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fcROACH,RUDD& BREAM 
 
 FISHING. 
 
 Being a Practical Treatise on Angling with Float 
 AND Ledger in Still Water and Stream. 
 
 INCLUDING A FEW REMARKS ON SURFACE FISHING FOR 
 RUDD AND ROACH. 
 
 By J. W. MARTIN. 
 
 The "Trent Otter." 
 
 A Working Man Angler's Experiences ; written expressly 
 for the benefit of his brethren of the Craft, 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE ANGLER LIMITED, AT THE OFFICES, SrARBOROUGH, 
 
 AND 279, STRAND, W.C. 
 1896. 
 
Preface. 
 
 I N the preface to the first volume of this little work, I 
 pointed out that in scores of big towns and cities there 
 are thousands of factory and other workers who dearly love 
 a day's fishing, and when the workshop bell or steam buzzer 
 at noon on Saturday's signalled a cessation of the week's 
 toil, these workers were soon after wending their way, rod 
 in hand and basket on back, to their favourite river, drain, 
 canal, or reservoir, as the case might be. 
 
 The great majority of these men are, as I said then, bottom 
 fishermen, pure and simple ; and I may say also without fear 
 of contradiction, that by far the largest number make Roach 
 and Bream the special objects of their quest. It was this 
 consideration that made the Publisher of this little effort of 
 my pen decide to issue it in two volumes — ist, dealing with 
 Barbel and Chub ; and 2nd, Roach and Bream. 
 
 In the little volume now before you, I have most carefully 
 noted the difference between stream fishing and still water 
 fishing for Roach and Bream, giving full details of the outfits, 
 the tackle and methods of shotting and using it, with the ground 
 baits and hook baits ; each style separate and distinct from 
 
iv. Preface. 
 
 the other, so that the youngest and most inexperienced angler 
 can hardly make a mistake. 
 
 If there is a special feature in this small volume, that 
 feature will be found in Chapter V., where I treat a distin- 
 guished member of the Roach family at greater length, from 
 a practical standpoint, than I think it has ever been treated 
 before in a work on bottom-fishing. 
 
 I must also tender my best thanks to the two or three 
 gentlemen, whose names I have mentioned in the following 
 pages, for the great trouble they have taken in answering my 
 queries, and giving my readers and myself the benefit of their 
 valuable advice on certain vexed questions. 
 
 Roach fishing has been for many years a favourite pastime 
 of mine, and I have also had the distinguished advantage 
 of calling " friends " some of the most expert and observant 
 roachers that are to be found in the kingdom, and I thank- 
 fully acknowledge the valuable experience I gamed from the 
 companionship of these friends. 
 
 I should like to repeat what I said in the preface to the 
 volume on " Barbel and Chub Fishing," that the principles 
 I lay down are those of economy, based upon a practical 
 knowledge and experience extending through many years, and 
 under peculiar advantages. I know what it is to have a 
 working-man's pocket, because, brother working-man angler, I 
 
Preface. v. 
 
 am one of yourselves ; and have not the least hesitation in 
 saying that a careful study of this part of my subject will be 
 a saving to you of many shillings during a single season. 
 
 And now, Mr. Critic, I must again remind you, when 
 picking out passages that are badly expressed, or sentences 
 that are not exactly in accordance with the Queen's English, 
 that I left school at the early age of ten, and most of my 
 learning and experience have been picked up by the wayside, 
 riverside, and hedges. 
 
 This little volume I also dedicate to my brother working- 
 men fishers, and await the result of their verdict with the 
 greatest confidence. 
 
 JOHN WM. MARTIN 
 
 (''The Trent Otter" ). 
 
 December, iSg6. 
 
Contents. 
 
 PART I IL— ROACH, RUDD, AND BREAM. 
 
 Chapter L— Roach and Roach Fishing. 
 
 Roach fishermen — Ancient v. Modern Roach — Shyness of Roach 
 — Fecundity of Roach — A Remarkable Incident — How did 
 they get there ?— Description and peculiarities of Roach — 
 Habits and haunts of Roach — Food of Roach — Weight 
 of Roach — Good bags — Roach fishing — The Sheffield style 
 — The Nottingham style — Still water Roaching — Striking 
 with a wobbly rod ........ 
 
 Chapter II.— The Roach (continued). 
 
 Roach Fishing in Still Waters. 
 (On Roach Bites and the Outfit). 
 Choosing a Roach Rod — An Ouse pattern — The Author's 
 Roach Rod — A bit of sound advice — Rod-rings — The 
 Reel and Line — Gut Lines and Gut Hooks — Roach Floats 
 — What is a Roach bite? — A born Roacher — Sucking in, 
 and blowing out, the bait — Striking the fish — "Missed 
 him " — The reason why — The Bleak nuisance — Slow v, 
 quick sinking baits — Those small tormenters - - - 
 
 Chapter III.— The Roach (continued). 
 
 Roach Fishing in Still W^aters. 
 (On Ground Baits and Hook Baits). 
 Still water Roachers — Ground Baits — How to ground bait, and 
 how not to do it — Mixing the ground bait — Roving for 
 Roach — Creed wheat as a Roach bait — Ringing the changes 
 — How to cree wheat — Plumbing the swim — Feeding in 
 mid-water — Stale v. fresh wheat — The postman's knock — 
 Malt — Gentles or maggots — How to breed, and how to 
 prepare them — Gentles in the winter — Paste, plain and 
 coloured — King's bait — The cockspur worm — The weather 
 and its deception 
 
viii. Conte7its. 
 
 Chapter IV.— The Roach (continued). 
 
 Stream and Drain Fishing for Roach. 
 (The Nottingham and Sheffield Styles). 
 Stream v. drain fishing — The stream fishing rod — The Outfit — 
 Floating the line— Floats and Tackle— Ground baiting the 
 streams— Baiting the hook — Fishing the swim — A strange 
 ground bait — A flooded water —" Stret pegging" — The 
 Nottingham style — Finding the depth — Casting out the 
 bait — Ledgering for Roach — Undercurrents — A heavy 
 stream — The Sheffield style— Shrimps as bait — A killing 
 style — Experiences on the Avon and Frome, - - - 36 
 
 Chapter V.— The Rudd. 
 
 RuDD and Rudd Fishing. 
 Rudd and Rudd Fishing — A little known fish — Characteristics 
 of the Rudd — Weight of Rudd — Habits and Haunts of 
 the Rudd — Luring them out — Food of Rudd — Baits for 
 Rudd fishing — "Fine and far off"" — The outfit— Floats — 
 Gut lines and gut hooks — A slowly-sinking bait — Fishing 
 the runs — Playing the fish — Dr. Norman's experiences — 
 The Norfolk style— Fly fishing for Rudd - - - 55 
 
 Chapter VI.— The Bream. 
 
 Bream and Bream Fishing. 
 Bream fishing— White Bream — Carp Bream — Weight of Bream 
 — Distribution of Bream — Peculiarities of Bream — "On 
 the flit " — Antiquity of Bream— Bream in the frying-pan — 
 The Trent style — The Ouse style — A rustic breamer — A 
 picture drawn from life — Night fishing — The outfit — 
 Ground-baiting for Bream — A Bream bite — The hook and 
 crutch — The weather in connection with Bream fishing — 
 Special precautions — Lake Bream — An extraordinary 
 ground bait — Hook baits — Ledgering for Bream — ''Au 
 revoir" 71 
 
PART III. 
 
 THE ROACH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ROACH AND ROACH FISHING. 
 
 Roach Fishermen — Ancient v. Modern Roach — Shyness of Roach — 
 Fecundity of Roach — A Remarkable Incident — How did they get them f — 
 Description and peculiarities of Roach — Habits and haunts of Roach — 
 Food of Roach — Weight of Roach — Good bags — Roach fishing — The 
 Sheffield style — The Nottingham style — Still water Roaching — Striking 
 with a wobbly rod. 
 
 " The Roach, whose common kind to every flood doth fall.' 
 
 Bottom fishermen, and their name nowadays can be 
 called legion, dearly love a day's roach fishing. It hardly 
 matters whether they make a speciality of chub, or barbel, 
 oi' bream; they are nevertheless always ready for a bit of 
 roaching. There is also a large class of anglers who' con- 
 fine their attention exclusively to this branch of fishing; 
 they are never tempted toi try any other, and I have fan- 
 cied mone than once that they rather prided themselves oo 
 the fact. But there is one thing certain ; a successful 
 roach fisherman stands on the very highest rung of the 
 angling ladder. He must be possessed of great skill, 
 patience and ingenuity, and also of a thorough knowledge 
 of the habits of the fish. He must also be able toi detect 
 the places where ro^ach are likely to be fo'und, and know 
 what places they avoid ; he must pay particular attention 
 to a numiber of the most minute details, a good swim, must 
 be selected, and then it must be fished at the exact depth ; 
 a very fine tackle must be used, and in hooking a roach 
 the angler must have the orthodoK roach trick, and do it 
 
 B 
 
2 THE ROACH. 
 
 in the twinkling of an eye. Dame Juliana Bemers, writing 
 of this fish., says : " the roche is an. easy fysshe to take." 
 Perhaps it might ha,ve been four hundred years ago when 
 that good old lady wrote of fish and fishing. Even com- 
 ing down a little later, we find Izaak Walton, speaking of 
 the roach in these terms : " he is accounted the water sheep 
 for his simplicity or foodishness." The;se two odd writers 
 were perhaps justified in making those remarks, but nowa- 
 days the well-fed, good-conditioined, and aldermanic roach 
 of any well-fished river are not toi be caught by any tyro', 
 as soon as August gets in, at any rate. They are then 
 amazingly shy of thei hook, and appear to bei pretty wider 
 awake, perhaps taking stock of the angler and his proceed- 
 ings. They seemi to be very highly educated during the 
 autumn months, and cannot stand a reckless stamping by 
 the angler up and down the bank, or splashing about with 
 heavily-weighted tackle. To' be a successful roachi fisher- 
 man, the motto must be " Fine and far off." Keep out 
 of sight as much as possible, use' suitable tackle, proper 
 baits, and be in a, good swim, and if the; roach are not what 
 you co'uld call well on the feed, you still stand a, chance of 
 deceiving a few of themi ; even when, they are' " on," it is 
 necessary tO' pay attentioo to- a number of minute details, 
 or else they will very soon be driven " off." Roach., in 
 ai pond wherei they are small and ill-fed, migjit perhaps 
 allow themselves tO' be caught by any sort, of bait and 
 tackle; even river roach during June are sometimes per- 
 fectly reckless, allowing themiselves to* be caught by dozens 
 with the cad-bait when the milk has been running from 
 them ; but these cases are exceptions. 
 
 The roach is onei of the most plentiful of all freshwater 
 fishes. Hardly any stream, lake or pond (of any size) but 
 what contains it; indeed, it not infrequently happens that 
 there are quantities of themi in some: sheet of water where 
 even their very existence! was not known, and if by any 
 chance the fact was discovered, the: owner of the water was 
 at a loss to account for their presence. In connection 
 with this question I once read a very remarkable instance. 
 A writer, in one of the sporting journals said : " I know of 
 a small lake that was emptied of water and fish. The lake 
 
THE ROACH. J 
 
 is about three acres in extent, and did not exceed six feet 
 
 in depth. The water was run off by means of a sluice. 
 
 the bottom of the lake was fairly level and pretty firm; a 
 
 cxop of rye grass was sown on it, which yielded an enor^ 
 
 mous crop. For three successive seasons the same thing 
 
 was done. Under these circumstances it is certain that 
 
 no fish could have been by any possibility left, there being 
 
 no water except an occasional shower of rain or a fall of 
 
 snow for the whole of the three years referred to. After 
 
 cutting the grass for the final time, the water was let in 
 
 through a fine grating, and in the depth of winter. The 
 
 water, in addition, came from a spring supplied by a well 
 
 on the hillside, in which there were no fish. Ihus no 
 
 roach, or indeed fish of any kind, could have found their 
 
 way into the lake, and yet three years afterwards the place 
 
 literally swarmed with roach. Can anybody give me an 
 
 idea how this could have happened ? " This questions 
 
 seems to me to be a poser. I could hardly accept the 
 
 theory put forward by the writer of the letter just quoted ; 
 
 he thought that probably water-fowl might have carried the 
 
 spawn there sticking to their legs, or that the same fowl 
 
 might have swallowed the spawn and passed it out again 
 
 without being digested. If I might offer a theory, I should 
 
 say, perhaps the impregnated ova or spawn is capable of 
 
 lying on the ground or among the roots of the weeds for 
 
 years at a stretch without vivifying into life, the same as 
 
 the chrysalis of certain insects wiJl ; the advent of the fresh 
 
 water into the lake forming the starting point of the swarms 
 
 of roach that had created such surprise. 
 
 The roach is also a member of the carp family, his speci- 
 fic name being " Cyprinus Rutilus." When in good con- 
 dition he' is a very handsome fish. Yarrell thus describes 
 him,: "The colour of the upper part is dusky green with 
 blue reflections, becoming lighter on the sides, and passing 
 into silvery white on the belly; the irides yellow, cheeks 
 and gill covers silvery white; dorsal and caudal fins pale 
 brown tinged with red ; pectoral fins orange red ; ventral 
 and anal fins bright red ; the scales are rather large^ 
 marked with consecutive and radiating lines; large, eyes, 
 the circles of which are of a gold colour and the iris red. 
 
^ THE ROACH. 
 
 Their scales are very smooth except during and just after 
 spawning time, when they feel to the toojch like a nutmeg 
 grater." From- this it would appear that our roach is 
 possessed of considerable personal beauty, which I, for one^ 
 do not intend to deny. Indeed, an October roach, when 
 in condition, is a lovely fish, and a dish of a dozen pounders 
 is a splendid sight, and one that any angler, no matter how 
 clever and experienced he is, will be mightily proud of, 
 more especially if he himself happens to be the lucky capr 
 tor. A roach has a small head and a hard mouth, with 
 a peculiar top lip ; this lip, if you take hold of it, raise it, 
 and bring it forward, shows to you that it has the power 
 of elongation, and that it is shaped something like a hood. 
 This power of the roach to alter the sha.pe of its mouth 
 goes to prove that he can feed in a variety of ways, grope 
 along the bottom like a barbel or gudgeon, take a bait in 
 midwater, and even from the surface like a dace. Perhaps 
 this telescopic mouth mav have something to^ do with the 
 roach's power of so promptly blowing out a, suspicious bait, 
 which act puzzles the novice more than a little; but more 
 of this further on. These fish may very readily be con- 
 founded with others of an apparently similar character, but 
 which, on closer observation side by side, are widely dif- 
 ferent. When I was secretary and weighing-in officer of 
 an angling club, certain members W'Ould some o^dd times 
 bring in to be booked as roach two and even three pounds 
 chub, under the idea that they had got hold of an extra- 
 fine specimen of the " rutilus " family. 
 
 Roach spawn about the latter end of May, and are won- 
 derfully prolific^ as many as 125,000 eggs being counted in 
 the ovum of a pound fish. For some little time after this 
 ooeration they are very dirty and slimy, and have a lot of 
 rough white pimples on their scales. About this time 
 f ey retire among the weeds, and feed a good deal on those 
 weeds and the insects found among them. As soon as 
 July gets well in they leave the fastnesses of the weed beds 
 and take more to the open water and the gravelly swims, 
 and are then found in large numbers in such places, and the 
 clear luns by the side of rushes and flags. In ano'^her 
 week or two, say by the latter end of July or the beginning 
 
THE ROACH. 5 
 
 of August, the weed gets out of them, and the very sUmy 
 coat they wore quite wears off ; their scales are smooth 
 and bright, and their fins nice and clear. Now they 
 begin to get very shy indeed, and it requires an 
 artist in the business to take them. These fish 
 prefer a clean, sandy bottom, and don^t like a 
 muddy one, being in my opinion a very clean fish. 
 The baits have to be sweet, and no suspicion of tobacco 
 juice or dirt about them, or he will have none of them. 
 Roach are very fond of a lazy eddy by the side of a swift 
 stream, but being a bulky fish are not found much in very 
 strong and rapid waters ; they like the slow, lazy curls under 
 bushes, the quiet lay-byes or corners away from the main 
 stream; swims that flow at the rate of not more than two 
 miles an hour, or in the curls, eddies and dimples in the 
 vicinity of a weir, or in the immediate neighbourhood of an 
 old wooden bridge, and sometimes in the shallows of a mill 
 tail. These are the principal places to look for roach in a 
 swiftly flowing river. In slow rivers, broads, and lakes, 
 that abound with these fish, they can be found nearly any- 
 where, provided the bottom is all right and the locality suit- 
 able ; but I shall divide the subject into two parts, one part 
 treating of still water reaching, and the other stream, fishing, 
 in the following chapters. The food of roach consists of 
 weeds, cad-baits, grubs, flies, worms, fresh-water shrimps, 
 insects, spawn of other fish, etc. ; while as baits he will take 
 gentles, paste, bread, malt, wheat, pearl barley, et hoc genus 
 homme. As a fish for the table, he is several degrees better 
 than either the barbel or the chub ; nicely fried in plenty of 
 lard, and browned, he is not at all bad faring ; in fact, I am 
 very fond of a good-conditioned autumn roach out of a 
 gravelly river. I should think the top weight of our Eng- 
 lish roach can be put down at 31b., and even this would only 
 be reached on very rare occasions. I can only remember 
 seeing two caught of that weight, and they were got in the 
 salmon net as mentioned in the chapter on barbel. A 2 lb. 
 roach is considered a very good one indeed, and thought 
 worthy of a glass case. The Hampshire Avon, I am told, 
 contains the largest roach, specimens fromi two to two and 
 a half pounds, or even a little over, being frequently taken. 
 
^^ THE ROACH. 
 
 The Ouse in Huntingdonshire has some splendid roach in 
 its waters, one angler that I know frequently getting indivi- 
 duals up to two and a half pounds in weight. I don't know 
 how it is, but out of the thousands of roach I have killed in 
 one river or another, I never got one of two pounds to my 
 own rod. Once I thought I had reached the goal of my 
 ambition, and landed a veritable two-pounder; but, alas! 
 a careful weighing-in only made him ilb. 15^^02. — very near 
 it, in all conscience, but still not the one. From, one and 
 a half to one and three-quarter pounds I have had in plenty. 
 I once picked a dozen fish out of a very large bag I made 
 in the Ouse that scaled eighteen pounds. My two best bags 
 of roach taken in the Trent contained among others fifteen 
 fish weighing fourteen pounds, and seventeen fish weighing 
 fifteen pounds. Taking things all round, I may say that a 
 half-pounder is a sizeable one, a pounder is a good one, 
 a pound-and-a.-half fish ought to make any honest angler's 
 heart rejoice, while if he did get a two-pounder, his mission 
 on earth is fulfilled. 
 
 And now just a few words on the various styles of roach 
 fishing that I have seen during my piscatorial wanderings. 
 The rivers and waters are very varied in this character, even 
 in one particular district. Some of the rivers are slow and 
 sluggish in the extreme, others again are streamy and shal- 
 low, whilst others widen out into meres,, broads or lakes, 
 with sometimes a considerable depth of water ; yet, again, 
 the waters of others are nothing but artificial drains, rather 
 narrow, with no stream at all ; but one thing is certain about 
 these fen waters, it hardly matters which class of water it 
 is, they all contain vast quantities (more or less) of splendid 
 roach. There appears to me to be at least three different 
 schools of roach fishermen on the banks of these w^aters, 
 each one fishing in his own particular way, and each separate 
 style is adapted for the class of water operated upon. On 
 some of the narrower canals and drains, where the water is 
 not above six feet or so deep, and very still, the more suc- 
 cessful roachers follow what is sometimes called the Sheffield 
 style. The outfit used is of the very lightest possible build : 
 the rod is a little ten-foot weapon, weighing probably about 
 as many ounces, fairly stiff, and with a strike about it that 
 
THE ROACH. 7 
 
 is sharp and at once direct from the point, so that if a cun- 
 ning old roach, who is endeavouring to quietly suck a bait 
 from the hook without moving the float, makes the very 
 smallest of errors and betrays his presence by only a tiny 
 quiver of the said float, he is himself sucked in in conse- 
 quence of the strike of the rod top being so prompt and 
 accurate. The wooden reel also used by these men is a 
 very light three-inch one, fairly easy running; the plaited 
 silk line is nearly as fine as can be procured, the float in 
 many cases is only a little porcupine quill, carrying not more 
 than three very small split shots. Sometimes this float is 
 only a tiny crow quill, with one shot, while the bottom, 
 tackle itself is a yard of the very finest drawn gut, hardly 
 visible to the naked eye when held a few yards away, and 
 yet the ease and certainty that pound roach and upwards 
 are played and landed on even that frail tackle is something 
 marvellous to the uninitiated. Another class of roachers 
 operate on the more streamy, shallower rivers by what is 
 known as the Nottingham style. This style requires a 
 heavier set of tackle than the one just noted, and is in my 
 opinion the very style par excellence for killing roach in the 
 heavier streams, where the water runs somewhat faster than 
 it does in the generality of fenland rivers. The tackle used 
 by these men is nearly as fine as can be ; when I said just 
 now that it was a little heavier, I meant the float was a little 
 bigger one, say a small swan quill carrying some half a 
 dozen mediunvsized shots on the tackle. This style of 
 fishing also requires a light and stiff rod, about eleven feet in 
 length will be the best, and it must also be smart and prompt 
 in its actions, so that it would respond promptly at the will 
 of the user, and hook a roach in an instant, even if the 
 angler's float happened to be twenty yards away down stream. 
 The roach that inhabit these streamy places, where the 
 water runs with a rather swifter current, take a bait somewhat 
 different to their brethren in the very quiet waters. As just 
 hinted, these latter are sly and cunning to a very remarkable 
 degree, robbing the hook of the novice time after time with- 
 out so much as giving him the slightest hint as to their pre- 
 sence. Stream roach, on the other hand, must of necessity 
 betray their bite ; the baited hook is gliding down the stream, 
 
8 THE ROACH. 
 
 the fish must attack the bait somewhat quickly, and if the 
 float is a correct one and properly weighted some idea of 
 this bite is communicated to the angler. 
 
 But by far the larger number of these roach fishermen ply 
 their craft in very deep and sluggish water, ranging fromi ten 
 to fifteen feet in depth, with a streami so quiet that the float 
 scarcely travels down it at all. For successfully fishing this 
 class of water it is necessary to have a rod somewhat different 
 to those already mentioned. Bank anglers will find that 
 the majority of these slow running and deep rivers are 
 fringed with reeds, and generally have a weed bed all alon^ 
 the margin stretching some four or five feet into the stream. 
 A judicious application of the plummet will in many cases 
 tell our roach fishermen that just over these weeds the bottom 
 is level and clear with an uniform depth of say ten feet. Id 
 order to fish these places properly the rod should be four- 
 teen feet in length, stifle and light ; this length of rod is re- 
 quired in order to reach comfortably over the weeds, and 
 more especially is it required if the water should chance to 
 be, as I have found in scores of good swims, nearer fourteen 
 or fifteen feet deep than ten. This rod should also be one 
 that is prompt and sharp in its action, because in this class 
 of swim the roach are as sly as can be, and the bigger the 
 fish the slyer they are. In biting, the float only moves the 
 very slightest, and as quick as can be ; the strike must be 
 on the very instant or it will be too late. I have seen rods 
 in the hands of certain fen anglers that would not hook two 
 roach out of every dozen bites ; they wobbled down to the 
 very hand, and in striking, instead of switching the point 
 upwards, the point would even, if held a yard above the sur- 
 face, duck downwards and strike the water before the stroke 
 could take effect and the fish be hooked. This action on 
 the part of your rod would be fatal to your success as a 
 roacher in these very deep and quiet waters. Any angler who 
 feels a httle doubt as to the truth of this statement should 
 try a little experiment at home. If he has a fourteen foot 
 roach rod which might be described as moderately stiff" and 
 not very wobbly, let him put it together and take hold of 
 the butt as if he were fishing ; hold the point eighteen inches 
 above a table and strike gently, as though responding to a 
 
THE ROACH 9 
 
 roach bite, and the chances are that in nine cases out of 
 ten the point of the rod will first duck downwards and touch 
 the table before it strikes upwards to hook the imaginary 
 fish; and if this would even happen in using a fairly good 
 and stiff rod, what must it be in a very limber one? I shall 
 have occasion to refer to this subject again, so will leave it 
 for the present. Briefly, the foregoing remarks give a few 
 hints and some idea of the various styles of roach fishing 
 in vogue in different waters. 1 will try to explain them all 
 in detail as I proceed. 
 
CHAPTER IT. 
 THE ROACH (continued). 
 
 ROACH FISHING IN STILL WATER. 
 (on roach BITES AND THE OUTFIT). 
 
 Choosing a Roach Rod— An Ouse pattern — Th^ Author's Roach Rod 
 — A bit of sound advice — Rod-rings — The Reel and Line — Gut Lines 
 and Gut Hooks— Roach Floats— What is a Roach bite ?—A born Roacher 
 — Sucking in, and blowing out, the Bait — Striking the fish — "Missed 
 him" — The reason why — The Bleak nuisance — Slow v. quick sinking 
 baits — Those small tormenters. 
 
 When the young tyro, or even the would-be roach fisher- 
 man of mature years, walks into a tackle dealer's shop for 
 the purpose of choosing his rod, in nine cases out of ten 
 he selects one that is made up of a number of short joints, 
 say from two to three feet long each, because his first con- 
 sideration is that it is nice and handy to carry about, and 
 also he perhaps considers that it can be carried out of sight 
 under his coat, as if he were ashamed of his occupation. 
 Now this portability is the only good feature these short- 
 jointed rods possess ; when the angler has to travel by train 
 to his sport, his rod can be packed up in a small compass, 
 without being a nuisance to any of his fellow-passengers, 
 and he will not be in danger when boarding a railway car- 
 riage of poking one end of it into the eye of somebody sit- 
 ting inside, or doubling up another who happens to be stand- 
 ing on the platform behind himi by a blow in the stomach 
 with the butt end, as he would be if each joint \vas six or 
 seven feet long. But here the practical usefulness of these 
 many-jointed rods cease ; they are not a success when oper- 
 ating against the shy old roach of these deep still waters, 
 
[ THE ROACH. II 
 
 the wobbly action, as noticed in the last chapter, is very 
 much pronounced ; besides, the extra joints and ferrules 
 represent so much extra weight that ought if possible, to be 
 dispensed with. A roach rod from eleven to twelve feet long 
 should not have, under any circumstances, more than three 
 lengths, while one of fifteen feet should have no more than 
 four, and this will allow the necessary stiffness for the sharp 
 and prompt strike that is absolutely indispensable in a good 
 roach rod. The rod should be built with plenty of timber 
 or cane in the lower half of it, and should have an accurate 
 taper up to the fine point in the top end half; indeed, if 
 the angler can manage it anyhow, his rod for still water 
 roaching, even if fourteen feet long, will be all the better for 
 strike, balance, and weight, if it has no more than three 
 lengths to it. One of the nicest roach rods, as far as prac- 
 tical work went, that I ev^er saw was not a \^ry handsomely 
 got-up affair. It belonged to an angler who lived close to 
 the river Ouse, and had no ferrules or joints in it at all. It 
 was a single stick of beautifully tapered East Indian cane, 
 with about a yard of lancewood, spliced, glued, and whipped 
 firmly on the top end. It was fairly thick at the butt end, 
 was a trifle over fourteen feet long, and was a perfect treat 
 to handle; it would respond on the very instant, and hook 
 a roach in a twink. The owner assured me that it had 
 killed some thousands of roach and bream during the six 
 years he had had it. Unless the angler lives on the banks 
 of these deep still waters it is not advisable to have a rod in 
 a single length like the one jiust described ; its extreme 
 awkwardness in travelling or carrying about precludes its 
 imiversal adoption. 
 
 Personally, I have had many a try, and wasted many a 
 good bit of cane and lancewood during my endeavours to 
 make myself a really first-class fourteen-foot roach rod, but 
 I succeeded at last, and the one I finally experimented on, 
 and pronounced satisfactory is a composite weapon of rather 
 peculiar build. The butt is a length of East India cane six 
 feet long, fitted with the usual ferrule, safety rings, winch 
 fittings, and butt cap. The centre joint is also East India 
 cane, five feet long, with rings and ferrule, and the top is 
 lancewood three feet long only, ringed as usual. This rod, 
 
12 THE ROACH 
 
 when put together is what I call a perfect fourteen-foot roach- 
 rod, and by being built in different lengths for each joints- 
 gives the necessary stiffness without extra weight, and the 
 shortness of the tapered top gives it the sharp, prompt, and 
 accurate strike so beloved by a first-class roacher. 
 
 My object in being so particular in this matter of a rod 
 is to give the tyro or youthful angler a bit of sound advice 
 which is the result of many years* experience, and also my 
 anxiety to save him unnecessary expense in the matter of 
 purchasing a rod. He might pick one out of stock that for 
 the moment took his fancy, only to find, after a few trials by 
 the riverside, that it was not at all suitable for the purpose,, 
 and another expense would be necessary. When selecting 
 a roach rod for these deep still waters he must carefully 
 eschew rods that have a lot of play in them nearly down to 
 the butt. Never mind what any shopman may advise, select 
 the rod that has the fewest joints (no more than four at the 
 outside) ; see that it is light in hand, and above all nice and 
 stiff, with a strike that seems to be a sort of a switch direct 
 from the end of the point, and I might again add, no material 
 in my opinion is so good for a long roach rod as East India 
 cane and lancewood. The rings, too, of the rod should be 
 carefully looked at; the loose lay-down pattern should not 
 be had at any price. They should be stiff stand-up rings, 
 either " Bells Life " or safety for the lower two joints, and 
 snake rings for the top. It must be clearly understood that 
 the rod, reel, line, floats and tackle I describe and recomr 
 mend in this chapter are for use in deep quiet waters. 
 Tackle suitable for fishing down streams will be touched 
 upon in the chapter on " Stream Fishing for Roach." 
 
 Some roach anglers discard a reel altogether ; they simply 
 have a few yards of silk hne, and tie one end of it about 
 halfway down the rod ; of course, when this plan is adopted 
 every fish must be played and killed with a tight line. Now, 
 I am decidedly in favour of a reel and a few yards of extra 
 line, because it is necessary to fish with the very finest gut 
 that is drawn, and if a very good roach is hooked a sudden 
 plunge when at full length of the tether might result in 
 breakage, whereas if a reel and running line is employed 
 this danger is nothing near so apparent; besides, the angler 
 
THE ROACH. I3 
 
 can swim his float if there is a gentle current a few yards 
 lower down stream, where very often the biggest roach lie. 
 This reel need not be very large, nor yet very expensive : a 
 plain, easy-running wooden one about three inches in dia- 
 meter, and costing no more than from two to three shillings, 
 will be plenty good enough ; but one thing the tyro ought to 
 observe, and that is, the reel should have a strong crossback 
 to it ; the brasswork on the back should be fitted right across 
 and in four opposite directions. This arrangement prevents 
 the wooden back under the brasswork from twisting, warp- 
 ing, or sticking, and helps to keep the reel in proper running 
 order. Twenty yards of line will be ample, and this should 
 be of undressed silk, plaited, and fairly fine in substance. 
 This line is, of course, wound on the barrel or centre portion 
 of the reel just noticed. The next articles our roach fisher- 
 men require are a few lengths of good gut, and I recommend 
 most strongly for this purpose drawn gut lines, two yards in 
 length, tapered from one X at the top end dowTi to three X 
 at the bottom end. There is a loop tied at each end of these 
 gut lines, that at the stoutest end being to fasten the silk 
 line to, and the one at the finest end to loop the gut hook 
 itself in, as already indicated in previous chapters. 
 
 With regard to hooks for roach fishing, anglers are not 
 agreed as to which is or is not the best shape. Some swear 
 bv sneck bends, others by round bends, while others again 
 favour the crystal bends. Personally, I prefer the latter, 
 as I find by careful practise that they hook and hold their 
 fish much better than either round bends or snecks. This 
 class of roach fisherman would do well to procure three dozen 
 of these hooks tied to the very finest drawn gut, say a dozen 
 No. II (Redditch scale), on four X drawn gut for creed 
 w^heat and paste fishing; another dozen No. lo on three X 
 drawn gut for maggot fishing, or small red worms ; and an- 
 other dozen No. 9 on two X dra\vn gut for tail end of lob- 
 worm, when water is a trifle flooded. A box of split shot, 
 a few porcupine floats, a light plummet, and a disgorger, 
 completes his outfit. 
 
 On second consideration of the above lines, I fancy it 
 will hardly be advisable for the young tyro to invest in these 
 very finest four X drawn gut hooks for a start ; they are so 
 
^4 
 
 THE ROACH. 
 
 very, very fine, and require delicate handling. Some con- 
 siderable skill and patience is required in landing roach from 
 lib. to i^lb. on this very frail tackle, so perhaps until our 
 novice has had some experience in the matter, it will be ad- 
 visable to begin with three X drawn gut, and work up to 
 the finer size as he feels more confidence in himself. A sud- 
 den bite when he was hardly prepared for it might make | 
 him feel a little flurried, and cause him to strike harder tharii | 
 necessary. If he were using the very finest tackle, and the 
 roach a good one, a smash would be nearly a certainty, and 
 his s\Ndm and sport spoiled for an hour or two afterwards^ 
 I need not say, I suppose, that it is necessary to fish as light 
 as possible in these deep, quiet, or semi-quiet waters. The 
 float is one of the most important articles in the roach fisher- 
 man's outfit, and should be of such a character, and shotted 
 in such a manner, that it will indicate the very smallest 
 nibble. I find, as already hinted, that a porcupine quill is 
 as good, in fact better, than any other that can be used, and 
 the size of it and number of shots on the gut line will depend 
 on the character of the water operated upon. In some 
 waters it is necessary for the bait to be a slowly sinking one^ 
 while in others it must sink quickly for reasons that will be 
 stated and described directly. I have seen all sorts of roach 
 floats in use, some of them a mixture of quill, cork, and 
 wood, but many of them are liable to become water-logged, 
 and this is not desirable, even in the smallest degree, es- 
 pecially for roach fishing in still water. 
 
 The novice now finds himself confronted with a very 
 simple question, and one which at the first glance seems easy 
 to answer. It is this : What is a roach bite ? I ask the 
 tyro this question in all sincerity. In all probability nine 
 out of ten will answer straight as a dart, with a little laugh 
 at being asked such a very simple question, " Why, when a 
 roach takes the bait in his mouth and pulls the float clean 
 down out of sight." Yes, this is one kind of a roach bite, I 
 will admit, but it also is one that the angler does not very 
 often get. At odd times, when he seems to be perfectly 
 reckless in his feeding, and will quietly suck down the bait 
 at nearly every swim,, any tyro can scarcely miss them. At 
 these odd times that answer will apply, but, fortunately for 
 
THE ROACH. J$ 
 
 the roach, the chances do not often occur. The roach bite 
 more generally met with, especially where they are very shy 
 and constantly fished for, is nothing more than the very 
 smallest quiver of the float, or again a slight tilt or stoppage 
 of the said float, or yet again, and this is the bite that can 
 be most easily perceived, a very small and instantaneous dip 
 of the float of not more than one-eighth of an inch, and the 
 time occupied in this dip is not more than one-fifth of a 
 second. Now and again small roach, bolder and 
 more hungry than their larger brethren, will pull 
 down the float in a much more decided manner, 
 but, generally speaking, the half-pounders and up- 
 wards proceed in a much more cautious way. When the 
 roach are fairly on the feed, and their natural caution has 
 for an hour or two forsaken them, the bite is a more pro- 
 longed affair : the float suddenly dips, and instead of com- 
 ing up again, as it will when they are coming shy, the float 
 is held down for a much more considerable space of time. 
 This sort of bite is what an old friend and Ouse roacher calls 
 " a dweller," and is the very easiest to respond to. Again, 
 there is a roach bite that is neither seen nor felt. Strange 
 as this statement may seem, it is, nevertheless, perfectly true. 
 A very old friend of mine, a whitesmith he was by trade, 
 once told me that a good roach fisherman was born one, no 
 amount of practice could make him a perfect roacher. He 
 might fancy he was up to all the moves on the board as far 
 as roach fishing was concerned, and even be a very success- 
 ful one, but there will come odd times when even he, clever 
 as he is, will be at fault. He knows the roach are there, and 
 that they are on the feed, but do as he will his basket gets 
 no heavier — he cannot perceive the bite. It is at these odd 
 times that our born roacher proves his superiority. I have 
 stood, or rather laid down, behind my old friend the white- 
 smith, and have seen him hook and land big roach one after 
 the other, when I have been prepared to swear before any 
 court of justice that his tell-tale float never moved in the 
 slightest degree. Other good anglers who were fishing some 
 few yards away without any luck would also come behind 
 to view this strange phenomenon, and like me marvel greatly 
 at it. He declared that he had a sort of inward feeling, the 
 
l6 THE ROACH. 
 
 strike and hooking the fish came natural to him, without any 
 movement of his float to indicate the presence of the fish ; 
 but whether this was so or not I must admit that he was 
 about the very cleverest roach fisherman I ever knew, and 
 I have known a few during my wanderings after sport. He 
 could tell as soon as he looked out of doors in the morning 
 if the day was likely to be favourable or otherwise for roach 
 fishing, and his judgment was rarely at fault. But I must 
 get back to my roach bites. The novice may have noticed 
 when fishing with gentles that when a roach is hooked and 
 landed, his previous bait is blown some four, or even six, 
 inches up the gut away from the hook, and wondered how- 
 ever on earth it managed to get up there. He may learn a 
 lesson from this circumstance ; this is one peculiar feature 
 of a roach bite. If he can blow a bait out of his mouth so 
 far up the gut, when that same bait is carefully and firmly 
 threaded on the shank of a hook, it sands to reason that he 
 can eject a loose bait with considerable force. We wUI 
 suppose the young angler is trying a pill of paste, and sees 
 what he supposes to be a tiny nibble, the float just gives a 
 momentary bob, scarcely perceptible to any but a practised 
 eye, so tiny and quick is this bob that our angler thinks (if 
 he notices it) that the fish is only just touching the bait with 
 his nose end, and waits a second or so, all intent for another 
 and more decided bob of his float before striking; perhaps 
 a fraction of time after the first little bob of the float there 
 does come a second and more decided one, and our novice 
 now thinks to himself: " Now, my lad, I have got yer!" and 
 strikes promptly, only to find to his great astonishment that 
 his bait has gone, and there is no fish on his hook, or if 
 there does happen to be a portion of bait left, he finds about 
 half of the original pill bitten fairly off. Now this sort of 
 thing, when repeated time after time, is apt to become a 
 trifle monotonous, and tries the temper of the angler sadly. 
 There may be scores of my young readers who can remem,- 
 ber not only one, but several experiences of a similar char- 
 acter when roach fishing in deep and quiet waters, and won- 
 dered why it was so. I will try to explain. I have called 
 attention to a gentle being blown by the roach up the gut 
 of the angler's tackle, and inferred that as the fish was cap- 
 
THE ROACH. 17 
 
 able of doing this with a tough and well-hooked bait, what 
 must it be when a soft and easily-got-rid-of bait like a pill 
 of paste is used ? This can be blown by the fish from his 
 mouth with considerable force, and it is, in my opinion, the 
 very act of blowing from his mouth that causes the second 
 and more decided bob of the float as just noticed. The 
 proper time to strike when the roach are coming shy and 
 biting in this peculiar manner, is when you notice the first 
 and smallest bob or quiver of the float. The cunning old 
 fish was then quietly sucking in the bait, perhaps only just 
 getting it between his lips and causing the tell-tale at the 
 surface of the water to indicate a faint nibble below. In 
 almost the twinkling of an eye Mr. Roach discovers that 
 there is something wrong, and that that tempting looking 
 bait is attached to something, and may prove a delusion and 
 a snare, so he promptly blows it from his mouth ; and it is 
 this forcible ejection that causes the second and more de- 
 cided bob of the float, which looks to our angler to be a much 
 better looking bite than the first tiny one was. He should have 
 responded at the first indication, instead of waiting for the 
 second. More roach are lost by waiting for the second bob 
 than are captured by so ^^aiting. As I said before, some- 
 times the roach mean business, and make no bones of it, 
 but the artist in the craft who pays attention to all these 
 little details can make a bag when the novice, or even a 
 more experienced man is entirely at fault. Try the well- 
 fed aldermanic roach in the month of .September, when the 
 water is gin-clear, and the river is still and sluggish in the 
 extreme, and then see if it is not a fine art to make a bag 
 of them. I trow it is, but a bag can be made if the weather 
 is anything like favourable, and our fisherman understands 
 his business. 
 
 I think I have made it sufficiently clear as to what a roach 
 bite in still water is like on certain occasions. This being 
 so, the veriest novice will see at a glance that a float is a very 
 important article, and must be selected with a great deal of 
 care. A heavy, clumsy, ill-balanced, water-logged wooden 
 aff"air should not be had at any price, it must be suited to 
 the water and the surroundings of his swim, ; it must not be 
 larger than is absolutely necessary, and above all it must be 
 c 
 
I 8 THE ROACH. 
 
 weighted and balanced when in use to a nicety. I men- 
 tioned a little while ago that a good porcupine quill was as 
 good as anything that could be used in these deep- still 
 waters, and I still stick to that opinion. If the water is 
 infested with huge quantities of small bleak that swimi in 
 shoals near the surface, it will be necessary to use a float 
 somewhat larger than can be used where the water is not so 
 infested. There are swims in the river Ouse and kindred 
 sluggish waters, that get full of bleak within an hour of 
 throwing in the groundbait, and if the float is very liglit and 
 the bait sinks very slowly the bleak attack it and spoil its 
 attractiveness long before it reaches the roach at the bottom- 
 Under these circumstances, in any very still water that con- 
 tains a lot of those small fish, it is as well to adopt two rules : 
 one is, use gentles as a hook bait as little as possible, rather 
 pin your faith on boiled wheat; paste is nearly as bad as 
 gentles; and, secondly, use a float some sizes bigger than 
 the first sight of the swim warrants. I find a fairly stout 
 porcupine quill, nine or ten inches long, and capable of 
 carrying some half-dozen medium-sized split shots to be 
 about the thing for this purpose. This weight on the gut 
 line causes the bait to sink rapidly in bleak-infested swims, 
 and gives you a much better chance with the roach below. 
 Small red worms on a hook are worse in this respect than 
 gentles and paste. The hungry little fish will bite and pull 
 them all to rags, and torment you to no end. Some anglers 
 may say : " Oh, you can easily get rid of the bleak by throw- 
 ing some dry bran on the water ; they follow it down stream 
 and out of reach." But supposing there is no stream, then 
 the remedy will be worse than the complaint; besides, 
 where you keep throwing ground bait in the bleak will come, 
 and I find that a fair-sized float, if properly weighted, and 
 the sinkers or shots put at the proper distance from the 
 hook and from each other, is not detrimental to good sport. 
 Of course if the water operated on contains no bleak, or, 
 at least, very few, then the float may be a size or two smaller, 
 say one carrying about four split shots of a medium size. I 
 must again imipress upon the young angler that the remarks 
 contained in this chapter relate to deep still water fishing for 
 roach, and must not be confounded with stream, or even- 
 
THE ROACH. I 9 
 
 drain fishing, which will be dealt with in another chapter. 
 
 A young friend was talking to me the other day on this 
 question of roach fishing, and he propounded a theory which 
 fairly astonished me. He said : " Now, you know, the rea- 
 son you get such lots of fish is because you dress your bait 
 and hook with some stuff from the chemist's shop; or, if 
 not, how is it that other fishermen do not meet with like 
 sport ? You get them, when we cannot." Now, if any reader 
 has got a similar idea into his head, that certain successful 
 roachers get their sport by similar means, he may at once 
 reject the idea. Ordinary means and baits, such as can 
 be procured by anybody, will be found all that is required. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 THE ROACH (continued). 
 
 roach fishing in still waters, 
 (on ground baits and hook baits). 
 
 Still water Roachers — Ground Baits — How to ground bait, and how 
 not to do it — Mixing the ground bait — Roving for Roach — Creed wheat 
 as a Roach bait — Ringing the changes — How to cree wheat — Plumbing 
 the swim— Feeding in mid-water — Stale v. fresh wheat — The postman's 
 knock — Malt — Gentles or maggots — How to breed, and how to prepare 
 them — Gentles in the winter — Paste, plain and coloured — King's bait — 
 the Cocksp7ir worm — The weather and its deceptions. 
 
 There are two classes of roach fishermen who ply their 
 craft in the deep still waters of this country. One class we 
 may call fixed fishermen, that is, those who live close to the 
 banks and can always keep a few swims baited up ; the other 
 class is the wandering angler, who can only get down for an 
 occasional day. This latter class is by far the most numer- 
 ous ; they dearly love a day's roaching, and, after being 
 cooped up from Monday morning till Saturday noon in some 
 stuffy factory, or nearly red-hot forge, the change does them 
 a world of good. To meet the requirements of these two 
 classes of anglers two distinct methods of ground-baiting is 
 necessary. The roacher who lives on the banks can afford 
 to wait for his sport ; he selects his swims, ground-baits them, 
 and fishes at his leisure. ' He is not frightened at over-baiting 
 them. If he does not get the fish one day he probably will 
 the next, whereas the man who comes down for the day only 
 must ground-bait his swim so that he is likely to have imme- 
 diate sport, or, at least, within an hour or two of selecting it 
 and throwing in his ground bait. As just hinted, the latter 
 class of roacher is by far the most numerous, so I will com- 
 
THE ROACH. 21 
 
 mence with him. A proper ground bait and a proper method 
 of using it is more important than some anglers imagine. As 
 a matter of fact, success or non-success depends in a great 
 measure on a judicious use of it. We will suppose our 
 angler has made arrangements for a day's roach fishing, and 
 the place he has in his mind's eye is somewhat similar to a 
 swim or two that I described in a previous chapter. He has 
 some little distance to travel in order to get there; every 
 extra pound he has in the bag or basket at his back is a con- 
 sideration. He wants to take with him just enough bait 
 and no more than the day needs. This bait must also be 
 just good enough in quality, and no better, than the swim 
 requires. It is the main business of the fisherman to attract 
 the fish, and not to feed them over much. I have seen 
 anglers throw into a roach swim at one time at least a quar- 
 tern measure full of boiled wheat, and nearly every com of 
 it as good in quality as the one used on the hook, and then 
 wonder why they don't get the fish. Do they suppose the 
 roach are going to be so very accommodating as to select 
 that individual kernel of boiled wheat that has the hook in- 
 side it, when there are some hundreds exactly similar lying 
 all round them? What would have been many good days* 
 roach fishing have been utterly spoiled by an injudicious 
 use of ground bait; and then the angler has blamed the 
 weather or the water, or in fact blamed anything rather than 
 the right cause. When I lived in Nottinghamshire there 
 were a couple of roach swims in the river Witham that I was 
 particularly fond of; they lay in nearly opposite directions 
 from my house, one at Doddington, and the other at Nor- 
 ton Disney, and as either of them entailed a six miles' walk, 
 it was not above two or three times during the season that 
 I cared to visit themw August and September I found to be 
 the best tim.e, and a dozen or more years ago I used to get 
 some very good catches from them ; in fact, I think some of 
 the very best samples of roach I ever took came from those 
 swims. With such a long walk before me it must be mani- 
 fest to the novice that my basket should contain no more 
 weight than was absolutely necessar)', and I found, after 
 various trials and experiments, that a ground bait made as 
 follows was the very best that could be used in a roach swim 
 
22 THE ROACH. 
 
 when the fisherman had only one day to fish it. At any 
 rate, I always got the best and most immediate results from 
 a judicious use of it. I must now give one bit of advice, and 
 that is : never mix your ground bait up on the day previous 
 to using it. If the weather is very hot this rule must be 
 more particularly observed, as it has a tendency to quickly 
 turn sour; also bear in mind that the bread used is not 
 very mouldy. Some people have an idea that anything will 
 do for ground bait — bread that is mouldy and bran that is 
 fusty, but a greater mistake cannot be made; it must be 
 sweet and fresh, or instead of attracting the roach into the 
 swim it will drive themi further from. it. Instead of mixing 
 his ground bait the previous night, it will pay the angler 
 to get up half an hour earlier on the same morning to do 
 this job. There are two things, however, that he must do 
 on the night before, and they are : put his bread in soak and 
 boil his rice. The exact quantities of each article required 
 will be : — Put a pound, or not more than a pound and a 
 quarter^ of baker's bread that is not less than three or four 
 days' old, into a pail or tin the night previous to the outing, 
 and cover it with clean cold water and let it stand till the 
 morning, so that the bread shall be thoroughly soaked. 
 While this operation is in progress the angler can have half 
 a pound of comimon rice — costing a penny — tied up loosely 
 in a linen rag, and boiling in a saucepan over the fire ; care 
 should be taken that this rice is well and thoroughly cooked. 
 When quite done, it should be taken out and laid on one 
 side to cool ; in fact, let it stop in the bag, or linen rag, till 
 you are ready to mix it next morning ; then drain most of 
 the water away" from the bread, put the rice in the tin with 
 it, and squeeze both up together till it is a pulp, with no lumps 
 bigger than a pea anywhere in it. Now take not more than 
 three parts of a peck of dry sweet bran and mix the whole 
 well together, adding a little water if it is likely to be too dry. 
 It should, however, be mixed as stiff as possible, and don't 
 be afraid of kneading it well together ; work it well in with 
 your hands, for the more you knead it and the more you turn 
 it about and niix it, the stiffer and better it is, and it will 
 sink in the swim much more quickly than if it is mixed up 
 loosely and too damp. This ground bait is improved by the 
 
THE ROACH. 23 
 
 addition of a penny packet of Thorley's cattle food ; it seems 
 to give a little scent to it, and I fancy improves its attractive- 
 ness. The quantities just quoted will make from; two dozen 
 to thirty balls of ground bait the size of oranges, and will be 
 quite sufficient for any swim in these quiet waters. It is a 
 mistake to dump in the huge puddings of grains, bread, bran, 
 wheat, clay and all other sorts of mixtures that I have seen 
 some anglers do, even up to a good-sized sack full. In quiet 
 or semi-quiet waters this ground bait ^vill sink without any 
 addition to it, but if there is a stream, and the angler fancies 
 his bait will be carried out of his reach, then the addition 
 of a little clean yellow clay will improve it. Clay can gene- 
 rally be found close at hand on the banks of these quiet 
 waters, but failing to find any, then a few pebbles the size of 
 walnuts will come in handy. A ball of ground bait tightly 
 kneaded round one will carry the said ball of bait quickly 
 to the bottom of the s\\'im,, but, speaking generally, eight 
 swims out of ever}^ ten can be managed nicely without any 
 .addition to the ground bait. As soon as the angler has satis- 
 fied himself that he has selected a likely swim, and found out 
 by a judicious use of his plummet that the bottom; is clean 
 and tolerably level, he puts in, say, from six to ten of his 
 balls of bait. He can, if he likes, divide each ball into three 
 portions, squeeze each portion tightly together, and cast ^'t 
 at the head of his swim the exact distance he intends to fish 
 from; the bank. Before he throws in this bait he should 
 carefully plumb the depth ; take a preliminary swim or two, 
 to see that all is clear, and get everything in proper going 
 •order, so that after his swim is baited he will make no more 
 disturbance than he can help. If he has conducted his 
 •operations properly the roach should, if all is favourable, 
 come on the feed in about an hour, or an hour and a half, 
 from the time of baiting. If the fish are biting moderately 
 well, use your remaining ground bait very sparingly. I 
 believe in giving the swimi nearly half the bait to start with, 
 and after waiting, say, a couple of hours give the remainder 
 little and often. A small handful every ten minutes or so 
 will keep the fish in the swimi, and give themi confidence ; 
 but whatever you do, don't throw a lot of bait in of the same 
 -quality that you use on the hook. I might add that the total 
 
24 
 
 THE ROACH. 
 
 cost of this ground bait will not exceed sixpence. Another 
 good plan in these deep and quiet waters is roving for roach^ 
 instead of putting the whole of the ground bait in one swim 
 and sticking to that place all day, try a dozen places, drop a 
 ball or two in, and fish an hour ; then try another, finally 
 going back to the first, expending his ground bait in morsels 
 in any and every likely looking shop he comes across, and 
 fishing none of them very long together, shifting to another 
 after getting a couple of roach out of one, and so on all day 
 long. I have known some capital bags of roach to be made; 
 by this method of ground-baiting. When the angler is using 
 wheat as a hook bait, and the ground bait as just described, 
 he can, if he likes, have a little inferior wheat about half 
 cooked, not more than half a pint at the outside, and sprinkle 
 in his swimi a few corns from time to time, but not more than 
 a score at once ; but whatever he does in this matter, he 
 must mind and have his hook bait of very miuch better quality 
 than the corns or baits thrown in the swim. Ground baits 
 for roach are very nearly as varied in their character as the 
 hook baits themselves. I have seen some curious mixtures 
 used, and occasionally with very fair success. A ground 
 bait that is very much affected by certain roachers who live- 
 on the banks is grains ; that is, brewer's grains, and clay. 
 They procure a couple of bushels and put them; in a tub 
 and cover them with water ; this keeps them sweet and fresh 
 for several days. They then take a pailful at once, and mix 
 them with clay and dump in the swim, a dozen huge balls 
 every night for a week. Some odd times they get very large 
 bags of roach and bream after a baiting of that description, 
 but personally I am. not in favour of the plan. This ground 
 bait, when put in in such tremendous quantities, is very apt 
 to spoil the swim, altogether for two or three weeks after- 
 wards, as I fancy it turns sour and sickens the fish. The 
 ground bait as first described is more to be relied on; in 
 fact, for quiet or semi-quiet waters I know by personal ex- 
 perience that it cannot be beaten, especially in those waters 
 where wheat and paste are the staple and most important 
 hook baits. I have looked at these ground baits at rather a 
 great length, because the subject is one of the most important 
 that can be brought to the notice of the novice. 
 

