136 



PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. 



be proportionately more unsightly and less efficient. The tackle 

 shown is of the proper size for a dace 6| in. long, a very fair 

 medium size. 



A very good variation of this tackle, and one excellently 

 well suited to large baits and long casting, is that which has 

 been for many years very generally in use at Slapton Ley. It 

 consists of two large triangles ; the upper (and larger) one with 

 a metal loop at the end of the shank, through which the gimp 

 passes freely, and the lower one lapped on to the end of the 

 trace in the ordinary way. The mode of baiting is precisely 

 the same as that just described — and elsewhere indicated, with 

 a diagram, by Mr. Jardine — where the insertion of the pectoral 

 fin is the point of attachment for the lowest 

 triangle. The difference — which is merely 

 one of detail, not of principle — is that 

 instead of the triangles consisting of 2 

 large hooks and i small one, the hooks 

 in each triangle of the Slapton Ley tackle 

 are all of the same size, and the effect of the 

 lip hook, for shortening or lengthening the 

 tackle, is obtained by twisting the gimp 

 several times round the shank of the upper 

 triangle before passing the latter through the 

 back just behind the dorsal fin. 



With this method the bait can easily be 

 cast 30, or even 40 yards, when there is a 

 favourable wind. 



The bait should always hang slightly head 



downwards, which prevents its attempting 



constantly to swim to the surface of the water, and keeps it in 



its proper position without in any degree interfering with its 



perfect freedom of motion. 



The float (half-size) represented, which is the ingenious 

 invention of Mr. R. B. Marston, editor of the Fishing Gazette, 

 has the advantage of being detached in a moment from the line 

 through the slit, so that a larger or smaller float can be substituted 



LIVE-BAIT FLOAT, 

 HALF SIZE. 



