172 



PIKE AND' OTHER COARSE FISH. 



' A comical variation of this result is told by a gentleman 

 who writes under the signature of the ' Medway Dace.' The 

 narrator and his friend had left three rods and live bait tackles 

 to fish by themselves. On their return after about an hour they 

 made the startling discovery that their rods, lines, and baits 

 had vanished : — 



' Surely,' said H , in a voice that greatly reminded me 



of another occasion, when he came out with me and found he 

 had left the top joint of his favourite rod at home, 

 ' Surely no one has stolen our tackle ! ' 



' It looks most uncommonly like it,' I replied. 

 And certainly it did. But our minds were 

 soon put at rest on that point, for close under a 

 tree lay the three rods, carefully placed together. 

 While we were wondering how on earth they came 

 there, and for what reasorl they had been taken 

 from the pond, a youthful chawbacon, with a face 

 on him like a full moon, approached us and at 

 once explained the mystery. Touching his hat, 

 he said, ' Oive landed three for ye, zur, they're 

 not werry big 'uns tho'. Whort licks me is that 

 they were all cort in the back ! ' . . . 



Having delivered myself of this caveat or pro- 

 test I am free to admit there is one legitimate use 

 for the live gorge-bait to which I have already 

 alluded, — that is when the baits used are too large 

 for the ordinary snap-tackle. For the shape of 

 the hooks, which should be attached to about i^ feet of fine 

 stained gimp, vide diagram. 



In this and the method of attaching the live bait consists 

 the only difference, so far as tackle is concernedj between the 

 snap and the gorge live bait. Detach the hooks from the swivel, 

 and having attached them to a baiting-needle let the bait lie, 

 or rather be held, flat in the palm of the left hand with the 

 head pointing towards the right hand. Insert the point of 

 the baiting-needle in the shoulder of the bait and pass it under 



GORGE LIVE- 

 BAIT HOOKS. 