 THE ROACH. 2^ 
 
 We will now turn our attention to the hook baits and how 
 to prepare them. A favourite bait with the roach fishermen 
 of these quiet waters is creed or boiled wheat, and I know 
 of no other bait that is cleaner and more pleasant to use. 
 It is very cheap, easy to prepare, and during the summer 
 and early autumn months is first and foremost as a killer. 
 On the Ouse, the Nene, the Welland, the Witham^ and the 
 huge network of smaller rivers and drains that intersect that 
 country-side it is used with considerable success ; and I 
 make no doubt it would be equally successful if tried in the 
 canals and reservoirs of the north country. It is a standing 
 dish on the rivers and broads of Norfolk and Suffolk, scores 
 of stones of roach being killed every season in those waters- 
 by its agency ; in fact, I have an idea that no matter where- 
 in England roach are to be found the fisherman might do 
 worse than give this bait a fair trial. I once saw it gravely 
 asserted in print that the reason roach took creed wheat in 
 certain waters was because of the flour mills on the banks ; 
 the fish got a taste of it by the grain escaping from the mill' 
 into the \v?LteT ; but the probability is that had there been any 
 record of the fact the ancestors of those same roach in the 
 dim and distant past would have been as equally fond of 
 the bait, even long before any flour mills were built beside 
 the stream. I know of certain stream^s and pools where the 
 roach in them, are very partial to that bait, and yet there was 
 no possibility of the fish having acquired the taste by grain 
 escaping from mills into the water, for the simple reason that 
 none exist within miles of the spot. When I fished the Trent 
 and the Witham I had an idea that was founded upon actual 
 experience that white wheat was the best for the hook. In- 
 the waters of the Ouse district I seem to fancy that honours 
 are about equally divided between the white and the red, 
 sometimes white being the most attractive, and then again^ 
 red being the greatest favourite ; as a matter of fact, I found 
 that a judicious changing about was conducive to sport. I 
 have been using a kernel of white wheat on the hook and had 
 no response for several minutes, and then changed it for a 
 kernel of red, and got a good fish directly; and the same^ 
 thing has frequently happened when changing a red one for 
 a white. But speaking in a general way, I find that one- 
 
26 THE ROACH. 
 
 is as good as the other, and the roach fisherman would find 
 it to be to his advantage to have a little of both mixed to- 
 gether, so that he could ring the changes should occasion 
 require. A good handful of each will be quite sufficient to 
 cook at once, and they need not be boiled separate, as* they 
 can easily be distinguished one from, the other, even when 
 miixed together. The best plan to adopt in preparing wheat 
 for the hook is to put as much as you require into a basin 
 and cover it with cold water, letting it stand to steep for 
 several hours, eight or ten, or even more would be none the 
 worse. Then put the com so steeped into a linen rag or 
 any old piece of white calico, and tie a string round it in such 
 a manner that the wheat has plenty of room to swell during 
 the process of boiling. This is a most important point, as 
 it is absolutely necessary that the wheat should swell out to 
 its utmost capacity, and if the rag containing it is tied too 
 closely the main object will be defeated. Now put it in a 
 saucepan with sufficient cold water to well cover it, and set 
 it on the fire, or at least near the fire, in such a position that 
 the water slowly boils. It is not a good plan to let it boil 
 too fast. The more slowly the water boils the bigger the 
 wheat swells out. The water in the saucepan should be 
 emptied out at intervals, and fresh clean cold water put in, 
 and again reboiled for another hour or so, changing it again 
 at the end of that time. It takes four hours, sometimes 
 longer, according to the fire, to ^roperly cree or cook wheat, 
 and during this time the water it is boiled in should be 
 changed and fresh substituted five or six times. When the 
 wheat is swelled out to nearly the size of a pea — which very 
 good quality corn will sometimes do — and it cracks open 
 half-way round the kernel and shows the white inside, it is 
 cooked sufficient and is ready for use. Some tryos may 
 wonder why I recommend the water wheat is cooked in to 
 be changed so often. The reason is because one small 
 quantity of water in use all the time it is cooking is apt to get 
 very much discoloured and turn the wheat dark in colour, 
 instead of being white and clean, as it will be, or should be, if 
 properly cooked. If the angler has a good-sized kitchen 
 boiler to his fireplace it will save trouble. These articles 
 generally hold several gallons of water, and are mostly slowly 
 
THE ROACH. 27 
 
 boiling ; he can drop his bag of wheat into that and let it 
 istop in a few hours without any further thought, as the small 
 quantity of wheat would not turn such a large quantity of 
 water as that dark and disagreeable. Some anglers recom- 
 mend wheat to be slowly stewed in a jar in a hot oven, and 
 not tied up in a rag at all. In my opinion this is only a 
 very fair plan ; I pronounce most decidedly in favour of the 
 tied-up rag and the boiling saucepan. The kitchen boiler 
 would not be available to six out of every ten roachers, so I 
 -only casually mention it. In using this bait on the hook a 
 single kernel will be found quite sufficient, and for hooks I 
 find a No. ii crjstal bend, or a Xo. lo sneck bend, to be 
 the very best; perhaps the former has a slight call for 
 favouritism, and I must again impress upon the angler the 
 necessity of the gut tackle being of the very finest. For this 
 still water fishing the best colour for the drawn gut will be 
 a smoky blue, the shots should be put on the gut line about 
 four or five inches from each other, the bottomi one no 
 nearer the hook than fifteen inches (see my remarks on the 
 subject in the previous chapter). I have tried this bait in 
 all depths, and occasionally I have taken good roach when 
 using it in mid-water, but generally speaking I find it the 
 most effective when used as near the bottom as possible. 
 My advice is, the angler should plumb his swim- just as far 
 as he can reach with his rod out at arms' length ; and when 
 his plummet rests on the bottom of the river, about three 
 inches of his porcupine float should stand above the surface 
 of the water. This I find to be the best plan to adopt. In 
 plumbing the depth of his swim., he should stand as near 
 the edge of the water as possible and reach \\-ith his fourteen- 
 foot roach rod as far as he possibly can. This will be 
 about the distance from the bank his float will travel, when 
 sitting on his basket or stool, because he will naturally throw 
 the bait and float so that it settles in the water three feet or 
 so in front of his rod point. He must also take care to throw 
 his ground bait in, directly in the track of his float, and if 
 there is a little stream or current, so that the float creeps 
 down the swim, say about a yard in a minute, the chances of 
 ■catching roach are more favourable than if it stood still and 
 did not move at all. 
 
28 THE ROACH. 
 
 Sometimes in fishing these very quiet rivers the bait is 
 taken before it has had anything like time to reach the bot- 
 tom of the river. This will show the angler that for once 
 in a way the roach are feeding in mid-water. He might now 
 for a change alter his depth to half what it was before and 
 throw out well in every direction, until he covers all the water 
 within immediate reach ; a few good roach may be the result 
 of this experiment, but to take things on the whole I find 
 the roach generally go down to where the ground bait is.- 
 Fishing in mid-water when the ground bait is on the bottom 
 is a good deal like spreading a good dinner out in the cellar 
 and then going into the top attic to enjoy it. But whatever 
 the angler does, he must bear in mind what I said in the 
 chapter on bites, and must, when fishing with wheat in still 
 water, strike gently on the very first indication of a bite. 
 
 I have been asked the question several times as to whether 
 I prefer to use this bait fresh or wait till it gets rather stale ; 
 and here I find a difficulty staring me in the face. Personally 
 I prefer to use it when fresh cooked, or at least when no 
 longer than three days' old. Some other anglers say it is 
 the best when a week old, and certainly I have known on 
 odd occasions good bags of roach to have been made, when 
 the boiled wheat has been in the last stages of consumption ; 
 but a careful consideration of the subject has led me to come 
 to the conclusion that the fresher it is the better. At any 
 rate it is the best to use it within three days of cooking it, 
 and what is left after that time can be safely thrown away and 
 a fresh lot prepared. One little incident that bears upon 
 this subject I must now give. In this locality we had a rural 
 postman who was a rare good roach fisherman, and one 
 morning he found the river steadily rising, and just a tint of 
 colour coming down with it. It was a roach water and 
 roach weather, but, alas ! he had no boiled wheat and no time 
 to prepare any. However, a search on the bank round some 
 well-known swims resulted in the discovery of a dozen or two 
 stale corns of boiled wheat that bad been discarded by some 
 other fisherman at least a week previous. These were joy- 
 fully seized upon, and within the next two hours fifteen 
 pounds of good roach were reposing in the postman's basket 
 and he himself driven from the banks by the rapidly rising: 
 
THE ROACH. 29 
 
 water. This is one instance of the efficacy of stale wheat, 
 but on the other hand I can call to mind several cases where 
 fresh-boiled wheat has succeeded in luring roach when an- 
 other angler, using stale, got nothing. The best bag of 
 roach I ever got in my life was taken one afternoon from, 
 the Ouse with wheat that was cooked the same morning. 
 This bag numbered 136 fish, and many of them were from 
 lib. to nearly 2 lb. each. I might multiply these cases con- 
 siderably, but I have said enough to illustrate my point. In 
 certain waters boiled malt is superior to wheat as a roach 
 bait ; but in deep and quiet waters wheat has the preference. 
 Malt seems to be more effective than wheat in shallower 
 streams where there is a gentle current, and more particularly 
 in the broken water at the foot of a weir, or the tail of a 
 mill, where the froth of the overfall curls round and round 
 in a shallow eddy, seems to be the places for the successful 
 use of malt, although it occasionally meets with success in 
 slow running streams. Malt is prepared for the hook by 
 boiling or stewing the same as recommended for wheat, only 
 it takes double the time to cook malt as it does wheat. Some 
 anglers stew it in a jar in the oven, and add a spoonful of 
 sugar to every handful of malt, but I prefer it cooked exactly 
 as recommended for wheat. 
 
 As soon as October gets well in boiled wheat ceases to be 
 so attractive to the roach of these quiet waters. When the 
 first frosts of the late autum,n begin to whiten the grass in 
 the early morning, the dead leaves flutter from, the trees in a 
 shower, and the reeds and rushes on the river bank change 
 their colour from green to brown, then it is time for our 
 Fen roacher to turn his attention to something else in the 
 shape of a bait if he desires to make a bag of those fish, which 
 now will be less in number but very much larger in individual 
 size. Sometimes roach will take boiled wheat all through the 
 winter — at least while the weather remains open and the 
 waters are not ice-bound — but, speaking generally, I find that 
 as soon as the middle of October gets over it is not a safe 
 and certain bait. Gentles, paste, and worms are now the 
 principal lures according to the state of the water and 
 weather. 
 
 Gentles are now an extremely useful bait for roach, more 
 
30 
 
 THE ROACH. 
 
 particularly if the water is fairly clear and the weather cold. 
 Happy is that angler who has a good supply of those baits 
 at the latter end of October. Opinions are divided as to- 
 what makes the best maggots ; some will swear by gentles 
 bred from bullock's liver, as being more yellow in colour 
 and more attractive than any other; while others favour 
 maggots bred from, fish, because they are whiter and larger. 
 The maggots generally sold to the angler are for the most 
 part bred from refuse fat, but the thoughtful fisherman, if 
 he has any facilities at all in the shape of outbuildings, will 
 breed and feed his own for winter use. I find the best plan 
 to adopt to keep a constant supply of gentles all through the 
 winter is to procure a few small roach or bream' — or failing 
 those, any refuse fish fromi the dealer's will do^ — about the 
 middle of October, and put them, in an old tin or any other 
 convenient vessel. Set them out of the way of cats or rats, 
 but in a place where the blow-flies are likely to find them. 
 If there is a burst or two of sunshine during the days imme- 
 diately following, the fish will be well struck or blown within 
 a week, and the little maggots start to feed. The angler 
 should now keep his eye on them,, and if he finds that the 
 fish alreadv there is not sufficient to fully feed them up, he 
 must from time to time procure a little more. This is one 
 of the secrets of successful maggot breeding and feeding: 
 they must be fed up to their full size. I have had a tin of 
 feeding gentles and dropped in among them two or three half- 
 pound roach or bream; by the next morning the bones of 
 those fish have been picked clean, and the maggots nearly 
 twice the size that they were twenty hours previously. Dur- 
 ing the season of the year that I am now referring to, gentles 
 do not feed quite so ravenously, nor grow quite so rapidly 
 as they do during very hot weather, but if you can get your 
 fish successfully fly-blown during the latter part or the middle 
 of October the rest is easy. As soon as the angler perceives 
 that his maggots are fully fed he must at once attend to them, 
 for nature now teaches the gentles to crawl away from their 
 food and seek retirement in any old nook, crack, or crevice, 
 and if our fisherman neglects them, at this time he will pro- 
 bably find on again looking into his tin that the whole of 
 them have vanished by some mysterious means or other. 
 
THE ROACH. 3I 
 
 No crack or hole in the vessel containing them is too small 
 for them to work through, and the sides must be attended 
 to, for no matter how steep or smooth they are, the fully- 
 grown maggots will crawl up and escape. While they are 
 feeding they \vill not attempt to leave their food, but as soon- 
 as ever they are fully fed up no open vessel will long con- 
 tain them. The best plan to adopt after arriving at this stage 
 is to turn the whole lot out into a riddle or seive, having pre- 
 viously put under that riddle a pancheon or other wide- 
 topped earthem vessel. The maggots will speedily crawl 
 through the wires of the seive and drop into the vessel be- 
 low, leaving the refuse and bones of the fish behind them. 
 The gentles should now be mixed with a quantity of damp 
 sand. On no account should dry bran or sawdust be put 
 with them, and this is particularly to be observed when the 
 maggots are intended for keep during the winter. The very 
 best vessel I ever had as a store for them was an old earthen- 
 ware pickle or jam jar, about sixteen inches deep and seven 
 wide, with a neck big enough to easily admit the hand. If 
 the angler is lucky enough to get a full pint of good well-fed 
 gentles fit for the hook, I should consider that quantity will 
 tide him over the winter comfortably. About a quart or 
 three pints of damp sand will be ample to keep them in, and 
 it does not particularly matter what sort of sand it is, so long 
 as it is clean, small, and sharp. It is the best to keep this 
 jar of gentles in a very cool damp place, say in the coldest 
 corner of the cellar, if you have one, if not, any other cool 
 position will do. Gentles, as a rule, that are bred and fed 
 during the latter part of October do not change into the 
 chrysalis state to any extent; a few perhaps may, but the 
 bulk of them will lie among the sand in a semi-torpid con- 
 dition. I have kept them from November right round to 
 March, and never been short of a hook bait for the roach 
 when the water and weather permitted them to be used. 
 A good plan is to put the jar containing the sand and 
 gentles into another vessel containing cold water, the water 
 reaching up the outside of the jar about as far or a little 
 farther than the gentles are inside it ; but care must be taken 
 that no water goes inside among them. This contact with 
 "old water helps to keep the gentles chilled and cool, as^ 
 
32 
 
 THE ROACH. 
 
 they naturally have a tendency to heat and sweat them- 
 selves. They need not be kept in the cold water very long, 
 nor yet very often ; a few hours now and again will be quite 
 sufficient. The gentles bred from^ fish are, in my opinion, 
 capital baits for roach during the winter months in these 
 deep still waters, especially if the weather is somewhat cold, 
 and the water clear. At this time roach are found in the 
 deepest and quietest holes, and the bait, which need not be 
 more than a couple or three of those maggots, should be as 
 near the bottom of the river as possible. The hook can 
 be a size larger than recommended for the same fish during 
 the summer, say a No. lo, and the gut line itself can be, 
 if the angler likes, a little thicker and stronger than recom- 
 mended for use during the hot summer months. While I 
 am' on Avith the subject of gentles. I may say that they can 
 be bred and fed from nearly anything besides fish ; a sheep's 
 head, a lump of liver, a dead rabbit, or anything of that 
 kind; but one thing is certain, and that is, it does not 
 matter what they are first bred in, nothing beats a few fish 
 to feed them, up with quickly and to a great size. For the 
 hot summer months the procedure is the same as just des- 
 cribed, except that then the maggots change into chrysalis 
 very quickly, and must be used within a week or ten days 
 after putting them among the sand. It takes about three 
 days among this sharp sand to render them, fit for the hook ; 
 they clean thmselves during that time, and then look bright, 
 white and clear from that nasty black patch they wore when 
 first taken from their food. 
 
 A good change bait for these still waters during the win- 
 ter will be a bit of bread paste made from the white crumb 
 of a two days' old loaf. I recommend a piece about the size 
 of two of your fingers, dipped in clean cold water, then 
 squeezed so that some of the water is wrung out, and worked 
 up well with clean hands till it is of the consistency of soft 
 putty. A teaspoonful of " King's Natural Bait " (a white 
 sweet-smelling powder this is) should be added, and worked 
 up together till the paste is white, tough and stiff. Parti- 
 cular care must be taken that no dirt or tobacco ashes find 
 their way into this paste ; well washed and scrubbed hands 
 are a necessity. I like my paste rolled up in a bit of clean 
 
THE ROACH. 33 
 
 white rag, and put carefully into a corner of the basket 
 where nothing else is likely to get mixed with it. This white 
 paste is rather attractive to the roach of these waters, es- 
 pecially during the late autumn and early winter weeks (the 
 bleak do not botTier you now so much as they did during 
 the summer, so paste can be used without much fear of 
 them' spoiling it before it reaches the roach at the bottom. 
 See Chapter II.). One or two of my best winter bags of 
 roach have been made by the agency of this paste. I have 
 also noticed a very curious thing when using paste as a bait, 
 and that is, if you forget to ^\ipe your hands after landing 
 a roach, and some of the slime sticks to your fingers and 
 finds its way pretty plentifully on your next pill of paste, 
 you are not long before you get another bite; indeed, I 
 make it a rule to just dab the bait on the last fish caught. 
 I have an idea it is effective; anyhow I know it is worth 
 trying. A very nice paste is made by adding a pinch of 
 Vermillion to the one just described ; this is a beautiful pink 
 colour when well worked together; a little chrome yellow 
 added also makes a capital yellow paste. These are all 
 good at times ; in fact, I believe in changing about, using 
 white for a few minutes, then pink, then yellow, and so on ; 
 it is not much more trouble and expense to make these three 
 difftrent coloured pastes, and I know by experience that 
 it pays. I have tried all sorts of things one time or 
 other that have been advertised in the sporting papers, 
 but I nev'jr found any o^ them to come up io their ac'v«M- 
 tised qualities; the three pastes, or rather the one paste 
 coloured and plain, will be found all that the angler re- 
 qinr^N T might ad 1 that it is best to use pa-;te wlirn i^e 
 water is clear. A very old friend of mine (the late Tom 
 Bentley), a paste fishennan for roach of more than ordinary 
 skill and experience, always used to chew up his bread a 
 little before kneading it together with his fingers. He 
 would have it that wetting it in the mouth made a far more 
 attractive bread paste than dipping it in the water, and cer- 
 tainly his opinion was worth something, as he was one of 
 the most expert paste fishers I ever knew. 
 
 If the water during the winter comes down with a little 
 colour in it then a small red worm can be tried as a hook 
 
24 THE ROACH. 
 
 bait, and the best worms for this purpose are the little red 
 ones found in an old manure heap. The Nottingham -nun 
 call these worms cockspurs; they are a nice liitle worm, 
 just big enough for a No. 9 crystal bend hook, and can easily 
 be recognised as they range from an inch to an inch and a 
 half in length, and when scoured for a few days in camp 
 clean moss are of a brilliant red, with a light, drab-coloured 
 ring or knob about half an inch from> the head end. One, 
 or sometimes two of them if very small, nicely threaded on 
 the hook is a capital lure, especially at those times during 
 the winter when the water in the river is warmer than the 
 surrounding atmosphere. I fancy myself that the reason 
 roach do not bite at all freely during very cold weather in 
 these deep and sluggish waters is because the temperaiure 
 of the water is very much lower than in shallower, swifter 
 streams. The latter always show the best results during 
 the winter. At odd times the angler in these waters, if 
 he takes the trouble to notice it, will find a strange thing 
 happening. The weather may be splendid, " quite mild 
 like a spring day," and he may congratulate himself accord- 
 ingly. He perhaps tries the depth with his plummet, and 
 discovers the fact on withdrawing it that it feels to his hand 
 icy cold, or at least several degrees colder than the air out- 
 side. Under this condition his chance of sport is only 
 very limited, and worms will be the very worst bait to try; 
 gentles will now stand the best chance, even if the water is 
 a trifle coloured. On the other hand the weather on the 
 river bank may be very raw and cold, and yet on trying the 
 water with the plummet, our angler this time discovers the 
 fact that the water itself is very much warmer than the sur- 
 rounding atmosphere. Under these conditions the chances 
 of sport will improve, and worms be as good as any bait he 
 can try. My bait table for the roach of these deep and 
 quiet waters is only very limited — boiled wheat for the sum,- 
 mer and early autumn, and pastes, gentles and worms for 
 the late autumn and winter months. For ground bait, the 
 same as recommended for use during the summer will be 
 found all that is required, only now the fisherman must be 
 very sparing in the use of it. About one-third the quan- 
 tity recommended before will be sufficient, and perhaps he 
 
THE ROACH. 35 
 
 may, by judiciously ringing the changes, that is, tning in 
 turn paste, gentles and worms, succeed in getting a little 
 dish of good roach, even if the weather is not so favourable 
 as he could have wished. My experience ^\ith the roach in 
 deep and sluggish waters during very cold weather is that 
 for one success you must expect at least two or three dis- 
 appointments. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 THE ROACH (continued). 
 
 STREAM AND DRAIN FISHING FOR ROACH. 
 
 (the NOTTINGHAM AND SHEFFIELD STYLES). 
 
 Stream v. drain Jisking— The stream fishing rod— The outfit— Floating 
 the line— Floats and Tackle— Groutid baiting the streams— Baiting the 
 }iook — Fishing the swim — A strange ground bait — A flooded water — 
 " Stret Peggiiig" — The Nottingham style — Findi?ig the depth — Casting out 
 the bait— Ledgering for Roach— Undercurrents— A heavy stream— The 
 Sheffield style — Shrimps as bait — A killing style — Experiences on the 
 Avon and Frome, 
 
 The two preceding chapters on this subject have been 
 devoted to a description of roach fishing with a long rod, 
 as generally practised in deep and very quiet waters, such 
 as the Ouse, the Nene, and various other sluggish rivers 
 of a similar character, as well as certain lakes and broads. 
 There are two more classes of waters that I ami acquainted 
 with, that require tackle of a somewhat different character 
 in order to successfully operate upon them. One of these 
 classes is a stream where the water flows moderately fast. 
 These streams are perhaps of no great depth, but sparkl- 
 ing and lively; such as the Trent, for instance, and the 
 Witham in some parts of their courses; or indeed, like a 
 score more rivers in various parts of England. The veri- 
 est novice will easily recognise the waters that I mean, as 
 they are to be found in almost any district; streams that 
 flow from one to three miles per hour, where it is neces- 
 sary to keep the bait and float constantly travelling back- 
 wards and forwards (of course providing these streams con- 
 tain roach, which I make no doubt many do). In stream 
 fishing for roach the depth of water is of no great account, 
 
THE ROACH. 37 
 
 as I have killed good roach in two feet of water, and also 
 found them in any depth of swim between that ano twelve 
 feet. The other class of water I referred to is nanals, 
 drains or cuts of no very great width, water exceedi.ag still 
 and quiet and ranging from four to eight feet deep; such 
 waters, for instance, as are to be found in the Fens ol Lin- 
 colnshire. For the former waters, or stream fishing, the 
 plan that is known as the Nottingham style is the best; 
 while for the latter, or drain fishing, where there is no 
 stream at all, the plan that is sometimes called the Sheffield 
 style must be adopted. These two styles differ widely in 
 their character; but still, when we come to examine them 
 closely, they have features in common. This may sound 
 somewhat queer, but I will endeavour tO' explain my meal- 
 ing. In the first place, the rod, reel and line for both 
 styles can be identical; what is suited for stream fishing 
 will do very well for the drain. It is the float and tackle, 
 and the details of using them, that constitute the difference. 
 For stream fishing, the float must be a moderate-sized one, 
 carrying a fair comiplement of split-shot on the gut bottom. 
 This is in order to swim down the current, and to keep the 
 bait as near the bottomi of the river as possible all the way 
 down the full length of the angler's swim; for it must be 
 remembered that a very small float, and scarcely any shot 
 on the tackle, would result in drowning the float, and in 
 addition the bait would work up nearer the surface of the 
 stream than desirable, and the angler's object would be 
 utterly defeated. In fishing the drain, on the other hand, 
 the float can hardly be too small, a tiny porcupine quill 
 carrying a couple of very small shot being about the big- 
 gest weight that is required ; indeed, I have seen good 
 roachers in some ot the Fen drams usmg a float made from 
 a crow's wing feather that has been very little, if any, larger 
 than a wax match. 
 
 I hinted just now that the rod for both these styles of 
 roach fishing could be identical — -what will do for one will 
 do very well for the other ; and this rod miust have twO' or 
 three decided characteristics : it must be light, well- 
 balanced, stiff", and above all must have a quick and sharp 
 strike direct from the point. The long roach rod described 
 
38 
 
 THE ROACH. 
 
 and recommended for deep, still water fishing will not be 
 a success if used as a Nottingham; rod down a stream. What 
 I call a perfect rod for the work now under notice should 
 be built after the style fully described in the chapter on bar- 
 bel, only, of course, shorter and very much lighter. I like 
 mv roach rod to have plenty of material in the lower half 
 of it, and be tapered true and fine fromi the centre of it up 
 to the tip, so that when in conflict with a big roach it will 
 bend in a beautiful half circle from the point to about half- 
 way down its entire length, the bottom, end half remaining 
 nearly straight. I don't like to see a roach rod that will 
 bend right down tO' the winch fittings. This action may be 
 all right in a fly rod, but in a roach rod., especially for stream 
 fishing, it will be found a mistake. This rod can be from 
 ten to eleven feet long; anything over the latter spoils its 
 balance. I don't care for a rod of this class to weigh much 
 less than a pound,, and even a roach rod of this weight, if 
 properly made, will feel lighter in the hand than a ten-ounce 
 bamboo rod, for the simple reason that the latter is very 
 thin and light at the butt end, thus causing it tOi feel de- 
 cidedly top-heavy, while the pound rod has a good portion 
 of its weight in the hand, thus feeling ligjiter than it really 
 is. This rod can be built of the same material as recom- 
 mended for making a barbel rod. The size of the ferrules 
 need not, however, in this case exceed nine^sixteenths of an 
 inch in diameter on the butt, and five-sixteenths of an inch 
 on the centre joint; the rings can be of the same pattern 
 as then described ; " Bell's Life " rings on the 
 butt and centre ; snake rings on the top ; a plain steel 
 loop at the extreme tip end ; plain ferrules ; and the winch 
 or reel rings seven inches from the end of the butt. Armed 
 with a rod of this class our roach fisherman who plies his 
 craft in the waters now referred to is prepared for anything 
 that may happen to turn up, and can fish his swimi in either 
 the Nottingham or the Sheffield style, whichever suits that 
 particular swim the best ; and I might add the cost of this 
 rod should not exceed eight to ten shillings. 
 
 If the angler operates on a stream, where he finds it neces- 
 sary to swim his float from ten to twenty yards from* where he 
 stands, he will find the three-and-a-half inch centre-pin reel 
 
THE ROACH. 39 
 
 that I described so fully in the chapter on chub fishing the 
 most comfortable to use, that is after he has once mastered 
 its little peculiarities. The remarks I then used can be 
 applied with equal force to roach fishing down a stream; ; 
 the bait must travel without jerk or catch, so in my opinion 
 this reel stands at the head of all Nottingham reels. Just 
 lately, a new centre pin reel, called the " Coxon," has been 
 invented to fish down the streams in the Nottingham, style. 
 It is made on the spider principle, like a bicycle wheel. 
 The revolving barrel of this reel is remarkably light, and 
 runs nearly at a breath of wind. It looks a likely tool for 
 roach and dace fishing with a very fine line and tackle ; but 
 whether it will stand the heavier streams, when used in bar- 
 bel fishing, remains to be seen. But if 
 the angler fishes only in the quiet drains or cuts, where 
 there is no current at all, it does not matter so much about 
 his reel ; a cheap three-inch one, pro\'ided it runs fairly free, 
 and is light, will meet his requirements ; but if he is in the 
 habit of fishing, both classes of water he must more particu- 
 larly select his reel for the stream work, and then with care 
 he can easily operate on both. The novice will see, after 
 reading miy foregoing remarks, that I am decidedly in 
 favour of using running tackle for any class of water, and 
 any class of roach fishing. 
 
 The running line should consist of forty yards of good 
 plaited silk, of the same quality as recommended for barbel 
 and chub fishing, except that it need not be so stout — ^the 
 finer it is the better, consistent with strength. A stream 
 especially can be fished much easier with a fine line than it 
 can with a stout one ; the float can be cast out much fur- 
 ther, and the accuracy of the cast is greatly improved ; but 
 don't go to extremes and use a line too extra fine and \veak, 
 or you may " strike off," as it is known among fishermen, and 
 lose not only the fish, but the tackle and float. Personally 
 1 should not dream of using a line for this work any finer 
 than what will lift three pounds dead weight. In fishing a 
 quiet dram where the water is perfectly still the tyro will 
 sometimes wish the line would float upon the surface ; per- 
 haps his float is six or eight feet away from his rod point, 
 and the line between the rod end and the quill sinks deep 
 
40 
 
 thp: roach. 
 
 in the water, thus causing some little annoyance when he 
 has a quick^ shy bite. Very often this drowning of the 
 line results in missing the fish, whereas if the line floated on 
 the surface the strike from the rod point would be sharp 
 and effective. All sorts of fancy things have been recom- 
 mended for this purpose, but after many trials I find noth- 
 ing to beat a little bit of composite candle, not the old- 
 fashioned tallow candle, bear in mind, but the composite 
 candle of commerce, sold by any grocer at a halfpenny each. 
 An end half an inch in length can be easily carried in a 
 little tin box in the bag or basket ; rub this down the line 
 as far as you think it will be wanted, while the said line is 
 dry, and the silk will float for hours. Streams fishermen in 
 the Nottinghami style should have a small collection of care- 
 fully selected floats always ready for any emergency. For 
 roach fishing in water that ranges from eight to ten feet deep,' 
 where the flow is moiderately fast, and a curling eddy every 
 few yards, a fair-sized pelican quill that will carry some eight 
 or ten B.B. split shots will be the best and safest to use, and 
 these shots must not be crowded all together about a foot 
 or SO' from the hook, because this plan will cause the 
 tackle and line between the float and' the shots to belly and 
 bag when in use ; but they must be distributed at irregular 
 intervals all down the gut tackle, a good deal the same as 
 I recommended for chub fishing. I like these split shot 
 put on the tackle in pairs, each individual shot forming a 
 pair, being about an inch apart ; the bottomi pair should be 
 no nearer the hook than fifteen inches ; six inches above 
 those another pair can be put on, and then nine inches 
 higher up another pair, and so on until the eight or ten are 
 fixed, the last pair being about six inches from' the loop of 
 the four foot long tackle ; and I strongly recommend a tackle 
 to be at least that length when fishing a deep and strong 
 stream for roach. If the water is no more than from, four to 
 five feet deep, and the streami not quite so fast, a smaller 
 float must be used, and in this case it can be a small swan 
 quill, and half a dozen split shot distributed as before will 
 be ample ; or if the stream is slow, but still a streami, bear 
 in mind, then a goose quill and four shots will be quite suffi- 
 cient, but in this case, instead of putting the shot on the 
 tackle in pairs, they must be put on singly. 
 
THE ROACH. 4I 
 
 The three quill floats just described will be found the very 
 best that can possibly be used in roach fishing down a stream, 
 and remember what I say in this respect. The pelican quill 
 for deep and strong streams ; the s^^•an quill for more moder- 
 ate streams that are not quite so deep ; and the goose quill 
 for slower waters still. The gut tackle itself for stream fish- 
 ing should be made of ver)- fine natural or undrawn gut, three- 
 or four feet long. I am very fond of undrawn gut for strean* 
 fishing, the reason for which I explained in the chapter on 
 barbel tackle. This gut can be stained either blue or light 
 brown, and tied together in lengths the same as already fully 
 described elsewhere. Brown - coloured tackle is won- 
 derfully good for streams that have a gravelly 
 bottom. Gut for roach fishing is kno\Mi among 
 
 dealers as " finest refina," and runs from eighteenpence to 
 two shillings per hank of a hundred strios. What I prefer for 
 this work is a fine natural gut bottom fully three feet long, 
 and shotted according to the stream as already indicated, 
 the hook itself being on a separate length of gut ; and this 
 should be 3X drawn gut I explained in the chapter on 
 barbel tackle why I liked my tackle in two sections, and those 
 remarks hold good when applied to roach tackle. Hooks 
 for stream fishing can be the same as for still water, viz., 
 No. 9 for worms. No. lo for gentles, grain, and paste; while 
 a few Nos. ii and 12 will come in handy if the water is very 
 clear, the roach biting shy, and the angler finds himself com- 
 pelled to use a very small bait. Bright crystal hooks are in 
 my opinion the best pattern that can be tried. Ground baits 
 I mentioned at length in the preceding chapter, when treat- 
 ing of still water fishing ; and the remarks as to those baits 
 hold good in stream fishings except that the angler has to 
 be more careful in using them down a streams While fishing 
 he must not dump in a whole bag full at once; he must 
 use it ver)- judiciously, putting it in by littles and often. He 
 must also be very careful in throwing it in, and must be 
 sure that it is exactly in the space where the hook bait travels. 
 He must judge to a nicetv the strength and depth of the cur- 
 rent, and throw it in at the proper distance above where he 
 stands, or it may be swept out of his reach below his selected 
 swim. A good plan to try the set of the stream), as it is called,. 
 
42 THE ROACH 
 
 is to throw on the surface a few little bits of dried stick, and 
 watch which way they float. Sometimes the current works 
 towards the bank on which the fisherman stands, and some- 
 times away towards the one opoosite. By this means the 
 angler will soon find out the exact distance from the bank 
 that his ground bait must be cast. Sometimes, when the 
 current is strong it is necessary to throw it at least ten yards 
 above where he stands, and sometimes not above three or 
 four. By exercising a little care he will soon hit the exact 
 spot to a nicety ; but one thing is certain, it requires a good 
 deal more judgment to successfully ground-bait a stream 
 than it does to ground-bait still water. 
 
 Hook baits for roach doAvn a stream are nearly as varied 
 as they are for still water fishing ; but gentles as an all-round 
 lure can be put an easy first. Well scoured maggots^ are very 
 attractive for one thing, and another thing they are tough and 
 lasting on the hook, and nothing like so liable to get washed 
 off as paste, of even boiled grain. In using maggots on the 
 hook I recommend themi to be as near the bottomi of the river 
 as possible, and one, two, or even three can be tried at a time 
 according to water and the appetite of the roach. In baiung 
 the hook the point should be put through the thick end of 
 the gentle sideways, so^ that it sticks out at right angles from 
 the shank ; push No. i gentle neariy to the top of the shank, 
 thread another in exactly the same way, through the thick 
 end, and let the thin end of this gentle stick out opposite the 
 first one ; finally put a third well on the point and barb of the 
 hook, but always mind and keep the point end of the mag- 
 gots free. By adopting this plan there are tliree twirling 
 ends wriggling about in opposite directions, and if it is care- 
 fully done without bursting the maggot, a very attractive bait 
 is the result. Two can be put on in the same manner as 
 three, and if the angler likes he can try one only on a very 
 small hook. This is a good plan to adopt if the water is 
 very clear : the hook is put carefully through the thick end 
 of this odd gentle, so that it twirls about crossways on the 
 point of the hook. It is the only plan tO' deceive big roach. 
 Trying dodges like that, a few swims with three gentles, then 
 a few with two, and then again try a few with only one on. 
 It may put these shy fish off their guard. Any time during 
 
THE ROACH. 43 
 
 the summer and autumn, and even during the winter, gentles 
 can be tried as a bait, especially when the water is fairly clear. 
 The bread, rice, and bran ground bait can be used in con- 
 junction with maggots. It will, however, be a good plan to 
 have some small unsecured gentles as well, put a dozen of 
 these gentles in a bit of that ground bait, the size of a wal- 
 nut, say, and keep casting one of these little balls in every 
 few minutes, and if the angler can drop his baited hook im- 
 mediately behind this bit of groundbait and let his tackle go 
 in hot pursuit of it, why, his chance of getting either a bite 
 or a fish that swim is a very good one indeed. 
 
 Boiled or creed wheat and malt can also be used in a 
 similar manner down a stream, and with the same ground 
 bait. And here, again, one, two, or three kernels can be used 
 on the hook. Some very good roachers that I know put as 
 many on as ever they can, even to a good mouthful; and 
 certainly they manage to land some very good roach indeed. 
 These baits are used mth the most success in clear water and 
 during the summer and autumn months, the best of all being 
 August and September, and sometimes nearly through 
 October. 
 
 Another ground bait that is much affected by some Not- 
 tingham stream fishers for roach is half a bucketful of what 
 they call " muck hole maggots." These are procured from 
 old ash places and dust bins; all sorts of fish, flesh, and 
 fowl offal are thrown in among the dust and ashes, and dur- 
 ing hot weather maggots breed and feed among the corrup- 
 tion. These maggots generally are small, and are not scoured 
 and cleaned in any way, but simply collected just as they are 
 with a good percentage of dust and fine ashes among, them, 
 and sprinkled down the swim, a handful at a time. The 
 angler that has too fine and genteel a nose must not adopt 
 this plan, as the scent is anything except otto of roses. There 
 was one man that I knew who used to regularly bring 
 down that bait in an old square biscuit tin strapped to his 
 back ; and I used to tell him that his scent was worse than 
 a glue factory; but he us'ed well-scoured and clean gentles 
 on the hook, and certainly he secured some splendid bags of 
 roach, and w^on several good prizes by the help of that strange 
 ground bait. This is one of the curiosities of roach fishing 
 
^j^4 THE ROACH. 
 
 do\vn a sharp stream with a clear, gravelly bottom, a stink- 
 ing ground bait like that can be used mth effect; but in 
 quiet waters a dose of musty bran and mouldy bread would 
 result in driving every roach out of the immediate vicinity. 
 During the early part of the season, say the latter end of 
 June and all July, roach are to be found on the gravelly shal- 
 lows of a stream very often in less than a yard of water. 
 Cad-baits are now a splendid bait to try ; one, if it is a large 
 one, and tw^o if smaller, can be put on the hook and swum^ 
 down any likely place. For this bait, and this season of the 
 year, I recommend the angler to rove about fromi swim ta 
 swim; for ground bait use a few coarse and unscoured 
 gentles, and just sprinkle a few at a time down the swim. 
 Small red worms are sometimes a great favourite with stream 
 roach, especially during the late autumn, or when the water 
 is slightly clouded or flushed mth heavy rains. The ground 
 bait generally used with this hook bait is a few hundred large 
 lob-worms clipped up small and scattered down the swimi a 
 few at a time. I recommend this hook bait tO' trip along 
 just clear of the bottom:, and while fishing use the ground 
 bait very sparingly indeed, not more than six or eight large 
 worms at the outside at once, and they must be cut up into 
 the smjallest fragments and thrown well above the swim, 
 exactly in the track of the float ; and always remember tO' act 
 the dodge recommended in gentle fishing: let the well- 
 scoured worm on the hook go down the streami in hot pursuit 
 of tlie fragments of ground bait immediately they are thrown 
 in. If you use fifty large worms in an hour it will be quite- 
 enough for nearly any roach swim,, and put them, in as 
 already recommended in small doses at intervals of ten 
 minutes or so. Even when a big summer flood comes tear- 
 ing down these streams our roach fisherman is not wholly 
 deprived of his sport, as good fish can very often be picked 
 up fishing the grass slopes. If the angler is well acquainted 
 with the water he probably knows of some quiet dyke end, 
 or a corner away fromi the main current that at ordinary low 
 water time is dry, and which has a level grassy bottom.. 
 During a flood the water may get several feet deep in such a 
 place, and no current to speak of, and the angler will find 
 that in several cases the water is nothing like so thick as it 
 
THE ROACH. 
 
 45 
 
 is down the main river. The roach, driven by stress of 
 neavy water, and in search of flood, seek refuge in such places 
 as those, and if a few worms are clipped up small and thrown 
 In, a well-scoured cockspur on the hook may result in getting 
 a bag of big roach that will astonish the operator. The 
 grass slopes behind a bush, or the gravels by the side of an 
 old fence, even if no more than eighteen inches deep, are 
 very often rattling good places to tr)^ during a summer flood, 
 as the water there is generally quiet; but one thing must be 
 remembered : while the water is coming on is the time to tr}- ; 
 when the water is going down again the fish retire into the 
 main stream. Another favourite method of roaching is by 
 what is known among the Trent men as " stret-pegging." 
 This is a quiet, deadly sort of style, and deserves more than 
 just a passing notice. This style is generally practised in 
 swims where the current is not very strong (but still, remem- 
 ber, a stream' is absolutely necessary), and in places that can 
 be reached comfortably with the rod point. We \nll sup- 
 pose that four or five feet from the bank a long row of weeds 
 and flags are growing, immediately in front of these weeds 
 the water is from four to six feet deep, the bottom, of the 
 river clean and level, and just a little stream crawling along, 
 and our novice finds on seating himself on his stool that his 
 rod point will project a couple of feet over those weeds, he 
 has without doubt found a place that is exactly suited for 
 " stret-pegging." A s^^•an quill carrying some five or six 
 medium sized shot will be the thing for this purpose, and 
 this float must be put on the line a foot deeper than the 
 stream ; that is, if the water is four feet deep the float must 
 be five feet from the baited hook, and so on according to the 
 varying depths of the streams tried. Sit on the basket or 
 stool as low down and as close as possible, and if you can 
 keep out of sight behind the weeds all the better; but in 
 any case, have all your traps close at hand so that you can 
 pick anything up you require \nthout having to get up from 
 your seat. Sit quiet, don't keep jumping up and down; 
 these are golden rules, and must be observed. Drop a few 
 small bits of groundbait in, and then let the tackle travel 
 down stream until it is some four or five yards below ycu. 
 Hold it there stationary, the rod being straight in front of 
 
46 
 
 THE ROACH. 
 
 where }ou sit; the float and tackle are now, of coarse, in 
 a slanting direction, and this is why I recomimended the lio:'t 
 to bfi put deeper than the swimi. A bite can very easily 
 be seen, as even the smallest nibble when tackle is held 
 back like this will result in the float being drawn under the 
 water, when an instant strike is imperative. Sometimes 
 the float can be held two yards only away from the rod 
 point, and then again it may be five or six yards ; and Uy 
 every foot between those two distances, sometimes l)oldii;g 
 it for a few minutes in one place, then in another, i-ntil the 
 whole of that place is carefully fished over, when the angler 
 can shift his position a few yards lower down stream, and 
 resume operations in a fresh swim. Almost any bait ^v*ll 
 do for this style — worms, gentles, wasp-grubs, wheat, malt,, 
 and plain and coloured' pastes ; and for groundbait, a few 
 hand&ful of the bread and bran, or a hundred or two coarse 
 lobworms clipped up small, or a tin of rough gentles, ac- 
 cording to the hook bait used. Some men when usmg 
 paste for this style of fishing, which, I may say, is about a^^ 
 good as anything that can be tried., especially in clear water 
 and a very moderate current, have a few pieces of dry 
 tread as groundbait; this they keep constantly chewing, 
 and throwing in in small bits. 
 
 And now, having looked at most of the methods of stream 
 fishing for roach, we will turn tO' the question of how the 
 rod and line should be manipulated in casting out the bait 
 in the Nottingham style. To' fish a stream properly re- 
 quires, as before hinted, running tackle and some little prac- 
 tice before it can be easily accomplished ; but when once 
 mastered, it is as easy as getting your lunch. We will sup- 
 pose the angler has got his tackle ready, and the depth 
 carefully found, which latter is done, not by throwing in 
 a lump of lead or a plummet, the same as is necessary in 
 very still waters, but by having a few preliminary swims 
 with his shotted tackle. If the float during its passage 
 down the stream keeps bobbing under the surface, you may 
 know that the hook and some of the shots are trailing along 
 the bottom, and that youi are too deep; if, on the other 
 hand, the float travels all the way down the swim) in a per- 
 fectly natural manner without stoppage or bobbing under, 
 
THE ROACH. 47 
 
 you may know that you are not deep enough ; and so the 
 float can be altered a few times either wsij until you get the 
 right depth, which can easily be come at. Suppose the first 
 time you swim the float down the stream you find you are 
 not deep enough, alter it a little higher up the line ; after 
 a few trials you find, by the float catching and bobbing 
 under, that you have found the bottom. Now be careful, 
 and alter the float a couple of inches at a time only, and 
 as soon as ever it swims comfortably down you have got 
 the exact depth. The tackle for stream fishing should 
 be shotted so that three-quarters of an inch of the float 
 stands above the surface of the water. Say the angler 
 wishes his baited hook to travel down the swim some few 
 yards further out than he can reach with his rod point. To 
 accomplish this, in either trying the depth or in actual fish- 
 ing, he takes the rod in his right hand close against the 
 top of the reel with one finger reaching down to the edge 
 of the revolving barrel, on purpose to stop its revolutions, 
 if necessary (this finger, I may say, is the bottom edge of 
 the last or little one) ; and with his left hand he takes hold 
 of the line between the two first rings on his rod, and draws 
 down and off the reel, as it were, a double length of line. 
 He has now some two or three j-ards of line in his left hand, 
 and three or four more hang from the point of the rod. 
 To make the cast, he brings the rod point away from, the 
 river and partly behind him, and it does not matter in which 
 direction it is done; the rod can either be swung to the 
 right hand or to the left, whichever way suits the locality 
 of the swim best. For instance, there may be a hedge 
 or a bush immediately to the right or to the left of the 
 angler, and the rod must of necessity be put in the opposite 
 direction. Now swing it sharply forward over towards the 
 river again, at the same time easing the pressure of the little 
 finger on the edge of the reel, and also leaving go of the 
 loop of line in his left hand ; these two operations should 
 be done nearly together, the loop of line being, released as 
 soon as the float and tackle swings forward in front of the 
 rod point, and the pressure on the reel taken off immedi- 
 ately afterwards. After a little practice the baited tackle 
 will go fair and square to its destination. After this cast 
 
^8 THE ROACH. 
 
 has been successfully accomplished, and the float rights it- 
 self, the angler changes the rod into his left hand, srill 
 keeping hold of it close to the reel, and with the finger and 
 thumb of his right hand pays out the line gently and con- 
 tinuously as fast, or nearly so, as the stream will carry it. 
 It will be as well to hold the float a little back, however ; 
 that is, don't let it go quite so fast as it wants to do ; by 
 this means there will be no slack or drowned line between 
 the float and the rod top; at any rate, this is the way to 
 prevent too much slack line being out. After the float 
 and tackle has travelled down the entire length of the swim 
 as far as he thinks the groundbait is distributed,, the line 
 is wound back again on the reel, and the cast repeated. A 
 little practice, and above all proper tackle, as described, 
 will soon enable the novice to successfully follow this deadly 
 method of stream, fishing in the Nottingham style. 
 
 The tail-end of a well-scoured lobworm is at times a very 
 ^ood stream bait for roach, particularly during the late au- 
 tumn and early winter, and more so when the water is slightly 
 tinged with colour. Ledgering for roach is also another 
 plan ; no float is required for this. The ledger is a small 
 bullet with a fair-sized hole through the centre of it, this 
 hole being large enough to allow the knots of the tackle to 
 pass through. This bullet can be about two^ feet from 
 the hook; a shot on each side of the tackle allowing it a 
 play of eight or nine inches ; the hook for this can be a 
 No. 8 Carlisle round bend, tied on 2x drawn gut, the bait 
 being generally about an inch from the tail-end of a lob. 
 This plan of ledgering is adopted if the angler finds a dif- 
 ficulty in keeping his bait well on the bottom,. Speaking 
 about keeping the bait well on the bottomi, I am, reminded 
 of a curious experience that came under my own obser- 
 vation. One day down the lower Trent, in the neighbour- 
 hood of the Sutton Holmes, I came across a couple of 
 anglers trying to fish a capital swim for roach. Subse- 
 quent conversation told me that the men were strangers, 
 and used to waters of a far different character. They told 
 me that they liked the look of the place so much that dur- 
 ing the two or three days past they had put a nice lot of 
 groundbait in. The current in many places down the 
 
THE ROACH. 49 
 
 Trent is rather treacherous ; sometimes a strong undercur- 
 rent that cannot well be perceived by the casual visitor 
 sweeps down and round. This place happened to be some- 
 what similar. To look at the surface of the water one would 
 think a very small float was all that would be required. 
 In fact, one man was fishing with only a one-shot float, and 
 every now and again he got a bite, and when he struck and 
 hooked his fish, I could see that the bait was taken by 
 bleak, and the undercurrent had swept it to within a foot 
 of the surface. On my suggestion, a fair-sized pelican 
 quill was substituted for the tiny porcupine, and ten shots 
 put on the tackle. This weight enabled the bait to reach 
 the quiet waters at the bottom, where it curled round in 
 the eddy, and under a shelf that projected from a corner in 
 the bank. The first swim down resulted in a half-pound 
 roach, the second in a fair-sized dace, and the third or 
 fourth in a two-pound chub ; while ten minutes later a 
 good roach, at least a pounder, came to bank. Those 
 anglers were literally astonished, and said they never 
 dreamed of fishing for roach with a heavily-shotted tackle 
 like that ; but the swim, needed it. The one shot used be- 
 fore could not by any means carry the bait through the 
 heavy curl of water down to where the roach lay in the 
 quiet water at the bottom under the shelf. A little ob- 
 servation will soon tell the stream fishermen what plan to 
 adopt under almost any circumstances. 
 
