40 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. 



BAITS AND BAIT-CATCHING. 



The best natural baits for spinning for pike that I am ac- 

 quainted with are either gudgeon or small dace. I say small 

 dace because — leaving out of consideration some specially 

 preserved English lakes and rivers, or the wide sweeping tracts 

 of water which are to be found scattered over Ireland and 

 Scotland — experience points to the advantage of a small-sized 

 bait over a large one. It spins better, lasts longer, and is 

 much more agreeable to fish with. With a small bait, also, 

 the chances of hooking a fish are considerably increased, on 

 account of the difference in the size of the flight of hooks that 

 can be used, and the diminished pressure required to make 

 them penetrate. 



No bait actually spins so well, and — the eel-tail excepted — ■ 

 lasts so long on the hook as a gudgeon, and I confess that, 

 except in cases where the water is very large or clouded, my 

 experience leads me to give the preference to this bait over all 

 others. Bigger baits with brighter scaling should, however, be 

 used where waters are much swollen or discoloured. As a rule, 

 it may be said that it is always safe to use a small bait when 

 the water is low and bright, and a larger one when it is full 

 or setthng after a flood. 



Next in merit to gudgeon and dace comes the bleak, a 

 favourite spinning-bait also for Thames trout-fishing, but sadly 

 delicate, and apt to lose its glittering bathing-dress upon the 

 slightest provocation. A small chub makes a very fairly good 

 spinning-bait, as does also a trout, a salmon parr, or smolt, a 

 ' penk ' grayling, and last, but not least, the tail of a small eel, 



