PIKE FISHING—SPINNING. 71 



and from which, indeed, I have seen no reason whatever to 

 depart, I have modified in some respects the detailed arrange- 

 ments of the flights — first, by the substitution of a second 

 holding or body-hook marked a, flight i, between the reverse- 

 hook, b, and the lip-hook, c, and, secondly, by returning to my 

 original plan of two smaller flying triangles (except for the 

 very smallest sized flights) instead of one larger triangle. 



Not second thoughts are best, but third, which are the better first. 



An important variation — again not of a principle, but rather 

 of the mode of applying it — is the Tail-hook in combination 

 with a straight instead of a hooked Reverse, as represented at 

 page 76. Although I have been trying for many years to hit 

 upon a mechanical means of arriving at greater perfection in 

 this important item, the plan now presented to the reader 

 occurred to me only when in the act of revising these pages 

 for press, during a recent fishing visit to Medmenham Abbey, 

 and after the engravings of the spinning- flights, with my 

 original' 'curved' or hook-reverse, had been already made. 

 From the perfection of its working in practice, however, I have 

 no hesitation in believing that this new plan of accomplishing 

 the absolute ' fixation ' of the tail-hook in spinning-flights, by 

 a straight ' reverse,' passing from one side of the bait right 

 through to the other, is destined to entirely supersede both my 

 own hook-reverse — now in very general use — and all other known 

 systems of tail-hooks whatsoever. It makes the bait spin with a 

 brilliancy that even my professional Thames fisherman — and 

 Thames fishermen are critical judges on the point — declared 

 he had never seen equalled ; by its immovability when once 

 inserted, it makes the bait last very much longer than even the 

 best of the old systems ; and lastly, it is both more easily 

 adjusted, and — in the smaller sizes of flights, at any rate — 

 enables the extra ' body-hook,' between the tail-hook and lip- 

 hook, to be conveniently dispensed with. 



It is important, in order to make the flying triangles stand 