 What some anglers call the Sheffield style of roach fish- 
 ing in the narrow drains and cuts, is performed with a rod, 
 reel and line something similar to those used in stream 
 fishing; but in this case the water is very quiet, so the 
 tackle used must be of the very finest 4X drawn gut, and 
 at most only a couple of split shot on it; and for float, a 
 small porcupine from four to six inches long will be quite 
 big enough, for ground baits and hook baits, those already 
 described in the chapters on " Roach fishing in still water," 
 will be about all that is required, so a repetition is not ne- 
 cessary. It is in the method of casting out this very light 
 tackle that constitutes its difference. These anglers gener- 
 ally sit on a stool or basket with the rod in one hand, and 
 draw down a little line in the other hand from between the 
 
 B 
 
CO THE ROACH. 
 
 reel and the first ring on the rod, in the same manner as 
 described for stream fishing. The tackle and rod is then 
 swung over their heads behind them, and then brought for- 
 ward again with a downward cast straight in front of them, 
 a good deal similar to throwing a fly wdth a fly-rod ; at the 
 same time as the forward movement is made, the line held 
 in the left hand is let go. This sharp, fly-fishing like cast- 
 ing is necessary to throw out the very light weight used in 
 this style. The gentle swing adopted with heavier tackle 
 would not get this light tackle out to its proper destination. 
 To make a fresh cast, the float is picked off the water with 
 the rod, like a fly is picked off, and thrown behind the 
 angler, and then projected forward again with a sharp cast 
 in a similar manner, as I said before, to a fly being thrown. 
 I might mention that in this drain style of fishing for roach 
 where groundbait is used I prefer the hook bait to be as 
 near the bottomi as possible. 
 
 Shrimps are sometimes a good bait for roach in certain 
 of those still waters. The shrimps that I mean are those 
 that can be purchased at the fishmonger's shop. To bait 
 with them the head, tail and hard shell or skin are removed,, 
 the hook point run in at the thick end and brought out at 
 the bend close to the tail; the smallest shrimps are used 
 for the hook. The heads, tails,, shells, and also the very 
 large ones being smashed up into pulp in the hollow of the 
 hand and mixed thoroughly with a little of the bread and 
 bran groundbait, and popped in in little balls all round 
 your float. This is rather an uncertain bait for roach, the 
 waters wherein it is a success being very few ; that is as far 
 as I can learn, but perhaps this is for want of trying them 
 elsewhere. However, in those corners where they are used^ 
 very large roach fall victims. I may as w^ell confess that 
 personally my experiences with that bait have only been 
 very limited indeed; but still, I have an idea that they 
 might succeed in other waters where the fisherman never 
 dreams of using them. I have been told that in certain 
 still waters, and during very hot weather, they are the 
 grandest lure that can be put on a roach hook. 
 
 There is another very deadly style of roach fishing that 
 I saw practised in very quiet Lincolnshire waters. The 
 
THE ROACH. 5T 
 
 chief peculiarity of this style was the float, and the manner 
 of shotting the tackle. Instead of using two or more shots 
 some distance from the hook, one small one only was emr 
 ployed, and this was fixed on the gut tackle about an inch 
 only from, the baited hook. The float itself is a very small 
 one, either a tiny porcupine quill three inches in length and 
 very thin, or else two inches of a peacock's feather, the one 
 shot on the tackle being sufficient to cause about an inch 
 of this float to stand above the surface of the water. Great 
 care is taken in plumbing the depth, so that the shot is just 
 clear of the bottom. When a roach takes the bait in his 
 mouth, he instantly lifts the shot, and the float is at once 
 thrown upwards, and lies flat on the water. This bite is 
 promptly responded to on the first indication, and hooking 
 the fish is nearly a certainty at ever^^ attempt. The bait 
 used is generally a small pill of paste, or else a cube of raw 
 potato ; this latter bait is procured from a slice about a 
 quarter of an inch thick, cut from- the centre of a large po- 
 tato. A quill or the socket of a penholder is used to cut 
 the cubes ; this makes the bait a nice shape and size. This 
 plan of fishing can only be practised in very' quiet drains 
 and canals. I have been told that some of the most ex- 
 pert Yorkshire and Lancashire roach fishermen adopt this 
 plan with great success in the quiet canals of those twa 
 counties. 
 
 As anglers in various districts like to know how experts 
 catch their fish in other waters, I wrote to Mr. S. Harvard, 
 of Trowbridge, who is one of the very best roach fishermen 
 on the rivers Avon and Frome, for his experience in the 
 matter. He very kindly replied to my query in a long and 
 interesting letter, from which I take the following: Says 
 Mr. Ha}^vard — " First, I will take the early part of the sea- 
 " son, say, the end of June and the beginning of July, when 
 " the roach are on the shallows. I have been very success- 
 " ful with the gentle on a No. 9 Crystal roach hook, fishing 
 "about one inch from the bottom in the streamy parts 
 "where there is a sandy bottom and about four feet of 
 " water. I really think that I have killed more roach on 
 "these two rivers with the gentle than I have w^th all the 
 " other baits put together. I cannot say much about paste 
 
C2 THE ROACH. 
 
 " fishing, as I could at any time do better with the gentle. 
 " In the summer, I use a float that will carry about five or 
 "six middling-sized shot; and I may as well say that the 
 " Nottingham style, with reel and fine-running tackle, is far 
 " away the best plan to adopt. In August and September 
 " boiled malt is a very good bait, especially in the running 
 " stieams. For this last bait I use the same small float as 
 "before, but the hook is a smaller one, No. 12 being the 
 " best, and the tackle must always in the summer time be 
 "of the very finest drawn gut, as the water is then very 
 " clear. I personally prefer winter fishing for roach, as I 
 " consider these fish are not in condition before November ; 
 "in August, and even in September, they are very slimy, 
 " and bad to handle ; but about Christmas time they are as 
 "bright as a bar of silver; I don't care how cold it is, I 
 "have fished all through the winter, and have had some 
 " good bags still using my favourite bait, the gentle. I now 
 " increase the size of my float, and use one that will carry 
 " eight or nine shots, with a line, and tackle and a No. 9 
 " hook, threading four or five gentles on it. For ground- 
 " bait I use the same that is g:enerallv adopted, viz., bread, 
 "bran, and barley meal, mixed together rather stiff, and 
 " pitched into the top end of the swim in little lumps about 
 " as big as walnuts. Sometimes I fish on the bottom^ ; 
 " sometimes from one to four inches above it. I don't lay 
 " down a hard and fast rule,, but suit my fishing as to how 
 " the roach are feeding, trying all sorts of dodges to make 
 " a good bag. I do not agree with a good many anglers, 
 " who write to the sporting papers and say that roach will 
 " never bite in snow broth. I have found it just the other 
 "way. I remember well a friend and myself going out 
 " roaching one Christmas Bank Holiday. A foot of snow 
 "was on the ground, and it was melting fast. The river 
 " when we got there was nearly bank full, and coming down 
 " thick as souo, and yet we g^ot 241b. of good roach, fishing in 
 "an eddy with gentles, a good few of them over a pound 
 "each. I can call to mind several occasions when I have 
 " met with good sport in a high and heavy snow water. 
 [This is rather a curious experience, Mr. Hayward,] " The 
 * river Frome here contains some splendid roach. I con- 
 
THE ROACH. 53 
 
 " sider it nothing unusual to pick a dozen fish out of one 
 **' catch, that would weigh as many pounds. In the winter 
 *• and in coloured water our roach prefer the gentle to the 
 " worm. During the early autumn I use wasp grubs when 
 " I can get them, but I found Mr. Roach could get tlijse 
 " grubs off the hook without moving the float, so I u?ed to 
 " put a grub on the bend of the hook and a ojg i gen:-. 3 nii 
 " the point to keep it on, and got them, then (a very good tip 
 " this, Sam). I like to fish for roach with the vei'y iinest cf 
 " tackle, but on the other hand I have taken them with the 
 " coarsest ; it all depends on how they are on the feed, when 
 * ' well on ' I don't think that it makes a lot of difference about 
 " the gut, if the bait is all right, and you strike at the right 
 " time ; which is just when the float is going down, you must 
 " not wait till it comes up again or you will be a lot to late, 
 " stream fishing in the Nottinghami style is n y favourite 
 " plan. I find it answers well on our waters, especially on 
 " the river Frome." This is a very interesting and useful 
 letter. Mr. Harvard's remarks about taking roach on the 
 very thickest tackle, will perhaps come as a revelation to 
 many roach anglers. I have only one experience of the 
 kind myself, that I can just now remember. A lad and I 
 were one afternoon roaching from a punt in a baited swim 
 on the Ouse; I used the very finest 4X drawn gut, he used 
 very coarse tackle, and yet managed to take two fish to my 
 one all the afternoon. I could not help thinking then that 
 the fishermen are sometimes a lot more particular than the 
 fish. That afternoon's experience was however, utterly at 
 varience with my usual practice, because I generallv could 
 well hold my own at roach fishing, no matter who I had for 
 a companion, and in nine cases out of ten I found the very- 
 finest tackle to be the most successful. 
 
 I think I have, in the foregoing four chapters, given 
 instructions for roach fishing in most of the styles known to 
 bottom fishermen in the various districts where this fish is 
 found, except the special style adopted by the Lea roacher ; 
 and as this style seems to me to be confined exclusively to that 
 river a ver}' few words will suffice. The rod most generally 
 used is a white cane one 18 feet in length, without either rings 
 or reel fittings. It is built remarkably thick at the butt end ; 
 
54 
 
 THE ROACH. 
 
 indeed, I have seen some Lea rods that were as much in 
 diameter as the angler could nicely clasp. The taper, how- 
 ever, to the fine point has to be true and accurate to a re- 
 markable degree, with no suspicion of whippiness about it. 
 A good Lea roach pole is a work of art, the initial cost of 
 which is rather a serio'us item to a working man angler. The 
 plan adopted is mostly tight-line fishing, with the float about 
 eighteen inches from the tip of the rod. Three or four yards 
 of very fine gut or horsehair is employed as a line, and the 
 hook is the usual crystal pattern and size. A peculiar plan 
 of baiting is to use a pill of white paste on the point of the 
 hook, not much larger than a No. 4 shot, and put round it a 
 bit of bread and bran ground bait, the size of a hazel nut. 
 The stream: washes off this ground bait, and soon exposes the 
 white morsel on the point. It is a very deadly plan, and 
 some of the very largest roach have fallen victims to it. 
 
 I had intended in this chapter giving a few hints as to 
 fishing for roach on the surface; but the next chapter on 
 rudd and rudd fishing goes so fully into the subject that it 
 would be a waste of space tO' repeat it, the flies and the 
 method of using them, for the rudd being the same as for 
 roach. 
 
THE R U D D . 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RUDD AND RUDD FISHING. 
 
 Rudd atid Rudd Jishing—A little kficnvn fish — Chai-acteristics of the 
 Rudd — Weight of Rudd — Habits and hautits of the Rudd — Luring them 
 out — Food of Rudd — Baits for Rudd fishing — "Fine and far off" — The 
 outfit — Floats — Gut lines and gut hooks — A slozuly-sinking bait — Fishi7ig 
 the runs — Playing the fish — Dr. Normatis experiences — The Norfolk 
 style — Fly fishing for Rudd. 
 
 "The Rudd, a kind of roach, all tinged with gold, 
 Strong, broad, and thick, most lovely to behold." 
 
 At the outset of this chapter I miist confess that I had 
 been a fisherman something like a quarter of a century before 
 I got what I could honestly call a real practical insight into 
 the subject of rudd and rudd fishing. 'Tis true I got an 
 occasional small one out of the Trent when fishing for roach, 
 and knew them well enough to know that they were a fish 
 separate and distinct from the roach; but beyond that I 
 knew nothing. They were a sealed book to me as far as 
 their nature and habits were conceri.e ', for it did not matter 
 what book on fish and fishing I was lucky enough to get hold 
 of, the information on rudd was of the scantiest possible de^- 
 scription; even the great Francis Francis, Esq., dismissed 
 him. in about a dozen lines in his work on " Angling," and 
 says : " For all angling purposes the directions given for 
 roach answer for the rudd equally." Now, as a matter of 
 fact, the directions given for roach will not do for the rudd. 
 The Bedfordshire Ouse is supposed to be the ver)- best rudd 
 river in England, and it is also very much noted for its roach. 
 Now, in roach fishing we generally fish on the bottom, use 
 
e5 THE RUDD. 
 
 plenty of ground bait, and stick to one swim> most of the 
 day. In rudd fishing it is necessary to fish nearer the sur- 
 face of the water than the bottom, ground bait is not a neces- 
 sity, whilst roving about to all likely looking swims, as in 
 chub fishing, must be carefully attended to ; in fact, to put it 
 plainly, you must proceed exactly opposite as for roach fish- 
 ing, if you mean to make a bag of very heavy rudd. The 
 author of the " Modern Angler " also treats the rudd with 
 scant respect, telling us '' that as a sporting fish he is one of 
 the worst, very seldom exceeding a pound in weight, and 
 hardly worth the trouble of catching," Whereas, he is a 
 sporting fish of a very high order, and in weight reaching a 
 very respectable size. It seems a very peculiar thing that our 
 great authorities on fish and fishing should know so' little 
 about the rudd and the method of its capture, because he is 
 one of the, if not the, most handsome coarse fish that in- 
 habits our inland waters. The Nottingham style of bottom 
 fishing, too, is exactly suited for this sport. Fine and far 
 off must be the rudd fisherman's motto ; he must use the 
 handiest of chub rods, the easiest of running reels, and the 
 finest and best of silk lines and tackle in order to successfully 
 operate on the fish now under notice. 
 
 The rudd, like the roach, is a member of the carp family, 
 and his specific name is Leuciscus, or Cyprinus Erythrop- 
 thalmus, ana as I have hinted just now is a very handsome 
 fish. He has several local names, such as " red-eye," " roud," 
 and " shallow," and is found in the waters of several English 
 counties in more or less abundance, but perhaps they reach 
 the greatest weight and the finest condition in the Bedford- 
 shire Ouse and the streams and broads of Norfo'lk and Suf- 
 folk. At one time there was a deep-roo.ted belief among 
 naturalists and anglers that this fish was a hybrid between 
 the breami and the roach ; even Walton himself advanced 
 that opinion as being held by some learned in the matter ; 
 but now it is generally acknowledged to be a distinct species. 
 
 A two-pound rudd in good condition, fresh from the 
 stream in the month of August, presents a sight which once 
 seen is not easily forgotten. The deep and brilliant scarlet 
 of the fins, the golden bronze of the sides, the light golden 
 yellow of the belly, the beautiful brown, green, and blue of 
 
THE RUDD. 57" 
 
 the back, vamng in shade when viewed from, different posi- 
 tions, the golden yellow of his cheeks and gill covers, his 
 colours seem to change when looked at from different lights 
 and shades, like the wings of the " Piirnle Emperor" butter- 
 fly. All these form a picture of fish colouring that an artist 
 might envy ; but, alas ! these colours soon fade and disappear 
 finally after death. He is probably called " rudd " because 
 of the ruddy coppery tint of the fish, and " red-eye " e\adently 
 from the bright red of the irides, and " shallow " most likely 
 from its breanvlike shallowness of body when on its side. 
 
 There are certain similiarities between the rudd and the 
 roach that anglers who are not intimately acquainted ^^'ith 
 both kinds would have a difficulty in telling at a glance the 
 difference between the two. He mdght fancy a rudd, if he 
 happened to take an odd one when roach fishing, was a par- 
 ticularly bright and handsome specimen of the latter fish ; 
 but in spite of this similarity there is a great difference be- 
 tween the anatomy of the t^vo fishes. We will suppose the 
 angler has a pound rudd and a roach of similar weight lying 
 before him, he will at once notice that the former is the 
 shorter one, that it is a trifle flatter on the sides, and that it 
 is also a full half inch or three-quarter inch deeper than the 
 roach. Two other points of marked difference will be found 
 in the dorsal or back fin, and the nose and mouth. The 
 dorsal fin of the roach is exactly opposite the ventral fins, 
 while in a rudd this fin is nearer the tail ; in fact, the dorsal 
 is placed very far back, between the ventral fins and the 
 anal fin. As I have noticed in a previous chapter, the 
 peculiar shape of the top lip of a roach, which is capable of 
 elongation, and is overhung ; in the rudd this peculiarity is 
 exactly opposite, the fish looks pug-nosed, its bottom lip 
 projects, turns up\\'ard over the top one, and is underhung, 
 and when we also notice the difference in colour between the 
 two fish, as already hinted, it wWl not be a difficult matter to 
 recognise the rudd, if the angler is lucky enough to meet with 
 it during his outings. 
 
 I have been rather particular in describing this fish, as it 
 is not generally known among anglers, and also taking into 
 consideration the fact that fish culturists are now beginning 
 to turn their attention to it, and are stocking waters with rudd 
 
58 
 
 thp: rudd. 
 
 that hitherto have had very few, if any, in themi, so I am, hop- 
 ing that in the near future it may become better known and 
 more sought after than is the case at present. When cooked 
 and served at the table it is a very palatable dish, but has the 
 same objection that is raised against all coarse fish, it is rather 
 woolly in its flesh, and the quantity of smaJl bones are trouble- 
 some; but still, if very fresh, nicely cleaned, scaled, and fried 
 crisp, then served smoking hot with egg and bread crumb, it 
 is by nO' means to be despised. A rudd that scales up to 
 two and a half pounds or over should not suffer the indignity 
 of the frying pan, but ought to be treated to a glass case, 
 even if the lucky captor should be compelled, as an old friend 
 of mine rather rudely put it, " to pawn his shirt to pay for it." 
 I have seen several good rudd set up and cased, but somehow 
 or other the taxidermist does not do justice to this grand 
 coloured fish. As I have said, the colours soon fade and dis- 
 appear after death, and as our stuffer is, or ought to be, 
 somewhat of an artist, he should see a specimen fresh from 
 its native element, and if possible reproduce those colours 
 in all their natural beauty. Until this is done an ordinary 
 stuffed specimen only gives the beholder a faint idea as to 
 •what the fish is like naturally. 
 
 In my opinion, which is based on careful observation of 
 the haunts and habits of these fish, I should say that the 
 rudd spawns a little earUer in the season than roach, perhaps 
 even as much as three or four weeks ; at any rate, I have 
 found them during the latter part of June and the beginning 
 of July to be a lot cleaner and brighter than the roach are 
 at the same date; but this forwardness depends in a great 
 measure on the mildness or otherwise of the spring. In a 
 particularly mild spring rudd may spawn as early as the 
 latter part of April and the beginning of May, the extreme 
 brightness of these fish at the time when the roach are very 
 rough and slimy confirming this opinion. 
 
 In suitable localities and under favourable conditions the 
 rudd reaches a very respectable weight. A two-pound roach 
 is a fine specimen very seldom caught, whereas a two-pound 
 rudd is not considered even a fair specimen. I should say 
 the very top weight would be four pounds ; but I may as well 
 at once confess that I have no grounds for supposing that 
 
THE RUDD. 59 
 
 four-pound rudd exist in any great quantity, as I have never 
 seen one of that weight caught. I, however, firmly believe 
 that odd ones approaching that weight are in existence to- 
 day in the Bedfordshire Ouse, as I have seen in the clear 
 water among the weeds fish that have been veritable giants 
 ■of the race of rudd. Among the collections of preserved fish 
 shown at the Piscatorial Exhibition of 1892 was a specimen 
 that claimed to have once weighed 3^ lb. I made a long 
 examination of that fish, as well as the glass in front of it 
 would allow, and I could not help thinking that it had not 
 been taken with rod and line in the full vigour of its strength 
 and power, but rather that it had been picked up from, the 
 water in either a dead or a dying condition. I may be wrong, 
 but appearances were most decidedly in favour of that sup- 
 position. It might have scaled, when alive, the weight 
 stated ; in fact, I am rather inclined to the opinion that it 
 once weighed several ounces more than it did when finally 
 taken fromi the water. 
 
 In the great Fisheries Exhibition of 1883 a rudd fromi the 
 Ouse was shown and took the specimen prize ; its weight was 
 put down at 2lb. 120Z. ; a good fish, although I must admit 
 that I know of several in existence that reached a greater 
 weight. Still, the fact remains the same, the fish from the 
 Ouse beat those shown by exhibitors from other waters. My 
 own top weight with rod and line for rudd was one that went 
 half an ounce over three pounds. I asked Mr. C. A. Bryant, 
 the chairman of the Huntingdon Anglers, who is and has 
 teen for many years one of the very best rudd fishermen in 
 the county, if he would give me his experience on this point, 
 ;and he very kindly does so as follows : " A gentleman, of 
 whose veracity I have not the slightest doubt, informs me 
 that when netting for tench (for stocking purposes) a part 
 of the Ouse of which he has the right of fishing, four rudd 
 were caught in the net, which, when weighed, were found to 
 scale 3 ^ lb. each, and were then returned to the water. The 
 largest rudd that I have ever taken weighed 31b. loz., and 
 the very best bit of sport I ever remember having was in 
 1882. In three hours I took eighteen, weighing exactly 
 361b., the most remarkable thing being that I hooked no 
 other fish of any kind or size. In 1883, one afternoon, out 
 
6o THE RUDD. 
 
 of the same s^v'iml, I got twelve which just turned the scale 
 at 241b. In 1884 the four best specimens which fell to my 
 rod, and which I had set up, averaged a trifle over 2 lb. 8oz. 
 each, the largest going 2lb. 150Z. ; and since then, up to the 
 present, I generally manage to get a few every season running 
 from 2lb. to 2 lb. 8oz., and a few odd ones over the latter 
 weight." This experience of Mr. Bryant's, I should say, is. 
 a record, and perhaps stands alone in the annals of big rudd 
 capture. 
 
 The rudd feeds somewhat similar to the chub, that is in 
 a general way, either on the surface or in midwater ; ic i& 
 very seldom, found on the bottom, in very deep water. When 
 the angler does meet with it when bottomi fishing for roach, 
 it is mostly in the shallow streams, by the side of a consider- 
 able bank or run of weeds during the early part of the sum- 
 mer. I don't wash it to be understood for a moment that 
 rudd are found in exactly similar places to the chub. When 
 I say they feed somewhat similar I meant in taking a bait 
 on the surface or in midwater. The chub delights in smart 
 streams with a clear gravelly bottom, while the rudd particu- 
 larly likes a very gentle stream with a regular jungle-like under 
 growth of weeds, especially if that same undergrowth is from 
 a foot to eighteen inches below the surface of the water, and 
 where flags and rush beds do abound, with here and there 
 the huge leaf of the water-lily dotted around. In some parts 
 of the river the growth of weeds is so thick as to cover the 
 whole surface, the flow of the stream, is checked, and the 
 water rendered, comparatively speaking, stagnant. Such a 
 place as that is not a safe find for big rudd, where they do 
 most abound is where a gentle stream meanders in and out 
 among a scattered growth of weeds, where the water-lily leaf 
 affords shelter to them, for they lurk beneath the shadow of 
 those big leaves. Corners and bends of the river seemi to 
 be very favourite haunts of these fish, especially if there are 
 bunches of weeds a yard or so apart, with a little clear un- 
 obstructed stream^ flowing gently between these said bunches. 
 It seems to be difficult to tell on paper their favourite haunts, 
 but a little observation will soon render the angler conver- 
 sant with this ; but what I would most particularly impress 
 on him is this — Don't expect to find rudd in very deep water 
 
THE RUDD. 6 1 
 
 on the bottom, but rather look for him on the shallows, in the 
 little runs among the weeds, and where the undergrowth is 
 the most dense, providing this growth is in places some little 
 distance under llie surface, with all sorts of bunches of weeds, 
 flags, rushes, r.n J water-lilies scattered around. If our angler 
 is, as he ought to be, of an observ^ant nature, he will probably 
 notice a sudden and huge swirl in the water, perhaps where 
 the weeds are thickest ; this is a rudd. A bream, generally 
 rises in a deliberate manner, puts his back fin out of the 
 w^ater, and rolls over with a lazy flop ; a roach mostly rises 
 from the bottom in a slanting direction, and shows himself 
 with scarcely a break ; but a rudd seems to give himself up to 
 the full enjoyment of his rise, and swirls over in the ^^'ater 
 with a decided splash, sending the tiny waves across the 
 stream in ever-widening circles, till finally lost among the flags 
 and rushes on either side. A little practice and observation 
 will soon enable the angler to tell with tolerable precision if 
 it was a rudd that broke the surface, and also if it was a 
 large one, and practice alone can teach him, the best method of 
 speedily adding that particular rudd to his basket. We have 
 now found that the fish are at home, and this home appears 
 to be deep among the fastnesses of the flags and weeds ; the 
 next idea is to get them out into- the little open spaces and 
 runs between the bunches of weeds, so that a bait can be 
 presented to them wath some chance of successfully landing 
 them when hooked ; for this purpose, if I may be allowed 
 to use an expression that looks at first sight ver}- like an Irish 
 bull, it is a good plan to ground bait on the surface. Little 
 bits of bread about two inches long and an inch wide and 
 them when hooked; for this purpose, if I may be allowed 
 these bits must be thrown carefully and accuratelv on the 
 stream, so that it floats gently down that run that looks the 
 most handy for getting your hook bait in, if the fish are in 
 a biting humour, out they come into the clear water, show- 
 ing their fins and bodies, rolling over the bread, poking at 
 it with their noses, and smacking their lips at it in keen 
 ■enjoyment; now is your time. Out goes the bait with a 
 clean cast that must be long and accurate, and if this is 
 done properly, in three seconds you are most probably fight- 
 ing it out to the bitter end with a good two-pounder. 
 
62 THE RUDD. 
 
 During the early part of the summer, immediately after 
 they have concluded spawning operations, the rudd are for 
 the most part vegetarians ; they feed upon the weeds and 
 the insects, caddis worms, and minute crustaceans upon 
 those weeds. In fact, I may say that their principal food 
 during the summer months are weeds and insects,, for I have 
 opened and examined them at various times from^ June to 
 October, and found the contents of the stomach confirm 
 this opinion. At the same time, they are on the lookout 
 for any little dainty that may fall or be blown into the stream 
 by the wind, such as flies, caterpillars, small beetles, grubs 
 or worms ; while the water-flies, as they are hatched out of 
 the caddis - grubs, are eagerly snapped up. These fish 
 are a summer fish, pure and simple ; they delight in hot 
 weather. During the middle of the day when other fish 
 are lying quiet, and refuse to be tempted owing to the heat,, 
 then do the rudd show good sport, especially if a warm 
 breeze disturbs and ripples the surface of the w^ater. July, 
 August and September are the best months ; August the 
 very best of all. If the weather is very mild during the 
 early part of October, you will stand a chance of getting a 
 few; but it must be warm and mild, for as soon as cold 
 weather sets in, the rudd disappear from their usual haunts 
 and you see them no more till another summer ; where they 
 go to, and how they hide themselves during the winter, are 
 questions that I cannot positively answer, but it is certain 
 that they are hardly ever caught during very cold weather. 
 I have watched carefully when roach fishing during the win- 
 ter, and no matter how freely those fish have been feeding, 
 not a single rudd have I landed, and other anglers have as- 
 sured me that their experiences have been similar in this 
 respect. With regard to hook-baits, I may say that the 
 rudd will take many baits if they are only properly pre- 
 sented to them, but for all angling purposes my list will 
 only be a very short one, worms, cadbaits, paste and two or 
 three artificial flies being ample. Gentles are a deadly bait, 
 but in a stream like the Ouse they have their objections. 
 Bleak will persist in taking them, and the angler is so often 
 disappointed — time after time pulling up those small and 
 greedy marauders when he expects a lot bigger quarry ; and 
 
THE RUDD. 65; 
 
 then look at the waste of time in taking these small fish off 
 the hook, and rebaiting. Paste, too, even when flavoured 
 with King's Natural bait, as recommended in the chapter 
 on roach, good as it undoubtedly is, has an exactly similar 
 objection, small fish being very troublesome. It is not ad- 
 visable to pin one's faith too much on the two very excellent 
 baits just named ; they are good, I know, but the objections- 
 noted are fatal to a strong recommendation of themu The 
 bait that I have found most effective under all conditions 
 and circumstances is a nice, well-scoured, lively cockspur 
 or brandling worm ; it must be red, bright and lively, and 
 well scoured in clean moss. It is not advisable to use too 
 large a worm, one about two inches in length being quite 
 big enough ; or better still, two smaller ones about an inch 
 and a half long, put on the hook so that three or four ends 
 t\^•irl and wriggle about, forms a very attractive and deadly 
 bait. 
 
 It will now be necessary to look at the tackle most suit- 
 able for rudd fishing, and I may as well say at the outset 
 that the Nottingham st)ie is far away before any other me- 
 thod. I have already given the angler some idea as to the 
 swims and places where rudd are most likely to be found, 
 and as these fish are principally surface - feeding, it will be 
 seen at once that the finer and neater the tackle, the greater 
 the chance of success. You must keep as far away from 
 their haunts as you possibly can. Avoid all splashing or 
 unnecessary noise ; they are keen of eye, and amazingly shy, 
 and will probably dart headlong into their fastnesses of 
 weeds and rushes if you make your presence, as it were, too 
 much felt. The Nottingham fisherman's motto : " Fine 
 and far off " must in this case be reduced to a science, every- 
 thing being light, neat, and so arranged that the longest 
 cast, with the least weight, can be easily, promptly and ac- 
 curately made. This is all the more necessary when the 
 water is clear and the surface like glass. It does not myatter 
 so much w^hen a nice ripple disturbs the water — this latter 
 condition being the most conducive to sport — but we cannot 
 always have the wind and weather exactly suitable when we 
 go fishing, so we must prepare for any contingency. It is 
 not advisable even under any circumstance to use a long 
 
<64 
 
 THE RUDD. 
 
 heavy rod for rudd fishing; this weapon must be light, 
 strong, handy, and, above all, prompt in its actions. Twelve 
 feet in length will be found ample; in fact, the chub rod 
 described in Chapter II., Page 79, Vol. I is the very thing. 
 The same remark also applies to the reel, the centre-pin, 
 three and a half inches in diameter, being so free and easy 
 running is to be recommended above any other (see Chap. 
 II, page 80, vol. I). The silk running line can hardly be 
 too fine, provided it is fairly strong, forty or fifty yards of 
 the plaited silk chub fine described on page 82 being the 
 best size and quality that can be procured for this purpose. 
 For floats, almost any good roach or chub float will do. 
 Still, if I have a preference for any it is for those cork and 
 porcupine floats, one about four to six inches in length and 
 painted green, with a white tip being the best ; these floats 
 do not show so conspicuously in the water as a long white 
 quill. Another float that I ami very fond of for rudd fish- 
 ing is a small disc of cork painted green, with a hole through 
 the centre, which said hole contains a removeable plug of 
 wood. This float is shaped somewhat similar toi a small 
 " pilot " that is used in jack fishing ; only it is very much 
 smaller, and perfectly round, the exact size being five-eighths 
 of an inch in diameter. There is a little advatnage in us- 
 ing this float, because you are fishing where weeds are very 
 plentiful, and a long float is liable to be pulled by the fish 
 into the weeds; the point that sticks up beyond the cap 
 and line will catch among them, and cause you very much 
 annoyance. But in this round float with the line threaded 
 through the centre, and secured in its place by the little plug 
 of wood, presents no inequalities or points that can catch 
 under or over the weeds. 
 
 It is not advisable to use the finest gossamer four X drawn 
 gut for bottom tackle, as recommended for roach, in rudd 
 fishing, as the latter fish is a strong fighter, and will try his 
 very utmost time after time to reach his hover of weeds, 
 which, if he succeeds in doing, will most certainly break you. 
 I have seen it stated somewhere or other that the rudd is a 
 very cowardly fish, and gives up directly he is hooked, but 
 in actual practice, with good ones, I find the very opposite 
 to be the case, and not until the landing-net is fairly under 
 
THE RUDD. 65 
 
 him can you say he is thoroughly mastered. I recommend 
 fine tackle, of course ; the finer you dare use it, the greater 
 your chance of success, but it will be found a mistake to 
 try it too fine. A gut line a yard in length, slightly tapered 
 towards the hook end, of good, round, finest undrawn gut, 
 of the quality known in the trade as '' finest refina No. i," 
 stained a dark blue colour, will be found the best, and this 
 ^t line should have a small and carefully knotted loop tied 
 at each end of it, one of these loops being to fasten the silk 
 line in, and the other to loop in the length of gut on which 
 the hook itself is whipped. I recommend for various rea- 
 sons the bottom, tackle to be in two sections, the hook length 
 of gut to be separate and distinct from, the main gut line, 
 and yet capable of being joined together in an instant by 
 means of the two loops, the principal reason being that in 
 case of a breakage, which generally happens to the bottom 
 or hook length, as being the finest, a fresh hook can be put 
 on without having to change the properly-shotted main gut 
 line. I have used several different kinds of hooks in rudd 
 fishing, round bends and sneck bends ; long shanks and 
 short shanks ; and after a careful trial, I pronounce most 
 •decidedly in favour of a Crystal hook. No. 10 size (Redditch 
 scale) mth a fairly long shank, the holding power of this 
 hook being very good, in addition to which a worm or worms 
 can be threaded on with the greatest ease. The gut itself 
 on this hook should be a shade finer than the main gut line, 
 what is known as 2x drawn gut stained dark blue, being the 
 very best. It is advisable to have a few spare gut hooks 
 of this quality with you, as breakages may happen, and it 
 is alsoi advisable to have a supply of short-shanked hooks as 
 well, in case you may want to try the paste bait, as noted 
 a short time ago. 
 
 Now I come to a point that I wish the angler to carefully 
 con, and that is : a rudd always takes a bait " slowly sinking 
 from the surface," in preference to a stationary one, or even 
 to a bait swimming down stream at one even depth. From 
 this it is obvious that a lot of heavy shot must not be in 
 close proximity to the hook. These split shot, which can 
 be three or four BB's suflficient to cock the float properly 
 (and leave about an inch of it out of the water if that float 
 F 
 
66 THE RUDD. 
 
 is the long one, or the top of it visbile if it is the round one 
 recommended), m.ust be placed directly under, and touch- 
 ing, the float and each other, so that there is no shot be- 
 tween those touching the float and the hook. This gives 
 the angler weight enough to cast the proper distance, and 
 yet the bait sinks very slowly. The self-cocking float, as 
 recommended in the chapter on roach, might perhaps be 
 used in certain localities with considerable success, but I 
 find, as a general rule, that this float is not bulky enough 
 nor weighty enough tO' cast clean and easily the long dis - 
 tance required in rudd fishing. The distance between the 
 float and the hook need not be more than fromi eighteen 
 inches to two feet under any circumstances, while in very 
 weedy, shallow places, a foot will be found ample. It will 
 be a good plan to have two or three main gut lines shotted 
 at various distances from the bottom, loop, so that a change 
 can be easily effected should the nature of the swim, warrant 
 such a change. A boat is almost a necessity in rudd fish- 
 ing, as it is imperative to fish over the weeds, and at the 
 back of the rush-beds and flags. A bait can be easily 
 thrown over them, but in recovering the line for a fresh cast 
 the hook is liable tO' catch in the weeds. Besides, if a good 
 fish is hooked, you cannot keep himi fromi darting towards 
 you, and once under the weeds it will be impossible to land 
 him ; your chance is all the better if you have some open 
 water between the fish and yourself. Hence, a boat is 
 best, and, if possible, fish down stream. An iron two-stone 
 weight, attached to a stout cord, will do by way of an an- 
 chor. Drop the boat carefully down stream till you see a 
 place that looks suitable, keep as far away from the fish, 
 towards the opposite side, as you can throw nicely, then 
 slip the weight quietly overboard, and when it reaches the 
 bottom fasten the' cord tightly to the side or the seat ; pull 
 down the line between the rings of the rod, and make the 
 cast as described in Chapter IV. 
 
 It is not advisable to try long in one place if you don't 
 very soon get a response. Pull up the weight and shift a 
 few yards lower down, till you do find themi at home, and 
 if you do succeed in getting a good one, you may reason- 
 ably expect more, as these fish generally swim in small 
 
THE RUDD. 67 
 
 shoals. There is no mistaking the bite of a large rudd. 
 We ^\ill suppose the angler is fixed in midstream, fifteen to 
 twenty yards from the edge of the weeds, and he aims his 
 bait so accurately that it drops into one of the clear spaces 
 among those weeds, and then slowly sinks. The float has 
 hardly time to steady itself upright before it disappears 
 sideways with a rush, as Mr. Rudd makes off for his favour- 
 ite weed-bed. As soon as the float goes under, strike very 
 gently, and put on as much strain as you feel the tackle mil 
 stand, and get him into the clear water in front of the boat 
 as speedily as possible. Don't let himi rush headlong among 
 the weeds if you can anyhow prevent it, or you will certainly 
 lose both fish and tackle, besides scaring away the remainder 
 of the shoal. And don't forget the little dodge I gave 
 awhile ago — to find the fish by means of the bits of dry 
 bread floatmg among the weeds. 
 
 The main points for the rudd fisherman to observe are : 
 choose a warm,, breezy day in preference to a hot, calna 
 one, always remembering that the less wind there is, and 
 the brighter water, the more necessity is there to fish " far 
 off" and fine; always fish as near the surface as you can, 
 and where the jungle of w^eeds is the thickest ; don't trouble 
 with groundbait, except a good supply of dry bread ; throw 
 the bait lightly and accurately towards the rising fish if you 
 succeed in enticing them to the top by the surface - bait- 
 ing of bread ; a well - scoured, red worm is the best bait ; 
 keep the rod point well up ; let no more loose line than can 
 possibly be helped rest on the water, so that an instant 
 strike as soon as the float disappears is practicable; and, 
 lastly, when you have hooked a large fish, be ever on the 
 alert, and prevent him from rushing among the weeds at all 
 hazards. 
 
 Dr. Norman, writing to " Land and Water," some years 
 ago, gives the following as his experiences of rudd fishing in 
 Norfolk : — " The best bait is a nice red worm, but the finest 
 fish are taken with a salmon gut foot line and three hooks, a 
 large float, and at least forty yards of strong light line. I 
 have had a brace weighing nearly five pounds several times 
 on my paternoster, and many years ago caught twenty-nine 
 in a few hours, scaling over four stone. The ground should 
 
68 THE RUDD. 
 
 be very carefully baited for two days at least, and a long 
 willow wand stuck in the mud in the middle of it. Anchor 
 the boat very quietly twenty-five or thirty yards off, throw 
 your float near the willow, and you will have such sport as 
 few will imagine. It is really a case of no sooner in than 
 under ; and, as an old piscatorial friend said, after an hour's 
 hard work, ' Even in my wildest dreams, doctor, I never had 
 such splendid fishing.' I once took three at a single cast of 
 the line that weighed over five pounds, and a very pretty com- 
 motion they made in the water. Another evening, after a 
 very early tea, we landed no less than 194. Sunrise and sun- 
 set suit these fish best, but I have had capital sport on a hot 
 autumn day, although that is rather rare." After reading 
 the above experiences of rudd fishing in Norfolk and Suffolk, 
 and knowing that Dr. Norman was an authority on all mat- 
 ters connected with fishing in those counties, and as this 
 experience was somewhat at variance with mine, I wrote to 
 a friend since penning the above, for his experience in rudd 
 fishing in Norfolk and Suffolk. This friend, Mr. J. 
 Deplidge, has had a wide and long experience in 
 this branch of angling, and he very kindly replies 
 as follows (this letter is so very instructive and interesting 
 that I give it in full, and make no apology for doing so) : — 
 " With respect to rudd fishing in the Norfolk Broads, the 
 only successful modus operandi is tO' fish Nottingham style — 
 ' fine and far off ' — and as near the surface as possible. The 
 plan is to use a cork float, say about seven inches in length, 
 which will carry three or four heavy shots, and still show well 
 about the water at eighteen or twenty yards ; a No. i plaited 
 silk line, casting for your fish from a moored boat ; the shots 
 are placed close to the bottom tip of the float, the loop to 
 attach the hook length being immediately below the bottom 
 shot ; a No. 8 or 9 crystal hook is just the thing, and you fill 
 it with eight or nine gentles. If the point of hook protrudes 
 it does not matter, the fish bolt it ravenously ; indeed, a good 
 fish always takes the float under with an unmistakeable run. 
 You strike just as the float disappears in a slanting direction 
 towards the reeds. A fish that does not take the float under 
 with a bang is not worth striking. When you get to the right 
 spot you will be little troubled by ' scripers,' every fish almost 
 
THE RUDD. 69 
 
 going 140Z. to 2 lb., that is on Potter Heighani' Sounds and 
 Horsey Mere. Moor the boat, sav. twenty yards from the 
 reed beds, always selecting a little bay or short break in the 
 reeds ; fish with the wind so that you can cast your line well 
 and accurate to where you see a feeding fish. You draw the 
 fish out of the reeds by throwing pieces of bread, say, half the 
 size of your hand and an inch thick, towards the reeds, a.nd 
 as the bread draws near to the reeds, the fish, if in a biting 
 humour, come out in shoals, flop over the bread, showing 
 their fins and bodies, and suck at the bread. You could hear 
 them smack their lips half way across the broad. As a fish 
 shows himself you cast for him at once. As my fishernran 
 observed : ' It is like shooting your fish.' It is most exciting 
 sport, what with the expectancy of seeing the fish come out 
 of the reeds and rolling over the bread, then trying your skill 
 as a marksman, and finally of bringing and playing your gol- 
 den-hued game fish to the net. '1 he Norfolk Broad rudd, 
 especially the larger ones, are in my opinion the handsomest 
 fish — bar trout — that swims in freshwater. What a pity it is 
 that their glorious orange golden sheen cannot be revived by 
 the preserver. After being out of water a few hours the 
 colours fade to a pale yellow." 
 
 I consider this letter gives a very good description of rudd 
 fishing, and agrees with my own and Mr. Bryant's experiences 
 so accurately (with the exception that I find red worms far 
 better baits than gentles) that the reader may rest assured, if 
 he has a chance at the rudd, the instructions here given are 
 thoroughly sound and trustworthy. 
 
 This fish is also a capital one for the fly fisherman, al- 
 though he is not w^hat we can call a brilliant riser. Still, 
 feeding on, or just under, the surface, at times he takes the 
 fly well. The dry-fly fisherman in this case would not stand 
 so much chance as one using a wet sunk fly. You throw out 
 from the boat towards the haunts of the fish and allow the 
 fly to sink an inch or two under the surface ; onlv use one 
 fly at a time, and let your gut cast be fine but strong, one 
 three yards in length, tapered from strong to finest undrawn 
 being better than the extra fine drawn gut. Eyed flies are 
 the best, and they should be of a medium, size, a No. 8 or 9 
 hook (Redditch scale) being about right. A Red Palmer is 
 
70 
 
 THE RUDD 
 
 a good fly ; so is an Alder ; while for casting in the evening 
 nothing beats a Coachman with the white wings. The fly 
 that I have found most effective during the daytime is a 
 No. 8 hook Zulu. This is a black hackle fly, ribbed with 
 gold twist, and a scarlet tag ; but whichever fly you do use, 
 always tip the point of the hook with a couple of gentles, or 
 failing those a little bit of white kid. You, don't get such 
 large rudd with the fly as you do' with the w^orm. I have, 
 however, seen them landed over i ^ lb. in weight, and some- 
 times as many as a score have been taken in an hour, running 
 from that size down to half a pound ; but always remember 
 that it is the best for fly fishing when a nice breeze ripples 
 and disturbs the water ; and also remember tO' throw the fly 
 where the weeds and undergrowth are the thickest. The fly 
 rod, reel, and line recommended and described in the chapter 
 on chub, page 114, vol. i, is also right for rudd, and the angler 
 can please himself whether he uses this rod as a double-handed 
 or as a single-handed one ; but, of course, he will have to be 
 guided by circumstances as tO' this. The above remarks on 
 surface fishing for rudd, apply with equal force to the roach 
 also, except that in weedy rivers and lakes, where the water 
 is quiet, roach prefer very small flies, a tiny Red Palmer 
 tipped with a gentle being as good as anything. 
 
 In closing this chapter I must apologise for its length, 
 but seeing that it is a little-known fish, and also that it is, as 
 I firmly believe, on the increase in English waters. I must 
 let the importance of the subject be my excuse. I have said 
 nothing but what the angler ought to know, as personal ex- 
 perience in this matter has taught me that there are scores 
 of fishermen living close tO' the haunts of splendid rudd that 
 were ignorant of their nature and habits, and even of their 
 presence in those waters. 
 
THE BREAM. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BREAM AND BREAM FISHING. 
 
 Bream fishing— White Bream — Carp Bream — Weight of Bream- 
 Distribution of Bream— Peculiarities of Bream— '' On the flit"— Antiquity 
 of Bream — Bream in the frying-pan — The Trent style — The Ouse style — 
 A rustic breamer — A Picture drawn from life— Night fishing^The outfit— 
 Ground-baiting for Bream — A Bi'eam bite — The hook and crutch — The 
 weather in connection with Bream fishing — Special precautions — Lake 
 Bream — An extraordinary ground bait — Hook baits — Ledgering for 
 Bream — ''Au revoir." 
 
 "The trembling quill in this slow strtam, 
 Betrays the hunger of a Bream." 
 
 This distinguished member of the carp tribe is also a fish 
 much sought after by working men anglers. In some waters 
 of England they swarm in countless shoals; and given a 
 favourable day, or more frequently night, the catch of a 
 couple of rods can be counted by the stone, or even at odd 
 times the hundredweight. And when the fact is added that 
 they run up to a good size; also that a ready sale for any 
 captured bream can be effected, and the capture itself made 
 with tackle of the cheapest and simplest kind, to say nothing 
 of the hook baits and ground baits costing next to nothing, 
 or at most not more than a shilling or two for a whole month's 
 supply, it is not to be wondered at that these fish play an 
 important part in the sport of those riverside anglers whose 
 lines happen to be cast in the immediate neighbourhood of 
 a good bream water. 
 
 There are three kinds of bream in English waters, but one 
 of them, known as the Pomeranian bream, is so very seldom 
 seen or caught by the ordinary angler that we will at once 
 
-2 THE BREAM. 
 
 dismiss hirm The second kind, too, hardly deserves a pass- 
 ing reference, as it is only the white or small silver bream, a 
 fish of no reputation whatever, being seldom: above a pound 
 in weight, more generally from four to eight ounces ; sHmy 
 and disagreeable as to his jacket, and no use whatever as 
 an eatable. In some waters they are a positive nuisance, in- 
 sisting on pulling down the float every minute, taking the 
 large bait intended for their bigger brethren, and when 
 pulled up they perhaps go a couple of ounces in weight, look- 
 ing for all the world like a bit of tin ; indeed, they are known 
 as " tin plates " to the fen fishermen. Worms and gentles 
 are the best hook baits for them ; and for ground bait a few 
 handfuls of brewer's grains mixed with clay is all that is re- 
 quired. The colour of the white breami is silver ; the fins 
 are light brown, and the eye large and prominent. So with 
 these few remarks I dismiss him. with my blessing. 
 
 The third kind, which I must notice at greater length, is 
 the common or carp-bream,, known to naturalists as Cyprinus 
 Brama, or Abramis Vulgaris. This fish cannot lay claim to 
 great personal beauty, although it is not without certain 
 attractions, especially when in good condition, and an in- 
 habitant of a first-class bream river. Some people call him 
 the " golden bream," but I cannot imagine where this name 
 comes in, unless the bronzy sheen that glitters on the upper 
 part of a freshly-caught specimen deserves to be called 
 " gold." He is also known to other anglers as the " bellows 
 fish." This, I make no doubt, is owing to his extraordinary 
 shape, being wonderfully broad, considering his length and 
 thickness ; indeed, I have seen specimens when prepared for 
 the table that, when the head and tail have been removed, 
 the breadth has been greater than the length. He has a 
 small head and mouth, the fins are very dark in colour, and 
 the tail is very much forked. When freshly caught and in 
 good condition, say during August and September, the scales 
 on the sides, especially towards the upper part, glistens with 
 a sort of metallic lustre that gives the fish a very pleasing 
 appearance ; but this sheen soon fades, and after being out 
 of the water for a few hours he changes tO' a much paler 
 colour. I have heard him also referred to as the " black 
 bream." This, I should suppose, is owing to the extreme 
 
THE BREAM. 73- 
 
 darkness of his fins. In suitable waters he attains to a pretty- 
 good size. I have heard it said that in a certain European 
 water, the name of which I cannot now remember, he not 
 unfrequently reacnes the weight of 2olb. ; but in England 
 we have nothing like that, although I once saw a statement 
 in an angling paper that a bream, of i ylb. had been taken 
 from the Trent. Again quoting from the " Fishing Gazette," 
 I note the following lines : — " Two splendid carp-bream 
 were taken from the Trent by Mr. Beck in his eel nets,, scalmg, 
 respectively twelve and a quarter, and twelve and three- 
 quarter pounds." I must, however, confess that I have 
 handled some hundreds of bream, both by netting and rod 
 fishing, and never yet saw one approaching those weights- 
 I did once see a brace that scaled together a trifle over 131b.,. 
 and thought them wonderful fish. A six-pounder is a 
 triumph, while as for a seven or eight pound one, it could be 
 put down as a veritable giant. The general nm of bream 
 that fall to the lot of the average angler, even in good waters, 
 would go fromi two to four pounds apiece, while if the angler 
 succeeded in making a bag of twenty fish that went on the 
 average two and a half pounds per fish, he could set it down 
 as being very good indeed. There is, however, one place on 
 the river Nene, some few miles from Peterborough, where an 
 extraordinary average is frequently made. I once saw a bag 
 of eight fish taken ledgering, the smallest one of which went 
 four pounds, and the largest six ; and I was assured that this 
 was nothing out of the way. There is also another place 
 on the river Ouse, in Buckinghamshire, where bream, reach 
 a very large size, one in particular, that was taken in the eel 
 traps, tipped the beam at nine pounds, and is now exhibited 
 in the natural history department of a small country museum ; 
 and I also know of another case of three Ouse bream, the 
 united weight of which went 2olb. 
 
