THE PIKE, SO. 123 



truth than good taste, has observed, that if your hook and 

 line be good, you may make shift with an indifferent rod ; 

 and he seems to ridicule ' those precise craftsmen who spend 

 their time in admiring their instruments ; ' for he adds, that 

 he has ' often put a ring on his walking-stick, and with his 

 line thus mounted, has killed his pike ; ' and no one doubts 

 him. We have also heard a boy discourse sweet music on a 

 jew's-harp; and yet, somehow, jews'-harps have not super 

 seded the use of the violin, which is passing strange ! 



" We shall not, however, have much difficulty in persuad 

 ing the true Angler that an appropriate rod will not only add 

 to the success of his practice, but will render that practice 

 more convenient and agreeable than otherwise. It will cer- 

 tainly be more professionally characteristic. In the rod or 

 rods used for jack fishing, the method to be employed, the 

 nature of the water, and the probable size of the fish, are all 

 matters necessary to be taken into account. In live-bait 

 fishing, and in trolling, a rod of nearly similar length and di- 

 mensions is required; but in snap-fishing, one of greater 

 strength but diminished length is generally employed. In a 

 very wide water, considerable length of rod is necessary for 

 the purpose of reaching the probable haunts of the fish, and 

 making a cast over the reeds or sedges which frequently skirt 

 the banks and edges of some waters. Without a rod of con- 

 siderable length, the bait often falls short, and not only misses 

 its object, but gets torn by falling within, instead of without 

 the reeds ; and an opening between weed-beds, (so likely a 

 situation for jack,) either in rivers or lakes, can seldom be 

 reached without a length rod. A proper rod, however, for 

 the intended sport, not only adds to the pleasure of the prac- 

 tice, but likewise to the success of it. Notwithstanding all 

 which, it must be conceded, that in pike and jack fishing, it 

 is more the method of the Angler than the merits of his rod, 

 that is essentially requisite to his sport." 



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