91 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. 



HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. 



A league of grass washed by a slow broad stream 

 That, stirr'd with languid pulses of the oar, 

 Waves all its lazy lilies and creeps on. . . . 



Tennyson. 



I HAVE now dealt with the subject of pike- tackle,— and espe- 

 cially of spinning-tackle — in detail ; the point that remains to 

 be considered is, how and where to use it. If in this branch 

 of the art the skill of our trollers has not left very much to be 

 said that is 7iew, I can at least undertake to advance nothing 

 that I do not know to be true. The great object I have set 

 before myself is to combine theory with practice ; in every case 

 carefully employing the latter to verify the deductions of the 

 former. 



To begin then at the beginning. The spinner being pro- 

 vided with the rod and tackle indicated, and baited with say 

 a small dace or gudgeon, according to the instructions given at 

 page 80, un\vinds from the reel as much line as is necessary to 

 reach the spqt desired, and allows it to fall in loose coils at his 

 feet. 



He places himself ' half-facing ' the spot to which he wishes 

 to cast — that is, with the left leg and left shoulder further back 

 than the right. The right hand grasps the rod some distance 

 up the butt, and the left hand is employed in restraining the 

 line, which should be so drawn in that the bait hangs from two 

 to three yards from the top of the rod. First setting the bait 

 in motion with one or two pendulum-like movements, to give it 

 momentum, the spinner swings it vigorously out over the water, 

 at the same time letting go the line altogether, and permitting 

 the bait to run out to its full extent. 