 This fish does not appear to> be very widely distributed in 
 the rivers of England, being by far the most plentiful in the 
 eastern and south-eastern counties (of course, lakes, ponds, 
 and reservoirs that contain bream are to be found almost 
 anywhere; but I ami now alluding to bream rivers). The 
 Bedfordshire Ouse stands an easy first, if not for quantity, 
 at least for quality of bream. The Norfolk and Suffolk 
 
-M^ THE BREAM. 
 
 rivers and broads have been noted for them, nearly time out 
 of mind. The Nene is also a good bream, river ; so is the 
 Witham and some of the drains that intersect the county of 
 Lincoln ; while last, but not least, the Trent has some good 
 -ones in many of its deep, quiet holes. Coming further 
 south, the Medway, the Arun, the Mole, and the Thames, can 
 be set down as breami rivers, and the Warwickshire Avon 
 must not be forgotten, although this latter streami is in the 
 West Midlands. They are generally found in the deepest, 
 ^quietest parts of the river, and are often packed together in 
 very large numbers. Bream spawn in June, and generally 
 about the time that the dog weed is in flower. This weed 
 grows in large patches on the surface of some waters, and 
 bears a profusion of small white flowers. Riverside men 
 call this weed the " bream weed," and certainly it is a most 
 appropriate name, for as soon as the flower appears then 
 the bream may be looked for on the shallows, scouring themr 
 selves among the weeds. It is an extraordinary sight at this 
 time to see a shoal of Trent bream, probably some thousands 
 in number, extending in unbroken ranks for hundreds cf 
 yards, rolling, twisting, diving, splashing, and threading 
 these weeds in every direction for sometimes two or three 
 days together; so reckless are they at this time that they 
 -can be scooped out with a landing net. 
 
 In the deep, sluggish waters of the Ouse, immediately 
 after spawning and scouring, they come to the surface in 
 huge shoals and swim close above the water, and so close 
 together that they nearly touch each other, and perambulate 
 backwards and forwards up and down the centre of the 
 river. After two or three days of this performance they 
 vanish into deep holes. 
 
 About the beginning of July I have noticed another pecu- 
 liarity of the bream : shoals of them, w^ould migrate tO' fresh 
 swims. I noticed this more particularly about three weeks 
 or so after they had done scoturing themselves. I have 
 observed shoals on the " flit " even so late as the middle of 
 August; but as a general rule this migration occurs during 
 July. At these times they swim in crowds close to the sur- 
 face, even showing their back fins above the water. An old 
 friend and I were once lucky enough to see a huge shoal that 
 
THE BREAM. 75 
 
 -must have numbered many hundreds, cross a long shallow 
 stream', working their way against a heavy Trent current. We 
 supposed them to be going to a deep, quiet swim some two 
 •or three hundred yards higher up the river. We sat per- 
 fectly quiet in the boat, and had a good view within a very 
 few yards ; but being anxious to see the extent of this shoal, I 
 stood upon the boat seat, and in an instant, as if by magic, 
 ^•very fish sank down and vanished. My old friend used to 
 advance the opinion that these fish were like a hive of bees : 
 when a swim got overcrowded, a " swarm " would leave it and 
 seek a fresh home. There may be something in this ; at any 
 Tate, I can call to mind several instances where friends and 
 myself have met with such a shoal when roach fishing on 
 the shallows in a stream less than a yard in depth; in fact, 
 in a place where no sane fisherman would dream, of bream 
 fishing in ; and yet, on their journey these fish were attracted 
 t)y the ground bait, and came at worms and gentles in gal- 
 lant style, heavy bags being had in the course of two or three 
 hours. Only a short time ago, I remember a case in point, 
 a youth dropped across a *' flitting " shoal of bream ; he was 
 roach fishing from an old punt in about a couple of feet of 
 water ; a fair stream was running, and he must have had some 
 rare fun. He had no landing net, and time after time two 
 and three pound fish were played up to the boat's side, and 
 then dropped off the hook (a small one by the way) in trying 
 to land them with his hand and hat, and yet he came stagger- 
 ing home with fifty pounds of fish. Next morning an expert 
 armed with every necessary, tried the place ; but, never fear, 
 during the night every bream had gone, and a blank, so far 
 as that fish was concerned, was the result. 
 
 Another friend once assured me that he had a very singular 
 ■experience of this kind. He got a rare good bag of bream 
 out of a shallow dyke or stream barely two yards wide, and 
 some quarter mile above its outlet into the river. I have also 
 before me now a very interesting letter that was written by 
 one of the best and most observant anglers on the Trent — 
 Mr. W. Ball, the famous " Trentsider," of Newark. A corre- 
 spondent had asked him his opinion on this question, and in 
 the course of his reply Mr. Ball says : " From their well- 
 known propensities for roaming about, my correspondent 
 
76 THE BREAM. 
 
 need never despair if, after baiting a swim known tO' hold 
 breami, they fail to come on in a reasonable time. An 
 authentic instance of breami shifting their quarters was given 
 me a short time ago by a friend : " Some few years ago a 
 gentleman of Newark invited a Sheffield angler for a day ot 
 two's fishing in the Newark district, and accordingly baited 
 a well-known breami swim' called " Foottits Hole," a few miles 
 below the town. Commencing at daybreak one August 
 morning, they fished more than half the day without the 
 slightest sign of a bream, in the swim, and the Sheffielder was 
 getting disgusted with the proceedings, but patience and ob- 
 servation were two of the Newark man's virtues, and in 
 studying the why and the wherefore of their non-success, he 
 happened to cast his eyes lower dow^n the river to an eddy 
 about three hundred yards away, and there he noticed bream 
 rolling and tumbling about in all directions. ' Ah,' said he,. 
 ' they are all down there ; never mind, we shall have them, 
 presently.' And sure enough such was the fact, for gradually 
 they worked their way up-stream, disporting on their journey, 
 until, arriving at their feeding ground, they gradually dis- 
 appeared ; and my friend, taking a longer swim, secured one 
 at the first attempt. ' Now w^e shall soon be among them;,' 
 said he, a remark w^hich was fully justified, for the remainder 
 of the day the bream were fairly ' mad on,' and one of the 
 heaviest takes ever made in the locality was the result of 
 their perseverance." These experiences go to' prove that 
 bream at certain seasons are very roving in their habits, and 
 the bream fisherman should keep a good look out for any 
 signs of a " flitting " shoal. 
 
 Bream appear to me to be a fish that w^as highly esteemed 
 in the Middle Ages, and rigorously preserved, the old monks 
 who lived in some of the religious houses being great lovers 
 of them. Indeed, some of the old sheets of water that are 
 to be found in the neighbourhood of the old ruined abbeys 
 contain to this day quantities of fine bream. I cannot help 
 thinking, however, that the tastes of the reverend fathers 
 must have been primitive indeed, and easily satisfied, be- 
 cause pond bream is about the worst dish that could possibly 
 be conceived in the fish line. That they were highly es- 
 teemed seems to be a well attested fact ; for three hundred 
 
THE BREAM. 77 
 
 years ago, and even less, a proverb was often quoted to the 
 effect that " He that hath bream, in his pond hath always a 
 welcome for his guest." Just fancy nowadays a man wel- 
 coming his guest with a dish of pond breami. I reckon he 
 would not have a chance of welcoming them a second time, 
 for most assuredly they would keep out of his reach for the 
 future. I know of a sheet of water in Nottinghamshire that 
 contains a lot of large bream, but so filthy and slimy are they 
 that if caught in the early morning and kept in the bag or 
 basket till night they become nothing more nor less than a 
 mass of corruption, more particularly if the weather is* hot. 
 Far different, however, is a good Ouse bream; nicely fried 
 and browned crisp with bread crumbs it is anything but bad 
 eating. They should be scaled, beheaded, the fins and in- 
 sides carefully removed, and scraped well all along the in- 
 side of the backbone ; a little salt should then be rubbed well 
 in, both outside and inside ; and after standing for an hour 
 or two to drain, carefully washed again, and thoroughly dried 
 with a cloth. A lump of good lard should be melted in the 
 frying-pan first, and the bream dropped in among the boil- 
 ing fat, turning it over when sufficiently cooked on the 
 under side. It should be served and eaten as hot as pos- 
 sible. I might add that bream are all the better if cleaned 
 as soon after capture as possible. I must confess that after 
 my experiences with the Trent bream I was most agreeably 
 surprised at the flavour of a good sample from the Ouse; 
 indeed, many of the people who live on the banks of that 
 river would sooner have a good bream than the best beef- 
 steak that could be purchased ; a three-pounder will easily 
 fetch sixpence. 
 
 Bream are captured in several ways. On the Trent the 
 angler uses the same rod, reel, line, and tackle as recom- 
 mended for barbel, except the float is a shade less and the 
 hook a trifle smaller. The haunts of bream^ in the Trent are 
 deep holes, where the stream is very sluggish. The hook 
 bait, which is generally a worm — and any of the worms re- 
 commended in the chapter on barbel will do^ — is allowed to 
 trip along the bottom. Stret-pegging is also another good 
 method of bream fishing. For ground bait worms are some- 
 times used, and these are clipped up and thrown down the 
 
yg THE BREAM. 
 
 swim in exactly the same manner as described for barbeL 
 Some Trent fishermen use a ground bait for bream, consist- 
 ing of boiled scratchings, brewer's grains, barley meal, and 
 bullock's blood, mixed up and kneaded together in hard 
 lumps. With this ground bait worms are generally used on 
 the hook, although cadbaits, wasp grubs, and scented pastes 
 can also be tried as a change. Trent bream are cunning 
 customers, and just about as uncertain in their feeding as 
 barbel, very often refusing to come on even after the most 
 careful baiting. Every item' of the tackle should be as neat 
 as possible, the float itself being not one shot heavier than 
 the swim actually requires. The bait should also be 
 threaded on the hook as neatly as can be, and no long ends- 
 of worms dangling from the point. A good breams bait in 
 a stream is about an inch of the tail end of a well-scoured 
 lob-worm, threaded well on the shank of the hook, and a 
 little brilliant brandling or red-worm, twisting and twirling, 
 crossways on the point. I used to find that the Trent bream 
 were very roving in their habits, sometimes forsaking a swim 
 without any apparent reason, and then after an absence of 
 a week or more returning to it as suddenly as they left. This 
 stream fishing for bream in the Trent style is a good deal 
 like barbel fishing, with the exceotion of the t\vo or three 
 little differences noted above ; sO' I will say no more on that 
 subject, but turn to a far different method, viz., breami fish- 
 ing in quiet waters. 
 
 Many of the riverside anglers who live on the banks of the 
 Bedfordshire Ouse, have an idea that it is very httle, if any, 
 good fishing for breami in those waters during the day time, 
 and that it is not one time in a score that breami are to be 
 caught, say, between the hours of nine in the morning and 
 four in the afternoon. Personally I don't wonder at it when 
 the extraordinary tackle used by some of these men is taken 
 into account ; but I must say that the very best bag of bream 
 I ever got with rod and line in my life was taken between the 
 hours named. They came on the feed at nine in the morn- 
 ing, and did not cease biting until four in the afternoon, by 
 which time fifty, weighing exactly nine stones, had been 
 safely landed ; the water was clear, and the sun very hot all 
 through the day. I can also call to mind scores of other 
 
THE BREAM. y^e 
 
 occasions when very fair bags indeed of those fish have been 
 made during the middle of the day. Fine tackle and proper 
 appliances were, however, in those cases an absolute neces- 
 sity. A night breamer's tackle, I have no hesitation in say- 
 ing, would have failed under the same conditions of weather 
 and water. If you proceed in a w^orkmanlike manner you are 
 bound to get them; sometimes, that is, if you stick to them 
 long enough ; but I may as well again confess that in bream 
 fishing the blanks have been more numerous than the prizes, 
 but still I always consider that one slice of luck, and, say, 
 5olb. of fish, makes up for several disappointments. Per- 
 sonally, I don't like fishing during the " silent midnight 
 hours," but there are times when, do as you vriW, the bream 
 won't bite unless you are on the job with lamp and lantern. 
 I know of no fishing more uncertain than Ouse breaming : 
 you never know at what hour of the day or night they will 
 come on ; you can only fish and wait, hoping for the good 
 time coming. I once remember an angler baiting and fishing 
 a swim, day after day in the hope that he would soon get them, 
 when at last, on the afternoon of the third day, he got a bite 
 and landed a three-pounder. He now fished away in earnest 
 and landed a dozen good fish in an hour, when tney left off 
 feeding as suddenly as they began ; and although he stuck 
 to it for two more days, he never got another bream, or even 
 any signs of a bream, bite. On the other hand I have known 
 them to keep on the feed for three or four days at a stretch, 
 but, as I said before, it is awfully uncertain. 
 
 I will trv to give a picture of a rustic bream fisherman 
 and his modus operandi. His tackle is of the most primitive 
 kind, the rod in many cases being simply a long ash sapling 
 cut from the nearest plantation. Reel and running tackle 
 are absent altogether, the line being nothing more than a few 
 yards of stout watercord, tied firmly at the end of the " pole." 
 The float is about the size and shape of a schoolboy's peg- 
 top ; quite large enough for pike fishing. A yard of the 
 strongest and coarsest gut, mounted with a large and strong 
 Carlisle hook does dut}^ for tackle. A dozen or more large 
 split shots are pinched on this gut line, and crowded close 
 together within a foot of this hook ; this completes the out- 
 fit, the total value of which would not exceed sixpence. I 
 
^O THE BREAM 
 
 have frequently seen these anglers hang the hook into the 
 top of a gatepost and test the strength of the line, by a 
 series of strong pulls. About an hour before sunset, our 
 rustic village angler, with pole on his shoulder, a large pail 
 of brewers grains, and an old sack and stable lantern, pro- 
 ceeds down to the swim, which is generally the deepest and 
 quietest hole he can find. With the help of a rail or an 
 hedge-stake, in the absence of a spade, a few lumps of clay 
 or old pollard are grubbed up from the banks, and mixed 
 with the grains, until he has fromi twenty to thirty balls, as 
 big as cocoa-nuts. These are dropped in one by one, fall- 
 ing into the water with a sounding splash. A hook and 
 crutch are next looked up, and stuck in the bank about a 
 couple of feet from, each other; these articles are to rest the 
 rod on, the crutch being a forked stick, while the hook is 
 another stout stick with a hook at the end, these articles 
 are usually cut from the nearest willow tree. The crutch 
 is stuck in the ground as near the edge of the water as 
 possible, the hook being eighteen inches to two feet behind 
 it; the extreme butt end of the pole is put under the hook, 
 and then dropped on the fork of the crutch, in such a man- 
 ner that the rod projects straight above the surface. This 
 contrivance does away with the necessity of holding the rod 
 in the hand; the depth is next taken by hanging a heavy 
 plummet on the hook ; allowing some six inches or so, so 
 that the bait lies well on the bottom. After fixing the float 
 firmly on the line at its proper place, an old tin containing 
 a supply of worms (brandlings generally), freshly dug out 
 of the manure heap, is produced from the side pocket of 
 his old jacket. TwO' or three of these wonns, according to 
 size are threaded on the hook, and flop, the heavily weighted 
 tackle, and big float drops on the water with a splash. 
 After fixing the pole on the hook and crutch, the old pail in 
 which he carried the grains is turned bottomi upwards, and 
 an old sack doubled up on the top, forms a seat ; this seat 
 being fixed so that the rod is near to his right hand, ready 
 for immediate action if he gets a bite. Our rustic angler 
 now in all probability, smokes the pipe of peace, and con- 
 templates that motionless float, until it gets too dark to see 
 it. The lantern now plays a prominent part in the pro- 
 
THE BREAM ' 8 1 
 
 ceedings, this is fixed close to the water's edge, and in such 
 a position that the rays from the lighted candle inside, 
 shines directly on the float; (I might say that this float is 
 generally painted white, the light reflecting nicely on it). 
 After a bit this float in a ghost like manner, rises a little, 
 lays on its side, and then moves ofl^, instantly the pole is 
 grabbed, lifted from its support, and with a jerk that makes 
 the water fly, bream No. i is fixed. No grace is given a 
 hooked fish, but he is at once hauled to the surface, and run 
 to shoTe, if our angler has a landing net it is quickly slipped 
 under it, if not he stoops down, seizes it firmly by the back 
 of the bead beyond the gills and hurls it up the bank. And so 
 the game continues until the flickering candle tells him it 
 is time to give over. Sometimes he stays till one or two 
 o'clock in the morning, and catches two or three stones of 
 bream, sometimes he goes night after night, and fails to 
 catch a single one. During July when the nights are very 
 short, this man alters his proceeding somewhat, he throws 
 in his ground-bait the previous evening, goes to bed early, 
 and rises before the first streak of daylight is visible on the 
 eastern horizon, arriving at the scene of operations at two 
 a.m., finishing, up about five ; sometimes with as many 
 bream as he can conveniently carr)', more often with only 
 one or two, and still more times with none at all. But still, 
 success or failure he keeps going, and this continues for some 
 six weeks during the early summer, for as soon as har\'est 
 sets in our village rustic angler has other fish to^ fry. This 
 is a picture drawn from life, and can be set down as a 
 thoroughly representative Ouse breamer. There are other 
 men who go to work as far as tackle and groundbaiting 
 are concerned in a far diff"erent manner, so I ^^ill now ex- 
 plain the method that I have found by practical experience 
 to be the best toi adopt in slow running bream rivers like the 
 Ouse. The outfit itself need not be of a very elaborate char- 
 acter, a light but strong cane rod fourteen or fifteen feet 
 long will do very well ; a three inch wooden reel, and twenty 
 yards of plaited silk line of medium, thickness, all that is 
 required. For floats I like a good stout porcupine quill, 
 one carrying eight medium sized shots, the bottom tackle 
 should consist of two yards of medium, fine gut, stained a 
 G 
 
82 THE BREAM. 
 
 dark blue, and as for hooks, nothing can beat a No. S 
 Crystal bend, on a length of 2x drawn gut. The shots 
 can be put on the tackle the same way as described in the 
 chapter on roach fishing in still water, in fact, the modus 
 operandi for both fish is somewhat similar. For groundbait 
 I prefer a pail full of brewer's grains, a peck of bran, and a 
 bowl full of old bread crusts that have been soaked in cold 
 water for a few hours. This mixture requires kneading to- 
 gether in stiff lumps, the same as described in roach fishing, 
 and dropping in the swimi if possible the night before it is 
 fished. A half-peck of ordinary farm-yard barley costing 
 about sixpence, should also be procured, and this should be 
 boiled for several hours in a furnace or copper, until the 
 barley swells out to its fullest extent, and increases in bulk 
 three or four fold. This is for use during fishing, a handful 
 or two being sprinkled all over the swim from, time to time 
 as occasion requires. If the angler is unable to procure any 
 barley, he will make shift with a few balls of the ground-bait 
 already described. Brandling worms nicely scoured is as 
 good a bait as can possibly be tried for bream. If there is 
 a very slight stream, I prefer tO' fish stret pegging; arrange 
 the float about six inches deeper than the water, so- that the 
 bait lays well on the bottomi. A bream, bite in these still 
 waters is very often of rather a peculiar character ; all at once 
 you will notice your porcupine quill rising upwards in the 
 water, as if something was pushing it from underneath, and 
 then lay flat upon the surface, immediately after\vards it 
 would glide underneath again, this is a breami bite and 
 should be responded to on the instant, or at least as soon 
 as this gliding away process begins. I suppose it is the 
 extraordmary shape of the bream, when he picks the bait 
 from the bottomi, and then rises in his natural position, that 
 causes this movement of the float. In bream fishing the 
 hook and crutch mentioned some time ago are very useful ; 
 this fish being rather a slow biter there is plenty of time to 
 pick up the rod after the bite is first perceived. Some odd 
 times when a little stream, goes crawling down the river, the 
 bream prefer a moving bait, that is, fix the float at the exact 
 depth, and swim down stream, fromi one end tO' the other of 
 the swimi, and at these times, particularly if the water is 
 
THE BREAM. 83 
 
 very clear, use only a very small bait, jiist enough to cover 
 the hook. In addition to worms, sweet paste made of white 
 bread crumb, King's natural bait, a little honey or sugar, and 
 a few drops of gin, all mixed together makes a capital change 
 bait. Two or three kernels of white wheat on the hook is 
 also sometimes very attractive to the big bream of those 
 waters. 
 
 July, August, and September are the best months for 
 bream, and if fine tackle is used it is possible to make a bag 
 during the middle of the day, although I must confess that 
 early morning and during the evening are more likely to be 
 the most successful. Three or four Hvely gentles are also' a 
 source of attraction to this fish, while a wasp grub and a cad- 
 bait will not be despised. 
 
 And now I must say a few words on the vexed question of 
 the weather, and what effect it has on the bream, of these 
 waters. A very old bream fisherman once told me that years 
 ago he has taken bream nearly all the year round — winter as 
 well as summer and autumn — but even in those days it was 
 by no means a certainty catching them as soon as Novemiber 
 got well in. Personally I find ^\'inter fishing for bream' of 
 no great account ; now and then I have taken a few odd ones 
 when roach fishing during the depth of winter; but it is in 
 my opinion hardly worth while going specially for themi, say, 
 during the Christmas holidays, unless the weather is very 
 mild indeed. I also' think there is no fish that swims that is 
 so susceptible to sudden changes of the weather as bream, 
 and I have even fancied that they could tell what was com- 
 ing ; for I have been out on what I considered at the time to 
 be a perfect bream day, and met with no sport at all, and a 
 few hours later a stormi of cold wind and rain has swept across 
 the district. I have heard ver}' old fishermen say that the 
 bream knew better than the anglers what weather was coming, 
 and would not bite in face of a pending stormi I have proved 
 the truth of this over and over again. In the chapter on 
 roach fishing I noticed the peculiarities of water temperature : 
 when sometimes the \\^ter was very much colder than the 
 surrounding atmosphere, and at other times the water was 
 warmer than the air around. The remarks I then penned as 
 to the effects of this on roach feeding, can be applied with, 
 
84 THE BREAM. 
 
 even more force to bream, particularly during the late autumn: 
 or early winter months. I remember one morning in early 
 October, getting up at daybreak to join a friend at a bream 
 swimu The rime frost hung heavy on the grass ; the weather 
 felt nearly like chilling us to the very bone, and to tell the 
 truth I felt very much inclined to go back to bed ; but we 
 found on starting operations that the temperature of the water 
 was in startling contrast toi the outside air. By breakfast-time 
 we finished off with 6olb. of fine bream. The would-be 
 breamer should pay particular attention to these little matters, 
 as his success or non-success may depend on a very simple 
 thing ; and I find that the temperature of the water plays a 
 very important part in bream fishing. This is more parti- 
 cularly to be noticed in lakes, or deep quiet rivers. The best 
 sport is obtained when a warm^ breeze ripples and disturbs the 
 surface. 
 
 My directions for bream fishing in still waters can be 
 sum.med up in a few brief sentences : use tackle as fine as you 
 dare, fish well on the bottomi, and ground-bait well a few 
 days before you start to fish. And alsO' rememiber that bream 
 are very sensitive to vibration : a reckless stamping up and 
 down the bank must be avoided, and w-hen fishing, from a 
 boat or punt extra caution must be exercised. It will be 
 as well to' have some old worn-out sacks, or even door-mats 
 on the bottom of the boat to deaden the vibration of the 
 angler's feet. And, lastly, have an old coarse apron to wear 
 w^hen bream, fishing; one that reaches fromi the chin down 
 to the feet, or the birdlime-like slime that will stick to your 
 clothes after a successful day will make you wish that you 
 had never gone breaming, so awful is it. A friend of mine, 
 w'ho fishes in a small weedy lake that contains a very great 
 number of large and slimy bream,, has a special suit for the 
 purpose ; this is made of some washing material (drabbett, 
 or jean), and is worn as overalls on the top of his ordinary 
 clothes, and most certainly the advantage; i'^ very great. This 
 friend has a special method of ground-baiting his bream 
 swim. As soon as the season gets w^ell in, he takes a large 
 punt and moors it in the deepest and clearest part of the lake, 
 leaving it there as a fixture the whole of the season, going 
 backwards and forwards to it by means of a sm.aller punt.. 
 
THE BREAM. 85 
 
 After this punt has been fixed in its position for a week or 
 so, to allow the fish to get used to it, he gives the bream, a 
 preUminary dose of most extraordinary ground bait, consist- 
 ing of half a stone of scratchings, pounded up small and 
 boiled, a couple of bushels of brewer's grains, a stone of bran^ 
 two stale loaves of bread soaked, half a peck of boiled 
 wheat, and the contents of a bullock's stomach begged from* 
 the nearest slaughterhouse, a shovelful or tw^o of good yellow 
 clay completes the ingredients. These are all mixed well 
 together and dropped in a semi-circle in front of the moored 
 punt in balls about the size of oranges, taking care that they 
 are distributed in a pretty considerable space; in fact, as 
 far about as it is possible to reach in every direction with his 
 baited tackle. Twice a week afterwards he renews the bait- 
 ing, but never again in such enormous quantities as at first. 
 A score balls of bread, bran, clay, and grains are, in his 
 opinion, quite sufficient at once. Worms, tail-end of lob, 
 and brandlings were his favourite baits. At times he varied 
 this somewhat by using wasp grubs and sweet paste. Some- 
 times his catches bordered on the man-ellous, odd times it 
 was an utter impossibility to carry the fish home, that is by 
 himself ; and he assured me the last time I heard from, him 
 that last season the bream in the water appeared more numer- 
 ous than ever, judging from the quantities seen on the sur- 
 face during the early summer. 
 
 Before I close this chapter I might say that carp-bream^ are 
 very often taken with the ledger; indeed, I know two or 
 three very good anglers whO' always fish for them, so. In 
 quiet waters they use a bored lead not much bigger than a 
 pistol bullet, while in heavier streams the size of the lead is 
 increased. The gut line should be fine, and not more than 
 a yard in length ; and the lead should be put on a very fine 
 length of gimp. See the instructions in Vol. i for ledgering 
 for barbel, only in the case of breami the leads and tackle are 
 finer, and the hook and bait smaller. Sometimes during a 
 summer or autumn flood some good bream are picked up by 
 light ledgering in the slacks and eddies along the grass slopes, 
 back of bushes or trees, at dyke ends, by the side of a sunken 
 fence ; in fact, almost anywhere out of the rush of the main 
 stream.. Tail end of lob and red-worms are the best baits to 
 
^6 THE BREAM. 
 
 employ under these conditions, and roving about stands the 
 best chance of getting sport. Another little thing I should 
 just like to iiiention, and that is, that some odd times, \\-hen 
 fishing in deep and quiet waters, bream will strip every par- 
 ticle of w^orra from tlie hook and their presence be hardly felt 
 or seen by even the most wideawake fisherman. He perhaps 
 5ees a tiny quiver or shake maybe of the float : our breamer 
 strikes, and finds to his astonishment that his hook is clean 
 and bare, and wonders however the fish managed to do' it. 
 Various dodges have been triedi to counteract this, such as 
 whipping another and smaller hook on the tackle an inch 
 above the other one, and hanging the top end of the wormi 
 on this smaller, or lip hook, as it is known on the Trent. In 
 my opinion this plan is only partly successful when the bream 
 are biting in this fashion. It is the best to use as small a 
 bait as possible, just enough tO' cover the point and shank 
 of tlie hook, say about three-quarters of an inch fromi the tail 
 of a small lob-worm or larg^ brandling, threaded carefully 
 as far as the end of the shank, and a tiny cockspur or brand- 
 ling wriggling crossways ooi the point. The angler should 
 strike promptly at anything he supposes toi be the slightest 
 Indication of a bite ; Mr. Breami may be suddenly astonished 
 in his quiet bait-stealing operations. Anyhow, I know it is 
 worth trying; many of my best bream have been hooked 
 when adopting this dodge. I must now bring my re- 
 marks to a close, and hope my readers will derive some bene- 
 fits from the experiences herein roughly described ; anyhow, 
 if they get as much pleasure in reading them as I have had 
 in penning them I shaU be amply repaid for my trouble, and 
 may all of you enjoy tight lines and a clear conscience when 
 you go a-fishing. 
 
PIKE AND PERCH 
 FISHING. 
 
 Being a Practical Treatise on Angling with Float, 
 
 Paternoster, and Leger, in Still Water 
 
 AND Stream. 
 
 INCLUDING CHAPTERS ON SPINNING WITH NATURAL 
 
 AND ARTIFICIAL BAITS, AND ALSO LIVE 
 
 AND DEAD GORGING. 
 
 By J. W. MARTIN, 
 
 The "Trent Otter." 
 
 A Working Man Angler's Experiences ; written expressly for the 
 benefit of his brethren of the Craft. 
 
 WITH ILLUS TRA TIONS. 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THP: angler, limited, at the OEFK ES, SCARBOROUGH. 
 
Prefatory Introduction 
 
 My Dear Brother Fishermen, — The two small 
 companion volumes that I had the honour and pleasure of 
 introducing to you about a year ago, have been received 
 with considerable success. I am deeply grateful to you 
 all for your kindness, and wish now to still further increase 
 my obligations in that respect. To this end I beg to 
 introduce to your, I hope, favourable consideration, the 
 present little effort of my pen, which is part 4, vol. 3, of 
 the series ; and which I entitle, "Pike and Perch Fishing." 
 
 This book is not intended solely for the benefit of well- 
 to-do pike fishermen, who can travel far and wide for their 
 sport, and who have the very best private waters in the 
 kingdom at their disposal ; and plenty of money to pur- 
 chase any and every pike tackle and artificial that takes 
 their fancy. It is rather the working man angler, who has 
 few opportunities to wet his line in well-stocked private 
 lakes and rivers, that I am more particularly addressing in 
 the following pages. 
 
 The latter class of angler is extremely anxious to have 
 put before him the simplest and most inexpensive method 
 that can be adopted in well-fished public waters. His 
 pockets have not much of a golden lining, and if he can 
 successfully ply his craft at an expenditure of only a few 
 
iv. Preface. 
 
 shillings, he will like it far better than if a whole host of 
 things were set before him and most strongly recommended. 
 
 To this end I have brought my own experiences as a 
 working man angler, who has had to toil in factory and 
 farmyard, to bear ; and have given what I consider to be 
 the simplest and most effective methods to adopt in all 
 conditions of pike and perch fishing, that the ordinary 
 working man will have placed at his disposal. 
 
 This question was once summed up neatly by a journey- 
 man sweep, who one day was spinning a likely-looking 
 stretch of the Trent ; his attention had been called to a 
 paragraph in one of the sporting papers, in which it was 
 stated that " Mr. S , fishing Lord B's private lake, had 
 succeeded in landing a splendid bag of large pike." 
 " Ah," said our friend the sweep, at the same time jerking 
 his head in the direction of a woman and two children 
 sitting on the bank, " If Mr. S., the noted pike slayer, was 
 on this, or any other well-fished public water, and had his 
 wife and two kids sitting on the bank, waiting while he 
 caught a jack, which had also to be sold before a bit of 
 bread could be procured for their breakfasts, same as they 
 are waiting for over yonder, I reckon his Vags would not 
 be much heavier than the rest of us anglers are." I hope 
 none of my readers will be so hard up as to depend for 
 their breakfasts on the fish they catch, but the little inci- 
 dent is useful in illustrating my meaning. 
 
 Personally I don't pretend to have any literary ability. 
 What I have written is only a plain statement of fact, and 
 written as one old worker would write to his mates. Neither 
 
Preface. v, 
 
 do I pretend to be a better fisherman than hundreds more 
 that are found in almost any big town and city in England. 
 I know just enough to amuse myself, but I do claim to be 
 an observant angler ; one who notes any strange thing 
 that comes his way, and who does not rest contented until 
 he has reasoned out for himself the why and wherefore of 
 it. Added to this, I have had peculiar advantages that 
 does not come within reach of the generality of my poorer 
 brethren. I have been an angler from my earliest boy- 
 hood, and constantly thrown in the society of men who 
 are angling gems of the very first water. 
 
 These are a few of the considerations that prompt me 
 to hope for a favourable reception at your hands, of this 
 little volume. I won't promise you an elaborately illus- 
 trated, and finely got-up book, but I will promise you a 
 most carefully written, and at the same time plain essay on 
 pike and perch fishing, so that the veriest novice will not 
 stumble during his journey through its pages. For I have 
 taken the liberty of assuming that some of you are novices 
 pure and simple, who know next to nothing on the subject 
 here specially treated. 
 
 The principles 1 lay down are the principles of economy, 
 coupled with the most effective results that a lifetime's ex- 
 perience has suggested and studied from many and various 
 standpoints. I also dedicate this volume to my fellow 
 working men anglers, and ask them to treat it and me as 
 favourably as they can. 
 
 J 898. John Wm. Martin, 
 
 <' The Trent Otter:' 
 
Contents. 
 
 PART IV,— PIKE AND PERCH. 
 
 Chapter I.— The Pike and His Chakacteristics. 
 
 Ancient writers on the pike— Description of the pike— His 
 habits— His ferocity and voracity— Tench as food, or 
 doctor— The haunts of pike— Jack in a baited swim- 
 Weight and growth of pike— Jack fishing in pubUc waters, 
 a contrast — The first English writer on pike and pike 
 fishing— The gander and the pike— Pike in ancient times- 
 Pike on the table— Different methods of jack fishing - - I 
 
 Chapter II.— The Pike (continued). 
 
 Pike Rods, Reels, and Lines. 
 The pike rod— What it has to do— How it should be made- 
 Different woods and canes suitable for pike rods— Rod 
 rings and ferrules — Pike reels — The Malloch casting reel — 
 Slater's cage guard reel — Allcock's pike reels — The plain 
 Nottingham reel — The line — How to dress or waterproof 
 a pike line — The line dryer — Landing nets and gaff hooks 
 — Flight cases and haversacks — Rod and tackle varnish 20 
 
 Chapter III.— The Pike (continued). 
 
 Casting Out the Bait. 
 
 Different methods of casting— The Nottingham style— The 
 right-handed cast — The cast from the left hand — How to 
 cast from the reel — Weights and their distribution — The 
 forward swing — Casting with a coiled line — A peculiar cast 43 
 
 Chapter IV.— The Pike (continued). 
 
 Spinning with a Natural Bait. 
 
 Spinning, what it is — A simple spinning tackle — The Chapman 
 spinner and its contemporaries — Flights and their uses — 
 The spinning trace — Best baits for spinning — "The Trent 
 Otter's " spinning flight — How to bait it — A good season — 
 How to spin to have the best results — Different methods 
 for different waters — Condition of the water — Clouded v, 
 clear water spinning — Spinning in deep and sluggish waters 
 — Changing the bait — Striking, playing, and landing a pike 
 — Haunts of pike during the different months — Spinning 
 leads — Preserving dead baits 55 
 
i}iii. Contents. 
 
 Chapter V.— The Pike (continued J 
 
 Spinning with an Artificial. 
 
 Artificial baits— What shape and colour is likely to have the 
 best results — A seeming contradiction — Three typical 
 Artificials— How to spin an artificial— Best time, water, 
 and places to try artificials — Wind and weather — Ice in the 
 rings of the rod 78 
 
 Chapter VI.— The Pike f continued). 
 
 Trolling with a Dead Gorge. 
 
 The reel, line, and tackle— How to bait a dead gorge— Working 
 
 the trolling bait— Different methods of dead-gorging - - 86 
 
 Chapter VII.— The Pike (continued). 
 
 Fishing with a Live Bait. 
 
 Different methods of live baiting— Pike floats and pilots— Snap 
 tackles, and the methods of baiting— Traces for Uve baiting 
 — Stream fishing for pike — The slider float — Striking, and 
 playing a pike on float tackle — The proper depth — A con- 
 trast — Live gorging — Paternostering for pike — Legering 
 —Queer live baits — Live bait kettles and store boxes - - 92 
 
 Chapter VIII.— The Perch. 
 
 Perch and Perch Fishing. 
 
 The veteran and his first perch— Habits and haunts of perch- 
 Perch packing in the winter— A cruel slaughter— Descrip- 
 tion of the perch— Weight of perch—" His eyes bigger than 
 his belly" — Perch in the frying pan — Rod, reel, line, and 
 tackle for perch fishing — Stream fishing for perch — Pater- 
 nostering — Float fishing with a minnow — Fly fishing — 
 Artificial baits for perch - - - - - - -112 
 
PART 4. 
 
 THE PIKE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE PIKE AND HIS CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 Ancient writers on the pike — Description of the f ike — His habits — His 
 ferocity and voracity — Tench as food or doctor — The haunts of pike — fack 
 in a baited swim — Weight a/id growth of pike — Jack ftshini^ in public 
 waters, a contrast — The first English writer on pike and pike fishing — The 
 gander and the pike — Pike in ancient times — Pike on the table — Different 
 methods of jack fishing. 
 
 " He loves no streams, but hugs the silent deeps. 
 And eats all hours, and yet no house he keeps." 
 
 So sang Theophilus Franck a good many years ago, when 
 writing of " that mercenary, the lucit or pike." And all 
 writers, both in prose and poetry, that have taken this fish 
 as a text, are pretty well agreed in the general character they 
 give him. They looked upon his formidable teeth, his 
 wicked eyes, and his villainous aspect as being quite suffi- 
 cient to inspire any amount of terrible description ; even the 
 very look and sound of his name they found to be suggestive 
 of voracity and ferocity. Indeed, the very first writer who 
 mentions the pike — viz., the Latin poet Ausonius, who, 
 writing about the fourth century — says, 
 
 " The wary Luce, 'midst wrack and rushes hid, 
 The scourge and terror of the scaly brood." 
 
 and Pope, too, sings of him in much the same strains when 
 he says, 
 
 " And pikes, the tyrants of the watery plains." 
 
 " The Innocent Epicure," written about the year 1697, con- 
 tains the following lines: 
 
 " Go on, my muse, ne.xt let thy numbers speak 
 That mighty Nimrod of the streams, the pike." 
 
 These two or three examples go to prove that even old 
 
 B 
 
2 THE PIKE 
 
 writers, when trolling for pike was very little known, or at 
 most only in its infancy, regarded the pike as a fish of char- 
 acter preying upon his smaller and weaker kindred ; while 
 the very look of his powerful and cruel jaws they held to be 
 sufficient to strike terror into the hearts of the timid and 
 superstitious people of those days. 
 
 Years ago, when I only had what I could claim as a very 
 rudimentary knowledge of this fish and his habits, I used to 
 eagerly read everything connected with him that I could 
 possibly get hold of, and, like a true enthusiast, believe it 
 all ; and the more wild and improbable the story, the greater 
 was my belief. But viewed nowadays, by the cold light of 
 several years' practical experience, I am sadly afraid that 
 there have been more lies — to put it in very plain English — > 
 told about our pike than are exactly good for his character 
 and reputation. For instance, look at that tale that is men- 
 tioned, I should suppose, in dozens of books on angling and 
 natural history, about that giant pike, said to have been 
 captured in 1497, out of a lake in the vicinity of Manheim, 
 which legend or tradition said had a medal fastened to one 
 of his gills with an inscription saying it had been turned into 
 the lake by Frederick the Second in the year 1232 ! It 
 would appear from this that that pike had lived over 25a 
 years, and had survived many social and political changes. 
 But the most astounding part of this fish fable was not 
 exactly its Old Parr-like antiquity, but the giant size it was 
 said to have attained, being no less than 19ft. in length, and 
 reaching a weight of 3501b.; and then to prove the state- 
 ment they tell us that his skeleton could be seen by anyone 
 interested, as it is, or was, carefully preserved in the Man- 
 heim Museum; but unfortunately on a careful examination 
 of this skeleton by a naturalist, he came to the conclusion 
 that it was a clever deception, and had evidently been built 
 up for the occasion. 
 
 Our English pike, or jack, as it is generally called nowa- 
 days, when in good condition is a handsome fish, and a fish 
 that is much sought after by anglers of all degrees. I know 
 of no other fish for whose capture such a bewildering quan- 
 tity of artificial baits, spinning tackles and flights, live-bait 
 tackles, floats, and traces have been invented. 
 
THE PIKE 3 
 
 The scientific name of the pike is " Esox Lucius," and on 
 looking up a dictionary I find he is described thus : — " So 
 called from the shape of his head and jaws. Head de- 
 pressed, large, oblong, blunt; jaws, palatine bones and 
 vomer furnished with teeth of various sizes; body, elon- 
 gated, rounded on the back, sides compressed, covered with 
 scales ; dorsal fin placed far back over the anal fin ; whole 
 body mottled with white, yellow, and green." Walton calls 
 the pike " a solitary, melancholy, and bold fish," and cer- 
 tainly this is a very good description, although some odd 
 times they may be found congregated together in consider- 
 able numbers; but speaking generally they are not very 
 often discovered in shoals like roach, dace, and bream; 
 more often than not, especially during the winter months^ 
 are they solitary tenants of a quiet reedy comer, away from 
 the rush of the main stream, sole monarchs of that small 
 domain, ready to pounce out at a moment's notice on any 
 unwary roach or dace that happens to stray within striking 
 distance. One writer describing the habits and haunts of 
 the pike uses a few sentences that are worth repeating, he 
 says : " Shrouded from obsen^ation in his solitary retreat, he 
 follows with his eye the shoals of fish that wander heedlessly 
 along ; he marks the water-rat swimming to his burrow, the 
 ducklings paddling among the water-weeds, the dabchick 
 and the moor-hen swimming leisurely on the surface; he 
 selects his victim, and like the tiger springing from the 
 jungle he rushes forth, seldom missing his aim ; there is a 
 sudden swirl and splash, circle after circle forms on the sur- 
 face of the water, and all is still again in an instant." A 
 long catalogue of fables and traditions have been handed 
 down from one writer to another on this point of our jack's 
 savage ferocity, and also on his marvellous powers of diges- 
 tion ; and none of these traditions seem to lose anything by 
 being repeated, and I don't know that they need, for he has 
 well earned that name given him by certain writers — the 
 " freshwater shark." What he won't take as a bait would 
 be rather a more diflScult question to answer than what he 
 will, for there are hundreds of anecdotes told about him, 
 and the astounding things he will seize at a pinch. One 
 writer savs " that a swan was once noticed on a lake with its 
 
4 THE PIKE. 
 
 head and neck under the water; the circumstances seemed 
 so pecuHar that a boat was procured, and on proceeding to 
 the spot it was discovered that a pike had swallowed the 
 head of the swan, which was firmly fixed in his throat, and 
 being unable to extricate themselves from this extraordinary 
 difficulty the pair of them were dead." I should not suppose 
 the pike opened his ponderous jaws with intent to swallow 
 the swan altogether ; perhaps he only saw the head and neck 
 deep down in the water, and had not noticed the body 
 attached. Anyhow, for once in a way he had made a fatal 
 mistake. Another anecdote mentions a pike seizing the lips 
 of a mule that had gone to the edge of the lake to drink ; 
 and still another historian puts on record that a pike 
 seized the foot of a Polish woman who had stepped into a 
 stream. But we can hardly take these statements seriously, 
 for, personally, when I have got into close quarters with 
 pike, and peered ever so cautiously through the flags and 
 rushes at them, as soon as ever my eyes met the wicked- 
 looking ones of the fish, like a flash of light he would vanish, 
 and leave scarcely a ripple behind. Once, however, I saw 
 a 41b. jack maul the hand of a keeper badly, and the 
 strangest part of the story was that the jack had been out 
 of the water nearly two hours. After packing up the rods 
 and tackle, the keeper threw the fish out of the boat on to 
 the grassy bank, and some few minutes afterwards stooped 
 down to pick it up again, when, to our utter astonishment, 
 as soon as his hand neared the jack it made a sudden grab 
 and seized him by the thick part of his thumb, inflicting 
 some nasty cuts, which were weeks before they healed up. 
 The keeper said he was served the same trick once before, 
 only that time he had got the fish home, and was going to 
 remove then\from a pump trough after washing, when one 
 collared him in the same way. This was the painful experi- 
 ence of Harry Rout, the then keeper of the Huntingdon 
 Angling Society's water, and the memory of that wounded 
 hand haunts me to this day, and causes me to impress most 
 strongly on the young pike fisher that on no account must 
 he put his hands too near the jaws of a jack, for if he does 
 get operated on with those horrible teeth, he will most likely 
 remember it for the rest of his natural life. Be very careful 
 
THE PIKE. 5 
 
 in disengaging hooks from pike. Always carry a short 
 hieavy bludgeon, and as soon as Mr. Jack is safely landed, 
 hit him two or three smart raps fair between the eyes ; this 
 will effectually stun him and cause him to widely open his 
 mouth, when the hooks can be poked out with a long 
 disgorger. But I must get back to my text. It has also 
 been put on record that the body of a child was once found 
 in the stomach of a pike. I have never found anything so 
 strange as that in any of the jack I have opened ; but rats, 
 chickens, young ducks, moor-hens, and fish of various kinds 
 I have often discovered. Pike have been known to get 
 themselves in strange difficulties, and no possible chance of 
 extricating themselves ; but I should question if ever a pair 
 of them were in a queerer fix than the two exhibited in the 
 South Kensington Museum. These two jack, that weighed 
 together about 191b., and nearly of the same size, are firmly 
 fixed together, the head of one, up to the termination of 
 the gills, being tight in the throat of the other. A boatman 
 saw them struggling together in Loch Tay, locked in each 
 other's jaws, and promptly gaffed them, sending them to Mr. 
 Buckland without being separated, who took a cast of them. 
 We can only wonder what these fish were doing — fighting, 
 perhaps. I should not suppose that one of them opened his 
 mouth with the deliberate intention of swallowing the other, 
 for they are both of a size, unless one of them was suffering 
 from some curious deformity of vision. In Sweden, the land 
 of enormous perch and pike, it is no infrequent occurrence 
 for very large perch to swallow the baited hooks of station- 
 ary night-lines, and then for pike in their turn to swallow the 
 hooked perch. In this case, though the pike himself is 
 hardly ever hooked, yet the perch, with the help of his 
 spiked fins and hard scales, sets so fast in the throat of the 
 greedy tyrant that he is unable to get rid of it, and both are 
 taken. Pike when hungry will seize almost anything that is 
 moving in the water which bears the least resemblance to a 
 small fish, a rat, or a young moor-hen ; but when he is not 
 on the feed hardly anything will tempt him. Expert pike 
 fishers know very well the difference between the " runs," as 
 they are called, when he is hungry, and when he is not. 
 When not hungry he will often play with a bait ; and have 
 
6 THE PIKE. 
 
 no intention of taking it fairly so that he can be hooked. 
 He will often allow himself to be hauled about, and even 
 dragged up to the surface of the water, only, with a flap of 
 his tail, to drop the bait from his jaws, and roll over again 
 into the deep water; and you could almost fancy 
 there was a mocking grin during the process on his 
 villainous looking face. I think it is a good job that the 
 pike are more often off the feed than on, because if they 
 were always hungry there would, in waters were they are 
 plentiful and carefully preserved, be nothing else left with 
 them either alive or dead, for most assuredly everything else 
 that could be eaten would be speedily cleared out ; for one 
 authority tells us that a jack when on the feed will eat his 
 own weight in gudgeons and other small fish in the course 
 of a few days. The Rev. Mr. Manley, a gifted writer on the 
 habits and history of our fresh water fishes, says of the pike, 
 " that in reality nothing comes amiss to him. He has no 
 more taste, in the true sense of the word, than he has feel- 
 ing. All's fish, at least food, that comes into his net. Cer- 
 tainly when left to his natural devices he is a sort of gentle- 
 man who would eat the toast on which asparagus is placed 
 to drain, the tinfoil in which Rochefort cheese is enwrapped, 
 the crust of a game pie, or the envelopment of an Oxford 
 brawn. The only wonder is how he can manage to live at 
 all in certain waters. The truth is he is endowed with the 
 power of long fasting, which doubtless he often exercises, 
 either from necessity or choice." But in spite of his great 
 voracity, there are certain things that he does not care much 
 about ; he does not like a toad, though he is dearly fond of 
 a frog. It has also been said that he will have nothing to 
 do with a perch ; perhaps he may not care about them much, 
 and would pass them by if plenty of other food existed in 
 the water, but I knew one very large pond in the county of 
 Lincoln, that contained nothing else, as far as we could make 
 out, except jack, perch, eels, and a few tench; and yet a 
 small perch about the length of your finger was the only 
 bait, except an occasional frog, that was any use at all to the 
 pike of that water. And then again we hear that he won't 
 have anything to do with a tench ; but I knew a gentleman 
 who brought down to a well known pike water a can of small 
 
THE PIKE. 7 
 
 tench, carp, and gold fish, and got half-a-dozen right good 
 jack with the tench as bait; and strange as it may seem, 
 not a single run did he get with the much more brilliant 
 gold fish. Izaak Walton says on this point that " the tench 
 is the physician of fishes, for the pike especially, who for- 
 bears to devour him, be he never so hungr}\" Other old 
 writers have also strongly endorsed this opinion ; saying 
 that the slime or touch of tenches, was a certain cure for 
 wounds, cuts, or ailments in the fishy tribe generally ; and 
 the pike more particularly. But I am sadly afraid this is 
 only an old legend that has not much solid foundation in 
 fact. If it was true, and our jack could reason for himself 
 like a human being, he might spare him, for no man who is 
 in possession of his senses would want to swallow his doctor. 
 I also read some time ago, that a quantity of tench were 
 turned into a lake that contained a lot of ill-conditioned pike 
 as an experiment, and some time afterwards the pike im- 
 proved to a remarkable extent ! but it did not state positively 
 if this result was due to simply the presence of the tench 
 in the water, or whether the increase of condition was due 
 to the supply of fresh food, that was so generously and 
 plentifully at hand in the shape of that stock of tench. The 
 writer rather hinted that he thought it was entirely due to 
 simply the presence of the tench in the water. I am also 
 afraid that this statement is not worth much, for I knew a 
 sheet of water in Nottinghamshire that contained a large 
 quantity of very fine tench, but the few jack that shared 
 the water with them were the ugliest and most ill-conditioned 
 brutes we ever caught. I fancy that for pike to be in good 
 condition depends more on the water they inhabit, and the 
 abundance of natural food in the water with them, than 
 just turning a few tench in. I don't believe that turning a 
 hundred or two of tench in a real bad jack water will im- 
 prove the breed and condition of the latter to any permanent 
 extent. As I said a little while ago, the pike, generally 
 speaking, is a solitary fish, though large ones are often found 
 in pairs. After floods and frosts, or owing to some 
 accidental circumstances, they may sometimes be found 
 collected together in numbers in favourable eddies, or in a 
 backwater away from the main stream, or at the tail end of 
 
8 THE PIKE. 
 
 an island where the stream is, as it were, cut in two, with a 
 considerable quiet eddy between those two streams. By the 
 side of reed beds, among flags and rushes, in corners and lay- 
 byes, at e tail ends of old lochs, up deepish naoKw .trs, or 
 a cutting that has an entrance into the river. A deepish 
 comer away from the main stream, particularly if it is fringed 
 along the edge with a dense undergrowth of weeds, and 
 water-lilies, with a scattered crop of flags and rushes here 
 and there, is, generally speaking, a capital spot in which to 
 find pike. Sometimes very good ones are met with in the 
 rough water close under a weir, more particularly if some 
 very large stones stick up above the surface of the water, and 
 a deep eddy is formed at the back, in which the frothing 
 waters keep churning round and round. I have taken some 
 very good jack from similar situations ; once in particular I 
 got an eight-pounder with a spoon bait, from close under 
 the foot of a weir, in an eddy barely six feet by three, and 
 not more than two feet deep, that was formed by an old 
 tree root that had been swept over the weirs. In swift run- 
 ning rivers like the Trent it is only occasionally that they 
 are met with in midstream where the current is strong, pre- 
 ferring to hug the shore, particularly if that shore has an 
 overhanging bank, and is thickly fringed with willow 
 boughs, weeds, and flags. If they are found out in the main 
 stream, it is generally at a very deep bend, where the water 
 does not race along at such speed as it does over the shal- 
 lows; at these places during the early autumn good jack 
 are often picked up by knowing anglers, who sink a spinning 
 bait deep down in midstream, and slowly wind it home. In 
 slow running rivers like the Bedfordshire Ouse, it does not sa 
 particularly matter selecting the deepest corners ; indeed, 
 during the late summer and early autumn the shallows and 
 weedy places, over which a slight stream wanders along, 
 even if less than a yard in depth, and the spinning bait has 
 to be so manipulated that it must not, for fear of catching 
 the weeds, be allowed to sink even three inches under the 
 surface, are by far the best places to try. During the winter 
 when the weather is cold and frosty, the deeps can be tried' 
 with more chance of success; although this is not a hard 
 and fast rule, as I have taken good pike from very shallow 
 
THK PIKE, 
 
 water in the Ouse, when the weather has been very severe 
 indeed, but still taking it all round, the deeps show the 
 best results when the weather is very cold. As for good 
 pike lakes; these are generally preserved and protected to 
 such an extent, that the average working-man-angler does not 
 get many chances to wet a line in them. It is not such a 
 difficult matter to find out the haunts of pike in lakes, as it 
 is in rivers ; although I am aware that even in the circum- 
 scribed space of a small pike lake, those fish have their 
 favourite haunts, some places being tenanted very thickly, 
 while other parts would have next to nothing in them. I 
 remember once going with a gentleman to fish a small lake 
 of some four or five acres, in which he had been given to 
 understand were a lot of good jack; we wandered three 
 parts of the way round that pond trying all likely and even 
 unlikely places, but never saw a pike move, until at last we 
 came to the opposite corner, within fifty yards from where 
 we started, and there we found the home of those fish. 
 I should say that fully nine-tenths of the pike in that lake 
 were in a good deal less than half-an-acre of water. Some- 
 times when the bottom fisherman has groundbaited a swim 
 in a river some considerable time, and has been enjoying 
 capital sport, the fish suddenly go off the feed. It is quite 
 likely under the circumstances, if the water contains pike, 
 that several of those customers have been attracted into the 
 swim, putting the other fish off the feed, if not exactly scar- 
 ing them away altogether. Some of the very best bags of 
 jack I can remember, have been taken under these circum- 
 stances ; some lively dace have been procured, fixed on snap 
 tackle, and run down the whole of the swim, which resulted 
 in the baited bream swim, or whatever it was, being cleared 
 of those pike, and the sport among the other fish recom- 
 menced. I heard the late Jim Chatterton once say, that a 
 friend and himself took thirteen in one afternoon ranging 
 from two to ten pounds each, out of a barbel swim in the 
 Corporation Fishery on the Trent, after they had tried for 
 two days without result to catch the fish they baited the 
 place for. It suddenly struck him that the pike had taken 
 possession, because they had been having such good sport 
 among the dace, roach, chub, and bream, a few days before. 
 
lO THE PIKE. 
 
