178 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
very deep, and overspread with docks and weeds. The 
fish hanging with his head downwards, will, when gently 
moved, (and all baits, especially dead ones, should be kept 
in constant motion,) shoot andplay about among the weeds 
so naturally, that the Pike will be eager in taking it this 
way, even from the surface: when the bait is seized, the 
line is to be slackened, and the Pike allowed like to run; 
in a short time it will be perceived to shake, which is a 
signal to strike; when hooked, he must be cautiously 
managed, winding up the line gradually: in getting the 
Pike through the weeds, endeavour to keep his nose 
above them, and use the landing-net in taking him from 
the water. In this method the baits must be as fresh as 
possible. 
For snap-fishing, (which is best used in March, the 
Pike being then very shy of gorging, although with seem- 
ing eagerness they seize the bait,) should the rod be pur- 
posely made for it, the length should be about twelve 
feet; if a common rod is employed, the top should be 
stouter than that used in trolling, with a strong loop to 
fasten the line upon, which must be a foot shorter than 
the rod : for the live snap, no hook is so proper as the 
double spring hook: to bait it, nothing more is requisite 
than to hang the fish to the small hook under the back 
fin, which may be done with so little hurt to the fish that 
it will live for many hours. Gudgeons, (which, in all 
modes of Pike-fishing, are superior to any other,) and 
dace are the best baits; they must be kept alive in a tin 
kettle, with holes in the lid, and which in hot weather 
should be placed in the water. 
The other live snap-hook is baited by the small hook 
being thrust through the fish beneath the back fin; and some 
use a piece of silk or thread doubled, hung on the point 
of the small hook, and brought under the belly of the bait, 
and tied on the other side to the shanks of the large hooks; 
care and expedition are required in doing this, otherwise 
the bait will be so injured as to be incapable of swimming 
briskly in the water: a cork float, the size of a common 
burgamot pear, with a small pistol bullet or two, not only 
to poise, but to keep the bait at a proper depth, which is 
from two to three feet. If a Pike be near where the bait 
is put in, it will, come to the surface, or increase the quick- 
ness of its motion to avoid him; these signs will put the 
angler on his guard: when the float is drawn under, allow 
it to be sunk considerably before striking, which, in all 
snap-fishing should be with a smart stroke, and directly 
contrary to the course the Pike appears to take; the line 
must be kept tight, and the landing-net should be used, 
as the throwing out a large Pike by force will certainly 
strain the sockets of the rod. 
Some use only one large long-shanked hook, whipped 
to gimp, with a swivel at the upper end ; the hook baited 
with a gudgeon under the back fin, or through the upper 
lip, with a float as above, that will swim the gudgeon; fish 
at mid-water, and allow a minute after the float is sunk 
before striking: by this method perch maybe taken, if the 
bait be a minnow or very small gudgeon. 
A variety of hooks are used for the dead snap; and this 
mode of catching Pike is well adapted to both shallow and 
deep waters, to the still rapid parts of the river, will take 
Pike at all seasons of the year, supposing the water and 
weather favourable; and it will be no trifling recommen- 
dation that the idea of cruelty, which the use of a live fish 
naturally impresses, is, by this substitute, completely re- 
moved. The rod should be longer than that for trolling; 
the line fine, strong, and twenty yards in length; the hook 
by some most preferred is like that for a common live snap; 
the length of the gimp, on which the hook is tied, should be 
regulated by the size of the bait, and should he rather 
longer than the distance from the back fin to the mouth; 
that the looped end may he hung on a strong swivel, tied 
neatly to about a foot more of gimp, with a noose at the 
other end, to hang it upon the line, fastening a piece of 
lead, of the shape of a barley-corn, and weighing about 
an ounce, with a hole through it, about two inches above 
the swivel. The bait should be a middle sized dace: in- 
sert the baiting needle close behind the back fin, letting 
it come out of the mouth; draw the gimp to which the 
hook is tied after it; the short hook must stand with the 
point upright behind the back fin; the others will conse- 
quently be on each side; then hang it upon the swivel, 
and try if it will spin: if it does not, move the bait a little 
to the right or left, which may be done without moving 
it from the hook: the whole success depends on its quick 
turning when drawn against the stream; and when it does, 
it appears like a fish unable to escape, and becomes too 
tempting a morsel for the Pike to resist: this method will 
not only enable the angler to fish a greater extent of water 
than the others, but is more certain to secure the Pike. The 
large ones, though bold in seizing the bait, are very cau- 
tious in gorging it: most trollers have experienced, that,, 
after running out a considerable length of line, the bait 
has been mumbled to pieces and deserted; a disappoint- 
ment here remedied, for a Pike has but to seize the bait, 
and he is caught- 
At both troll and snap, some persons have two or more 
swivels to their line; by which means its twisting is pre- 
vented, the bait plays more freely, and to the dead bait 
in rivers it certainly is an improvement: in ponds cr still 
waters one will answer the purpose. 
Another way of taking the Pike is with an artificial fly: 
many have asserted that they are not to be caught at all with a 
