6o PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. 



ness, at any rate on waters where it has been much used," and 

 is now usually inferior even to the ordinary run of artificial 

 baits. 



Moreover, the life of no single pike-fisher would suffice to 

 fairly test them all for himself, even had he as many arms as 

 Briareus ; and without aspersing the character of anglers, they, 

 like other sportsmen, are credited by the Philistines with occa- 

 sionally 'adorning' their experiences, so that when one reads 

 that Mr. Blank succeeded in catching 5 cwt. of pike in five 

 hours with Mr. Dash's patent ' satanic tadpole,' the statement 

 fails to carry to our minds the absolute conviction desirable. 

 At any rate we don't all rush off to Mr. Dash's and invest in 

 Satanic tadpoles on the strength of it. 



Seriously, however, we know how constantly even a slight 

 unintentional exaggeration will alter the facts of the case, and 

 how easily omissions or additions, slight in themselves, vitiate 

 the conclusions based upon them. My own experience has so 

 far failed to confirm the flattering things I hear and read about 

 the merits of modern artificial spinning-baits ; though it must 

 be admitted they are often exceedingly pretty and ingenious. 



In order to be in the fashion I once thought I would invent 

 an artificial bait myself, and my plan possessed, at least, the merit 

 of simplicity : — I took a medium-sized bleak to a practical 

 worker in mother-of-pearl, and told him to- imitate it exactly, 

 scales and everything. For this purpose he was to use two 

 separate pieces of mother-of-pearl for the two opposite sides 

 so as to get the full lustre of the shell on both. These pieces 

 were rivetted on either side of a thinnish brass plate, the tail, 

 back, and anal fins being represented by corresponding excres- 

 cences on the brass, and, in the case of the two last named, the 

 brass serving as points of attachment for two flying triangles 

 linked to them with small steel rings. The ' spin ' was got from 

 the tail by turning the ends of the brass in opposite directions. 

 Nothing, I must say, could look more tempting and life-like, 

 and hope beat high as I carried the beautiful creature to the 

 river-side, and debated by what appropriate name it should be 