 A trial proved this theory to be correct. I could select from 
 my own experiences several more instances of the same kind, 
 but I have said enough I think to give our young fisherman 
 a useful hint. Pike spawn between the latter end of Feb- 
 ruary and the end of April, or even under exceptional cir- 
 cumstances right to the middle of May, but it all depends 
 on the state of the weather, as to whether they are early or 
 late. I have noticed them pairing as early as February 
 and in the same season observed them even as late as the 
 second week in May ; in fact, I have an idea that it is a long 
 and trying time for them. During this operation they seek 
 all sorts of dykes, ditches, creeks, and backwaters, depositing 
 the ova among the weeds, and so lazy and absorbed are they, 
 that scarcely anything will frighten them. Scores of them 
 have been lifted out with wire snares, or even scooped out 
 with landing nets; to say nothing of snatch hooks on the 
 end of a pole. It is not to be wondered at considering the 
 long and exhausting time they take over spawning, that they 
 should be in the very worst possible condition for several 
 weeks after that operation ; they are long, thin, slimy, and 
 even unwholesome as food, and should not on any account 
 be tried for before August, in fact, I don't consider them 
 in condition before the first of October. If my opinion was 
 asked as to what I should consider to be a proper close time 
 for jack, I should most certainly say, between the first day 
 of February, and the first day of September. 
 
 Pike, under favourable circumstances, will grow to a very 
 large size, but their well being depends upon the locality 
 and condition of the water they inhabit. Deep holes and 
 weedy shallows should both be in evidence, while if the 
 place is a lake with a gravelly bottom, a stream of some sort 
 should run right through it, so that a constant supply of 
 fresh water could be assured, and last, but not least, the lake 
 should also contain an abundance of natural food; these 
 conditions together with a careful preservation, would be 
 condusive to these fish reaching their very heaviest weight. 
 As to what that weight is likely to be, it is difficult to de- 
 termine, for so many fables and romances have been written 
 on the subject ; that we have to be very careful before ac- 
 cepting all of them. We are told that in some of the large 
 
THE PIKE. II 
 
 Irish lakes they have been taken of the extraordinary weight 
 of eighty pounds, but I don't suppose anyone ever saw one 
 that weight, it was most probably a tradition handed down 
 from father to son, and most likely grew in the process. If 
 tremendous pike like those were got by our fathers in the 
 days that are past, how is it that with our improved tackle 
 and means of getting at them, we never hear of anything 
 approaching that weight being captured. Pliny, the ancient 
 writer, mentions a fish which he called the Esox, and which 
 attained the weight of a i,ooolbs ; but it cannot be identified 
 with the Esox of the present day. I should say the very 
 top weight would not exceed forty to forty-five pounds. We 
 have authentic instances of late years of odd ones nearly 
 reaching the former weight ; but they were like angels' visits, 
 few and far between. Perhaps the heaviest brace of pike 
 that have ever been taken by any one angler, with rod and 
 line, were the pair taken by Mr. Jardine, which were weighed 
 in at a Club, and registered no less than thirty-six pounds 
 each on the average. We hear of odd ones being taken 
 every season in Ireland, that reach thirty pounds ; and some- 
 times, perhaps once in every two or three seasons, one will 
 reach thirty-four, or thirty-five pounds. An article appeared 
 in the " Ans^ler," last December, 1896, giving an account of 
 an extraordinary female pike, that had been taken dead from 
 Dowdeswell reservoir, near Cheltenham, which reached the 
 weight of sixty pound's ; at least it was said to have weighed 
 that, but one gentleman who saw the fish, said he should 
 be inclined to knock at least lolbs off. It appears that the 
 weighing in had been done in a very hasty manner, owing 
 to the fact that decomposition had set in; and the smell 
 was something alarming. So I am afraid this pike can only 
 be set down among the list of guess-weights, and cannot 
 be accepted by any means. It was also said that the Duke 
 of Newcastle has a pike, which he himself or one of his 
 family caught in Clumber Lake (a large sheet of water close 
 to his Grace's Nottinghamshire seat), which weighed, when 
 captured, 421^ lbs. ; but the Duke contradicted this and said, 
 if my memor)' is correct, that gossip this time had added 
 ■eight pounds to its original weight. Clumber Lake, I should 
 say, is one of the finest pike preserves in England ; and if 
 
12 THE PIKE. 
 
 large pike can be found anywhere, surely that is the place 
 to look for them. I once asked old Charlie Hudson, a 
 Trent professional fisherman, whO' had fished a celebrated 
 reach of that river for nigh on fifty years, if he or any of his 
 patrons had taken many pike over twenty pounds in weight 
 from those splendid waters. Four only was his answer; 
 and during the long period referred to, he had some hun- 
 dreds of patrons and customers ; the united weight of the 
 four was 87^ lbs., largest a trifle over 2 5 lbs., and the 
 strangest part about the capture of the latter, was that it was 
 taken with a worm, when bream fishing in that tremendously 
 deep hole on the Lower Trent known as Dunham Dubs. 
 Taking the Trent all round it is only occasionally that speci- 
 mens exceeding twenty pounds are taken. The Hampshire 
 Avon, perhaps, is as good as any other river in England for 
 large jack, some odd times we hear of one being taken that 
 scaled up to nearly thirty pounds. The angler can well be- 
 satisfied as things go nowadays, if he can get one from any 
 public waters that will go from twenty to twenty-five pounds, 
 and this, perhaps, will only be once in a lifetime, while if he- 
 gets a dozen fish during the whole of his angling career, that 
 would go from twelve to eighteen pounds apiece, why he 
 may consider himself fortunate, unless he has access to real 
 good private waters. 
 
 I once heard a very old and observant angler naturalist 
 say, that he firmly believed two kinds of pike existed in' 
 British waters ; externally there was little or nothing to tell 
 the difference, except the size, one sort he believed would 
 reach 20 or 3olb., the other never exceeded four pounds,, 
 and in support of this he cited the case of two sheets of 
 water, some miles apart, exactly similar in their size, depth^. 
 and general characteristics, both had gravelly bottoms, both 
 were fringed with weeds, flags, and rushes ; both were fed 
 by small streams from the higher lands, each contained a 
 good supply of eels, tench, roach, bream, and perch; in 
 fact, the general surroundings of the two were as far as 
 could be ascertained, exactly similar. He had fished in both 
 of them for many years — in one he had taken pike up to 
 2olb. In the other he never saw, nor yet caught one that 
 exceeded 41b. There may be something in this ; but sev- 
 
THE PIKE. 13 
 
 eral other things may also have to be taken into account 
 before a true decision can be arrived at on that point. 
 Shortly then, as this seems to be a question that a lot of 
 interest is evinced in, we may say that a forty pounder is a 
 tip-topper, and one not likely to be caught above once in 
 twenty years, whereas if a lucky fisherman did manage to 
 fairly and squarely land, with rod and line, a brace of pike 
 that exceeds Mr. Jardine's pair in size, why, all I can say is, 
 that not only should the fish be carefully set up, but the 
 angler as well, and he ought to, at the very least, have a 
 niche all to himself in Westminster Abbey, with a brass 
 plate setting forth his achievement. Some anglers seem to 
 think that jack and pike are two separate and distinct fish ; 
 that there is a distinction if not much difference between 
 them. Years ago it was an accepted rule to call this fish, 
 if under four or five pounds in weight, a jack, and anything 
 over the latter weight a pike, but gradually this distinctive 
 title has been given up, and all of them, no matter how 
 large or how small, have of late years been more often called 
 jack than pike; so the reader must bear in mind that in 
 using the two names in the following pages, I refer to one 
 and the same fish. We are told by the learned in such mat- 
 ters that a jack will reach eight inches in length during his 
 first year, after hatching from the ova ; that during his sec- 
 ond year he will go up to fifteen inches ; and in his third, 
 total up to twenty, or possibly he might scale as much as 
 four pounds when three years old. After this he increases 
 at the rate of from two or three pounds a year until he is 
 twelve years old ; after which he decreases slightly and gets 
 still more thin every year, as old age creens on him. 
 Naturalists have given him a lease of life extending to forty 
 years, and say that he is the longest lived of any of our fresh 
 water fish ; and that when one is captured in the last stages 
 of consumption, long, lanky, and thin, it is a very old fish. 
 I remember a friend of mine once capturing a jack in the 
 Ouse, some three of four miles below Huntingdon, that was 
 the most extraordinary I ever saw; it was no less than 38 
 inches in length, it had a tremendous head and mouth, and 
 yet it scaled only 6^ lb. I never saw such an eel-like body 
 attached to a pike before ; its teeth were wonderfully long, as 
 
14 THE PIKE. 
 
 black as ink, and quite soft. I should say that those calcu- 
 lations as to the weight a jack will put on in a given number 
 of years will depend a good deal on the nature and character 
 of the water he inhabits. I believe it would have to be an 
 extra good water for a jack in a natural way to reach four 
 pounds when three years old, and then increase to seven 
 pounds in his next year. If he is an inhabitant of an in- 
 different pond, where he only could get an occasional 
 frog, a young moor hen, or a mouthful of tadpoles, it would 
 probably take him ten years to put on four pounds. 
 
 As I said at the outset of this chapter, the pike is a fish 
 that is very much sought after by the angler, and good pike 
 fishing, out of public waters at any rate, can hardly now-a- 
 days be expected. When I say good fishing, I mean as it was 
 even during my memory, where a dozen good fish to one rod 
 in a day's spinning was thought nothing extra. Or go back 
 a little further still ; but for all that during the memory of 
 an old angler still living, who told me last time I saw him, 
 that he could remember the time when flags and rushes 
 grew in abundance all along the brink of the Trent, and had 
 seen the big jack bolt out of the reeds every few steps ; and 
 when employed as puntsman by the late Dr. Waterworth 
 and Mr. Cafferata, he could remember them taking as many 
 as thirty pike during a single afternoon, many of them fish 
 from eight to fifteen pounds apiece. It was also nothing 
 unusual for Tom Beck (an old netter still living), to go down 
 the river to the Meering ferry and Sutton Holme in those 
 days, and take in a net a hundredweight of good jack during 
 a single evening. I can myself remember very well, the 
 late Sam Hibbert, when he rented the Staythorpe fishery on 
 the Trent, getting some splendid bags of pike, nearly every- 
 time he cared to go. But since those days pike fishermen 
 have increased a hundred-fold, and any public water known 
 to contain jack is nearly hunted to death, with the result that 
 they are wofully thinned down ; and it is only occasionally 
 that a good bag is made. Suitable pike waters should be 
 constantly re-stocked now-a-days, and a stringent bye-law 
 should be made and enforced, to regulate the size of jack 
 allowed to be taken. All this means money, but still I 
 firmly believe that angling and preservation societies will 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 15 
 
 have to tackle the subject if decent jack fishing in public 
 waters is to be enjoyed much longer. Far different, how- 
 ever, is a day in a real good private water; if everything 
 is favourable the sport to be had would be something to 
 be remembered. There are still, however, a few very fair 
 public pike waters in England, the vast army of fishermen 
 notwithstanding. The rivers and broads of Norfolk and 
 Suffolk being notable examples. The Ouse, as it flows from 
 Buckinghamshire right away down to Denver Sluice, being 
 very fair indeed in many of its reaches ; while the County of 
 Lincoln still upholds its reputation for jack. The best 
 season's pike fishing I ever enjoyed, taking it all through, 
 was had less than ten years ago, when I lived on the banks 
 of the Ouse. During that season I took in public water, 
 with rod and line, during my spare time, which was generally 
 two half-days a week — ^weather and water permitting — 109 
 sizeable jack, not counting the scores put back that were 
 undersized. The most I ever landed from that river in one 
 day was 21, but only seven of them went over 4lbs. The 
 great bulk of my fish have been taken spinning. On two oc- 
 casions at least, I can remember having had more and far 
 heavier jack than the instance just referred to; but they 
 were from a private water, and a good many years ago. I 
 iust mention this as fishermen, in general, like to know how 
 a writer himself has got on ; but I may have to refer to this 
 again, when dealing with the various subjects in the chapters 
 that follow. The anxious novice who would like to become 
 a successful pike fisherman, must make up his mind, if he 
 follows this branch of angling in public waters, to t^vo things, 
 viz., he is bound to catch more fish under four pounds than 
 over that weight, and if he gets three or four jack during a 
 day's spinning or live-baiting, he can consider himself ex- 
 tremely lucky. I should say that pike fishing engaged the 
 attention of our forefathers a good many years ago, and troll- 
 ing with a dead gorge bait, and live baiting, more or less 
 after the fashion that we do it now, were the methods most 
 in vogue. Dame Juliana Bemers, who wrote the very first 
 book on angling that was ever penned, gives some very- 
 queer and amusing instructions in the art of catching pike. 
 I give one or two examples, as they may prove interesting to 
 
l6 THE PIKE. 
 
 those fishermen who never have a chance of seeing the good 
 old lady's book : — > 
 
 " Take a codlynge hoke, and take a roche or a fresh heer- 
 yng, and a wyre with an hole in the ende, and put it in at 
 the mouth, and out at the taylle, down by the ridge of the 
 fresshe herryng; and thenne put the hoke in after, and 
 drawe the hoke into the cheke of the freshe heeryng; 
 then put a plumbe of lead upon your lyne a 
 yarde longe from your hoke, and a flote in mid 
 waye betwene; and caste it in a pytte where the pyke 
 usyth, and this is the best and moost surest crafte of tak- 
 ynge the pyke. Another manere of takynge him there is ; 
 take a frosshe (frog) and put it on your hoke, at the necke, 
 betwene the skynne and the body, on the backe half, and put 
 on a flote a yerde therefro, and caste it where the pyke 
 hauntyth, and ye shall have hym. Another manere: take 
 the same bayte, and put it in assafetida, and caste it in the 
 water wyth a corde and a corke, and ye shall not fayl of 
 hym." And then again the good Dame instructeth : — " And 
 if ye lyst to have a good sporte, thenne tye the corde to a 
 gose fote, and ye shall have a gode halyngne, whether the 
 gose or the pyke shall have the better." 
 
 This sort of sport, tying a baited hook to the leg of a 
 goose, seems to have been highly popular in former times ; 
 for another old writer on fishing matters tells us that : — ■ 
 
 " The principle sport to take a pike is to take a goose or 
 gander, or duck; take one of the pike lines, tie the line 
 under the left wing, and over the right wing, about the body, 
 as a man weareth his belt; turn the goose off into the pond 
 where the pikes are ; there is no doubt of sport, with great 
 pleasure, betwixt the goose and the pike; it is the greatest 
 sport and pleasure that a noble gentleman in Shropshire 
 doth give his friends entertainment with." 
 
 Another account of a struggle between a pike and a 
 gander, was published many years ago, and ran as follows : 
 — " A farmer in the immediate neighbourhood of Loch- 
 maben, Dumfriesshire, kept a gander, who not only had a 
 great trick of wandering himself, but also delighted in pilot- 
 ing forth his cackling harem to weary themselves in circum- 
 navigating their native lake, or in straying amid forbidden 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 17 
 
 fields on the opposite shore. Wishing to check this vagrant 
 habit, he one day seized the gander as he was about to 
 spring into the pure breast of his native element, and, tying 
 a large fish hook to his leg, to which was attached part of 
 a dead frog, he suffered him to proceed upon his voyage of 
 discovery. As had been anticipated, this bait soon caught 
 the eye of a greedy pike, which, swallowing the deadly hook, 
 not only arrested the progress of the astonished gander, but 
 forced him to perform half-a-dozen somersaults on the face 
 of the water ! For some time the struggle was most amus- 
 ing, the fish pulling and the bird screaming with all its 
 might, the one attempting to fly and the other attempting to 
 swim from the invisible enemy ; the gander the one moment 
 losing, and the next regaining his centre of gravity, and 
 casting between whiles many a rueful look at his snow white 
 fleet of geese and goslings, who cackled out their sympathy 
 for their afflicted commodore. At length victory declared 
 in favour of the feathered angler, who, bearing away for the 
 nearest shore, landed on the smooth green grass one of the 
 finest pike ever caught in the castle loch. This adventure 
 is said to have cured the gander of his propensity for 
 wandering." 
 
 This pike fishing by tying the bait to the leg of a goose 
 smacks very much of trimmer fishing with a moveable trim- 
 mer all alive and kicking. I should not suppose that any- 
 body would attempt to entertain their friends with sport of 
 this description, now-a-days, whatever might have been 
 thought about it fifty years ago. As far back as the reign of 
 Henry II., the pike formed part of the coat of arms of the 
 Lucy, or Lucie family, and is one of the earliest recorded 
 instances of fish being used in English heraldry. Old His- 
 torians tell us, " that during the reign of Edward I. this fish 
 was so very scarce and dear, that very few could afi"ord to 
 eat it, the price being double that of salmon, and ten times 
 higher than either turbot or cod." A well known authority 
 says that the reason of this is most likely in the fact, that 
 pike had then only just been introduced into this country, 
 and as a natural consequence was very scarce. Coming 
 down a little later to the time of Edward HI. we find, " that 
 this fish was most carefully preserved, kept in stews, and 
 c 
 
l8 THE PIKE_ 
 
 fed. In 1446 jack was one of the chief dishes in the High 
 Church festival given in that year by George Neville, Arch- 
 bishop of York. During the reign of Henrv VIII. it 
 fetched as much again as house lamb in February, and a 
 very small pickerel was dearer than a fat capon ; and jack 
 figured on all the menus of civic banquets in London and 
 elsewhere for many generations." Personally I look upon 
 pike as being a very fair fish for the table, that is, if the 
 water they were caught in was of first class quality ; if he 
 came out of a muddy stagnant pond, I don't suppose he 
 would be up to much ; but a good river or lake pike, where 
 the water is fresh, the bottom gravelly, and the food plenti- 
 ful, is by no means to be despised. I quoted just now some 
 examples from old history, in which this fish was very highly 
 esteemed. An old couplet ran thus : 
 
 " Lo ! the rich pike, to entertain your guest, 
 Smokes on the board, and decks a royal feast." 
 
 While on the other hand some of the ancients did not think 
 much of him, for Ausonius, the Latin poet, writing about 
 the fourth century of the Christian era, says of him as 
 
 " Unknown at friendship's hospitable board, 
 Smokes 'midst the smoky tavern's coarsest food." 
 
 Small pike, of say three to four pounds, are the best if 
 cleaned as soon after capture as possible, well washed and 
 dried, and then split open like filletting. Remove the back- 
 bone, also cut off the head, tail and fins, and then divide 
 each half in two ; fry crisp and clean over a clear fire in a 
 frying pan, with a good lump, say five or six ounces of fresh, 
 pure lard ; turn each piece over as soon as sufficiently cooked 
 on the under side, sprinkle with a little egg and breat! 
 crumbs and serve smoking hot (it is the best for the lard to 
 be at boiling point before dropping in the fish). If the pikft- 
 runs somewhat larger, say from five to nine pounds, it is the 
 best plan to put a couple of good handfulls of salt into its 
 «aaouth, and hang it up in a cool place, tail downwards, for 
 five or six hours, or possibly longer if the fish is larger ; it 
 can then be cleaned, washed, and prepared in the usual 
 manner, and either steamed or boiled, the same as cod, and 
 served with parsley sauce. Be sure it is well cooked — until 
 the flesh will flake nicely away from the bones, and if the 
 
THE PIKE. 19 
 
 fish was in good condition it will be firm, white, and tooth- 
 some. On no account cook a pike from a muddy, stagnant 
 pond, nor yet one from anywhere before the month of Sep- 
 tember, or you are likely to get a wrong impression as to 
 what one of these fish is like. They are in the very worst 
 possible condition during the summer — thin, flabby, and 
 unwholesome. 
 
 Just a word or two now as to the various methods of tak- 
 ing the pike in a legitimate manner. First, by spinning with 
 an arrangement of hooks fixed in a dead bait, in such a 
 manner that when this bait is thrown across the water and 
 drawn back again it looks like a thing of life. Second, by 
 spinning with an artificial, worked exactly the same as just 
 described for a dead bait. Third, by working a dead gorge 
 tackle in places where it is impossible for weeds and obstruc- 
 tions to try either spinning or live-baiting. These three 
 plans are worked with a similar leaded trace for each, and 
 no floats. Fourth, by one or two floats and a live bait fixed 
 on snap tackle, so that the pike can be hooked directly he 
 attacks the bait. Fifth, by float tackle similar to the one 
 just named, except the hook is a live gorge one, which has 
 to be swallowed by the pike before he can be hooked. 
 Sixth, by paternostering with one or more live baits, a lead, 
 and no float. Seventh, by legering with a live bait sunk 
 to the bottom of deep water with the aid of a heavy bored 
 bullet, a live gorge tackle or a semi-snap gorge being used 
 and no float. There are several other methods of taking 
 pike, such as liggering, trimmering, trailing, etc., etc., ; but 
 these are not sportsmanlike methods, and should be care- 
 fully avoided, unless the jack are far too numerous in a 
 private water, and the proprietor wants to thin them down. 
 The seven plans given above, of course varying the process 
 to suit certain localities, are about all I dare mention to be 
 within the bounds of legitimate pike fishing. I will try in 
 the following chapters to fully and carefully explain the 
 whole of them. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE PIKE (continued). 
 
 PIKE RODS, REELS, AND LINES. 
 
 The pike rod— What it has to do— How it should be made— Different 
 woods and canes suitable for pike rods— Rod rings and ferrules— Pike reels 
 — The Malloch casting reel — Slater s cage guardreel — Allcock s piker^els— 
 The plain Nottingham reel— The line— How to dress or waterproof a pike 
 line — The line dryer— Landing nets and gaff hooks— Flight cases and 
 haversacks — Rod aud tackle varnish. 
 
 There seems to be a tendency among rod makers in gene- 
 ral nowadays to sacrifice strength in a rod for the sake of 
 extra lightness and elegance, and in no rod is this more 
 apparent than in what they are pleased to call pike rods. 
 Even pike fishermen themselves are smitten with the same 
 sort of mania, and will insist in having a rod for jack fishing 
 that is totally inadequate for the work they now and again 
 call on it to do. Personally I am far from being a believer 
 in a heavy, clumsy weapon for the sport now under notice ; 
 but I like to draw the line at something like reason, and 
 start with, at any rate, a rod that is not likely to Dlay me 
 false at a critical moment. I have seen jack rods in use 
 that hardly looked stout enough for fly fishing for chub, and 
 as for throwing a bait with any degree of accuracy, why, 
 that seemed out of the question altogether. I once saw an 
 angler using a fourteen-foot grilse rod for spinning for pike, 
 and I think I never saw anything more erratic in my life, the 
 bait very often landing wide on the grassy bank on which he 
 stood, instead of sailing gracefully and gently into mid- 
 stream. I found, on trying myself, that the fault lay more 
 in the rod than the fisherman, and if he had discarded the 
 top altogether and had an end ring fitted on the second joint, 
 he would have got on a lot better. " But," says one of 
 
THE PIKE. ai 
 
 these believers in extra light and flimsy rods, '"' I once killed 
 a six-pound barbel and a four-pound trout on that rod ; and 
 if it will kill fish like those, why it surely ought to be good 
 enough to kill any jack I am likely to get hold of." True, 
 my friend, I should have to reply to this argument, because 
 I don't look upon a jack as being anything like such a good 
 fighter as a barbel, while he is also any number of degrees 
 behind a good trout. But this is not altogether it ; if the 
 rod had nothing else to do except kill the pike when hooked, 
 why, I should have nothing further to say in the matter, be- 
 cause the actual killing of the fish, especially in clear and 
 unobstructed water, is one of the easiest jobs the rod is 
 called upon to perform. 
 
 When the angler selects a rod for pike fishing, he must 
 bear in mind the following three things: — 'First, some con- 
 siderable strain is required in casting out a heavy bait; 
 second, when a good jack is hooked and in full sail for his 
 favourite weed bed or old root, it wants a fairly powerful rod 
 to turn him ; third, when you get hung up in some tough 
 old weeds with a strong line and gimp tackle, very consider- 
 able force sometimes has to be used to loosen it. These 
 three points are of frequent occurrence in pike fishing, es- 
 pecially in weedy rivers, lakes, and backwaters, so that a 
 very light, flimsy rod would soon get broken, or else strained 
 beyond recovery. I don't recommend a hop pole or any- 
 thing like that, but a rod fairly stiff and powerful, with a 
 nice spring in the top, sufficient to cast out the bait comfort- 
 ably and accurately. 
 
 Pike rods are made nowadays of a variety of materials, 
 and in a variety of patterns ; some of them, I am bound to 
 say, more for ornament than use. Hickory, greenheart, 
 lancewood, ash, two or three different kinds of cane, and 
 even split and built-up cane, with steel centres, all coming 
 more or less into requisition ; but as the latter are extremely 
 expensive weapons, they are utterly out of the question as 
 far as working men anglers are concerned. Some men will 
 swear by a rod made entirely of greenheart, and certainly 
 this wood, when of first-class quality, is very good indeed ; 
 but in my opinion, based on many years' experience at the 
 rod-maker's bench, it is not exactly an unqualified success. 
 
22 THE PIKE. 
 
 the chief objection being the very great weight of this wood, 
 coupled with a tendency to snap short off, sometimes with- 
 out any apparent reason, and no flaw discoverable in the 
 grain of the wood. Of course I am aware that some lovely 
 rods are built from greenheart, that have stood any amount 
 of hard work for years, and to counteract the weight some 
 of them are built up with a cork grip, which certainly does 
 reduce the weight somewhat. A pike rod built with an ash 
 butt and lancewood centre and top is a very fair weapon in- 
 deed, but the same objection can be raised against this, as 
 against an all-greenheart one — ^viz., extra weight in using. 
 Then again there are pike rods made of what some people 
 call whole cane; but this in eight cases out of every ten is 
 not whole cane at all, but simply the very cheapest that a 
 rod maker can buy — ^viz., " Tonquin." Now, this cane tapers 
 very little, the joints of the rod are nearly as thick at one 
 end as they are at the other, and consequently there is not 
 the power in the lower joints that I like to see in a pike rod. 
 The cane that seems to me to be the very best that caci be 
 emploved in making a pike rod is what is known as East 
 India cane, and when it is mottled and spotted in an atci ac- 
 tive manner, why, I don't know a handsomer or more useful 
 weapon. This material of late years has sprung to the front 
 in an amazing manner, and certainly when we look at it, it is 
 admirably adapted for the purpose, for the rods made finm 
 it are light, stiff, and very powerful — three attributes of the 
 very first importance — ^and when all three are combined in 
 one, why, the value is very much increased. This cane is 
 tapered more than any other I know ; a piece four feet long 
 sometimes is as much as one and a half inches in diameter 
 at one end, and only three-quarters of an inch at the other. 
 As good and as cheap a pike rod for all practical purposes 
 that can be used, and one that will be within the reach of 
 any working man angler, should be made of this cane, and 
 in three lengths, or not more than four at the very outside, 
 personally I prefer three — ^viz., butt and one or two centre 
 joints of East India male cane, and one or two tops, accord- 
 ing to fancy, of good tough lancewood or greenheart, the 
 former for choice, as I fancy lancewood has more spring 
 than greenheart; the latter seems to be so very stiff, and 
 
THE PIKE. 23 
 
 does not play as I like to see a rod top play. Greenheart 
 tops have more resistance than lancewood, I am aware, but 
 still I have tried both, and the balance of my opinion goes 
 in favour of lancewood. Twelve feet is a good useful length 
 for a pike rod, particularly for live-baiting or paternoster ing, 
 while eleven feet would be much nicer and easier for spin- 
 ning, and as the top of a live-baiting rod should be a trifle 
 more springy than the top of a spinning rod, I recommend 
 two tops for the various purposes, one the full length of the 
 other joints, and tapered nicely to the point for patemoster- 
 ing or live-baiting, and the other nine or ten inches shorter, 
 and a shade stiffer for spinning. The ferrule on the butt of 
 a three-joint rod of this description should not be less on 
 any account than three-quarters of an inch, while it would be 
 • all the better if it went nearly seven-eighths of an inch, in- 
 side diameter ; while the one on the centre joint should not 
 be smaller than from seven-sixteenths to half-an-inch, mea- 
 suring the diameter inside the ferrule ; and I might add that 
 these ferrules should grip the cane properly, and be fixed over 
 the outside; the cane itself should not on any account be 
 cut away to receive the ferrule. Of course it is better to 
 have brazings at each end of the joint, and also a dowel or 
 tenon that fits the hole inside the cane fairly and well, and 
 this tenon that projects beyond the brass counter at bottom 
 of the joints can also be brazed if the angler likes, as it 
 would be less liable to stick tight in when wet. This matter 
 of fitting the joints of a pike rod with properly fitting ferrules 
 and tenons is of more importance than some amateurs would 
 think, because if these joints did not fit tight and close up, 
 the strain of constantly throwing would bend the ferrule out 
 of its proper shape, and the rod look like a dog's hind leg. 
 I should say that the average weight of a weapon of this 
 class would go something like 22 oz. It is diflficult to lay 
 down a hard and fast rule, as the cane varies somewhat; 
 some rods might run up to 25 oz., while a similar one, as far 
 as outside measurements were concerned, would only total 
 up to 19 or 20 oz. The rings also should be a matter of 
 consideration, and they should be fixed on the rod in such a 
 manner and be of such a size that the line, no matter in 
 what manner or style the bait is thrown, should run freely 
 
24 THE pikp:. 
 
 through them without the possibility of a catch or tangle; 
 and, for instance, if the angler throws the bait with the line 
 coiled at his feet, and there happens to be a snarl in it, when 
 a pike runs with the bait the rings should be such that the 
 line, kink and all, will easily slip through, instead of being 
 brought up with a jerk by jamming tight in the ring. I 
 don't like the " Bell's Life " rings on a trolling rod ; they 
 don't stand the wear and tear of throwing with a stout line 
 and a heavy bait. These rings are splendid for the lighter 
 work of chubbing down a stream ; but in pike fishing, es- 
 pecially spinning, I found them to be a mistake. In the 
 first place this ring is of a tolerable length, and the binding 
 that fastens them to the rod is fixed at each end ; the centre 
 of the ring is not firmly bound to the rod, and the conse- 
 quence is that a sudden jerk or strong drag with the line 
 pulls one end of the ring away from its bindings, especially 
 if those bindings are somewhat old and worn, and would 
 be likely to cause unpleasantness ; and in the second place 
 these rings are made of rather soft metal, which the line 
 soon cuts and grooves. If these rings could be made in 
 hardened steel they would be a decided improvement on the 
 old-fashioned ones. Taking rings for a pike rod all round, 
 I fancy there are none to beat the snake pattern, made of 
 rust-proof bronzed and hardened steel ; and in fixing them 
 on the rod they should be graduated, that is, the largest on 
 the butt and the smallest near the top end ; and this small 
 ring should not be any less than will comfortably allow a 
 medium sized lead pencil, say three-eighths or seven-six- 
 teenths of an inch in diameter, to pass through. The ring on 
 the butt can be about five-eighths of an inch in size, and 
 this in a three-piece rod should be fixed immediately under 
 the ferrule. I have seen rings fixed on the butt within a 
 foot or 14 inches from the reel; but this, if we look at it 
 carefully, will be found another mistake, because in using 
 the fair sized reel that is necessary in pike fishing, when the 
 ring is so near it, the line when threaded through forms too 
 acute an angle, and grinds and cuts it more than is good for 
 the lasting qualities of the very best line that ever was 
 Dlaited. When the ring is higher up the butt, this angle is 
 nothing like so apparent, and the friction on the line a good 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 ^5' 
 
 deal less. If the angler will consider a moment he will find 
 there is more in this than mere theory, for I have seen good 
 pike lines utterly ruined in a very short time by grinding in. 
 a butt ring fixed in close proximity to the reel. Shortly, 
 then, we will say there should be one ring on the butt of a 
 pike rod as near the fermle as possible, three rings on the 
 centre joint, and four without counting the end ring on the 
 top, and the nearer to the tip the closer to each other should 
 these rings be. The end ring of all will be all the better if 
 it has also an inner ring of hardened steel or phosphor 
 bronze fitted in it in such a manner that it will revolve or 
 twist round and round. This will also help to preserve the 
 line, as naturally there is considerable wear and friction 
 going on at the extreme end, of a spinning rod especially. 
 
 The winch fittings should be about eight inches from the 
 end of the butt, and these can either be the plain old- 
 fashioned three-ring fittings, or the newer Universal or gradu- 
 ated ones, whichever the fisherman likes, the latter perhaps 
 being slightly the best, as they are so constructed that they 
 will securely hold any size of reel without any of the cane 
 being cut away to form the slot or bed. 
 
 The end of the rod can be finished off with either a brass 
 cap, a hard-wood knob, or an indiarubber button, according 
 to fancy. I like my pike rod to play well in the top — that is, 
 dressed down nice and tapering from the ferrule — because I 
 have found by a lengthy experience in casting that the throw 
 is cleaner, easier, and more accurate if the rod feels stiff and 
 powerful in the lower end of it, and a kind of switch at the 
 tip end. 
 
 There is just one more point I should like to say a few 
 words on, and that it, some anglers recommend this pike rod 
 to have a hollow butt, on purpose to hold the spare top that 
 is not then in use ; but my advice is — don't, decidedly ; be- 
 cause if you notice there are knots or joints at intervals 
 down this cane that gives it its strength and rigidity. If 
 these are cut away by being bored out, the butt is likely to 
 splinter up and crack after being in use some little time. 
 And then again a pike rod top, with its fair sized rings and 
 top ring would want a butt of more than ordinary thickness 
 to comfortably carry it. 
 
26 THE PIKE. 
 
 A good rod, such as I have attempted to describe, would 
 run up to fifteen or sixteen shillings, or possibly a shilling 
 or two more, if everything was of the very best quality. A 
 very fair weapon that would be extremely useful to the work- 
 ing man pike angler who only gets out occasionally could be 
 
 yiS— —JUfft- '-^ 
 
 T II nu ll 
 
 Fig. I. A Cheap Pikk Rod. 
 produced from eight to ten shillings. Fig. i shows an ex- 
 tremely useful jack rod that is built in four lengths for con- 
 venience of carriage if the longer-jointed one would be too 
 awkward to carry about. The material of this is East India 
 cane and lancewood tops. Fig. 2 is an exact reproduction 
 of my own pike rod. This, too, is built of East India cane, 
 and its fittings and rings are similar to what I have described 
 in the foregoing pages. I have touched upon this question 
 of a pike rod in a rather lengthy manner, and some may say 
 gone rather unnecessarily into certain details; but I was 
 anxious to give the would-be pike fisherman a few hints as 
 to what he really required, so as to save him trouble and ex- 
 pense afterwards. When he goes to his rod maker now, he 
 will be in a position tO' tell him exactly what he wants, and 
 
 Fig. 2. The Author s Pike Rod. 
 the results are likely to be more satisfactory on both sides. 
 I must let this be my excuse, to say nothing of the fact that 
 in the very few pages that I have devoted to this special sub- 
 ject of rods there is the experience of nearly a lifetime at 
 the rod maker's bench and the riverside recorded. One 
 more little thing that I had nearly forgotten in connection 
 
THE PIKE. 27 
 
 with this subject, and it is very nearly the most important of 
 all. Many times I am asked the question as to whether a 
 very stiff top added to a light chub or barbel rod would not 
 make that rod for all practical purposes a good strong pike 
 rod? I am bound to answer all such with a very decided 
 " no." Strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true that 
 the stronger and stiffer the top is in a light rod, the weaker 
 does that rod become. The old saying that " a chain is no 
 stronger than its weakest link" can be applied with even 
 more force to rods. They are no stronger than their weakest 
 points, and instead of a strong stiff top making the rod 
 stronger in itself, it is very often a source of weakness. More 
 strain would be thrown on the second joint, and eventually, 
 if the rod was kept at this heavy work, that joint, at any 
 rate, would be utterly ruined. I am strongly in favour of 
 having a pike rod made for that special purpose, and use it 
 for pike fishing alone. I am not very much in love with 
 combination rods, although they can be constructed with a 
 very fair amount of success, but they have to be specially 
 built. What I want just now to impress on the mind of the 
 would-be pike fisherman is this : if he has an old favourite 
 roach or chub rod, he must not be deluded into having an 
 extra strong and stiff top fitted to it, under the impression 
 that it is going to make a strong pike rod, or he will pro- 
 bably regret it when too late. 
 
 A reel is a necessary article in a pike fisherman's outfit, 
 because he cannot very well fish for jack with a tight line 
 tied halfway down his rod, the same as some roach fisher- 
 men do, he must have a pretty fair length of line, and a reel 
 is necessary for one thing to hold it. Pike reels are made 
 at the present time in a variety of patterns, and at nearly 
 all prices; but I consider a good stout Nottingham wood 
 reel as good as anything that can be tried. It is not so ab- 
 solutely necessary to have an easy-going centre-pin reel for 
 this work, as it is in chub fishing down a stream. A centre- 
 pin is almost too lively for a jack reel. It ought, however, 
 to run fairly free, and as I always in spinning cast my bait 
 directly from the reel, and look upon this method as being 
 the very best to adopt, perhaps I may be excused if my par- 
 ticular fancy turns to these wooden reels. A four-and-a-half- 
 
28 THE PIKE. 
 
 inch one is the best size ; it should not be less than four 
 inches, at any rate, and it ought to be made of good dry and 
 hard walnut, of pretty substantial build, and be fitted with 
 a strong brass cross-back. A moveable check' action is also 
 a very useful addition to these reels, as it can then be used 
 for all purposes and all styles of pike fishing. A good plain: 
 
 Fig. 3. Plain Pike Reel, with Line Guard. 
 
 spindle reel is my particular fancy. I don't strongly recom- 
 mend a centre-pin, although scores of good pike fishermen 
 use them. A pike reel such as I have described would run 
 from six to eight shillings. A working man need not spend 
 any more than that, as he would not find one of the most 
 elaborately got-up and expensive reels one little bit better 
 for all practical purposes. Some anglers say that they can- 
 not, try as they will, cast a bait direct from the reel in what 
 we call the Nottingham style. They either have to coil the 
 line at their feet, or else use one or other of the wonderfully 
 constructed reels that are supposed to be helps to this style. 
 It is not a very successful plan to coil the line at the feet, 
 because there are places where the angler has to stand knee- 
 deep among flags, reeds, thistles, thorns, and all sorts of 
 rank undergrowth, where the line would catch and be gene- 
 rally aggravating. One of the best-known of these casting 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 29 
 
 reels was invented by Mr. P. D. Mallock, of Perth, and bears 
 his name. When a bait is cast by this reel the barrel or re- 
 volving portion of it does not turn round ; it is fitted up with 
 a contrivance, or a sort of a hinge, so that the portion of the 
 reel that holds the line can be turned or twisted half round. 
 When the cast is made the line is pulled from the drum or 
 barrel a good deal like pulling thread from the end of a 
 bobbin or spool, the force of the cast causing the line to un- 
 wind itself as the bait travels to its destination. As soon as 
 the bait strikes the water, of course, the line stops, and the 
 revolving or drum part of the reel has to be turned back 
 again into its original position before the line and bait can 
 be worked or spun home again. When the bait is thrown 
 with this reel there are no handles spinning round to rap the 
 incautious novice over the fingers, and no revolving plates 
 into which the line can suddenly catch and jam itself tight. 
 The reel only revolves when the angler wishes to spin his 
 bait and recover the line that he has thrown out, or when 
 a fish bolts off with the bait. There seems to me to be two 
 or three objections to this reel, the greatest of which would 
 be the extreme difficulty an angler would experience in spin- 
 ning his bait over very shallow and weedy places, which 
 situations, I might add, are very often the best places in 
 which to find pike. Sometimes it is necessary to begin 
 spinning or working the bait home again after a cast the very 
 moment the bait strikes the water. If it is allowed to sink 
 even six inches under the surface the hooks would catch 
 among the weeds, and the cast be spoiled. It seems to me 
 that the time that must elapse between the bait getting to its 
 destination and turning the revolving portion of the reel back 
 into its original position before that bait can be wound back 
 again would be fatal to its success in very shallow and weedy 
 water. In very deep and unobstructed lakes and rivers, of 
 course, this objection does not count, there would be plenty 
 of time to manipulate the reel before the bait reached the 
 bottom or an}'Avhere near it. Another point against this reel 
 is by being made of metal it is rather heavy, and would be 
 tiring to spin with all day ; and they are also very expensive, 
 a good one running to something like thirty shillings. There 
 are, however, scores and scores of good pike fishermen in 
 
30 THE PIKE. 
 
 Ireland and Scotland who swear by them. They say that 
 they cannot for the life of them throw a bait direct from a 
 Nottingham reel, and find the Malloch one of the most use- 
 ful inventions they ever tried. Personally, I never used one 
 in actual pike fishing; I have seen and examined them. 
 Once I tried my hand at throwing a bait across a grass lawn 
 with one, and consider them wonderfully ingenious, and cal- 
 culated to assist those pike fishermen who are really baffled 
 in their efforts to master the peculiarities of the ordinary 
 Nottingham reel. Another pike reel that has been a great 
 favourite for many years now was invented by Mr. David 
 Slater, and christened by him " The Combination." In an 
 ordinary Nottingham reel, anglers who are not very expert 
 pike bait throwers find that the line in casting gets outside 
 and hanks itself round the handles, or even sometimes a 
 long loop drops down and catches round the bottom of the 
 butt end of the rod. The revolving barrel of Slater's reel 
 runs in a cage that is fixed firmly to the back, and certainly 
 this is the best invention that I am as yet acquainted with 
 for keeping the line in its proper position. The Bickerdyke 
 line guard is also supposed, when fixed to an ordinary Not- 
 tingham reel, to stop the line from overrunning; but this 
 guard, useful as it undoubtedly is, is not, in my opinion, 
 equal to Slater's cage guard. In the Bickerdyke guard there 
 is nothing to prevent loose line from falling out at the under 
 side of the reel. It does, however, keep the line from fall- 
 ing over the top and catching round the handles. I have 
 had one of Slater's cage guard reels in constant use for 
 many years now for pike fishing. I believe my reel was the 
 first, or very nearly the first, that Mr. Slater made ; anyhow 
 I have had it since 1882. It is a plain spindle reel without 
 check action, four and a half inches in diameter. Those 
 anglers who really must spin with the line coiled at their 
 feet, and really cannot be persuaded to try any other plan, 
 need not be so particular as to the choice of a reel, a plain 
 wooden or brass one, provided it is large enough to hold 
 the line, will do very well. 
 
 Of late years so many reels have been invented for pike 
 fishing that the anxious novice is apt to get bewildered, and 
 be nearly at his wits end in making a selection. There is 
 
THE PIKE. 31 
 
 the " Coxon," that runs round at nearly a breath of wind ; 
 but I don't think this really was invented as a pike reel^ 
 although I make no doubt it could be used as one on a 
 pinch. It is much more valuable as a stream-fishing reel 
 for roach and chub. Then there is another with an alu- 
 minium drum, so carefully and accurately running upon a 
 steel centre that the very lightest minnow can be cast direct 
 with it. This reel is called the " Duplex," and where it 
 differs from the ordinary Nottingham wooden reel is the 
 fact that while the bait is travelling to its destination after 
 being thrown, the handle does not spin round and round ; 
 and here it also differs from the " Mallock," mentioned some 
 time ago. The latter has to be twisted half round before 
 the bait can be wound home again. With the " Duplex " 
 the line can be recovered and wound back again in an in- 
 stant. The " Duplex " reel is manufactured by Messrs. S. 
 Allcock and Co., of Redditch, which fact is generally ad- 
 mitted by expert anglers of the present day to be a sufficient 
 guarantee that the quality is beyond reproach. Of course 
 these reels are rather expensive, and hardly to be thought 
 about by the ordinary working men anglers ; but these merr 
 need not despair and think that they cannot cast out a pike 
 bait properly unless they have one or the other of them to 
 assist in the operation. I think I shall be able to give such 
 a few instructions in the following pages that, coupled with 
 a little practise, will enable them to cast out a bait clean and 
 neat without tangle or catch with only a plain spindle Not- 
 tingham reel, costing at most a few shillings to do it with. 
 I can call to mind some of the very best working men pike 
 fishermen who ever threw a bait across river, lake, or stream, 
 who never used any other reel than a plain, easy-going Not- 
 tingham. The whole secret of casting out a spinning bait 
 direct from the reel without overrunning, jerking the bait off 
 the hooks by a sudden stoppage of the line when in mid air, 
 or having a beautiful tangle of line on the barrel of the reel 
 when the bait reaches its destination, or having the fingers 
 rapped by the revolving handles, lies in a judicious selection 
 of the rod, reel, and line, coupled with the easy forward 
 swing that alone is necessary to get the bait out to nearly 
 any distance, and above all to the proper and well-timed 
 
32 THE PIKE. 
 
 pressure of the finger on the revolving edge of the reel. 
 First, the rod should be so constructed that it will play well 
 •at the tip end, and be stiff and strong at its lower joints. 
 Some makers and anglers may tell you that it is impossible 
 to cast out a pike bait properly unless you have a very 
 springy rod — one that will bend round, nearly like a fly rod, 
 from the tip down to the handle ; but my experience is that 
 the top itself should bend well, the second joint bend a little 
 towards the thin end of it, while the butt and part of the 
 second joint should be stiff and rigid in the hand. The 
 ■distance and accuracy of the cast is very much improved by 
 having the rod as near to the above requirements as possible. 
 Secondly, the reel itself should run very smoothly ; it should 
 not wobble at all, nor yet " chatter," as we call it, while the 
 bait is travelling to its destination. The back, or fixed part, 
 and the barrel or revolving part should fit close together, so 
 that there is no play or looseness between the nut on end of 
 the spindle, and the brass plate under it. There is more in 
 this than meets the eye of the casual observer, because if 
 the reel chatters and does not run smoothly and well, more 
 force is required in the cast to start the bait upon its jour- 
 ney. When the young pike fisherman selects this article of 
 his outfit, he should carefully take stock of it, see that it is 
 strong and well made, that it has a stout brass cross-back, 
 is fitted up with a good moveable check action, and that the 
 handles on the front are fitted to strong oval plates, screwed 
 firmly to the wood by a screw at each end. These oval 
 plates are a great protection to the handles, as without them, 
 in the constant winding that a pike spinning reel is sub- 
 jected to, they are liable to work loose. 
 
 Having satisfied himself on the above points, the novice 
 should then hold the reel firmly by the back in his left 
 hand, and with his right tap the edge of the revolving part 
 smartly downwards. If it will revolve freely and smoothly 
 without wobble or shake, and feels firm and rigid under the 
 brass nut, and its spindle is not loose and shaky, he has 
 without doubt got a reel that is admirably adapted for throw- 
 ing out and working home a pike bait in this most deadly 
 and easy style ; and I might add that he should not on any 
 consideration give more than eight shillings for it. 
 
THE PIKE. 33, 
 
 Thirdly, the spinning line should also be selected with a 
 good deal of care. A strong, heavy, waterproof line is not 
 a success by any means when used as a casting line direct 
 from the reel. It should be an undressed silk, or at most 
 only very slightly and smoothly dressed, and the size need 
 not be too thick, nor must it on the other hand be too thin. 
 I, personally, do not like a line too fine for jack spinning, 
 as in constant use winding in and out through the steel rings 
 of the rod it is liable to be chafed flat, and might play you 
 false when least expected or wanted. What I particularly 
 like and recommend for this work is from 60 to 80 yards of 
 Messrs. Allcock's No. 2 or 3 white plaited undressed silk line. 
 These lines are very strong, the No. 2 being particularly so, 
 and they are also very soft and free from all objectionable 
 kinks and curls, which, I might add, is desirable, especially 
 in a spinning line. A line that kinks and snarls in use is a 
 confounded nuisance. I found Messrs. Allcock's (quality 
 No. 108) lines, size 2, to be the most reliable for spinning 
 that I ever tried. I tested one of them once with a spring 
 balance that would weigh up to 2olb., and as it pulled this 
 down I considered it plenty good enough without extending 
 my experiments further in that direction. The three points 
 noted above, viz., the judicious selection of the rod, reel, 
 and line have more to do with the success or non-success of 
 the angler who essays the Nottingham style of pike fishing, 
 than some people would think ; in fact, I consider it a mat- 
 ter of the utmost importance. I have seen men who have 
 been utterly disheartened by repeated failures, and then 
 found out on investigation of their particular cases that 
 three-fourths of the causes of failure lay more in the rods, 
 reels, and lines than in the fishermen who used them. 
 
