where the game is apt 

 to be lengthy, either a large wicker creel, such as that some- 

 times used for salmon, or a wide ' bag,' with extending sides, is 

 necessary to carry the fish with any comfort Where sport is 

 really good, however, either with pike or salmon, some other 

 means will have to be hit upon, as circumstances may indicate, 

 in substitution for bags and baskets. In each case it is quite 

 out of the question to attempt carrying one's own fish. I have 

 often known even the extensive well of a Thames punt so far 

 filled by the results of a successful foray that the occupants had to 

 be removed and prematurely despatched to avoid suffocating the 

 baits and each other. For the ordinary purposes of float-fishing 

 — or even jack-fishing where, as I say, the fish are not too large 

 or too plentiful — Farlow's or Hardy's creel, or one of the fish 

 carriers already referred to of the largest size, will be found 

 practically to answer every purpose ; all of them, in d'fferent 

 ways, have the advantage of containing tackle or luncheon- 

 compartments separate from the fish -carrying portion. 