 I hope none of my readers will consider that I have 
 "been unnece=^sarily tedious in treating this part of my sub- 
 ject and gone into details that would have been better left 
 out. So convinced am I that this subject is not studied 
 sufficiently that I have been led to refer to it at length. At 
 one time I should most likely have only just skimmed the 
 surface and glanced at it in a very cursory way, but the hun- 
 dreds of questions that have been addressed to me by 
 anglers from all parts of the country on the difficulties they 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 THE PIKE. 
 
 encounter, have told me very plainly that the information 
 here given is of more than passing interest to the young pike 
 fisherman. During my wanderings after sport I have seen 
 pike fishermen at work in many and various styles, but none 
 of them I considered to be equal to or more scientific than 
 the Nottingham style. As I have just pointed out, this 
 style requires an undressed or very slightly dressed and softly 
 plaited silk line, and an easy-going and accurately running 
 reel on purpose to successfully practise it. On the other 
 hand, if the angler uses the live bait alone and is not 
 tempted to spin the bait over the shallows, a waterproof line 
 will be best for that purpose, and the easy-going and accur- 
 ate character of his reel need only be a secondary considera- 
 tion. Even if he does spin occasionally, preferring to do 
 this with his fingers and with the line laid at his feet or 
 gathered up in coils in his left hand, the waterproof line is 
 still the best to use, and any brass, metal, or common wood 
 reel, provided it is fairly stout — ^not too heavy — and large 
 enough to hold the line, will do very well. A good water- 
 proof line is rather an expensive item ; of course there are 
 cheap dressed lines; but in many cases these cheap lines 
 turn out frauds of the very worst character. You cannot 
 expect a good lasting pike line for, say, a halfpenny a yard. 
 I never knew one yet to be up to much that could be bought 
 for less than a penny a yard, and even some of these were 
 nothing to crack about. I know lots of pike fishermen who 
 prefer to buy the pure silk plaited lines and dress them 
 themselves; but this is a long and tedious job. The cheap 
 dressed lines, I fancy, are waterproofed with some sort of 
 composition that has an acid mixed with it. This, I think, 
 is done for a twofold purpose, that is, to give the line a 
 bright and glossy appearance, and also to dry them very 
 quickly. In some of the cheaper kinds of dressed lines this 
 waterproofing only covers the surface, or outside of them, 
 and rapidly peels or chips off when used for a short time; 
 and then again I have fancied more than once that the acid 
 used in the dressing causes the line to rot after it has been 
 for some little time in contact with the water. If the pike 
 fisherman prefers to buy his dressed line, or has no time on 
 his hands to do it himself, he should see that it is of the 
 
THE PIKE. 35 
 
 very best quality, for this is a case of the cheapest being 
 dearest in the long run ; for most assuredly a good one will 
 out-last three or four common ones, and a couple of shil- 
 lings only at most represents the difference between sixty 
 yards of common dressed line and a similar length of first- 
 class quality. I should say that Messrs. Allcock's " Stan- 
 dard " waterproof line is as reliable as any that can be pro- 
 cured nowadays. That firm makes a speciality of these 
 lines, using only the purest and strongest sillj and the very 
 best dressing procurable in their manufacture. I should not 
 like to say that these lines are better than other English 
 makers' best, but I do know from experience as a user and 
 dealer that they are at least equal to any others. The size 
 that I particularly recommend for live-baiting or coiling on 
 the ground is the No. 3, and as this can be procured for a 
 trifle more than a penny a yard, the outlay is not beyond the 
 reach of the generality of working men anglers. Some pike 
 fishermen will have it that for a pike line to be reliable you 
 must dress it yourself. They say that the ordinary dressed 
 line as usually sold in the fishing tackle shops is too stiff 
 and hard to comfortably use, and I am half inclined to agree 
 with this opinion. Anyhow, a good home-dressed line is 
 worth half a dozen common stiffly-dressed shop-bought ones. 
 To dress a line properly is a rather lengthy operation. I 
 don't mean lengthy as far as actual time doing the job is 
 concerned ; it is the length of time it takes to dry after being 
 soaked in the solution that makes the job so tedious. I 
 have known lines to be three or four months drying before 
 the stickiness was gone and they were fit to use. Good lin- 
 seed oil — and remember it must be good, not half of it some 
 foreign fiery fat or other cheap adulterated stuff that is only 
 linseed oil in name — ^is as good as anything that can be 
 used ; and this should be mixed with an equal part of best 
 copal varnish, say a quarter-pint of each. One of my friends 
 used to also add about a couple of tablespoonfuls of best 
 gold size. This is a rare good dressing for a pike line, but 
 takes a considerable time to dry. The undressed silk line 
 that the angler wishes to dress should be taken when new 
 and perfectly dry, and coiled up into as small a ring or com- 
 pass as possible, say what will easily go into a small basin 
 
36 THE PIKE. 
 
 four or five inches across the tx)p ; then pour the mixture as 
 given above, cold, on top of the line and see that every por- 
 tion of it is well covered. Let it remain in the dressing at 
 least two days, then carefully remove and uncoil it, and with 
 a bit of flannel wipe it gently from one end to the other; 
 that is, hold the flannel between the finger and thumb of the 
 left hand, and with the right draw the line through, taking 
 care that the pressure is sufficient to remove all lumps and 
 superfluous dressing from the line — of course during the pro- 
 cess the line can be coiled on a table or round the back of 
 a chair. It should then be hung up in long loose coils in 
 a cool dry position, and where the sun does not shine on it, 
 and remain there until perfectly dry; I should say it will 
 take six or eight weeks at the very least to properly dry. 
 This dressing not only has the merit of being very good, but 
 it also is cheap, any respectable chemist or oilman will sup- 
 ply sufficient of the ingredients to dress a couple of lines for 
 eightpence or tenpence, I make no doubt. After the line 
 has hung until dry it should be stretched out at full length 
 down the garden path, or any other convenient situation, 
 and a sixpenny packet of " King's Ceroleum " procured, this 
 is another very useful line dressing, and is sold at nearly any 
 fishing tackle shop; a bit about the size of a filbert nut 
 should be put inside a bit of flannel and rubbed lightly from 
 end to end of the line, taking care that a very thin coat only 
 covers the whole surface; now take anotiier bit of dry 
 flannel and polish up the line smartly, pinch it well between 
 finger and thumb and rub backwards and forwards, a yard 
 at a time, until the line feels warm between your fingers, 
 this gives the finishing touch to the dressing and smooths 
 the line down with a slight gloss. The dressing will not 
 crack or chip off, nor is it hard and stiff in the slightest, but 
 so soft and pliable that it can be thrown very well from the 
 reel in the Nottingham syle. A great friend of mine, one 
 of the very best pike fishermen I ever knew, always main- 
 tained that a line dressed according to the directions just 
 given, had a threefold lease of life given it, it would outlast 
 three ordinary undressed or even cheaoed dressed ones and 
 so be a considerable saving in the long run. I think I have 
 made it perfectly clear as to the ingredients required for 
 
THE PIKE. 37 
 
 this dressing, but to make it doubly sure, I might say, that 
 my friend always got a quarter pint each of best linseed oil 
 and copal varnish, and two tablespoonfulls of best gold size> 
 mixing and stirring them well together before pouring over 
 the lines. This quantity being quite sufficient for two 
 eighty yard lengths. If the gold size cannot be procured, 
 it does not matter so much, but still we always fancied it 
 gave the line a more finished appearance ; and don't forget 
 the finishing touches with " King's Ceroleum " and flannel. 
 After this it should again be hung up for two or three days 
 before finally wound on the reel. I might add that the long 
 or short life of a pike line depends on more than a care^ 
 ful dressing, it should also be thoroughly dried after using, 
 and by having good steel snake rings and steel end rings on 
 the rod, also contribute to its long life. There are several 
 more ways of dressing a line, such as putting it in a mixture 
 of beeswax, resin, and boiled oil ; or melting a lump of solid 
 parrafin and dropping in the line ; but the first that I have 
 given at length will be found enough for all practical pur- 
 poses. Personally, as I generally throw direct from the 
 reel, in either spinning or livebaiting, I don't care much 
 about having a dressed line; but there is no question that 
 the great bulk of pike fishermen find a dressed line of the 
 very greatest convenience, particularly in casting out and 
 working a live bait. Once or twice during a busy season I 
 have rubbed my spinning line with a little bit of " King's 
 Ceroleum," and found it helped to preserve it, besides mak- 
 ing it stand the wear and tear of constantly running through 
 the rings of the rod somewhat better, and also preventing 
 it from getting quite so much waterlogged while in use. 
 This is the very outside that I care about, in the shape of 
 a waterproof or dressed line, and as this preparation is so 
 easy in its application, and can be put on so quickly, and 
 does not alter the softness and flexibility of the line, the 
 novice will find it to be to his advantage if he keeps a cake 
 of this dressing by him ; the cost is only sixpence, and I 
 think it is kept by most fishing tackle dealers, but if any 
 diiRculty is experienced in procuring it, a note to the in- 
 ventor, Mr. Wm. King, chemist, Ipswich, will, I make no 
 doubt, result in a satisfactory reply. I used to stretch my 
 
38 THE PIKE. 
 
 line at full length in the most convenient situation, and 
 smartly rub a small piece of the ceroleum with the help of 
 a bit of flannel from end to end, taking care that very little 
 was put one, and this rubbed well in till the whole surface 
 was smooth and bright. The line was then hung up for 
 a couple of days, after which interval it was safe to use ; I 
 found that this very slight dressing did not hinder the free 
 running of the line when thrown direct from the reel in 
 the Nottingham style. Of course three or four coats of 
 this preparation can be applied in the same manner, at in- 
 tervals of a couple of days between each one, if the angler 
 wishes to have his line more thickly and thoroughly water- 
 proof. This does not take anything like so long drying as 
 the oil and varnish dressing mentioned some time ago ; a 
 week after applying the last coat will be ample. And now 
 having looked at what I consider to be the very beau ideal 
 of a pike rod, reel, line, and its dressing, we will glance 
 briefly at one or two sundries that the pike fisherman should 
 have if he can anyhow afford them. One of the most im- 
 portant is a line dryer, because it is imperative that the pike 
 
 Fig. 4. The Line Drier. 
 
 line should be dried after you get home trom a day's fishing, 
 or if you are foolish enough to neglect it, in all probability 
 you will have a sudden and startling reminder during one 
 of your subsequent outings, sooner or later. The line will 
 rot if allowed to dry on the reel time after time, and the fish 
 of the season may be hooked and lost. Tl ere is nothing 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 39 
 
 more annoying than to have a good fish break away owing 
 to the line being rotten by neglect. The accompanying 
 illustration gives a good idea of what a line dryer is like; 
 it has a clamp on one side near the centre, so that it can be 
 screwed to the edge of a table, or the bench, or the chimney 
 piece, and a handle on the other side to wind the line off 
 the reel. I daresay any handy man could soon knock up a 
 similar article, anyhow the expense is not very much, and 
 most decidely it is not a useless expense. I should unwind 
 the whole of the line from the reel, and put the drier some- 
 where in a dry, cool position, and let it remain a couple of 
 days if you anyhow can, before winding back again on the 
 reel. Even if you are out in a strange place for t\vo or three 
 days' jack fishing, the line will be all the better for being 
 dried every night and wound again on the reel next morning. 
 On no account should a line be dried in close proximity 
 to a fire, particularly a dressed line, as the heat may blister 
 the waterproofing and cause a weakness. 
 
 Another actual necessity in a pike fisherman's kit is a 
 good landing net, or a gaff hook; I prefer the former, and 
 this I recommend to be of pretty substantial build. A 
 strong four jointed folding iron frame, or ring of a circular 
 
 N'68 
 
 CLOSED 
 
 Fig. 5. Foi-DiNG Landing Ring. 
 
 shape not less than sixteen inches in diameter, being, in my 
 opinion, the best to employ. This ring should screw firmly 
 and tight into a socket fixed at the end of a staff, the staff 
 or handle can be about four and a half feet long, and made 
 of good East India mottled cane, and if it is made large 
 enough, so that when it is bored out it will hold the rod top 
 
40 THE PIKE. 
 
 that is just then not in use, it will be found a great 
 convenience. The illustration shows a ring I recommend 
 open for use, and also closed for convenience of carriage. 
 With regard to the net itself it should be fairly strong, and 
 the material barked or tanned, and it will be all the better 
 if it is pretty deep, say from twenty-one to twenty-four 
 inches, and roomy at the bottom, so that when a jack gets 
 inside it is likely to stop in; because if you are spinning 
 with a number of hooks on your flight and get a jack into 
 the net, if this net is narrow at the bottom and shallow, he 
 will most likely roll out again ; and if the hooks of the 
 flight catch inside the net while the pike is hanging outside, 
 you stand a very good chance of bidding him a good bye 
 within the next two seconds, for most assuredly he will 
 speedily shake himself free. Some good pike fishermen, 
 on account of the extreme likelihood of this accident hap- 
 pening when landing a pike in a net, prefer to use a gaff 
 hook for this purpose, striking it . into the fish near the 
 shoulder or under the gills ; but I have known a good pike 
 to twist a gaff clean out of the hands of a fisherman, and 
 at least once or twice I have known the gaff hook to snap 
 off at the bend, and the pike escape with the broken portion 
 
 e 
 
 075 
 
 Fig. 6. Gaff Hook, Opfn and Closed. 
 Sticking in him. The illustration shows the usual sort of 
 gaff that is most in use, open for use, and also closed for 
 convenience of carriage; but, taking things all round, I 
 most certainly prefer a good strong landing net, wide at the 
 bottom and pretty deep. Another very useful article is a 
 tackle case, and this should be of japanned tin, black on the 
 outside, enamelled white on the inside, and made with sev- 
 eral partitions, so that traces and flights can be kept seper- 
 ate. A good useful size is about eight inches long by five 
 wide, and about one and a half inches thick, with two closed 
 boxes in the lid for traces, A tin box is better for pike 
 
 I 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 4« 
 
 tackle than a leather case, as in the latter the treble hooks 
 are liable to be broken if anything heavy is thrown on the 
 caise. The annexed drawing shows one of these tackle cases- 
 
 FiG. 7. Box FOR Pike Tackle. 
 
 open, so that the inside arrangements can be seen. A 
 strong canvas haversack of a pretty fair size is also another 
 useful article, particularly if the pike fisherman goes in for 
 a good deal of spinning, as it can be slung across his 
 shoulders, and so out of the way while at work with his 
 spinning bait, and does not have to be picked up and car- 
 ried in the hand to every fresh place he wishes to try. A 
 pike fisherman should also always have a bottle of varnish 
 handy at home, as it is very useful for a variety of purposes, 
 the best that I know for pike tackle being two pennyworth 
 of the wood naphtha, in a doctor's medicine bottle, with two 
 ounces of best brown shellac dissolved in it. Wood naphtha 
 is far better than spirits of wine, as the latter evaporates, 
 and after being some time on the bindings or whipping of 
 rod or tackle the gum rubs off like a dry dust. The bind- 
 ings of all pike tackle should be from time to time painted 
 over thinly and lightly with a little of the before mentioned 
 mixture; a small camels hair brush being the best for this 
 purpose. This small brush should always be kept in a little 
 of the naphtha in a separate bottle or vessel, or if allowed to 
 get dry the bristles would be as hard as a bit of stick. I 
 am certain it will pay the angler to touch up his tackle pretty 
 frequently, as it helps to keep the bindings secure, and 
 
42 THE PIKE. 
 
 doubles the life of it. A little good carriage maker's 
 varnish is the best for his rod, painted lightly and thinly 
 over the surface, but this should only be done at the end of 
 a season, when it could stand on one side for a week or two 
 and get thoroughly hard and dry. Finally, I might say, that 
 the pike fisherman who values his health should always, 
 in bad weather, wear good waterproof boots or shoes, and 
 keep them well dressed with '' Dale's dubbin." The various 
 flights and tackles for spinning and livebaiting; how to 
 make and how to use them, will be illustrated as far as prac- 
 ticable, and described in the chapters that follow. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 THE PIKE (continued). 
 
 CASTIMG OUT THE BAIT. 
 
 Different methods of casting— The Nottingham style— The right- 
 Jianded cast— The cast from the left hand— How to cast from the reel- 
 Weights and their distribution— The forward swing-Casting with a 
 coiled line — A peculiar cast. 
 
 In this chapter I propose to leave the beaten track for 
 awhile, saying nothing about the merits or demerits of the 
 various flights and tackles in use for pike fishing, but devote 
 the whole of it to a subject that I think has hardly ever been 
 .satisfactorily explained — I allude to the question of properly 
 casting out a bait. There seems to me to be two or three 
 different schools of fishermen, each throwing out the bait 
 in its own particular fashion, each more or less proficient 
 in its own peculiar style^ and all of them suited up to a 
 certain point to the requirements of the various waters in 
 which they ply their craft. As I hinted in the previous 
 chapter, there are those who coil the line at their feet, cast- 
 ing the bait from the rod point ; but this, in my opinion, is 
 not likely to be an unqualified success when tried in every 
 •conceivable situation, and under every condition, and in all 
 the difficulties to be encountered by the side of the river, 
 lake, or stream. Then again there are others who never use 
 the rod when casting out a pike bait, they simply coil a lot 
 of line on the ground, with the rod on rests, hanging the 
 bait in the crutch of a forked stick, and so slinging it out 
 without the aid of the rod at all. Then again there is the 
 •ever increasing army of casters who throw directly from the 
 reel in what is known as the Nottingham style. In my 
 opinion this style is far away and above any other, taking 
 all things into consideration ; places can be successfully spun 
 
44 
 
 THE PIKE. 
 
 over where it would be impossible, owing to stones, bushes^ 
 trees, reeds^ and rank undergrowth, to cast with line coiled 
 at the feet. Some pike 'fishermen say that a bait, wound 
 home on the reel in this style, is not sO' attractive as one 
 worked home by the fingers with line coiled; the long 
 sweeping drags of the bait when travelling through the 
 water, which is the chief characteristic of the latter plan, 
 is absent when the line is simply wound up on the reel to 
 spin the bait home. There is, they say, too much of the 
 jog trot, monotonous sameness about the bait when cast out 
 and wound back again direct from the reel. But I would 
 point out that by simply raising and lowering alternately the 
 tip end of the rod, and varying the pace of the winding in 
 process, sometimes even, if the character of the water per- 
 mitted it pausing for a second or so, the sink and draw 
 motion and the long sweeping drags of the bait could be 
 imitated as faithfully with the reel, as by the hand. Then 
 again, when spinning from a boat the line when coiled at 
 the feet is apt to be a confounded nuisance, and will insist 
 on catching round everything within reach, now and again 
 
 Fig. 8. Snake Rings, The Four Largest Sizes right 
 FOR A Casting Rod. 
 
 hinkmg round the neck of a bottle, or upsetting a tackle 
 box, perhaps throwing overboard a cherished pocket knife 
 or a favourite bit of tackle. I have heard several pike fisher- 
 men say under these circumstances, that they wished they 
 could spin from the reel, as it would prevent much bad 
 
THE PIKE. 45 
 
 language to say the very least. As I have hinted more than 
 once in the foregoing pages, that my favourite plan of spin- 
 ning is by casting out the bait direct from the reel, I will 
 commence with that and trust I shall be able to make it so 
 clear that even the most inexperienced angler will have no 
 difficulty in understanding exactly what I mean, but be able, 
 after a little practise, to perform in a very creditable man- 
 ner, without any serious mishaps. Of course he will not be 
 able to do it all at once, he is bound to jerk his bait off the 
 hooks some odd times, and also find after an unsuccessful 
 attempt that his line has managed to get into a beautiful 
 tangle on the barrel of his reel. The greatest difficulty 
 that I have to contend with, is the fact that it is almost 
 impossible to lay down a hard and fast line as to how the 
 rod and reel should be manipulated in casting out a pike 
 bait, in what is known as the " Nottingham style." Even 
 experts are by no means agreed on the subject ; and so on 
 looking at it by the light of many years practical experience, 
 and also calling to mind the various plans adopted by some 
 of my personal friends who, in their own way of throwing 
 out a bait in this style, are as good fishermen as ever threw 
 across river, lake, or stream, I say again that no fixed rule 
 can be laid down, as some men check the reel with the 
 right hand, others with the left. All men are not alike, the 
 plan that is free and easy to one may be difficult and even 
 painful to another; he must throw in the fashion that is 
 easiest to himself, and to get into the fashion that is easiest 
 <;an only be acquired after very careful practice. I have 
 seen anglers whom nobody who knew them, and understood 
 the matter, could by any means call inexperienced fisher- 
 men, cast out the bait with the right hand above the reel, 
 and the fingers of the left guarding the revolving barrel at the 
 top edge, and I have also seen as equally good and as long 
 experienced men proceeding exactly opposite, with the left 
 hand above the reel and the right below it, guarding the, 
 reel at the bottom edge. Each of these plans is equally 
 as good as the other; that is, so far as throwing out the 
 bait, and checking the speed of the reel at the proper 
 moment is concerned. A man must find out which is the 
 easiest and the most accurate of the two plans, that he, per- 
 
46 THE PIKE. 
 
 sonally, with the most comfort to himself, can adopt, ancf 
 then he will be in a fair way to success, no matter which of 
 the two he selects. The plan that I found to be the easiest 
 for myself is what is known as the right-handed cast. This 
 is a cast that is adopted by many first class men in various 
 parts of the kingdom ; men who, as it were, graduated on 
 the Trent, and then left their native river to settle on the 
 banks of other waters, carrying their style to places where it 
 was practically unknown before. I have heard it said that 
 the introduction of this style tO' various well known rivers^ 
 marked a new era in the history of their angling. In the 
 first place the angler must find out exactly where to hold 
 his rod so as to have the best command over it. It will not 
 do f")r him lo hold it in a careless manner, he must be 
 master of his rod — and not the rod master of him — or in 
 all probability he will land his bait into the nearest hedge 
 instead of on the water. The proper right-handed cast is 
 made by grasping the rod firmly with the right hand, about 
 eight or nine inches above the narrow stop ring, or band of 
 the winch-fittings. This small stop ring or band, by the 
 way, should be firmly fixed on the rod butt, about an inch 
 above the slot that is cut into the wood to receive the reel. 
 When this reel is put on the rod in its proper position, the 
 two handles should be pointing to the right The right 
 hand, as I have just said grasps the rod firmly, nine or ten 
 inches above the reel ; the left hand is close over the reel 
 or winch fittings, in fact, to be exact, the rod is in the hol- 
 low between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, close 
 to the reel, so that the fingers of the left hand can clasp the 
 back of the reel, the second finger reaching over the barrel 
 and just lightly touching the rim of the front or revolving 
 plate of the barrel on the top edge. By this plan you are 
 out of the way of the handles, and in no danger of being 
 smartly rapped over the fingers by them. After seeing that 
 your bait hangs some four or five feet from the point of 
 the rod — ^but this is regulated by the length of the trace — on 
 no account should any of the gimp or gut, whichever is used, 
 be wound through the top ring of the rod before making 
 the cast. The flight of hooks, the leaded trace, and the loop 
 where the silk line is joined to the trace, should all hang 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 47 
 
 free below the top ring on rod. After seeing that all is 
 clear, you face exactly the place on the water where you 
 want the bait to drop; keep your eyes fixed on the exact 
 spot where you would like that bait to strike the water, 
 never mind looking at the bait just when the cast has com- 
 menced, if all is clear, it will look after itself very well. To 
 make the cast you swing the rod point to your right-hand 
 side and partly behind you; then with another, but this 
 time a much more smarter forward swing, you bring the rod 
 over the water. As soon as ever the bait swings forward 
 you partly release the reel by easing the pressure of your 
 finger on the revolving front rim, taking care, however, that 
 this pressure is not altogether removed, or the reel will over- 
 run, and also minding at the same time that this pressure is 
 not too tight, or the bait will be checked and drop on the 
 bank to your left hand. Your finger should just feel the 
 rim of the reel, and that is all. As soon as the bait strikes 
 the water the finger is pressed tight on the reel edge, so as 
 to effectually stop any further revolutions. Still keeping 
 hold of the rod and reel with the left hand close at the top 
 of the reel, as already described, you press the knob or but- 
 ton of the rod into the hollow of the left thigh, and leave go 
 of the rod with the right hand, which hand is brought down 
 and takes hold of the reel handles on purpose to wind the 
 bait home again. With a little practice these three opera- 
 tions can be performed in a couple of seconds with the ease 
 and regularity of clockwork, viz., stopping the reel by a pres- 
 sure of the finger as soon as the bait drops into the water, 
 pressing the butt end of the rod into the hollow of the thigh, 
 and leaving go with the right hand (which in making the 
 cast was 9 or lo inches above the reel) in order to wind in 
 the bait This is what I call the proper right-handed cast ; 
 in fact, by this plan I can cast the bait to the right hand or 
 to the left, or even straight fonvard, although in the case of 
 a bait being required to be thrown wide to the right hand, I 
 usually bring my rod over the left shoulder instead of the 
 right, as described before ; but in any of the three directions 
 I hold rod and reel in the same hand and in the same man- 
 ner. In this right-handed cast the most natural direction 
 for the bait to travel is wide to the left hand, in a slanting 
 
48 THE PIKE 
 
 direction across the river. It requires some practice before 
 a given point in any direction can be successfully, time after 
 time, struck. Some very good Nottingham pike fishermen 
 that I know always make what I call a left-handed cast ; the 
 rod is grasped with the left hand just above the reel, and 
 the right hand below it, checking the speed of the reel with 
 the end of a finger at the bottom edge. But with all due 
 respect I maintain that this is a very awkward throw, be- 
 cause ere you can wind up your reel to spin the bait home 
 both hands have to be shifted, the left lower down to have 
 command over the rod and the right to wind in the red 
 line ; and if the place spun over happens to be shallow and 
 weedy this extra fraction of time may make all the difference 
 between the bait being clear and the hooks catching hold of 
 the weeds just under the surface. Again, I always imagine 
 that the finger under the reel does not regulate the cast so 
 well as the finger over the top, and you are more liable to 
 get your fingers rapped by the revolving handles. It is more 
 than probable that you may sometimes stand facing the 
 river in a very awkward position, with a lot of boughs or 
 other obstructions immediately at your right hand, and no 
 possible chance of swinging the rod point in that direction. 
 Under these conditions no other cast except the left-handed 
 one is possible. But even here I should hold the rod and 
 check the reel exactly the same as for the right-handed cast, 
 the only difference being that the rod point would be swung 
 towards the left hand instead of towards the right. It is 
 much more difficult to make a clean and accurate cast from 
 the left shoulder than it is from the right. I have known 
 very good pike spinners who threw out the bait in a manner 
 peculiar to themselves. Not one angler in a dozen could, 
 if they tried for a month, imitate it. I don't condemn all 
 these styles, far from it. If a man can throw out his bait 
 iwell and accurately, and his style of throwing is to my eye 
 very peculiar, I should say nothing in condemnation because 
 that style differed widely from my own. One of the most 
 -curious throwers that I ever saw was a Nottinghamshire 
 angler of long and wide experience. He always used to put 
 the reel on his rod with the handles pointing to the left, 
 and wind in his line with the left hand. His style was 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 49 
 
 peculiar in the extreme, but his worst enemy (if he had one) 
 could not say that he was a bad thrower. Personally, in 
 giving practical lessons in this style, I found that the greater 
 number of my pupils could manage the right-handed cast 
 much quicker and easier than any other ; but it needs prac- 
 tise, and practice alone, to make a man perfectly master of 
 the style. But there is one comforting thought in the whole 
 business, it is as easy as A B C when you once know how, 
 and it is not at all difficult to learn. The main thing to be 
 observed and impressed most strongly upon the would-be 
 spinner, is to grip the rod firmly with the right hand the 
 proper distance above the reel, and with the fingers of the 
 left regulate the speed of the revolving barrel, and he should 
 also bear in mind most strongly that while the bait is travel- 
 ling towards its destination, the slight pressure of the finger 
 on the edge of the reel must always be there, regulated ac- 
 cording to size of bait and weight of lead. If a heavy 
 natural bait a little more pressure must be applied, and if it 
 is a light artificial bait a little less pressure will be ample, 
 as a light bait takes more force than a heavy one to start it 
 upon its journey. In using a natural bait, say a small dace 
 of from one-and-a-half to two ounces in weight, a gentle 
 throw with an easy swing will be all that is required to get 
 it out a moderate distance, say from 25 to 30 yards, pro- 
 vided the reel is an easy-running one and the line moderately 
 fine. It is not advisable to exercise tremendous force in 
 casting out a natural bait, for various reasons; not much 
 would be gained in the distance cast for one thing, and a 
 sudden jerk, which is always liable to happen when extra 
 force is applied, might buckle up and spoil the shape of the 
 bait. I found on several occasions that the longest cast was 
 made with the easiest swing, that is when bait has been 
 fairly heavy. On the other hand a light lead and small arti- 
 ficial bait of not more than one ounce in weight altogether 
 would have to be started much smarter upon its journey — 
 more force is necessary in this instance. The gentle throw 
 or swing that would be ample in the case of a very heavy 
 bait would not cause the reel to commence running with 
 sufficient speed for the light bait to travel the requisite dis- 
 tance. 
 
 B 
 
so 
 
 THE PIKE. 
 
 But all these points cannot be learned very well from read- 
 ing about them ; a hint or two, of course, that will be useful 
 to the novice can be given. For all the rest, such as hold- 
 ing the rod in the best place, easing or checking the reel 
 with the ends of the fingers in the best manner, the proper 
 distance for the bait to hang below the rod point, and the 
 correct swing to give the rod, in order for each individual 
 spinner to have the best and easiest results, can only be ac- 
 quired by long and painstaking trials and experiments. But 
 don't be frightened, peg away, and you will soon learn. One 
 man of my acquaintance who knew nothing whatever about 
 this style, but was anxious to learn, made such rapid pro- 
 gress during his first lesson that at the end of an hour he 
 could cast out 30 yards without jerk, tangle, or catch. 
 There is one little thing I should like to say here before I 
 forget it, and that is, when making a cast, and the bait has 
 travelled nearly to its destination, lower the rod point to 
 about a couple of feet from the surface of the water, if the 
 nature of the place makes it anyhow possible to be done. 
 More particularly must this be observed if the place spun 
 over be shallow and weedy and the angler not very proficient 
 in recovering his line to wind home again. As soon as the 
 bait strikes the water, the rod point can be raised, and this 
 will keep the bait on the surface, and the hooks not be so 
 liable to catch hold of the weeds until the winding-in pro- 
 cess commences. And now just a few words as to the 
 weight that can comfortably be thrown and the distance that 
 can be cast. 
 
 Careful trials with various reels and lines have shown me 
 very clearly that a small feather-weight minnow, without any 
 lead on the trace, cannot be thrown direct from the reel and 
 rod point. The smallest weight that I found possible to 
 cast over 20 yards was a small spoon which, with its lead 
 and gimp trace, weighed three-quarters of an ounce, this 
 weight being distributed as follows : — ^The spoon at the 
 extreme end of two feet of fine gimp ; at this distance from 
 the spoon was a small barrel lead, then two more feet of 
 gimp, the whole of these weighing as just stated ; and even 
 this wanted a No. 4 line and a Coxon reel to do it with. The 
 ordinary pike reel and line was not equal to the task. A 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 51 
 
 larger spoon and heavier leaded trace, with weight distri- 
 buted as before, the whole weighing a little less than one- 
 and-a-quarter ounces, was next tried with the ordinary reel 
 and No. 2 line, and this time by using some considerable 
 force in the cast I managed to get it out about 30 yards. 
 The result of my experiments convinced me that the bait 
 with its necessary swivels, gimp trace, and lead, the whole 
 distributed in a proper manner, and not put altogether at 
 the far end of the gimp, should weigh not less than one and 
 a half ounces to have a comfortable and satisfactory result, 
 that is if distance and accuracy were the objects aimed at. 
 A leger bullet weighing seven-eighths of an ounce, tied 
 firmly at the end of a stout barbel line, was thrown a little 
 over 50 yards from the reel, while a spoon and leaded trace 
 weighing one and a half ounces only reached 40 yards when 
 thrown by the same rod, reel, and line. The bullet, of 
 course, would have far less resistance to contend with in 
 travelling through the air than would the spoon, hence the 
 difference between the distances cast under the same con- 
 ditions. A small dace weighing from one and a half ounces 
 to two and a quarter ounces can be comfortably thrown with- 
 out any danger of straining the rod ; anything much over 
 the latter weight is not desirable. With regard to the dis- 
 tance that can be cast direct from the reel, I should say that 
 60 yards would be the very outside, and then the bait would 
 have to be fairly heavy, and of such a torpedo-like shape 
 that it could cut through the air with the least possible re- 
 sistance, and the conditions of the weather would also have 
 to be very favourable. I have heard some men say that 
 they have cast out the bait from the reel 70, and even 80, 
 yards at a guess ; but I must say that I have never seen it 
 done yet. If they had the distance properly measured I am 
 afraid they would find it considerably shorter than that. 
 Shortly then, we may put it that 50 yards is a very long cast, 
 40 yards is a very good one indeed, while in a day's spinning 
 there would be more casts under 30 yards than over that 
 figure, that is as far as the ordinary run of mankind is con- 
 cerned. I once saw some Thames professional fishermen 
 competing for prizes by casting out an artificial bait from the 
 reel in a style that they were pleased to call the Nottingham 
 
52 
 
 THE PIKE. 
 
 Style. Instead of swinging the rod to the right hand or to 
 the left, and propelling the bait forward by a gentle side 
 cast, two or three of them handled the rod a good deal like 
 a country labourer using a frail. They grasped the rod with 
 one hand above the reel, and the other below it, and swung 
 the point and bait over their heads straight behind them, so 
 that the rod was in a direct line with the middle of their 
 backs, and both hands at the back of the head. In making 
 the cast the rod was brought smartly forward with the point 
 high in the air ; in fact, the rod described a semi-circle, or 
 very nearly so ; and such was the force of this terrific cast 
 that the bait travelled to a great height before dropping on 
 the ground. This cast, if applied to actual pike fishing vath 
 a tender natural bait, would result in dire disaster tu the 
 bait, at any rate; it would be thrown all to atoms in two 
 casts. The gentle side swing with the finger on the edge 
 of the reel is the correct and proper style, that is if your 
 baits are scarce and you want them to keep attractive as 
 long as possible. Of course it does not matter so much with 
 a strong metal artificial bait how it is thrown, so long as it 
 goes out to the best advantage. Sometimes you may stand 
 in a very awkward position among trees or bushes, where it 
 is impossible to swing the rod point to either side, or even 
 upwards ; there is perhaps no more than two or three yards 
 of clear space immediately fronting the spot on which you 
 stand. Under these circumstances a very creditable cast 
 can be made by drawing down a length of line from between 
 the rings of the rod as high up as you can reach, and letting 
 the bait swing backwards and forwards by moving the rod 
 point as far upwards and downwards as the circumstances 
 of the place will allow. When the bait has acquired suffi- 
 cient momentum and swings sharply forward, release the 
 loop of line that you hold in the left hand, which has been 
 drawn down from between the rings on the rod, and at the 
 same time ease the pressure of the little finger of the right 
 hand on the edge of the reel, and away goes the bait, the 
 weight of which will cause the reel to revolve sufficiently to 
 get out 20 yards, at the very least, if it is wanted. In this 
 cast the rod must be held in the right hand above the reel, 
 with the edge or side of the little finger resting lightly on the 
 
THE PIKK 
 
 53 
 
 top edge of the revolving barrel. When this cast is made 
 and the bait strikes the water, change the rod from the right 
 hand to the left as quickly and promptly as possible, and 
 wind home again, repeating the process as often as required. 
 
 One of the very best casters that I ever saw throw out a 
 pike bait had his line hanging in coils from his left hand; 
 his right hand grasped the rod some little distance above a 
 brass winch ; his right arm and body acted as a fulcrum in 
 a very peculiar manner, so that he had the most possible 
 leverage and power with his rod at the least expenditure of 
 strength. It was marvellous to see the way those coils of 
 line straightened themselves out one after another and went 
 through the rings of the rod as the bait flew with unerring 
 accuracy to the exact spot required. Nor was it much less 
 marvellous to see the way that line recoiled itself in regular 
 sized folds on his left hand as the bait was spun home. 
 That man's skill could only have been arrived at by long 
 and constant practise, as I never saw him all that afternoon 
 make a false cast or get his line into the least semblance of 
 a tangle. 
 
 Before the introduction of the Nottingham style on the 
 Thames and the southern rivers, the great majority of the 
 pike fishermen on those waters used to cast with the line 
 coiled at the feet, and certainly some of the experts in this 
 style can throw out a wonderful distance. There is no ques- 
 tion that so far as distance is concerned a first-class Thames- 
 style man will beat the Nottingham-style man by at least a 
 dozen yards, using the same weight ; in fact I have seen it 
 demonstrated more than once at those popular bait-casting 
 tournaments held at intervals at the Welsh Harp, Twicken- 
 ham, and Wimbledon, when the very best exponents of both 
 styles have been competitors. In this style the bait is 
 thrown direct from the rod point, only instead of the line 
 being wound on the reel it is laid in loose coils on the 
 ground. Of course the line as it picks itself off the ground 
 travels through the rings on the rod during the flight of the 
 bait, and when it is spun home again it is drawn in by hand 
 and again laid in coils at the angler's feet. But with all due 
 respe.' t to the many excellent Thames men I don't consider 
 the plan half so neat and clean as casting direct from the 
 
54 THE PIKE. 
 
 reel, for the reasons stated at the commencement of this 
 chapter. The pike fishermen of the Welsh Harp seem to 
 me to have a plan of throwing out a bait peculiar to them- 
 selves. In this case the line does not travel through the 
 rings of the rod. Like the Thames style, the line itself lays 
 in coils at the angler's feet ; but instead of using the rod as 
 the motive power of the cast, the bait, or at least the line 
 about a yard from the bait, is hung across a steel or brass 
 fork that is screwed firmly into the end of a staff like a land- 
 ing handle, and it is marvellous the distance an expert can 
 cast the bait, that is if line and all is clear and goes freely. 
 Another plan of casting out a bait that I have sometimes 
 seen is by having the line wound tightly on the left hand, 
 each fold of the line crossing the previous one, the hand 
 itself being moved in a peculiar manner as the line is coiled 
 on and the bait spun home. When the cast is made direct 
 from the rod point, the line unwinds itself off the angler's 
 hand and passes through the rings on the rod. When the 
 bait has reached its destination and is travelling home again, 
 the peculiar motion of the hand that gathers in the line fold 
 over fold causes the bait to travel in a manner that could 
 not hi imitated by any other plan. It is a wonderfully 
 killing style, and is adopted by some of the best minnow- 
 spinners for trout, as well as certain pike fishermen who de- 
 light to spin with a very small bait and fine lines and tackle. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 THE PIKE (continued). 
 
 SPINNING WITH A NATURAL BAIT. 
 
 Spinning, what it is — A simple spinning tackle — The Chapman 
 spinner and its contemporaries — Flights and their Jises — The spinning 
 trace — Best baits for spinning — " The Trent Otter's" spinning flight — How 
 to bait it — A good season — Honv to spin to have the best results — Different 
 methods for different waters — Condition of the water — Clouded v. clear 
 water spinning — Spinni?ig in deep and sluggish waters — Changing the 
 bait — Strikitig, playing, and landing a pike — Haunts of the pike during 
 the Different months — Spinning leads — Preserving dead baits. 
 
 Spinning for pike with a natural or artificial bait has been 
 a favourite pastime of mine for many years now ; in fact I 
 look upon spinning as being the most scientific as well as the 
 most sportsmanlike of all the many plans that are adopted 
 for the capture of our fresh-water shark. Of course, I am 
 aware that there are certain waters containing pike in which 
 it would be utterly impossible to work a spinning bait, or 
 even for the matter of that a live bait. Obstructions and 
 weeds might be so strongly and thickly in evidence that the 
 novice would despair of ever getting a bait in, to say nothing 
 of safely getting it out again. I shall show presently how 
 it is possible to fish a place like that ; for the present my 
 object is to give a few plain instructions on spinning over 
 the more open waters with a dead natural bait. 
 
 I svppose I need not tell the amateur that spinning is 
 done by fixing a small fish on an arrangement of hooks in 
 such a manner that when drawn through the water it looks 
 like a wounded or disabled fish trying to escape from some 
 imaginary foe, the main object being to have as much of the 
 bait and as little as possible of the hooks visible. The 
 spinning bait must also be kept constantly moving, that is, 
 turning over and over more or less slowly or rapidly, as the 
 
56 
 
 THE PIKE 
 
 case may be, during its passage back to the angler after 
 being thrown out. Spinning is hard work if stuck to all day- 
 long, for it is absolutely necessary to be on the move throw- 
 ing out and winding home again time after time. It won't 
 do to let the bait sink to the bottom and stay there for any 
 length of time. Spinning is working the bait all over the 
 place, anyhow and anywhere, wherever there is a bit of clear 
 water into which it can be thrown. A friend who had never 
 done any fishing except a little bit of roaching once or twice 
 with a tight line, had a curious idea about spinning. He 
 was staying with a farmer friend who had a bit of very fair 
 pike water running through his grounds. The farmer rigged 
 him up on the second morning of his stay with a strong 
 rod, reel, line, trace, and a spoon bait, all fitted up and 
 ready, and told him he could amuse himself spinning for an 
 hour or two, till he had time to join him. Some two or 
 three hours later the farmer went down to see how he was 
 getting on, and was considerably astonished to find him with 
 the rod laid across a bed of weeds, the line in the water, 
 and blowing a cloud of tobacco smoke into the air as con- 
 tentedly as possible. He had actually thrown the sooon 
 bait into the water, allowed it to sink to the bottom, laid the 
 rod across the weeds, and had been waiting all that time for 
 a bite. 
 
 A glance through a wholesale manufacturer's illustrated 
 catalogue would be enough to convince the veriest novice 
 that the making of artificial baits and spinning tackles for 
 pike fishing had brought out the ingenuity of the maker to a 
 remarkable degree. The almost endless variety there dis- 
 played would be to the tyro, as our old friend Dick Swiveller 
 used to say, " a staggerer." Of the merits and demerits of 
 the various forms of artificial baits, from the old-fashioned 
 spoon to the elaborately gilded and fish-shaped article that 
 spins through the water like one line of glittering silver, I 
 will not just now touch upon, but reserve that subject for 
 another chapter. My business now is to briefly look at 
 those tackles that are used for spinning a natural or dead 
 bait, and see wherein and under what conditions of shape 
 and spinning powers the most sport is likely to be had. 
 
 I am old enough to remember one of the old school of 
 
THE PiKE. 
 
 57 
 
 Trent anglers who lived at Newark-on-Trent, who used to 
 spin for pike in a manner that I should suppose to be a sur- 
 vival of the most ancient form of trolling known. This old 
 angler's name was Crosby, and there are fishermen still liv- 
 ing at Newark who can very well remember him. He used 
 neither rod nor reel, but simply a coil of very stout cord, 
 about as thick, I should say, as a sea-fishing hand-line, which 
 he carried in his left hand, with one end tied tightly round 
 the same arm above the elbow. His tackle was simply a 
 length of stout gimp with one or twO' large swivels, and a 
 long heavy pipe or barrel lead. The gimp was mounted 
 with one only very large treble hook, and this gimp was 
 threaded through the bait, the hook being underneath be- 
 tween the vent and the tail. This tackle was thrown by 
 hand, and in spinning the bait home the line was drawn in 
 by the right hand and laid in coils on the left. Of course 
 all fish hooked had to be played by hand. I cannot remem- 
 ber seeing this angler at work myself, but I knew him very 
 well, and have been assured by old fishermen that years ago 
 he used to kill many and heavy fish by that very primitive 
 style and tackle. There are many tackles in use for spin- 
 ning a dead bait that are a good deal more ingenious than 
 useful, that is some of them, at least are so. The main 
 object of the inventors of these tackles appears to be a desire 
 to save the angler from being at any trouble in the matter, 
 and also to secure a very brilliant and even spin. One of 
 the oldest of these is the Chapman spinner, which I should 
 say is familiar to anglers in every part of the civilized globe 
 where fish that will take a spinning bait are to be found. 
 For the information of those who don't know what it is, I 
 may say that it has a leaded brass wire with a hook some 
 two-thirds of the distance down it, which is thrust in the 
 mouth and down the belly of the bait. At the top of the 
 leaded wire, close to the mouth of the bait, there are sol- 
 dered on a couple of fans, one being bent one way and the 
 other in an opposite direction, somewhat on the Archim^ 
 dean screw principle, that gives the bait its rotary movement 
 without having to curl the tail. A swivel is fixed at the top 
 end above these projecting fans, from which depends a 
 couple of short lengths of gimp; two treble hooks are firmly 
 
38 
 
 THE PIKE. 
 
 shipped on the longest length of gimp, and one on the 
 shortest length, the two hooks being on one side of the 
 bait, and the odd one on the opposite side, one hook of each 
 treble being stuck in the bait in such a manner that the odd 
 treble is about midway between the other two, only, of 
 course, on opposite sides. I have had my attention drawn 
 to lots of these spinning tackles that are known by various 
 names, and brought out by various makers, but the whole 
 of them seem to take the old-fashioned Chapman as a 
 model, and are only imitations and improvements of that 
 
 Fig. 9. The Archer Spinner, Standard Pattern. 
 
 good old spinner. There is the Bedford spinner, the Archer 
 spinner, Gregory's Archimedean spinner, the Angler's spin- 
 ner, and a whole host of others, some differing in the shape 
 of the hook, others differing slightly in the blade that is 
 thrust down the belly ; while others again have the contri- 
 vance that fastens the bait firmly, slightly different to other 
 makers. But look at them all, you will find the method of 
 mounting to be nearly similar in every respect, and the old- 
 fashioned Chapman to be strongly in evidence in nearly 
 -everyone of them. The Coxon spinner is about the simplest 
 of the lot ; but it is not an unqualified success in any and 
 all conditions of streams and waters. It is a capital spinner 
 when tried down the heavy waters of the Trent, and kills a 
 fair percentage of the pike it hooks ; but when used in very 
 quiet waters, where the jack take a spinning bait in a much 
 more quiet and deliberate manner than they do in a rapid 
 stream, the percentage of losses is very great indeed, and 
 its action as a spinner is not so good as might be desired. I 
 fancy it would be better if instead of having only two trebles 
 both on one side of the bait, it had an extra one high up 
 near the shoulder on the opposite side. Several friends 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 59 
 
 have tried this spinner at my earnest request in various 
 waters of the kingdom, and the majority of them say that 
 the idea is a good one. It wants improving in one or two 
 particulars to make it suitable for still-water spinning, and 
 then it would be about as perfect as it is possible to get a 
 spinning tackle. My own opinion is that the two trebles are 
 fixed too far apart ; they should be nearly close together at 
 the tail end of the bait, with a reversed single hook near the 
 shoulder to keep the gimp in its position close to the bait, 
 and an additional treble on the opposite side nearer the head 
 than tail. Anyhow my experience with spinning tackles has 
 shown me very plainly that the best results have been ob- 
 tained by having the trebles distributed over the bait in this 
 manner. And even now, on looking at the improved Coxon 
 as just suggested we again find that the old-fashioned Chap- 
 man-like method of mounting has become strongly in evid- 
 ence, the only difference being that the unsightly fans that 
 are close to the head of the bait in the Chapman are absent 
 in the Coxon, the blade of the latter that goes down the 
 belly of the bait, being bent by the fingers after baiting to 
 
 Fig. lo. The Coxon Spinner. 
 give the rotary or spinning movement. I personally do not 
 care very much for any of these elaborately-made spinners, 
 preferring to mount my bait on a simple flight of hooks and 
 trusting to these hooks and the shape of the bait to secure 
 the most attractive spin. There is, however, one thing to 
 be said in favour of these spinners, ajid that is, a bait will 
 last longer on them than it will when mounted on an 
 ordinary flight. I know some very good men of the 
 old-fashioned school of Trent anglers who to this day 
 spin that river with only one large sized treble hook fixed 
 
6o THE PIKE. 
 
 on the end of a length of gimp, which gimp is threaded 
 right through the bait from the vent to the mouth, and kill 
 fish on it, too. Others, again, use two trebles threaded in the 
 same manner. I very seldom saw more than two trebles on 
 a spinning flight used down that river. In nine cases out of 
 ten the pike of those fast streams would grab the bait near 
 the tail, while in a lake or very slow running stream they 
 would seize it in a much more deliberate manner, and gene- 
 rally crossways nearer the head, necessitating a slightly dif- 
 ferent tackle to what is so effective down the Trent. Some 
 anglers seem to consider that it is also the correct thing for 
 a spinning bait to travel at a very fast rate through the 
 water, and to spin brilliantly and evenly, so that when drawn 
 through the water it appears to travel in one straight and 
 even line ; my own experience is not in favour of this theory^ 
 A pike, although a greedy fish, does not like too much 
 trouble in capturing his prey. A small fish in difficulties, 
 or one wounded, is far more likely to be the victim than a 
 dace or small chub in the full power of its strength and 
 swiftness. I find that a spinning bait which travels in all 
 sorts of curious ways to be the most attractive ; in fact, as 
 just said, the more it looks like a disabled and wounded fish 
 the more likely is the jack to follow it. A dace in full 
 health and strength when startled will shoot through the 
 water like a flash, and Mr. Pike has sense enough to know 
 that it is a lot of trouble to openly pursue that quarry, where- 
 as a wounded one in trjdng to swim away from danger will 
 turn from side to side and make all sorts of curious curves 
 and twists in its endeavours to reach a place of safety. In 
 my opinion and experience I find that the nearer we can aj> 
 proach this motion the more likely are we to attract 
 the attention of the pike. Some spinning flights are made 
 with three or four treble hooks and fixed in the bait all down 
 one side ; and most likely these hooks are three or four sizes 
 too big. In a flight of this description it is very nearly 
 necessary that the bait should turn over rapidly, so that the 
 rank arming of hooks is not presented too glaring to the 
 pike. I have never yet found that large sized hooks and 
 too many of them are an advantage, rather the reverse. I 
 have often wondered why the makers of tackle should re- 
 
 j 
 
THE PIKE. 6 1 
 
 'Commend these treble hooks for spinning to be so big. The 
 simpler the flight the more chance has the spinner, especi- 
 ally on those days when the pike are not in a very taking 
 humour. Sometimes they will dash at almost anything, 
 and lay hold with such right good will that it is almost im- 
 possible to miss them; but these chances do not often 
 occur. Nowadays they are getting so very cautious and 
 cunning, especially where constantly fished for, their 
 education has been complete and thorough, so that any 
 sort of a glaring deception will not work satisfactorily for the 
 angler, at any rate. I have used some brilliant spinners, such 
 as the Francis and the Pennell flights, that will spin a bait 
 in a most attractive-looking manner; but, somewhat or 
 other, results do not point them out as being the best that 
 can be used. 
 
 In spinning for pike in a slow-running river like the 
 Bedfordshire Ouse, or the clear water of some of the Nor- 
 folk Broads ; or again in the generally bright water of some 
 inland lake that is fed from hillside springs, it is necessary 
 first to mount the bait so that no more of the hooks are 
 visible than can possible be helped ; second, use no more 
 of those hooks than are really necessary; third, use them 
 as small as you dare; and, fourth, spin slowly if possible, 
 and see that the bait wobbles and comes through the water 
 in all sorts of curious curv^es and twists. I once saw a 
 couple of anglers spinning on the river just named; one 
 fancied himself as an expert of the first water, the other 
 was a novice pure and simple. " Look at that now, my 
 boy," says the expert as he swung his brilliantly-mounted 
 bait right across the river, and spun it back close to the 
 surface with great rapidity and in one straight and even 
 line. His companion did look, but could not imitate that 
 cast if he tried for a week. In all probability if a good jack 
 had seen that bait he would have wondered at the curious 
 apparition, and known very well that fish are not naturally 
 in the habit of going across the river in that headlong man- 
 ner. That angler's companion, the novice, had a very 
 simple flight, on which he mounted a bait in a very rough 
 and ready manner. He was constantly getting into diffi- 
 culties with his reel and line in throwing out, so that the 
 
62 
 
 THE PIKE. 
 
 bait would nearly sink to the bottom before he got all 
 straight; the bait itself would sink and draw, wobble and 
 twist, but — and here is where our expert wondered — ^this 
 novice caught the fish. Why? Because by accident he 
 had without knowing it imitated the actions of a bait in 
 difficulties. 
 
 The very best flight that I ever used in slow-running 
 waters was the simple two-treble flight of the Trent men, 
 and the size of hooks No. 5 or 4 Redditch scale, plenty- 
 large enough. These two hooks are whipped nearly close 
 together, so that there is not more than a quarter of an inch 
 of gimp between the end of the shank of the bottom hook 
 and the bends of the top treble. When the water is very 
 bright and clear No. 5 hooks will be the best, and they will 
 be all the better by being dressed on, say, five inches only 
 of 000 copper gimp (the finest size) ; a single strand of 
 strong stained salmon gut can be joined to that little 
 bit of gimp by two neatly, but strongly, whipped loops ;; 
 
 Fig. II. The "Trent Otter's" Flight and Trace. 
 
 one good long single strand will do, so that the flight pro- 
 per, gimp and gut, is about i6in. in length. For this clear 
 water spinning a trace of one and a half yards in length of 
 strong single salmon gut is best, with a drop-lead and buckle 
 swivel on the end, and also one or two more swivels in it 
 above the lead. When the water is clouded or charged ia 
 
THE PIKE. 63. 
 
 aiiy way with colour it does not matter so much about using 
 gut, gimp will do then very well. 
 
 The best natural baits for spinning are small dace, say 
 of about five inches long ; large bleak, or whitlings as they 
 are known on the Trent, and toughened sprats ; these last 
 two are rather tender and require mounting on the hooks 
 in a very careful manner ; but all three of them are splen- 
 did bright and glittering spinning baits to use in a clouded 
 water. Small roach, gudgeon, or the tail-end of an eel are 
 also pretty fair spinning baits, the two latter the most use- 
 ful perhaps when the water is very clear. In using small 
 dace or roach I suppose I need not say that the fresher they 
 are the better ; indeed, I fancy it is the best if possible to 
 carry them down to the riverside in a bait can alive, and 
 knock them on the head before using, and use them fresh, 
 and bleeding. In baiting this two-hook flight that I have 
 just described, you detach the hook part of the tackle from 
 the buckle swivel of the trace, and with the aid of the 
 baiting needle pass the loop in at the vent of the bait, and 
 bring it out of the mouth, pulling it through till the shank 
 of the top treble is in the vent of the bait ; you then stick one 
 hook of the end treble in the root of the tail about the centre, 
 or perhaps a little nearer the back. This causes the bait, 
 when the hooks are pulled tight, to bend slightly down- 
 wards and sideways, giving it that attractive wobbling spin 
 that I have found so deadly. This tackle, threaded through 
 the bait like that, is very neat, and does not show the 
 small hooks anything like so plainly as the ordinary side- 
 hooked flight does. I found after a very long and careful 
 trial of this flight in quiet, or nearly quiet, waters that with 
 the two trebles being close together and near the tail-end 
 of bait, it was possible to miss your fish if the pike seized 
 it by the head end. So to counteract this somewhat I made 
 a small addition in the shape of another very small treble, 
 which is dressed or firmly whipped on a loop of fine gimp 
 one inch in length from the end of the shank. After the 
 bait is put on as already described, this small looped treble 
 is dropped over the gut or gimp of the flight, and brought 
 down to the nose of the bait, and one of the hooks is then 
 stuck in the side towards the back, on the same side of the 
 
164 THE PIKE. 
 
 bait as the tail-end hook is, as far beyond the gill covers 
 as the small loop will allow it to go. This is a valuable 
 Addition to that tackle ; since I adopted it I have hooked a 
 fair percentage of my pike on that top loose treble. I once 
 saw an illustration of a Nottingham spinning flight, and the 
 method there said to be adopted by the Trent men in 
 mounting a bait on that tackle. The two treble hooks were 
 there, but rather further apart than usual, and instead of 
 the gimp being threaded completely through the bait from 
 the vent to the nose, the two hooks were simply stuck in the 
 ^ide about middle way, and the loop of the gimp passed 
 under the gill covers and out at the mouth. For years I 
 fished the Trent in company with some of the very best 
 men who lived on its banks, and I never once saw a bait 
 mounted in that manner ; indeed, I greatly question if one 
 -could be used there with any chance of success. Heavy 
 currents are very prevalent in that river, and pretty long 
 casting has also to be the order of the day in a very many 
 places. The bait would soon be thrown loose or weaj 
 away from the hooks by the action of the current, and very 
 soon be hanging by only the little bit of gimp under the 
 gill covers. It hardly mattered how many or how few hooks 
 were used on a Trent flight, the main principle of mounting 
 'was alike in nearly every case, the gimp being threaded 
 through the centre of the bait and the hook or hooks close 
 to the tail. Of course I saw strangers at times using dif- 
 ferent kinds of flights, sometimes having one treble, some- 
 times two, and sometimes three trebles, and a lip hook fixed 
 outside the bait; but the old-experienced anglers, who had 
 had a lifetime's experience, always considered the gimp 
 should go through the centre of the bait to have the best 
 results. An old saw runs, that "the proof of the pudding 
 is in the eating," and my strong recommendation of this 
 tackle is based very much on the same lines. In the first 
 place I have done well with it in all sorts and conditions 
 of waters, down the heavy streams of the Trent, on the deep 
 and sluggish waters of the Ouse, across the weedy shallows 
 of the same river, and among the reedy fastnesses of broads, 
 lakes, and backwaters. 
 
 During the season 1889-90 I was out on public waters 
 
THE PIKE. 65 
 
 twenty different days, and successfully landed on that flight 
 79 sizeable jack, to say nothing of the scores put back that 
 were undersized. That was my best season as far as pike 
 fishing was concerned, and the result fully confirmed my 
 previous good opinion of the flight. In the second place, 
 the tackle is cheap, and as these pages are written moie 
 particularly in the interest of the working man, I don't feel 
 justified in recommending an expensive flight or spinner, 
 when one costing about sixpence is as much or even more 
 effective. In spinning over places when the water is shal- 
 low and weedy, and very little, if any, stream at all is run- 
 ning, it will be necessary to spin rather near the surface 
 and a little quicker than in waters deeper and clearer from 
 weeds. It is not the correct thing to spin your bait home 
 like lightning under any circumstances, if it can anyhow be 
 avoided. In a deep and sluggish water which is compara- 
 tively speaking free from weeds and obstructions, let it sink 
 deep down until you think it nearly touches the bottom, 
 and keep moving your rod point at intervals during the 
 process of winding the bait home from right to left, and 
 back again ; and then again let the rod point drop towards 
 the water, raising it again after a few seconds, all the time 
 winding home slowly. These movements of the rod, and 
 varying the pace of the bait, all have a tendency to cause 
 that bait to come through the water in a series of curious 
 curves, dives, and twists, which in my opinion is the main 
 source of attraction. A wobbling bait with an uneven spin 
 I have proved over and over again to be far more deadly 
 than a bait spun home in one long, straight, and glittering 
 line. Just before the bait reaches the end of its joume)% 
 that is, within two or three yards from where you stand, 
 before you lift it out for a fresh cast, it will be as well to 
 lower the rod point to nearly the surface of the water, and 
 fish the place clean out, if you anyhow can; that is, let 
 the bait come as close as possible to the bank on which you 
 stand. Sometimes a good jack will follow the bait from 
 right across the river and take it close under your feet. He 
 probably thought it was trying to escape from him by div- 
 ing under the bank, whereas if the bait had been lifted out 
 when at full length of the rod, he would have turned tail 
 
 F 
 
66 THE PIKE. 
 
 and retreated back again. I have seen this done more than 
 once. If you see the jack following the bait with his nose 
 nearly against it, as I have done lots of times, and you stop 
 spinning for a moment and let the bait sink a trifle, in six 
 cases out of ten Mr. Pike will dive after it in a hurry and 
 lay fiercely hold. But in all these proceedings you must 
 keep a cool head and a steady eye, and be ready to tighten 
 on him at any moment ; don't get flurried like a friend of 
 mine once did when throwing his first spinning bait. A 
 good jack came at the bait in deadly earnest, when it was 
 close to the surface, and within half a dozen yards of the 
 angler. This sudden onslaught so frightened our fisher- 
 man that he dropped the rod and sprang backwards in 
 alarm, thus losing his first run. I admit that it is a bit 
 staitling to a beginner, the sudden rush of a fair-sized pike, 
 when you are thinking of lifting the bait out for a fresh 
 cast, is enough to unnerve the inexperienced in such mat- 
 ters, but if he takes it deep down out of sight, the first ex- 
 perience is not so startling. 
 
 If the place you spin over is choked with weeds, that is, 
 growing in a dense mass everywhere, with only a few spots 
 where there is six inches of clear water above those weeds, 
 and here and there a rather deeper opening, don't miss it. 
 Very often the best jack lie lurking among those weeds, but 
 keep the bait near the surface, above the weeds, and also 
 work it well in the clear runs between the beds. When you 
 first begin to fish a likely-looking stretch of water, it is not 
 the correct thing to throw your bait right out to the furthest 
 extent of your cast ; but just toss it into the nearest opening 
 at first, and gradually work further away in every direction, 
 until you cover the entire distance you can comfortably 
 reach ; searching the nearest water first should always be 
 strictly attended to. Any sort of water, provided it is fairly 
 clear, can be spun over. I once heard an old angler say 
 that spinning proper could only be done in weir pools and 
 streams, and down the faster currents of a running river; 
 but this is all nonsense. Ponds, lakes, railway cuttings, 
 meres, broads, or anywhere else, provided pike live in it, 
 can be successfully operated on if a clear opening can be 
 found. In casting it is a general thing to throw the bait 
 
THE PIKE. 67 
 
 across and down stream, if there is any stream, and draw 
 it back against the current searching all the possible water 
 well over. I have found after searching the water by that 
 plan to have had a slice of luck by throwing the bait up 
 stream and drawing it down the same direction as the cur- 
 rent is running. Many a good fish have I picked up by 
 this plan, after having searched all the water by the ortho- 
 dox down-stream cast. I have sometimes fancied that it 
 was because the bait looked more natural going down 
 stream. 
 
 Another flight that was a particular favourite with one or 
 two of my friends was constructed on the same lines as the 
 flight I described a little while ago, except the tail-end hook, 
 which instead of being a treble was a large single hook some 
 three-quarters of an inch wide in the bend with a shank 
 fully an inch long. Immediately at the end of this shank 
 a small treble, about a No. 6, was firmly whipped to the 
 same gimp, and the loose looped treble completed the 
 tackle. This flight is baited the same as the other, with 
 the gimp run through the body from the vent to the mouth, 
 the single hook at the end being stuck firmly into the solid 
 flesh near the tail in such a manner that the tail itself bent 
 slightly towards the right hand, and a full quarter inch or 
 more of the point and barb of the hook protruding free. 
 One old spinner of long and wide experience would have it 
 that this tackle was a slight improvement on my favourite, 
 one reason being that the large hook at the end buried, or 
 nearly so, in the tail of the bait gave it a more brilliant 
 spin ; and another reason was the treble hooks being a 
 shade smaller, and also the tail-end hook being nearly hid 
 gave the tackle a neater appearance, and nothing much 
 except the bait visible to the keen eyes of the jack. I had 
 to admit on looking at the two flights when baited that this 
 was so ; but it had one drawback, it was not such a safe- 
 hooking tackle as mine. I very seldom lost one when 
 hooked ; he had several mishaps in this direction. I simply 
 laid the difference to be his use of too small trebles. There 
 are several more flights and tackles in use for spinning a 
 dead bait ; but I don't propose to look at the merits or 
 demerits of any of them here. I have given a full descrip- 
 
 I 
 
68 THE PIKE. 
 
 tion of how I consider a bait should be spun, and also the 
 best style of mounting that bait to give the best results. 
 When a whole host of tackles are recommended and de- 
 scribed, it makes a book look, in my idea, more like a 
 manufacturer's catalogue than a practical guide to the sport. 
 And now I must give a few words as to the best condition 
 of the water to expect sport in. Some little time ago I 
 mentioned the very best season's jack spinning I ever had, 
 and turning to my note-book to find out to what cause I 
 attribute the sport there alluded to, I find on a careful peru- 
 sal that nearly the whole of the time the water was clouded, 
 and the best fish and best days were when it reads : " Water 
 very much clouded." When I say very much clouded, I 
 don't mean a tearing pea-soup flood, nor anything like that, 
 but a fair colour in which the bait is nicely visible when 
 sunk a foot below the surface, and when sunk a couple of 
 feet or so it can still be seen, but looks to be in a decided 
 haze. This was the condition of the water when I got my 
 best bags. Ver}^ fair sport indeed was had occasionally 
 when the bait could be seen when sunk three feet below the 
 surface. Anything brighter than this was not conducive to 
 great success. Some time ago I read an article that was 
 published in one of the angling journals, in which the 
 writer boldly declared that the water could not be too clear 
 for spinning, especially spinning with a spoon. My ex- 
 perience is exactly opposite. I have thrown a spinning 
 bait thousands of casts in all sorts and conditions of waters, 
 and even when a natural bait was used success was all the 
 greater when the water was clouded, and this was even more 
 to be noted when spinning with a spoon. In 1892 I find 
 on reference to my note-book that the water in the River 
 Ouse had been for several weeks exceedingly low and clear, 
 and no sport to speak about. Then came some heavy rain, 
 and a flush of water came down the river. On one after- 
 noon when the water rose at least two feet during the time 
 I was fishing, and was " heavily charged with colour," as my 
 note-book has it, I ran no less than 18 pike, some of them 
 very good ones indeed, in not more than one and a half 
 miles of water. The same water, bear in mind, that I 
 had thrown over a dozen times previously during its extreme 
 
THE PIKE. 69 
 
 brightness with scarcely any success ; in fact, a careful peru- 
 sal of my note-book for several seasons confirms this. 
 When the water was very clear and bright — when every hook 
 is plainly visible halfway across the river to both fish and 
 fisherman, it is very little good throwing a bait. I have 
 tried under these conditions all sorts of dodges, using a 
 single gut trace with the very smallest hooks dressed on 
 000 copper gimp, and only four or five inches of this, just 
 where the pike's teeth are likely to be if he takes hold ; and 
 for bait a four-inch glittering bleak. I have stirred the 
 fish certainly — fair sized ones I mean — and seen them fol- 
 low it, and tried everything I knew to make them take hold, 
 but no, they appeared to me to be a deal too crafty to take 
 a bait when even that fine tackle was so plainly exposed. 
 Small ones of a pound, or even less under these conditions, 
 are apt to be a nuisance ; they will persist in taking the bait 
 when their elders consider that bait is to be avoided at any 
 cost. I have been forced to put extra bright water as one 
 of the conditions not very conducive to sport when spin- 
 ning. A few odd small ones may be got, with here and 
 there at long intervals a fair sized one; but that is about 
 all. Of course, I am now alluding to public rivers that are 
 pretty well spun over nearly every day. A good private 
 water that is not so hunted to death, especially if it is a 
 clear-water lake, is a different thing ; it hardly matters what 
 sort of tackle is used, or what sort of baits, the only con- 
 dition being whether the fish are on the feed or dead off. 
 In spinning over public well-fished waters, when the 
 streams have run down very sluggish and they are gin- 
 bright, a gudgeon is as good a bait as can be tried, and this 
 should be mounted on very small hooks with a trace of pale 
 blue stained salmon gut. An eel-tail mounted on a large 
 single hook, with a bit of lead round the shank is also 
 another very good clear-water spinning bait. The looped 
 side treble, as recommended for spinning a dace, will also be 
 a valuable addition to the eel-tail bait. In a clouded 
 water the two best baits to use are bleak and sprats, next 
 to these come dace, while roach or any other small fish can 
 be tried if nothing else is forthcoming. In a river or lake 
 where the jack run very large and the water is at all coloured. 
 
70 THE PIKE. 
 
 it is not advisable by any means to use too fine tackle for 
 spinning, No. o size copper gimp being plenty fine enough, 
 while if the water is clear perhaps it will be better to have 
 the last two feet of the tackle a size, or even two sizes, 
 finer gimp. In spinning for jack on a large lake or broad, 
 where the water is deep and the fish very sluggish, and 
 moreover where you are as likely to get hold of a twenty- 
 pounder as a three, it is not a bit of good spinning near the 
 surface, those large and lazy jack are not going to be at the 
 trouble or rising all that distance. If the water is free from 
 sunken trees or other large obstructions, you must use a 
 heavier lead and larger bait, and let it sink deep down, 
 spinning it home very slowly, and chance hooking on to a 
 stray weed bed now and again. For this sort of spinning 
 it will be as well to have a stronger and heavier set of 
 tackle, with hooks of a fair good size, say No. I's, at the very 
 least, so that a 5 or 6 oz. dace or roach can be mounted 
 comfortably on them. It is the only way to get the large 
 ones spinning that live deep down in the sluggish denths of 
 quiet deep water. Of course they can be got at by live- 
 baiting with a paternoster tackle, but just now, remember, 
 I am treating of spinning with a dead bait. On the 
 other hand, in spinning over a canal or small stream, or 
 even a backwater, where a five-nound fish is a rarity not 
 often met with, and the fishermen themselves are nearly as 
 numerous as the fish, the tackle can scarcely be too fine nor 
 the bait too neatly mounted; five inches of the best 000 
 copper gimp on which the hooks are dressed, then i8in. of 
 strong single barbel gut, then the drop-lead and two swivels, 
 and finally two more feet of very strong single gut. This is 
 about the best arrangement that can be tried under the 
 circumstances just alluded to, and for bait an ounce dace or 
 a four-inch sprat. In spinning over well-fished water when 
 it has run down very clear, sometimes you stir a fish, you 
 see a good jack move, probably only just notice a swirl 
 under the water, Mr. Jack came and went again, refusing the 
 bait. It is a good plan to keep pegging away for ten 
 minutes or more over the same place with the same bait, 
 although you feel that he does not mean to have it ; but I 
 believe you are aggravating the fish, and after a time slip 
 
THE PIKE. 71 
 
 the bait off you are using and substitute another totally 
 different in shape and colour, and throw again ; the chances 
 are that he will take it with a savage grab the first time. 
 Some people tell us that if a pike stirs to a spinning bait 
 and refuses it, it is best to give him an hour's rest and then 
 try again. My advice is to keep throwing over him, a dozen 
 or even a score of times, until he probably knows every 
 outline of that bait, and then put on something else of a 
 different shape and colour, and very often success will crown 
 this little dodge. I remember once in particular the club 
 I belonged to fishing a pike spinning match one afternoon. 
 One of the competitors, who was fishing a cunning comer 
 of the river, told me that he had stirred a good fish nearly 
 an hour previously, and although he had stuck to it well, not 
 another move did he see. He was spinning with a bright 
 and glittering dace. He told me that as he was off to an- 
 other place I might have a go at that fish if I liked, and I 
 fancied there was a sort of sarcasm in his tone. However, 
 I took off my natural dace that I had been using, and put 
 on an old dull-coloured wobbling spoon, and got him the 
 lirst cast ; and it turned out to be the first prize fish. This 
 is only one instance out of several in my long experience 
 when a change of bait has resulted in success. When a 
 fish is just slightly hooked, and then after a few seconds' 
 play lost, it is not much use in a general wav to keep 
 throwing over him ; give him an hour's rest if you anyhow 
 can before trying again. Some odd times he will come 
 again instantly ; indeed, I have had one or two fish that have 
 been hooked and lost three times in less than ten minutes, 
 and then got him the very next cast. It is not often, how- 
 ever, that they are so very accommodating as this. If, after 
 3osing one, you find he does not come again in two or three 
 •casts, you can safely leave him to settle down for an hour 
 or so. 
 
 And now just a word or two on a very vexed question, 
 and that is, should a pike be sharply struck when hooked 
 on a spinning tackle ? My decided opinion is — no, certainly. 
 I believe that more pike are lost when hooked by striking 
 too heavily, than if you don't strike at all. A pike generally 
 collars the bait when it is revolving through the water. If 
 
72 
 
 THE PIKE. 
 
 you Strike at once and sharply, the chances are that you 
 will snatch bait and hooks out of his mouth. He may lay 
 hold in such a manner that scarcely any of the hooks are in 
 a position to bury themselves in his jaws, and a sudden 
 stroke may pull the lot away after two or three seconds' 
 play, whereas if you waited for a second, holding tight 
 until the fish turned, the hooks have a better chance to bury 
 themselves below the barb. When I am spinning a bait 
 home and feel a sudden check deep below the surface I 
 keep on winding until a strong pull in the opposite direction 
 tells me that a fish is going off, I never slaken for a moment 
 if anyhow possible, but keep my finger tightly pressed on the 
 edge of reel and let him drag strongly for every foot of line 
 he takes out. There is no necessity to let a pike run away 
 with a lot of line if you can in any way prevent it. Of 
 course if it is a very large one the case is a bit different, but 
 moderate sized jack should be stopped before they have a 
 chance to run you into difficulties among the weeds. I 
 always play a fish heavily from the very first, and find this 
 quite sufficient to hook them securely without striking 
 sharply at all. Of course you know thereabouts what your 
 line and tackle will stand, but it is folly to allow a five or 
 six pounder to run right across the river and all over the 
 place. I have killed, or at least got, eight-pound pike out 
 of the water in three minutes after being hooked ; but as 
 an old friend put it, I always did take energetic measures 
 with my pike when hooked. I did not believe in letting 
 them run headlong into a bunch of weeds or round an old 
 post or two if a little persuasion could keep them out ; but 
 the extent of this persuasion would have to be governed by 
 the nature of the stream, the size of the fish, and the fine- 
 ness or otherwise of the tackle. 
 
 It is not advisable under any circumstances when using 
 spinning tackle to strike suddenly and heavily. The fish 
 might be a heavy one, and the jerk might result in disaster 
 to the line or tackle. In waters that are nearly choked up 
 with weeds, where it is necessary to spin the bait near to the 
 surface, it is far the best to give a hooked fish no more law 
 than can be helped ; keep a tight line on him, and get him 
 to shore as quickly as possible. You might as well lose 
 
THE PIKE, 
 
 75 
 
 him one way as another, if he bolts right under the weeds^ 
 why he is as good as lost ; but if you can keep him near the 
 surface the chances of getting him out are good. If you 
 really cannot do this owing to the fish being a large one^ 
 you will have to chance it and let him go and trust to luck 
 to land him. In spinning over deep waters, or indeed any 
 waters, and a hooked jack suddenly, as it were, stands on 
 his tail with his upper part straight above the surface, opens 
 his jaws and gills wide, and shakes his head like a savage 
 dog, you stand a very good chance of losing that fish ; but 
 don't be flurried, keep the line tight; if you let the line go 
 very slack he will probably shake the hooks out. A tight 
 line is the only way to save that fish if it can anyhow be 
 saved. A hard and fast line cannot be set down as to how 
 a pike should be played. The angler should consider the 
 circu stances attached to each individual place, and lay his 
 plans accordingly. I certainly have found it the best to 
 take prompt measures if the cast was in a dangerous place, 
 and trust to having a broken tackle. And, finally, while I 
 am on with the subject of playing and landing a pike, I 
 may say that if a large landing-net is used don't on any ac- 
 count try to use it until the hooked fish is well within reach^ 
 And then use it as promptly and quickly as possible ; get it 
 well under him and lift him speedily out before he has time 
 to jump out again. In using a spinning tackle the hooks are 
 liable to catch in the net before you get the fish fairly in 
 as well, and if this happens you will be landed in a sweet 
 little difficulty, and in all probability lose the fish. I found 
 the best plan was to hold the pike's head above the surface, 
 run the net up behind him, and scoop him out at once. In 
 some waters it is a frequent occurrence for hooked pike to- 
 leap a couple of feet or even more into the air; when 
 this happens, if you keep putting a heavy drag on the line 
 you are liable to part company at once. The best plan is 
 to instantly, as soon as he jumps, lower the rod point, and 
 very slightly ease the pressure of the finger on the edge of 
 the reel, so that he could have a yard of line if necessary, 
 taking care, however, that the line is by no means slack; 
 the pressure should always be tight enough to prevent the 
 reel from paying out more loose line than is required- 
 
74 
 
 THE PIKE. 
 
 Nothing is more fatal when playing a hooked fish than to 
 have some loose line hanging about the reel handles. Every 
 yard of line that I allowed a pike to take out had to be 
 worked for by the fish. 
 
 The best months for spinning are September, October, 
 and November. December is fairly good, but the pike then 
 are getting fat and lazy, seeking the deepest and quietest 
 holes as a general thing. There is nothing in law to pre- 
 vent spinning for pike in public waters as soon as the sea- 
 son opens in June, unless a fishery board, for the district 
 extends the close time. I most certainly do consider that 
 June and July should be observed as a close time by every 
 pike fisherman ; while even in August those fish are by no 
 means in condition. During the early part of the season 
 pike are found on the weedy shallows of a quiet river, 
 being also very partial to a streamy place that flows over a 
 gravelly bottom, runs in the vicinity of flags, reed beds, 
 water lilies, and bunches of weeds are also affected by them, 
 while good ones are often deep in the fastnesses of the reed 
 beds themselves. Quiet corners away from the main current, 
 eddies at the tail of an island, behind some sunken trees 
 and bushes ; in fact, in a quiet pikey river there is no telling 
 where the jack are and where they are not. All likely or 
 even unlikely places should be well tried, especially during 
 September and October. Later on, towards Christmas 
 time, especially if the weather has been very cold, deeper 
 holes close under the cover of huge banks of weeds would 
 be more likely to shelter the fish. At this time of the 
 year the spinning bait should be sunk deep down and spun 
 very slowly home. In rapidly flowing rivers like the Trent, 
 pike, during the early part of the season, love the eddies that 
 curl round and round from the tail of a weir, or on the 
 shallows away from the main current in quiet comers and 
 lay-byes, or down those long stretches of the river where the 
 water flows much quieter than it does in the majority of 
 places. It is difficult to tell exactly where pike are to be 
 found and where not found during the early part of the 
 season ; but if there is a portion of the river that is quiet, 
 weedy, and free from navigation, that is the very place to 
 •expect them in. Later on they retire to the deeper and 
 
THE PIKE. 75 
 
 quieter waters, or else seek the pools and backwaters that 
 have outlets or inlets to or from the river. 
 
 In spinning for pike it is necessary to have a drop-lead 
 to the trace. By a drop-lead I mean one that hangs below 
 the line, so that it cannot turn over and over in the water. 
 If the lead turns round and round the line will kink up 
 badly. There are several leads that have been specially 
 made for this purpose, one of the best known having a spiral 
 groove running round it. The great merit of this lead lies 
 in the fact that it can be put on the trace exactly where best 
 required for the particular place spun over ; also that it can 
 be bent to form the drop to nearly any degree, and that it 
 can be taken off the trace without undoing any part of the 
 tackle, and a lighter or heavier substituted as the particular 
 case requires. My own lead that I have successfully used 
 for a number of years now, is made and mounted on a thin 
 brass wire with a swivel at each end of it. Traces should 
 have at least two swivels in them, and these swivels should 
 be slightly oiled from time to time, as it won't do for them 
 to stick fast during the process of spinning. I give an illus- 
 tration here of my own particular flight and trace, showing 
 the extra side treble. This trace can be either gut or gimp, 
 according to fancy ; but in either case I find the best results 
 are arrived at by having the trace in that particular shape. 
 Sixteen inches is a good distance to have the lead from the 
 bait, and about 3oin. of gimp or gut between the lead and 
 the silk running line. Speaking about the spinning line 
 having a tendency to kink, I may say that it is a mistake to 
 have too many swivels in the trace above the lead. I have 
 seen as many as three, or even four, swivels in the trace, 
 and yet the line kinked up worse than if no swivels at all 
 had been used. I found it the best to have two swivels only 
 in the trace, one of them immediately above the lead, and 
 the other just below it. The very thing that some spinners 
 thought would cure a badly kinking line, viz., putting an 
 extra swivel or two in, only served to make the complaint 
 worse. 
 
 Years ago we used to sigh for a good preservative, so that 
 baits for spinning could be had when it was impossible to 
 get them in the ordinary way. It used to generally happen 
 
76 THE PIKE. 
 
 that when we did not want any baits we could catch any 
 amount of them, and when they were wanted badly not one 
 could be procured. We tried salting them, putting them 
 in glycerine, using spirits of wine, and trying a dozen ot'ier 
 dodges, but none of them was a howling success. Of course^ 
 as I have said elsewhere, I preferred them fresh and bleed- 
 ing if they could be got, but still a good preservative was a 
 thing badly wanted. Formalin is the latest, and I am 
 bound to say by experience far the best that has yet been 
 tried. This mixture has two great merits, it is cheap -.md 
 remarkably easy in its application. Experiments have shown 
 that even the very smallest quantity of formalin among a 
 quantity of clean water is sufficient to preserve small fish. 
 A teaspoonful of it to a quart of water is quite ample for 
 any ordinary purpose. The small fish — ^sprats are as good 
 as anything — should be put in a wide-necked bottle, or a 
 stoppered pickle jar, care being taken that not too many are 
 put in each bottle, and then filled up with the diluted mix- 
 ture just named, corked or otherwise fastened securely down* 
 Sometimes the baits after being in the mixture for a time 
 turn dirty and look very disagreeable. If this happens the 
 best plan is to remove the cork, pour away the liquid, wash 
 the baits well in cold water, rinse out the bottle, put back 
 the baits, and fill up with a fresh lot of the mixture, only 
 this time made weaker than before, say a proportion of only 
 one teaspoonful of the formalin to three pints of water. 
 One in forty is a strong proposition ; one in sixty will do 
 very well ; while even one part to a hundred parts of water 
 will preserve sprats if they are for immediate use. I might 
 say that formalin is a poison, but when mixed with water 
 is harmless. It is a liquid itself and colourless. I don't 
 advise anyone to mix up more at once than he requires for 
 the baits he just then wishes to preserve. I trust I have 
 made this perfectly plain. The formalin itself is a poison^ 
 and should be kept under lock and key away from children. 
 When mixed with water in its right proportions it is harm- 
 less. A teaspoonful to a quart of water is the proportion 
 to use. Sprats especially, treated like this, are considerably 
 toughened, and will keep for a long time. I have some now 
 before me as I write that have been in the bottles eighteen 
 
THE PIKE. 77 
 
 months, and look as fresh and bright as when first put in ; 
 but the angler must remember if he wants them to last for 
 a long time that he must cork and seal them down secure 
 and air-tight if he uses an ordinary wide-necked bottle. A 
 lever-stoppered bottle with a band of expanding indiarubber 
 round the stopper is, however, far the best vessel to employ. 
 I might also add that the small fish that are wanted for 
 preservation, such as sprats, bleak, dace, minnows, stone 
 loach, very small roach, and the tail-end of eels should be 
 put in the preservative when perfectly fresh ; on no account 
 should stale ones be used; reject all that are tainted in 
 the slightest, they must be perfectly fresh. I might also 
 add that formalin is sold by The Formalin Co., Ltd.," lo, 
 St. Mary's-at-Hill, London, E.G., at 2s. 6d. per bottle; but 
 most of the tackle dealers now sell the preserved baits in 
 lever-stoppered bottles at ninepence to a shilling per bottle. 
 In closing this chapter on spinning, I find on looking 
 over my notes that I forgot to mention a very cheap and 
 •effective spinning lead that some of my friends on the 
 Trent used years ago. It was simply a piece of sheet lead 
 cut in an oval shape, about one and a half inches long, 
 three-quarters of an inch wide, and one-sixteenth or so of an 
 inch thick. This lead is bent lengthways down the centre, 
 lapped across the trace in its proper place, and pinched 
 tight. This lead can very easily be taken off or put on the 
 line anywhere where wanted, and by being cut in an oval 
 shape and bent in the centre hangs below the line and' 
 forms a wonderfully effective drop-lead for spinning. For 
 all other spinning tackles and contrivances for working a 
 dead bait, I must refer the reader to tackle dealers' illus- 
 trated catalogues. I have given what I consider to be the 
 best general principles to adopt. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 THE PIKE (continued). 
 
 SPINNING WITH AN ARTIFICIAL. 
 
 Artificial baits — What shape and colour is likely to have the best 
 results — A seemiyig contradiction — Three typical artificials — How to spin 
 an artificial — Best time, water, and places to try artificials — Wind and 
 weather — Ice in the rings of the rod 
 
 Artificial baits for spinning for pike are now made in 
 almost an endless and bewildering variety, and all sorts of 
 material are used in their manufacture, brass, copper, nickel, 
 German silver, aluminium, indiarubber, composition of 
 various kinds, silk, natural skins of fishes, and even bunches 
 of peacock's feathers and silver tinsel, so tied together till 
 the lure looks like a huge humming bird when thrown on 
 the water. Some of these artificials, like the famous 
 ^^ Clipper," for instance, are so constructed that a light 
 breeze is quite sufficient to set them spinning round and 
 round with great rapidity, and when drawn through the 
 water looks like one even and glittering line of silver. This 
 is a famous bait to use when the water is slightly clouded 
 with colour. When the streams have run down very low, 
 and the water is so bright that you can see the bottom very 
 plainly, it is very little good throwing a bright silver-like 
 artificial, or, indeed, for the matter of that, an artificial of 
 any kind, unless it is a soft indiarubber bait of a very dull 
 colour, a good deal after the pattern of the "Jubilee," I 
 think it was called, and even this should be mounted on 
 very fine grey-coloured gimp with hooks small and not much 
 exposed. Almost any artificial, no matter what its name or 
 shape will kill pike some odd times when the conditions are 
 favourable; but tastes seem to vary in different waters. 
 Some waters I have fished in the pike must have a bait that 
 
THE PIKE. 79* 
 
 is painted a brilliant red inside with a huge tassel of scarlet 
 wool depending from the far end hook. Others, again, in 
 other waters won't look at one like that, but must have a 
 plain dull-coloured article like the wagtail to tempt them. 
 Some places the pike seem to prefer a small and glittering 
 bait with a very even and rapid spin, a good deal like 
 " Geen's Minnow," while others will have none of it, pre- 
 ferring a wobbling spoon. When we take into consideration 
 all these things it is a very difficult task to determine which 
 bait is likely to be the most useful under all conditions, 
 and as a working man angler cannot afford or does not 
 want to be troubled with one-tenth of the artificials that 
 come under his notice, he would like to know which shape 
 out of the whole lot is most likely to do him the best ser- 
 vice. Personally I prefer a good plain spoon ; this bait is 
 one of the oldest artificials, and in my opinion still equal 
 to anything or everything that has yet been invented. Pike 
 have been killed on a spoon bait in all British waters where 
 pike are to be found — down-streams like the Trent, or on 
 quieter waters like the Bedfordshire Ouse and the Norfolk 
 Broads. I have an old spoon now in my possession ifiat 
 has killed numbers of fine jack. One season, on reference 
 to my note-book, I found I got no less than 40 with it, many 
 of them reaching a very respectable size, and it is only a 
 plain spoon, gold colour on the outside and bright silver 
 within, with a narrow red line running down the centre on 
 the inside. Some lucky angler on a certain occasion, when 
 everything was in his favour, might be using any one of 
 the numerous artificials that are made, and get a catch that 
 his wildest dreams never thought about before, and straight- 
 way write to the sporting papers about his wonderful dis- 
 covery of the finest artificial that ever was made, whereas 
 he might have been using something else at the time totally 
 different in shape and colour, and had the same luck on 
 that. He might use the same bait a dozen times after- 
 wards and not meet with anything like such success again. 
 On one occasion I got 4olb. of jack during a single after- 
 noon on my old spoon bait, but the weather and the water 
 was in an extremely favourable condition, and the fish fairly 
 on the rampage; and once the Clipper accounted for nine 
 
:8o THE PIKE. 
 
 good fish in one day ; but I should not like to say by any 
 means that just because on those occasions I was lucky 
 enough to get the fish that those baits will kill any time and 
 under any conditions. It is only by a most careful trial 
 during a number of seasons, and a most careful record of 
 fish caught that a decision affecting this point can be ar- 
 rived at. One season on the Trent there was not another 
 bait that could touch " Bink's Jubilee " spinner as an arti- 
 ,ncial. This is a soft rubber bait, if my memory is to be 
 trusted, while since that time I cannot hear that it has once 
 met with more than ordinary success. A friend of mine 
 who occasionally fishes in the big Irish loughs tells me that 
 one day the pike of those waters seem to prefer a large 
 Devon minnow of a dull brown or blue colour, while the 
 next a bright silver Clipper with a red tassel at the tail 
 seemed to have the greatest attraction ; and still again, tb.e 
 very next day they would not run at either, but would take 
 a huge wobbling spoon. Looking at my own practical ex- 
 perience I am forced to the conclusion that a good plain 
 spoon of some two and a half inches in length, coloured 
 ■either copper or gold on the outside, bright silver inside, 
 with a red line down the centre (this line, by the way, can 
 be painted on with a drop of the varnish mentioned else- 
 where, mixed with a pinch of vermillion, and applied with 
 a small camel-hair brush) is the best artificial that can yet 
 he employed, even if it is somewhat old-fashioned. It must 
 be 35 years since I saw a spoon bait used for the first time 
 down a Lincolnshire canal, and as two or three fair good 
 jack were taken on it on that occasion, I thought it a most 
 wonderful bait. And so it is with most amateur pike spin- 
 ners ; just because a certain artificial on one occasion killed 
 a goo(< bag of fish, they needs must swear by that particular 
 l^ait for ever afterwards. But some of the most curious pike 
 spinning experiences I have ever had have been made up of 
 contradictions pure and simple. One day the jack down 
 a certain stretch of water would come at a bait of one par- 
 ticular shape and colour only, utterly ignoring anything 
 else I happened to try; while the next day that bait itself 
 was left alone and one of the rejected ones of the previous 
 Jay would prove successful. In the face of all these diffi- 
 
THE PIKE. 8l 
 
 culties and contradictions, it is a hopeless task, in fact I 
 liave liad far too long a practical experience in pike fishing 
 on various waters to attempt to recommend any one particu- 
 lar a'tificial as the very best that can be employed. As I 
 said a little while ago, if I have a preference for any one, 
 that one is an ordinary spoon ; but when a pike spinner has 
 killed over two hundred jack during his career on spoon 
 baits in well-fished public waters, he is apt to speak feel- 
 ingly. Here are three typical baits now before me that re- 
 present extremes in artificials. First there is an old wobbl- 
 ing spoon, that twists, cun-es, dives, and spins with a curious 
 erratic movement, especially in still, or nearly still, water; 
 second, there is the Clipper, a most brilliant silvery fish 
 shaped bait with a scarlet tassel that spins extremely rapid 
 and in one straight line ; third, there is the Wagtail, a most 
 curious bait made out of a thin and narrow, or rather two 
 narrow strips of soft indiarubber, of a dull colour, which, 
 when drawn through the water, seems to throb and heave 
 like something alive and breathing. These are totally 
 ■opposed to one another as far as shape, colour, and spin- 
 ning powers are concerned, and yet I should say under cer- 
 tain conditions they all would meet with occasional sport. 
 There are also dozens more artificials that come up in some 
 particular way or other to those just named, which might 
 be equally successful. It is no use pinning your faith on 
 any one of them. Sometimes after an unsuccessful day 
 with an artificial you might say, " Now, if I had had such 
 and such a bait I might have got hold of one or two," when 
 in all probability, no matter what you used, the result might 
 have been the same. It depends more upon two things 
 than the shape and colour of the artificial. First, the con- 
 dition of the water, and, second, whether the pike are on the 
 feed or not. Putting it broadly then, I should say that if 
 your tackle case contained three different types of artificials 
 that are opposed to each other in shape, colour, and spin- 
 ning powers, I care not under what name they are known, 
 nor yet who is the manufacturer of them, the chances are 
 that one or the other of them would some time during the 
 •day attract the attention, and so arouse the curiosity of a 
 pike that he would throw prudence to the winds and seize 
 
 G 
 
82 THE PIKE. 
 
 hold, although the water might be as clear as gin, and every- 
 thing unfavourable for the sport. It is only by acting 
 dodges like the one I gave in the previous chapter, that is 
 after throwing some considerable time over a place that you 
 know holds a good jack, without success, or at most which 
 only mQves him, with one kind of artificial, slip another 
 one on as much opposed to the one you have been using 
 as you have got, and he may come the very next throw. 
 You can never tell your luck ; you can only keep pegging 
 away, chopping and changing about, first one artificial and 
 then another, sometimes spinning quickly then again more 
 slowly ; sometimes deep down in the water, and then again 
 nearer the surface. It is only by this that a jack will repose 
 in the bag at close of day, that is, bear in mind, when the 
 water is extremely clear and everything unfavourable, remem- 
 berins; always what a well-known angler once said when 
 writing to one of the angling journals : " That you cannot 
 exnect to catch many fish if your rod is all the time reared 
 up against a tree." I cannot hold with the remarks that 
 the writer I previously quoted used in one of his articles, 
 that the water could not be too clear for spinning with an 
 artificial, especially a spoon. It appeared to me to be a 
 necessity that in certain waters, particularly in well-fished 
 public rivers, that a certain amount of colour should be in 
 the water ; but see what I say on this subject in the previous 
 chapter on spinning with a dead bait. Those remarks hold 
 good in discussing the use of an artificial. 
 
 In rivers like the Trent, that are subject after heavy rains 
 to sudden and thick water floods, that come tearing down 
 with terrific force, it is very little good to throw an arti- 
 ficial of any kind while the water is in that state, rather 
 wait a little until it has somewhat fined down ; in fact so 
 much that when your bait is sunk two or three feet down 
 below the surface you can see it gleam, as it were, in a 
 haze. Try then all the quieter comers and lay-byes, letting 
 it sink deep down and spinning home no faster than is 
 really necessary. Taking it all round the Trent fishes very 
 well indeed when it is moderately clear, that is as far as 
 pike spinning is concerned ; but I should suppose this is 
 because it is a very wide river with a good volume of water 
 generally running. 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 83 
 
 In quieter waters like the Ouse, the Witham, and similar 
 streams, I found it the best for spinning when the water 
 was on the rise, and once or twice I have had very good 
 bags when it has been too thick to see the spoon when sunk 
 a couple of feet below the surface. During the late sum- 
 mer and early autumn, when the water is very clear, almost 
 the only chance you have to pick up a fish by spinning an 
 artificial is just after sunset, immediately before the dusk of 
 evening creeps down on you. I have had some of my very 
 best fish under these circumstances. A splendid place to 
 try an artificial is in the rough and broken water at the 
 foot of a weir, particularly if large stones and sunken trees 
 break the force of the stream and form eddies behind. If 
 the frothing waters keep churning round and round, and 
 you hardly think there is room to get a spinning bait in, 
 never mind, have a try, there might be a specimen lurking 
 under the shadow of those big stones. I am very fond of 
 spinning in all those streams and eddies that curl round and 
 round from the foot of a weir. The same trace and drop- 
 lead that I recommend for spinning a natural bait will do 
 for an artificial, only when water is clouded, weeds and ob- 
 structions are plentiful, and fish run large, I should use them 
 rather thicker than ordinary, say No. i gimp ; but on well- 
 fished rivers like the Lea and Stort, say, when water is clear, 
 gut traces and small hooks must be the order of the day. 
 And now just a word or two on another very vexed question, 
 and that is what wind and weather are likely to be the best 
 for sport with a spinning bait, either dead or an artificial ? 
 Some anglers prefer a gale of wind, when the water is rolled 
 up in miniature waves, caused by the wind chopping or 
 blowing up-stream. Certainly I have had some snort under 
 circumstances like that, but then on the other hand I 
 have had far better luck when not even a wind ripple dis- 
 turbed the surface of the water. Once in particular, I find 
 on reference to my note-book, that I had been spinning all 
 one afternoon when the water was clouded and the wind 
 blowing just sufficient to ripple and disturb the surface ; but 
 not a touch did I get. Towards evening the wind suddenly 
 died down, not so much as a move could be seen on the 
 water, and the rain that had been threatening all day came 
 
84 THE PIKE. 
 
 down in earnest. Not caring to go home with a blank, I 
 again tried over a place that I had twice previously thrown 
 over during the afternoon without success, and within the 
 next half-hour five fish going 2 51b. lay on the bank. I am 
 forced to admit that several of my best bags have been taken 
 during a dead calm. I don't think it matters in the slightest 
 when the water is clouded a little as to whether there is a 
 good breeze or not. If the water is very clear then the 
 case is different, a little wind being necessary to hide the 
 angler's movements and the deception of his line and tackle. 
 I have taken jack when spinning in all sorts of weather — • 
 when a gale nearly blew me into the river, when a light 
 chopping wind only just rippled and disturbed the surface, 
 and also when not a breath of air could be discerned. You 
 cannot lay down a hard and fast line in this respect, but 
 speaking generally and broadly I should say, taking all 
 things into consideration, the whole season through, clear 
 water and clouded, a little breeze stands the best chance of 
 sport. As regards the best quarter for the wind to be in, I 
 don't think it matters very much where it is. A strong east 
 wind with a touch of frost that will clean drive the roach off 
 the feed, will sometimes serve to make the pike ravenous. 
 Wind and weather don't matter very much. One of the 
 most favourable conditions to find the water in is after a 
 few frosts have rotted the weeds, then a heavy rain which 
 causes a rapid rise and sweeps the decayed weeds away and 
 washes the jack from out their fastnesses into the more 
 open water. As soon as this flood-water clears away suffi- 
 ciently to enable the bait to be seen fairly well, then that 
 most assuredly is the time for getting sport. I have got 
 jack spinning when the weather has been very warm and 
 summerlike, and also have got them when the frost has been 
 so keen that every few minutes I have been obilged to suck 
 the ice from out the rings of the rod ; when a nor'-easter 
 has been raging ; when the rain has been coming down in 
 dead earnest ; and also during a snowstorm. In spinning 
 during very frosty weather the ice will accumulate in the 
 rings of the rod and cause considerable trouble and annoy- 
 ance. Several things have been recommended to counteract 
 this somewhat, but none of them appear to me to be a per- , 
 
THE PIKE. 85 
 
 manent success. The spinning line is generally an un- 
 dressed silk, and holds water to some extent, so naturally 
 freezes. You cannot do better than rub a few drops of 
 cantor oil, applied with a flannel, down the line before start- 
 ing out on a frosty day. This is the best remedy I know 
 of, but grinding the line in and out the rings when the latter 
 are nearly choked up with ice is not one of the best things 
 to subject a line to. If ice forms in the end ring or any 
 of the rings for the matter of that, you must suck it out 
 again and chance the disagreeableness of the task. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 THE PIKE (continued). 
 
 TROLLING WITH A DEAD GORGE. 
 
 The reel, line, and tackle — How to bait a dead gorge — Working the 
 trolling bait — Different methods of dead gorging. 
 
 Trolling for pike with a dead gorge bait is a sport that I 
 don't hold with, if the place operated on can anyhow be 
 got at with a spinning bait. All hooked fish, no matter how 
 small, must be killed after swallowing a dead gorge. It is 
 true there is a disgorger made now that will occasionally 
 get up gorge hooks without hurting the fish very much, 
 more particularly live gorge tackle; but the fact that the 
 gimp of a dead gorge is threaded completely through the 
 bait, and also that a lead is cast round the shank of the 
 hooks, prevents the disgorger just named from getting 
 to the points of the hooks on purpose to push them, back. 
 But as there are certain waters containing good pike that 
 cannot possibly be got at by any other plan, I must just 
 briefly look at it, but this chapter will be a very short one 
 indeed. 
 
 Certain backwaters, pools, railway cuttings, etc., etc., are 
 very often so choked up with weeds that there is scarcely a 
 hole a yard square anywhere all over the surface, and yet 
 good jack are known to be in those waters, the object of a 
 dead gorge being so that when it is moved up and down in 
 a sink and draw movement and a pike swallows it, there are 
 no hooks, no leads, and no float to catch among the weeds 
 and so help him to shake himself free ; and if the pike does 
 thread himself in and out among those weeds you stand a 
 chance of getting him out if line and tackle are strong, 
 which they ought to be in dead-gorging, and the weeds 
 
THE PIKE. 87 
 
 somewhat rotten and tender. I remember once seeing a 
 -very large jack taken by this method, which, when landed, 
 was so embedded among a huge lump of weeds that it posi- 
 tively could not be seen; weeds and jack together must 
 have weighed close on a hundredweight. In dead-gorging 
 among the weeds the rod should be as stiff and as strong 
 as possible, and the line as strong as you like; in fact, it 
 cannot be too strong. One of those tanned plaited hemp 
 ones. No. i or 2 size, that is capable of standing a strain of 
 from thirty to forty pounds, will be plenty good enough for 
 this purpose, and as a forty or fifty yard length only runs 
 from two shillings to half-a-crown the price need not be a 
 serious consideration. I don't recommend a good silk spin- 
 ning line for this job ; if the angler is in the habit of fre- 
 quently fishing certain waters among the weeds with a dead 
 gorge it will pay him to have a strong, easy-going, cheap, 
 wooden reel, and a length o^ plaited hemp line, and use 
 them for that purpose only, the price would not exceed five 
 shillings for both, and as this line is rather sharp and harsh 
 in its texture it would be likely to saw through a bunch of 
 dead weeds like a reaping hook when a big jack threaded 
 his way through. The usual gorge hook is simply a double 
 hook of the pattern or shape known as a parrot beak, 
 securely fastened to a short length of stout twisted brass 
 wire, hook and wire being about five inches long over all ; a 
 piece of lead reaching from nearly the bends of the hooks 
 to within a couple of inches of the small eye at end of wire, 
 that is about three inches long and three-eighths of an inch 
 thick in the centre, tapering slightly towards each end, is 
 cast on the shank of hook and the brass wire in such a 
 manner that the whole is stiff and rigid. Joined to the 
 small eye at end of wire is a length of strong gimp, say from 
 I Sin. to 2ft., and this gimp should be fairly strong and in 
 keeping with the rest of the tackle. A short trace without 
 any lead on, say about a couple of feet long, with a strong 
 buckle swivel on the end, completes the troller's outfit. 
 The lead is inside the bait, so none is required on the trace; 
 iDesides you want nothing on the line to catch over or under 
 the weeds, more than you can possibly help. It would be 
 all the better if there was not even a swivel; but I con- 
 
88 THE PIKE. 
 
 sider a swivel a very necessary evil for this work, as without 
 it the line is liable to kink when wet. 
 
 In baiting a gorge hook, the loop of the gimp is put in 
 the eye of a baiting needle, and the point of this thrust 
 down the throat of the bait, keeping it as near the backbone 
 as possible, and as near the centre of the fish as you can, 
 so that the leaded wire will have a foundation of solid flesh 
 to rest in, and not be so liable to tear away by contact with 
 the weeds as it would do if threaded through the intestines 
 only. Bring the needle out between the forks of the tail, 
 and carefully draw the gimp through until the lead and wire 
 are completely hidden in the bait, with the bends of the 
 hooks close up to the nose. Some anglers then tie the tail 
 with a bit of fine twine or shoemaker's flax to the gimp, 
 wrapping it round and round, so that there are no inequali- 
 ties hanging free to catch under the weeds when the bait is 
 withdrawn from the water. Other men clip the tail off 
 altogether with a pair of scissors, but one plan would, I 
 daresay, be as good as the other. Now remove the baiting 
 needle and fasten the loop of the gimp into the buckle 
 swivel of the trace, join the latter neatly with a good fast 
 knot to the running line, and all is ready for action. The 
 best bait for trolling is a good five-inch dace, a small roach 
 will do', so will a large gudgeon ; but a dace appears to me 
 to be the best shape for shooting down quickly, besides be- 
 ing tough and lasting on the hooks. 
 
 Where trolling with a dead gorge differs in a material 
 manner from spinning with a dead bait, is the fact that 
 almost any preserved or pickled fish will do for the latter, 
 the former must have a bait perfectly fresh. When a pike 
 runs at a spinning bait and lays hold, he has no chance, as 
 a rule, to reject it, whereas if the taste of a dead gorge was 
 not to his liking, he could drop it at once. I found that 
 if a bait was freshly killed, and slipped on the gorge when 
 bleeding, the chances would be much better than if the bait 
 was old and stale. In trolling, the angler selects the 
 clearest place he can find and draws down a length of line 
 from between the rings of the rod, and just tosses the bait 
 towards that opening, at the same time leaving go of the 
 loop or length of line he holds in one hand. As soon as> 
 
THE PIKE. 89' 
 
 the bait hits the water it will dive down very quickly, the 
 heavy lead inside it causing this. Always keep a tight line ; 
 don't have any slack hanging loose if you can possibly help 
 it. As soon as the bait begins to dive downwards lower the 
 point of the rod until you think the bait has gone far enough, 
 and then raise the point slowly until it again comes near the 
 surface, then drop the rod again quickly so as to cause 
 the bait to again shoot downwards towards the bottom, re- 
 peating this a few times until the bait works too near the 
 weeds ; then withdraw it as well as you can, clear off what 
 stray weeds may be sticking to the hooks, and make a fresh 
 cast. If the water is very much choked up with weeds, you 
 cannot very well work a gorge bait in a small opening beyond 
 the reach of your rod ; if you can reach the place with your 
 rod point it will be all the better. I have known before now 
 a long 18-foot bamboo, stiff and strong, with a reel whipped 
 or tied to the butt end, and a few very large rings at long 
 intervals up it, to be used in a foul and awkward place with 
 considerable success, the extra length enabling the angler to 
 reach holes that he possibly could not get at with a short 
 trolling rod. But if there is a considerable clear space over 
 the weeds and just beyond the reach of the rod point, the 
 bait can be thrown to the furthest edge of the hole and 
 worked up and down a few times until it reaches the weeds 
 that are nearest the rod point, when it must be withdrawn 
 in the best manner that the circumstances of the place wUl 
 allow. It is the best plan to let a dead gorge plump down 
 quickly, being careful all the time that the line is tight, 
 and to lift it back again towards the surface more slowly. 
 The action of the water, in conjunction with the shape of 
 the bait, causes it to gyrate more in its upward journey than 
 it does during its downward plunge. I have always fancied 
 that a dead gorge bait looked more natural in the water than 
 the very best spinning bait I ever mounted, anyhow I know 
 that a dead gorge, worked as it should be among the weeds, 
 is the most deadly plan, that can be tried. When a pike 
 collars the bait, you must not get excited and strike at once, 
 or in all probability you will simply jerk it out of his mouth. 
 A dead gorge must be swallowed ; and it all depends on the 
 humour of a jack as to how long it will take to perform this 
 
.90 THE PIKE. 
 
 ■operation, he might swallow it within two minutes, or he 
 might be a quarter of an hour. When he runs off with it, 
 •ease the line and let him go, don't check him in the slight- 
 est, and when he stops allow him five minutes, or maybe 
 ■eight would be safer, to get it down. If he has swallowed 
 it all right you need not strike, but simply wind him out the 
 best way you can, weeds and all. 
 
 I have seen all sorts of hooks and tackle recommended 
 for this job, some of them without the twisted wire, and 
 insteaa of the stiff and rigid lead they are fitted up with a 
 flexible or jointed lead, so that the bait can move about in 
 any direction. I don't recommend any of these, believing 
 that the stiff wire is a protection to the bait when it is 
 dragged through the weeds. It seems to be the usual plan 
 to mount a gorge hook so that when the bait is worked 
 upwards towards the surface the points of those hooks faces 
 the same way, and are liable to catch the weeds during its 
 upward journey. One man who used to do a lot of dead- 
 gorging always used to let his bait plump downwards, tail 
 first, bringing it up again towards the surface, head fore- 
 most; that is, exactly reversing the position of the bait from 
 what it would be if worked in the ordinary way. To accom- 
 plish this he used to have the twisted wire on his hook veiy 
 stiff and strong, and exactly long enough to reach from the 
 bottom edge of the gill covers of his bait down to about 
 half an inch from the fork of the tail. In baiting this, in- 
 stead of running the baiting needle in at the mouth, he 
 used to drive it in close under the gill covers, bringing it 
 out about half an inch or a little less from the root of the 
 tail. After drawing the leaded hook and wire completely 
 through the bait until the points of the hook, or rather the 
 bends of the hook laid on the bottom edge of the gill 
 covers with the points free. He used to again push ^he 
 needle straight through the root of the tail, and bring it 
 out on the opposite side to where the hooks laid, and again 
 pass it through the bait lengthways, but this time carefully 
 bringing it out of the mouth and drawing the gimp after it. 
 Now, you see by the gimp going in at the gill covers, right 
 down to the tail, and up again to the mouth, the position is 
 reversed, the tail of the bait goes downwards through the 
 
THE PIKE. 91 
 
 water fust, and the bends of the hooks faces the weeds, in- 
 stead of the points, when it is jerked upwards and with- 
 •dra^vii. In this plan it is a necessity to have the wire of 
 the gcige hook pretty long and stiff, and firmly embedded in 
 the solid flesh of the bait, or the wear and tear of dragging 
 it among the weeds would soon rip it all to pieces. I have 
 seen this tackle and plan of baiting used in very deep and 
 open water where no weeds and obstructions exist, instead of 
 a spinning bait, and certainly when the fish laid low and were 
 very sluggish it was more successful than either spinning 
 or live-baiting. It is thrown right across to the opposite 
 side and allowed to sink to tlie bottom, and then very 
 slowly, inch by inch, wound home again. The bends of 
 the hooks coming first prevented any fouling. This is a 
 deadly plan that I have had proof off more than once ; but 
 I say again that I don't like it, because no matter if the fish 
 weighs one pound or twenty pounds, it must be killed when 
 hooked on a dead gorge ; but for all that in very deep and 
 open water with a clear bottom it is more deadly than even 
 the paternoster tackle. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 THE PIKE (continued). 
 
 FISHING WITH A LIVE BAIT. 
 
 Different methods of live baiting — Pike flloats and pilots — Snap tackle 
 and the methods of baiting — Traces for live baiting — Stream fishing for- 
 pike — The slider float — Striking, and playi7ig a pike on float tackle — The 
 proper depth — A contrast — Live gorging — Paternostering for pike — Leger- 
 ing — Queer live baits — Live bait kettles aiid store boxes. 
 
 Live-baiting for pike can be divided into four heads, or 
 rather sections, two of them practised with one or more 
 floats, and the other two without floats at all ; but I don't 
 propose to go at very great length into this part of my sub- 
 ject, describing the dozens of tackles that are recommended 
 for this branch of angling. I shall only briefly look at them 
 from a working man's standpoint, and just see which tackle 
 out of the whole lot is most likely to have the best results 
 when used in any and all circumstances and conditions of 
 live-baiting. The four heads under which live-baiting can 
 be subdivided are as follows: — ^First, with a snap tackle, 
 and one or more floats so arranged that the bait swims at 
 any depth the angler pleases, mid-water or nearer the bottom 
 or nearer the surface, the snap hooks being such that when 
 the pike seizes the bait he can be struck at once. Second, 
 with similar floats, but with a double side or gorge hook 
 threaded under the skin of the bait, so that a pike must 
 swallow it before he can be hooked. Third, with a pater- 
 noster that is used without floats, but has a pear-shaped 
 lead at the extreme end below the baits, and one, two, or 
 sometimes three sets of hooks projecting at right angles 
 from the main trace at fixed distances from each other above 
 the lead. Fourth, with a leger tackle sunk to the bottom of 
 deep holes, with the bait below the lead, and fished as either 
 
THE PIKE. 93 
 
 a gorge tackle or a semi-gorge snap. Snap fishing with float 
 tackle is a plan that is now very much in vogue amongst the 
 anglers who ply their craft on lakes, cuttings, backwaters, 
 and other quiet waters and rivers that are, comparatively 
 speaking, free from weeds. Floats themselves are made in 
 various shapes and sizes, round, long, egg-shaped, and one 
 that has been registered has the body made like a hollow 
 cylinder with different coloured tops fitting in like corks, so 
 that under various aspects of the weather and the lights and 
 shades that play about on the surface of the water and the 
 shadows from flags and bushes, the colour of the top could 
 be altered to suit the eyesight of the angler without having 
 to remove the whole float. Various sorts of material are 
 also used in the manufacture of pike floats, such as wood, 
 cork, celluloid, etc., etc., and some anglers who cannot aff'ord 
 to spend much over their sport use a plain bung from an 
 old barrel with considerable success. Personally I like an 
 egg-shaped one, with a hole lengthways through the centre, 
 into which a plug of wood can be fitted, so that when 
 the line is threaded through this hole the plug holds 
 it tight in its position at the proper depth. The 
 " Fishing Gazette " float is the most useful that can 
 be tried. This float has a slit or nick cut down 
 one side through to the centre plug hole, the object of the 
 slit being so that the float can be taken off the line and a 
 larger or smaller substituted, as the case demanded, without 
 having to undo the knots and take off the tackle. One 
 about t\vo and a half inches long down the longest part will 
 be the most useful general size that can be used, although 
 it will be necessary some odd times, I daresay, to have one 
 much larger, or even smaller, for special occasions. About 
 a couple of feet or so from the larger float, nearer the rod 
 point, there is another float, called a pUot. This is gene- 
 rally a much smaller one, and quite round in shape, one 
 about three-quarters of an inch in diameter being plenty 
 large enough. Tlie object of this small float or pilot is to 
 keep the line on the surface and prevent it from sinking 
 down and getting mixed up with the bait and tackle; in- 
 deed, some anglers that I know when fishing in shallow 
 water have two pilots a yard or so apait, in addition to the 
 float proper. 
 
94 
 
 THE PIKE. 
 
 The trace for live-baiting differs slightly from the one 
 recommended for spinning, although the latter will do very- 
 well at a pinch. The one most generally in use, however, 
 is a yard length of gimp, or strong salmon gut, with a loop' 
 on one end and a No. 4 or 5 buckle swivel on the other. 
 Just above the swivel, threaded on the gimp, is a barrel lead 
 about one and a haJf or two inches long, and about as thick 
 as a fair sized swan quill. The lead and swivel should be 
 about i4in. from the bait. The main object of the lead is 
 not so much cocking the float, as it is keeping the bait down 
 and preventing it from rising to the surface. In the trace 
 for spinning there are at least two swivels and a drop or 
 hanging lead ; in a live-bait trace the buckle swivel fixed at 
 the end is ample, and the lead need only be a plain one, 
 with a hole lengthways down the centre, so that it can be 
 threaded on the gimp or gut. 
 
 Snap tackles are now made in almost an endless variety,, 
 each one of them claiming to be better than any of the 
 others, the object of the snap tackle being, as its name 
 suggests, snapping or striking the pike directly after he seizes 
 the bait. The best known and the most widely used tackle 
 at the present day is the old-fashioned Jardine snap, which 
 is simply two treble hooks, only one hook that forms each 
 treble is smaller tha.n the other two, fixed a certain distance 
 from each other to suit the size of bait used. Indeed, it is 
 a general plan now to have one of the trebles made with 
 eyes so that it can be shifted closer to the other or further 
 apart to suit the size of bait used. This old tackle holds its 
 
 Fig. 12. The Jardine Snap. 
 
 own among the many that have since been introduced to 
 supersede it ; in fact, in my opinion, none of them are any 
 better, and some of them decidedly not so good. The usual 
 Jardine snap that is generally sold by tackle dealers, has the 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 95i 
 
 small hook of the end treble much too small. I prefer it 
 at least half the size of the other t\vo, so as to take a good 
 hold into the root of the shoulder or pectoral fin of the 
 bait. The accompanying illustration of the Jardine most ia 
 use nowadays shows the small hook of the end treble, no 
 larger than a roach hook, whereas in my opinion it should 
 be several sizes larger. Some anglers, Mr. Jardine, I be- 
 lieve, among the number, sometimes fixes this tiny hook 
 into the gill cover of the bait itself, in which case a small 
 hook would probably be the best ; but I most certainly pre- 
 fer a larger one and fix it firmly into the root of the shoulder 
 fin. The moveable treble is fixed in such a place on the 
 gimp that it can be run fair under the root of the back fin, 
 taking hold of, at least, a quarter of an inch of solid flesh. 
 I have seen anglers who did not understand the proper use- 
 of this tackle, fix a bait on it in strange positions, such as 
 one of the trebles through both lips, and the end one fair 
 into the sides, or one of the trebles under the back fin and 
 the other into the root of the tail. This rough sketch shows 
 the position of the two trebles on the bait, only for the 
 sake of plain illustration they are pictured much too large, 
 with the gimp, the shanks of hooks, and the bindings much 
 too course, and the draughtsman has also drawn both hooks 
 in a straight line, whereas the shank of the top treble should 
 be pointing straight upwards about level with the top comer 
 of the dorsal or back fin, instead of so much to the right 
 hand. But, anyhow, it shows what I consider to be about 
 the proper position for the hooks to be fixed in the bait in 
 
 Fig. 13. Method of Baiting the Jardine Snap. 
 order to give the best results. Another Jardine tackle is 
 now made that has a wire fastened to the end treble in 
 such a manner that it can be threaded in at the mouth and" 
 
6 THE PIKE 
 
 'Out at the gill covers, a spiral twist at the end like a cork- 
 screw enabling it to be fastened to the gimp between the 
 two sets of hooks. This spiral wire was made to supersede 
 the small hook of the end treble, the wire holds the bait 
 firmly in its position without sticking the small hook into 
 the shoulder fin, or, indeed, having the small hook there at 
 all. It was claimed for this so-called improvement of the 
 Jardine tackle that a bait could be held much more secure 
 than with an ordinary one, and that it could be hurled long 
 distances in wide lakes or rivers without throwing off. But 
 unfortunately on a careful trial by practical men this long 
 casting was a source of danger and injury to the bait. If 
 the casting was made ever so careful, sometimes the gill 
 cover of the bait would be torn completely away, and even 
 if the bait was only used at close quarters and no damage 
 done to it by long casting, the wire props open the mouth 
 and gill covers, with the result that the bait soon dies and 
 won't work as it should do from the very first ; it seems to 
 be cramped and choked, and does not work about as I like 
 Tto see a live bait work. 
 
 Fig. 14. The Wired Jardine Snap. 
 
 Another tackle that used to be a great favourite with us 
 some years ago was a good deal like a Jardine, except the 
 hook that went under the back fin. This was a fair sized 
 moveable single hook, instead of the moveable treble, the 
 •end hook being exactly the same in both cases, and the 
 method of baitnig identical. The improved Bickerdyke 
 tackle, shown in the accompanying illustration is, according 
 to all repcrtfi of my pike fishing customers who have used 
 
THE PIKE. 97 
 
 it, a very good one indeed. The end treble has the small 
 hook reversed with the shank lengthened considerably, the 
 object of this long shanked hook being so that when a 
 pike seizes the bait the hook can be drawn free from the 
 bait, allowing a much better chance of hooking your quarry. 
 The moveable single hook shown in the illustration is stuck 
 firmly under the back fin, the double hook with the long 
 shank reversed hook goes under the skin of the shoulder, 
 so that the two hooks lay on the bait exactly in the posi- 
 tion shown for baiting the ordinary "Jardine," and the 
 treble hook that hangs free, is simply put over the bait on 
 the opposite side to the other shoulder hooks and allowed 
 to hang free without being stuck in the bait at all, or the 
 point of one hook can be, if the angler likes, just hanked 
 under the skin towards the belly if he does not like to see 
 it swinging loose, but it may be a source of danger when 
 
 Fig. 15. The Bickerdvkk Snap. 
 
 Striking a fish if it is made fast in the bait. There are 
 many more snap tackles made for use with live bait, such 
 as saddle snaps that have two sets of hooks that straddle 
 Qver the bait, and others too numerous to mention here, 
 all more or less efficient for the work they are made to do ; 
 but taking things all round I don't think the old fashioned 
 Jardine can be beaten. The working man pike fisherman, 
 who has not got much money to spare for his tackle, may 
 rest contented very well with them. One of my friends used 
 to bait the Jardine somewhat different to the plan just 
 described, instead of putting the end hook into the root of 
 the shoulder fin, he used to put it fair on the top of the 
 back, close behind the head ; he would have it that, with a 
 pike having eyes on the top of his head he was generally 
 looking upwards, and could not see the hooks so well when 
 fixed on the top of the back of the bait. There may be 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 THE PIKE 
 
 something in this, but I don't think it matters much, as that 
 old friend never had much better luck, and sometimes not 
 so good as I had when adopting the ordinary plan. I don't 
 recommend very large hooks unless the baits are extra big. 
 No. 3 or 4 being ample for all ordinary purposes. For ex- 
 ceptional circumstances, where you know there is a very 
 large pike, and you are trying him with a half-pound bait, or 
 even a small jack which, by the way, is often a splendid 
 bait for those large cannibal pike that inhabit a quiet cut- 
 ting or isolated pool, it will be as well to have an extra 
 large and strong snap tackle made up with some No. i 
 trebles. In snap fishing when the water is only moderately 
 cleair, it does not matter so much about the tackle ; oo cop- 
 per gimp will be quite good enough for both trace and 
 tackle, but if the water has run down very fine indeed, then 
 a good strong gut trace will be less visible to the fish. The 
 hooks themselves should be dressed on six or seven inches 
 of gimp, then a single strand of strong salmon gut with a 
 loop at each end, fixed between the gimp of the hooks and 
 the buckle swivel on end of the trace, and finally a two or 
 three feet trace of the strongest gut the angler can afford, 
 lackle for live livebaiting should always, if possible, be 
 finer than spinning tackle, because in the latter case the 
 bait revolves swiftly tlirough the water, while in the former 
 it is, comparatively speaking, stationary. The best colour 
 for a float would be green with a white top, some anglers 
 like them dark blue with a red top ; but a good deal of this 
 is only fancy. In snap fishing down a current that runs into 
 an eddy, it is the best to fix the float so that the bait is 
 some two-thirds of the distance down, that is, within 
 eighteen inches or two feet from the bottom; if this dis- 
 tance can anyhow be guessed, if not, a heavy plummet hung 
 on the buckle swivel and quietly sunk to the bottom will 
 soon tell the proper depth; this mind, is for fishing clear 
 running rivers that have pikey looking corners and eddies, 
 into which a current gurgles and glides, with a bottom, 
 comparatively speaking, clear and free from weeds, and an 
 overhanging row of bushes or sedges lining the side. In 
 this method of snap fishing, fix the small pilot float about a 
 foot above the larger one, for reasons that will be given 
 
THE PIKE. 99 
 
 presently. In live-baiting a quiet lake or similar still water, 
 the pilot is principally used to keep the line on the surface. 
 In stream fishing this does not matter as the line is gener- 
 ally played out from the reel tight, but still a pilot is use- 
 ful in detecting a proper run from a pike, or only an extra 
 spurt from the bait when he pulls the first float under. In 
 fishing a comer or eddy such as just described, the angler 
 should stand right at the head of the swim, and just drop 
 his bait on the outer edge of the stream, and let it work 
 down the current at the further side of the eddy, letting it 
 go just fast enough to prevent it from being swept too near 
 the bank on which he stands. When the floats reach the 
 eddy proper, by being slightly held back, the bait will 
 work in a semicircular direction round the edge of the eddy 
 towards the bank, and perhaps again take an outward 
 direction towards the centre of the curl, if that eddy is of the 
 shape known to Trent men as an umbrella ; pike very often 
 lay on the outer edge of these eddies, just between the 
 sharp current and the curling water. The quieter parts of 
 a streamy river, where a nice little current glides into an 
 eddy and then seems to divide into two, with a wedge 
 shaped pool between, should always be well tried, even if 
 the bait has to be twenty-five or thirty yards away from 
 where you stand. A little careful obsen^ation and manipu- 
 lation of the floats and bait, by being dropped on one of 
 the streams that glides down and across into these wedge 
 shaped eddies, will result in reaching them without much 
 trouble. In live-baiting distant places like that, it is rather 
 difficult to hit the exact depth, and to be right, in my 
 opinion, the bait should be about eighteen inches from 
 the bottom ; but the worst of these streams and eddies is 
 the fact that the depth might vary. The best way to try 
 the place is to put the float at what you consider to be the 
 right depth with only the leaded trace, and throw it as near 
 as you can to the spot you wish to fish, if the lead is on the 
 bottom the float will bob about, and you want to be a lot 
 shallower ; if, on the other hand, the float rides quietly, you 
 are not deep enough. If after a careful trial you find there 
 is, say, an uniform depth of eight feet, the bait will want 
 to be about six and a half feet from the float, and so on, 
 
lOO THE PIKE. 
 
 always allowing this distance, that is, eighteen inches be- 
 tween the bottom of the river and the bait, no matter how 
 deep the place is, because I believe in streamy eddies like 
 those, the jack lay as near the bottom as possible. Some- 
 times the place may be very deep, say sixteen or eighteen 
 feet, and you cannot manage very well with a fixed float, 
 for this you must fish the float as a slider, a good deal after 
 the plan I described in fishing a deep hole for barbel in 
 Vol. I ; the small pilot can be dispensed with, and instead 
 of having the larger float with the slit down the side, a 
 plain one of the same shape will be best. Remove the 
 plug altogether, so that the float will slip up and down 
 the line easily, and knot into the line at the right depth a 
 bit of indiarubber or something similar, of such a size and 
 shape that it will easily run through the rings on the rod 
 without jerking or catching, and yet will not go through the 
 small hole down the centre of the float. In fishing holes 
 of considerable depth this float drops down the line and 
 is out of the way of the rod point when the bait is with- 
 drawn ; but when lead and bait sink in the water the float 
 rises until stopped by the obstruction knotted into the 
 line. Some anglers may say that places like those could be 
 much better fished with the paternoster or the ledger tackle, 
 but I would point out that the character of the streams 
 down some of these running rivers, between the bank and 
 the eddies, would be all against ledgering or paternostering ; 
 the strong current might drown the line and sweep the 
 bait anywhere but where it was wanted, and a float on the 
 surface, be the only plan of keeping the bait in the required 
 position. Another question that anglers don't seem to be 
 agreed on, is the time that should be allowed between the 
 jack taking the bait and the striking, when snap fishing; 
 this in a great measure depends on the nature of the water 
 operated on, in stream fishing the pike generally takes a 
 bait very quickly, and can be struck almost immediately. 
 In lake or still water fishing the pike seem to me to be 
 much more deliberate in their actions, and should be 
 allowed a few seconds, say five or six, after the float dis- 
 appears. In the stream fishing that we have just now 
 been discussing, and the bait is of a fair size and lively, the 
 
THE PIKE. lOI 
 
 float will now and again bob clean under, making the inex- 
 perienced think he has got a run ; it was for this purpose of 
 detecting a good run that I recommended the bait to be 
 some eighteen inches from the bottom, and the small float 
 or pilot about a foot from the larger one. As soon as ever 
 both floats disappear under the surface, and sometimes they 
 will follow one another like a flash, the line can be tightened 
 with a slight jerk. Heavy striking is not necessary in this 
 snap fishing, in fact, it is to be condemned ; you see, when 
 fishing in this manner down the streams and eddies you have 
 rod in left hand with finger on edge of reel, and the line, 
 comparatively speaking, tight between the finger and thumb 
 of the right hand. A good run from a pike could very 
 often be felt before it was even seen. If the finger is 
 pressed tight on the edge of reel, and the point of the rod 
 raisecj smartly, the plunge of the hooked fish would be quite 
 sufficient to drive the hooks well home, without risking a 
 broken line by striking heavily at a large pike when mak- 
 ing his first plunge. If the place has a clear bottom and 
 is free from obstructions, it is an easy matter to play the 
 hooked fish, easing the pressure slightly on the edge of reel 
 as he runs, and winding in whenever you have a chance, 
 taking care, however, that the line is always taut; always 
 play a pike as heavily as you can, and don't allow him to 
 run all over the place more than you can possibly help. 
 If it is an awkward place, full of weeds and obstructions, 
 you will have to be guided by the circumstances of the 
 case, as to how you play him, but keep him away from 
 danger at any cost by putting on all the pressure the tackle 
 will bear, and with a little luck he will be yours. In snap- 
 fishing with a float in a lake or very quiet river, the bait 
 cannot be manipulated into the eddies and streams like it 
 is in stream fishing, you can only throw it out and wait for 
 a run, of course, winding in a yard of line every now and 
 again until the bait travels across the open water from the 
 full extent of the cast, unto nearly the rod point, but each 
 place will have to be fished according to its own peculi- 
 arities. It is a good plan sometimes when fishing a lake or 
 other sheet of water that has a lot of reed beds all round 
 the margin, to take a boat, if one is handy, and kick up a 
 
I02 THE PIKE. 
 
 good big row by splashingapole right in the middle of those 
 reed beds. Large jack very often lay hidden deep among 
 those reeds, and it is just possible you may startle them out 
 and into the open water beyond, where later on they would 
 have a much better chance of seeing one of your baits 
 than they would while in the middle of that fortress. 
 This dodge has scored more than once during my ex- 
 perience. A live bait can be thrown a considerable distance 
 without injury; a gentle swing from the rod point in the 
 manner described in Chap. 3, being sufficient to get out 
 thirty yards without jerking the bait from the hooks; but 
 a live bait on snap tackle must be carefully thrown. In 
 snap fishing with a live bait the line should always be well 
 gi'eased, so that in still water it will float on the sur- 
 face — many a fish has been lost by having a sunk 
 line between the floats and rod point. Another 
 point of interest to the would-be pike fisherman is 
 whether the live bait should be near the bottom, or nearer 
 the surface; my own opinion and experience favours the 
 former, especially in deep, quiet waters. If the place is 
 twelve or fourteen feet deep, I always found it to be the best 
 to have the bait within a couple of feet of the bottom at 
 the outside, that is if you wanted the larger fish. During 
 the winter time they are, as a rule, much too sluggish to 
 rise up to within three feet of the surface to take a bait ; a 
 few small ones may be got, but the larger ones lie low as a 
 rule, and like the immortal Mr. Micawber, wait patiently for 
 something to turn up. Another point is whether a large 
 bait or a small one is the best, and here again the peculiar- 
 ities of each place must decide the matter. If the jack only 
 run small, then a dace from two to three ounces will be 
 quite large enoungh ; but if the place is a deep, quiet lake, 
 tenanted by very large pike, then taking things all round 
 large baits will stand the best chance. Once I remember 
 getting a fourteen pounder on a dace that only weighed 
 half an ounce ; but the balance of opinion favours the larc^e 
 bait taking one time with another. I had a very curious 
 illustration of these last two points some time ago : A 
 gentleman got a day in a private lake, that was strictly nre- 
 served, and only occasional leave granted ; the lake swarmed 
 
THE PIKE. 103 
 
 with pike of all sizes. He fished all day in deep water with 
 the bait (small dace averaging tvvo ounces each), about a 
 yard from his float, and successfully landed ten fish weigh- 
 ing altogether forty-one pounds, largest 5^1bs. Another 
 gentleman whose ticket was dated for a week later, took 
 down a can of dace that must have gone on the average half- 
 a-pound each ; he fished deep down, and landed nine fish 
 weighing altogether 132 ^Ibs., the largest 24^1bs, the 
 smallest ylbs ; a vast difference, which could only be satis- 
 factorily explained by the different methods the two anglers 
 had of going to work, as the conditions were similar on 
 both days. If the place is in a very awkward position and 
 weeds are pretty plentiful, but not suflEicient to stop a bait 
 from working about at all, it will be as well to use a live 
 gorge tackle instead of a snap; the hooks of the latter 
 might catch among the weeds, whereas the gorge hook lies 
 flatter on the side of bait, and is less conspicuous. The 
 live gorge is simply a double hook, whipped firmly on the 
 end of a foot or so of fine gimp, and threaded until the hooks 
 lie on the side, close up to the gill covers ; the loop of the 
 gimp being brought out just behind the dorsal or back fin. 
 Care must be taken in threading the bait that the needle 
 and gimp only just goes under the skin, and that the points 
 of the hook project well above the side, and are not buried 
 in the bait at all. The same trace and float will do for this 
 as for snap-fishing, the only difference in using a gorge 
 bait, is that the pike must be allowed five or six minutes 
 to swallow the bait, instead of striking at the disappearance 
 of the floats. When the pike seizes the gorge bait you 
 must let him go where he likes, even if he threads right 
 through a bed of weeds, don't check him in the slightest, 
 but pay out line until he stops, and then quietly lay down 
 the rod m such a position that he can take more line off 
 the reel if he wants it, and wait five or six minutes. • If be- 
 fore this time expires the float comes tO' the surface, you 
 may know he has rejected the bait, but if it keeps down 
 unless it gets fast among the weeds, you may hope that he 
 has got it swallowed, and tighten on him, extricating him 
 from among the weeds in the best manner you can. I don't 
 like gorge fishing at all, but still it is useful under some 
 
I04 
 
 THE PIKE 
 
 circumstances. A live bait can be worked by it among the 
 weeds much better than with a snap. The bait can be 
 hurled much further without so much danger of throwing 
 off; and, finally, when a pike is fairly hooked, the hooks 
 are down its belly, and not hanging from its jaws to catch 
 in every weed-bed that comes handy. The pike fishermen 
 of the Welsh Harp almost always use a gorge tackle, the 
 main reason for this being that the lake is very shallow, as 
 a rule, all round the margin, and it is necessary to throw out 
 a considerable distance from the bank in order to get any 
 depth of water. The generality of these men have an addi- 
 tion to the ordinary live gorge hook, in the shape of a small 
 •wire hook about as big as a little roach hook, but without 
 either point or barb, that is brazed at the back of the other 
 two, and projecting slightly above them. After the hook 
 is threaded in its proper position this very small back hook 
 drops into the hollow under the edge of the gill cover, and 
 takes firm hold of the hard gristle just there. This pre- 
 vents the gimp from tearing away the skin when the tremen- 
 dous long casts are made. 
 
 Patemostering is another very quiet and deadly method 
 of taking pike, particularly large pike that live in holes and 
 eddies, where tiie bottom of the river is very unequal in 
 depth. The paternoster is simply a long trace of strong gut 
 or gimp, with a fairly heavy pear-shaped lead at the extreme 
 end, and one or more sets of hooks at intervals higher up. 
 Personally, I consider one set of hooks plenty to use on a 
 paternoster, and this should be fixed at least two feet above 
 the lead. There are various methods of making a pater- 
 noster, the most common being a main line about four 
 feet long, with two single sneck bend hooks fixed by bone 
 runners about a foot from each other on the main line. 
 These single hooks are on separate bits of gimp and project 
 about seven inches from the gimp of the main trace. These 
 single hooks are just put through both lips of the live bait, 
 so that when a pike takes them, he must have time given 
 him to get the whole lot in his mouth before he can be 
 hooked. I don't think this single hook is sufficient. The 
 way I made my paternoster was to get a length of good fine 
 gimp for slightly clouded water, and a length of strong gut 
 
THE PIKE 
 
 lO^ 
 
 for very clear water, each about one and a half yards long. 
 A good fair sized and well whipped loop is made at each 
 end, one loop being to fasten the lead in, and the other for 
 the reel line to be attached to. About two feet from the 
 bottom loop a swivel was put in, one of those swivels that 
 has an extra eye or ring projecting at right angles from its 
 side. Into the eye the seven or eight inches of gimp on 
 which the hooks were whipped is attached, swinging clear 
 as it were from the main gut line, the swivel allowing the 
 bait to go round and round the trace without twisting him- 
 self up with it. 
 
 If the angler uses gut for the main line of his trace, which^ 
 I may add, is better for very clear water than gimp. I don't 
 know that it matters about using the very expensive salmon 
 gut, very strong barbel legering gut will do, because it is a 
 dead certainty that the same gut that will kill a lo or i2lb. 
 barbel will kill almost any pike we are likely to get hold 
 of nowadays. 
 
 y ^ ^/ 
 
 
 
 Fig. i6. Sizes of Gimp. 
 The hooks should always be dressed on fine copper gimp- 
 or twisted flexible wire, it does not matter much which. A 
 short length of very thick and stiff gut is also a very 
 good thing to dress paternoster hooks on. I like 
 a double hook with a small rider brazed at the back, a 
 good deal like the hook of a Jardine snap, at the end of the 
 gimp firmly whipped on, and a little distance above it a 
 
J06 THE PIKE. 
 
 single moveable lip hook of a fair good size, say a No. i or 
 2. The double hook need not be very large, No. 4 or 5 
 being plenty big enough. In baiting this tackle the lip 
 hook is shifted to suit the size of bait, so that when that 
 lip hook is through both lips of the bait, the small hook at 
 the back of the double one reaches to the root of the back 
 fin, into which it is firmly stuck. This tackle enables a pike 
 to be struck as soon as he runs off with the bait, and is 
 much safer than the single hook only. In using a pater- 
 noster it is necessary to have a tight line, so as to be always 
 ready when a pike attacks the bait, and work it into all sorts 
 of eddies and corners, sometimes swinging it out like a pen- 
 dulum to the far side of the river or open water, allowing 
 the lead to rest on the bottom, and bringing it inch by inch 
 to the bank on which you stand. In fact, it is in almost an 
 endless variety of ways that a paternoster can be worked ; 
 holes can be tried where any other plan could hardly be 
 adopted, open spaces among boughs and flags, eddies at the 
 tail-end of a mill. You can hardly be wrong anywhere 
 where jack are to be found, with a paternoster; but it is a 
 question of practise and experience alone that will make a 
 successful paternosterer. I might add that under no circum- 
 stances do I like a pike paternoster to have more than one 
 set of hooks. 
 
 Legering for pike is another plan that, like the pater- 
 noster, requires no float, but is, during certain conditions of 
 the water, a most deadly style to try. When a heavy flood 
 or a break-up of the winter's frost causes a strong flush of 
 water to come down the river, and it clears away sufficiently 
 to see the bait when sunk a yard below the surface, then is 
 the time to try the leger in the deep and quiet stretches away 
 from the main current. Indeed, in some very deep and 
 quiet rivers that have a gravelly and level bottom, the leger 
 is as good a piece of tackle as can be tried. I like a fair 
 sized bullet for my leger, one at least an ounce in weight, 
 with a hole drilled through it sufficiently large to allow the 
 line to pass easily through. This bullet is threaded on the 
 line itself, with a bit of a stop, either a split shot pinched 
 on, or a little bit of wood half an inch in length, and as 
 thick as a match half-hitched in the line below it. This pre- 
 
THE PIKE, 107 
 
 vents the bullet from dropping down the trace and getting 
 too near the bait. The proper distance between bullet and 
 bait is about three and a half feet. Below the bullet, joined 
 to the line, is a trace of either gimp or gut, with a small 
 long barrel lead on it, and a buckle swivel at the end. The 
 lead, as just noted, should be as thin as possible, say about 
 one and a half inches long and no thicker than a goose quill, 
 so that when a jack runs off with the bait the lead is no 
 obstruction to him. Below the lead and buckle swivel is 
 the tackle, and this can either be a double gorge hook or 
 the tackle recommended in paternoster fishing. A tackle 
 that I used to use sometimes in the deep waters of the Ouse, 
 was an ordinary gorge tackle with the gimp threaded 
 under the skin and brought out behind the back fin in the 
 usual way, and an extra gorge hook mounted on a very short 
 loop of gimp not more than a quarter of an inch long, with 
 a very small hook whipped at the back. The eye or loop 
 of this extra double hook was dropped over the gimp on 
 the main tackle and brought right down to the back fin of 
 the bait, and the tiny hook at back just stuck under the 
 skin. This extra hook then laid flat to the side, and was 
 not so liable to catch any obstruction on the bottom of river 
 as the ordinary treble snap hooks. When a pike takes this 
 tackle you can venture to strike or tighten him nearly as 
 quick as snap fishing, the hanging hooks in the centre are 
 bound to take hold if the pike gets the bait in his mouth at 
 all. Anyhow, when you get a run, I should not allow him 
 to go more than a couple or three yards before tightening 
 on him. If you use an ordinary gorge tackle for legering, 
 when you have to give the fish time to swallow the bait, 
 you should see that the line can be easily drawn through the 
 bullet, so that any amount of line can be taken off the reel 
 without the bullet shifting at all. Every knot, loop, etc., 
 on the line or tackle should be between the bullet and the 
 bait. The long barrel lead that is on the trace some 18 
 inches above the bait is merely used as a weight to keep it 
 from running too far about and getting so far away from the 
 leger bullet. About 14 or 15 inches from the bait; in fact, 
 close up to the buckle swivel of the trace, between it and 
 the long barrel lead, it will be as well to put a rough bit 
 
I08 THE PIKE. 
 
 of cork, any old bottle cork will do cut in half, with a nick in 
 the flat side, into which the gimp can be stuck. This bit of 
 cork will help the bait to swim some few inches above the 
 bottom, and be more attractive than if the weight of tackle 
 kept him flat on his side at the bottom. 
 
 Fig 17. Disgorging Scissors. 
 
 I think I have said as much as I need say about live- 
 baiting for pike; hooking and playing the fish have been 
 carefully considered in another part of this volume ; but I 
 might just mention a peculiar thing that has often come 
 under my notice, and that is that the pike of almost any 
 river or stream prefers a live bait from a strange river in 
 preference to those taken from the same stream in which 
 he lives. It may be fancy, but a can of Thames dace 
 seemed to be more attractive to the Ouse pike than baits 
 taken from the latter river ; while Trent dace were liked by 
 Witham jack, and vice versa. I don't know if there is any- 
 thing in this, but still during my career as a professional 
 several like cases have cropped up that have been, to say 
 the least, very peculiar. Pike are sometimes caught with 
 very queer live baits, the two most noteworthy instances that 
 
THE PIKE. 109 
 
 came under my own observation were a small jack over a 
 pound in weight, and a live blackbird with a broken wing. 
 In the former case we knew that a large pike tenanted a 
 pool some little distance from the Trent, but all efforts to 
 catch him by the ordinary baits proved futile. At last a 
 well-known Newark tradesman tried him with a small jack 
 that weighed at least a pound and a quarter. This fish was 
 threaded on a very large gorge tackle, and for nearly an hour 
 lugged four or five large live bait floats about manfully round 
 and round that pool. At last he took it, and we gave him 
 half an hour to swallow the bait, which he did. We 
 were disappointed over that fish, it was no less than 45 inches 
 long, and only scaled up to i61b. The other case was also 
 in a pool away from the main river. We had noticed earlier 
 in the day a jack make a grab at a yellow wagtail that sat on 
 the edge of a weed bed. A small terrier we had with us 
 found a wounded blackbird with a broken wing under the 
 hedge bottom. This bird we carefully tied on a saddle 
 tackle, so that one set of hooks was on its back and the 
 other under its breast. Removing the trace, lead, and floats 
 this bait was thrown out like a huge fly. He flopped on the 
 water, making a rare commotion for a minute or so, when a 
 51b. jack snatched him under and was safely landed. That 
 was the only time I ever fished with a live bird for a bait, 
 and I did not feel at all proud of the exploit, as it was a 
 cold-blooded job, to say the very best ; but the pike snap- 
 ping at the wagtail, and the dog finding the wounded bird 
 so soon afterwards, gave us a hint. But it was a strange 
 thing, as we had tried the same pool dozens of times before 
 and never landed a jack on a live fish out of it. Once I 
 got a brace of jack when chub fishing with a lump of pith, 
 and a friend of mine one afternoon landed four when bream 
 fishing with worms. A live bait kettle is also a necessity 
 of the pike fisherman as a receptacle to carry his live baits 
 about in. I have seen all sorts in use, from a square bis- 
 cuit tin with a string handle, to Field's patent can, that has 
 an arrangement fixed to it to pump air among the water. 
 The accompanying illustration show the kinds that are gene- 
 rally in use ; but perhaps the best of the lot is the one that 
 has an inner kettle of perforated zinc that can be lifted in 
 
THE PIKE. 
 
 and out of the outer one. This arrangement is useful in a 
 variety of ways, for one thing the baits can be got at without 
 
 Fig. i8. Live Bait Kettles. 
 
 putting the hand into the cold water — a consideration when 
 the weather is nippingly cold — ^and another thing, the inner 
 kettle can be set in the stream with the main stock of baits> 
 so as to freshen them up if they got weak and sickly by 
 being carried about too long. If the angler lives close to 
 the water it would be as well to keep a stock of baits by him 
 if he possibly can. The best thing is a strong hamper that 
 has a closely fitting lid. Some men have a wooden box or 
 trunk with a wire grating at each end, and the bottom and 
 lid perforated plentifully with half-inch holes. In my 
 opinion, based on a long experience with both, I am de- 
 cidedly in favour of the wicker one sunk to the bottom, as 
 the baits keep longer and in better condition in it than in a 
 wooden one floating just under the surface. One of the 
 
THE PIKE. Ill 
 
 best things I ever saw to keep live baits in was a stone trough 
 that was fixed under a pump at the bottom of an old friend's 
 garden. This trough was made out of a peculiar red sand 
 stone, and had been there in all probability a good many 
 years. It did not matter how sickly and weak the baits 
 were when turned out of the can, they soon recovered in the 
 trough. Perhaps there was some virtue or other in the old 
 stone, anyhow I never knew any other pump trough that 
 would keep baits so long and so well. I might also just tell 
 the novice that it is not a good plan to keep live baits all 
 night in a small bait can, as he would be bound to find 
 some of them dead in the morning, and the rest not very 
 lively. If you have nothing else, put them in a good sized 
 pail with a landing net over the top, and let a tap drip into 
 them all night ; if no tap is available, use a good big tub 
 three parts filled with water. A lump of ice put on the lid 
 of a can will sometimes keep the baits alive for many hours. 
 
 Before I close this chapter I might just say that good silk 
 gimp is better for pike traces than the twisted steel wire that 
 is sometimes recommended. The latter is finer, and shows 
 less in the water, but it wDl occasionally kink, and when it 
 does kink it snaps very easily. Short lengths of twisted 
 wire are extremely useful to dress the hooks of snap, etc., 
 tackles on ; but when a long trace is required I strongly 
 advise either gimp or gut, for the reason just stated. Wire 
 will kink and break very easily — at least this is my experi- 
 ence. 
 
 I think I have said as much as I need say on the subject 
 of pike fishing that is likely to be of interest to the working 
 man angler. Fishing with such items as a pike fly, or an 
 artificial rat, or the thousand and one different tackles and 
 artificials that are now nut on the market would only be a 
 slight variation not worth mentioning. The general prin- 
 ciples I lay down in the foregoing pages would be the same 
 in nearly all instances. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 THE PERCH. 
 
 PERCH AND PERCH FISHING. 
 
 The veteran and his first perch — Habits and haunts of perch — Perch 
 packing in the wititer — A cruel slaughter — Description of the perch — 
 Weight of perch — '' His eyes bigger than his belly " — Perch in the frying 
 pan — Rod, reel, line, and tackle for perch fishing— Stream fishing for 
 jterch — Paternostering — Float fishing with a minnow — Fly fishing — Arti- 
 ficial baits for perch. 
 
 I find that I have gone into the subject of pike fishing at 
 such a length that the space left at my disposal to treat of 
 perch and perch fishing is only very limited, so I must be as 
 brief as I possibly can in this chapter, only laying down the 
 principal rules that must guide the novice who wishes to 
 practice this branch of angling. 
 
 I wonder how many grey-haired veterans among the vast 
 army of Britain's anglers who, looking back over a career 
 spent by the side of river, lake, pond, and stream, cannot say 
 that it was the capture of a small perch or two in some pond 
 or canal that was the starting point of their angling experi- 
 ences, and so fired them with enthusiasm for the sport that 
 they have stuck to it till unable to get down to the water- 
 side, and can now only sit by the fire and think of all the 
 glorious days they have had since those boyhood's times, 
 when the first perch snatched down their float so startlingly 
 sudden that it nearly upset their nerves. There is no fish 
 iDetter adapted than small perch, that live in a pond or 
 canal, to start a boy on his angling experiences. This class 
 of perch is not particular what sort of tackle it is, neither 
 does he care much about the bait — a worm freshly dug out 
 of the garden, a slug picked at random from the cabbage 
 bed, or a bunch of green and stinking gentles will all be 
 greedily swallowed. And then again it does not matter 
 
THE PERCH. 113 
 
 about accurately plumbing the depth, or carefully ground- 
 baiting a swim, or any one of the hundreds of minute details 
 that go towards making, say, roach fishing such a fine art. 
 " Yes," some of you may say, " this is all very well talking 
 about those ill-fed and hungry pond perch taking anything 
 that is off^ered them, but what about a good well-fed river 
 perch, that has a plentiful supply of small fry knocking 
 about next door to him, as it were?" As the old saying 
 goes, " this is a horse of another colour." A boy with a 
 bent pin, a thick bit of gut, a heavy lead, and a rough home- 
 made float, won't make much impression on him, he might 
 catch one or two by accident during certain conditions of 
 the water; but, say, during August, September, and Octo- 
 ber, when the rivers have run down very clear and bright, 
 and even the knots on the tackle can be plainly seen deep 
 down in the water, Mr. Perch is a particular wide-awake 
 customer. To get them then you have to be as an old 
 friend of mine ])ut it, " as artful as a waggon-load of mon- 
 keys." You have got to use fine tackle, and you will have 
 to use it far off. The bait also will have to be delicate and 
 attractive, and mounted on the hooks in the most careful 
 manner. During the early part of the season, that is, latter 
 end of June and the first two or three weeks of July, perch 
 are not quite so careful as they are a little later on. At 
 that time they will very often take the small red worm or 
 the cad baits when dace fishing down the shallow streams or 
 run at a small artificial minnow. Just at that time they are 
 picking up after spawning and cleaning, but a month or two 
 later, when well fed and in good condition, they leave the 
 shallow streams and seek refuge in deeper water, under the 
 roots and hollows of an overhanging bank, in the deep and 
 quiet eddies, round about the woodwork of an old bridge, 
 in the deep and strong waters by the side of flags and rushes, 
 and in the deep eddies by the side of the swirling water 
 from a weir. It is then during the late summer and autumn 
 that the big ones take some catching. The very worst time 
 for poor Mr. Perch is after a sharp winter, when the ice and 
 frost have broken up, and the river is tearing down in high 
 flood. At this time they pack themselves together in large 
 numbers, seeking the quiet comers, eddies, and even deep 
 I 
 
114 '^^''' PERCH. 
 
 dyke ends, out of the way of the raging flood water. Poor 
 fellows, they have been most likely on very short commons 
 during the long cold winter, and as a consequence very sharp 
 set. When the water clears a little, and the angler drops 
 across a corner in which a large shoal is packed, the execu- 
 tion is sometimes pitiful. A few handfuls of chopped-up 
 worms are thrown in, and a red worm on the hook; and 
 sometimes the sport (save the mark) continues until every 
 perch is cleared out of the hole. Once only I can remember 
 being in at the death of a whole shoal of packed perch, and 
 even now I feel a little bit ashamed of the exploit. I found 
 them at home in a deep hole at a dyke end that ran into 
 the River Witham, not very far from) where the county of 
 Lincoln joined the county of Nottingham. It was during 
 the early days of February, just after the frost of a long 
 and severe winter had broken up, and the yellow flood- 
 water was tearing down the river in high spate. A few yards 
 up the dyke the water was, comparatively speaking, clear, 
 and at least seven or eight feet deep. In about three hours 
 I had landed three dozen fair good perch weighing a. little 
 over 2olb., and considered I had cleared every one out of 
 the hole, as during the remainder of the afternoon I failed 
 to add a single one to the bag. I have heard of as many 
 as 200 being taken at one sitting under similar circum- 
 stances ; but, thank goodness, whatever may have been my 
 piscatorial sins, I have not one of that magnitude to answer 
 for. 
 
 The perch is a member of the Percidae family, and is a 
 representative of the spinous-finned fish, that is, having 
 spikes or prickles on the end of the rays of some of his 
 fins. A great characteristic of this fish is the second fin on 
 the back. His scientific name is Perca Fluviatilis, and he 
 is a very handsome, well-made member of the finny tribe; 
 in fact, I consider him a gem of the first water. Look at 
 the beautiful scarlet of his fins, the golden rings of his eyes, 
 the pale green of his sides, shaded and relieved by the 
 darker bars that stripe his body from the shoulder to the 
 tail. His scales are small, very hard, and extremely diffi- 
 cult to scrape off, but they are arranged in such perfect 
 order ; in fact, he appears to me to be about as perfect a 
 
THE PERCH 
 
 115 
 
 fish form as it is possible to conceive. The dark stripes or 
 bars down each side of this fish number, I think, never more 
 than seven, although I have one here set up that has nine 
 down one side ; but I fancy this was only a lark of the pre- 
 server, who fancied he could improve on Nature. 
 
 Perch spawn early, say by the latter end of April or the 
 beginning of May, and they choose peculiar positions for 
 this operation. They deposit their ova on the submerged 
 boughs, just under the surface of the water, and on the reed 
 weed and flag beds, and sometimes over the stones on the 
 shallows, spreading the ova all over everjthing handy, like 
 long festoons of lace. Swans, ducks, and other water-fowl 
 reap a merry harvest at this time, for nothing could be 
 handier for them than perch spawn, which they speedily 
 gobble up by the yard. Perch are wonderfully prolific, as 
 many as three quarters of a million of eggs have been cal- 
 culated to be in the ovum of a pound fish ; and so there 
 stands need to be, for perch spawn stands a very poor chance 
 of coming to maturity, in all probability not more than one 
 egg out of every thousand reaches the fish stage. This fish 
 in favourable and well preserved waters will reach a very 
 fair size, CKld ones have been taken that exceeded 41b. I 
 should say that four and a half pounds would be the very 
 outside weight of this fish in British waters. We have heard 
 of English perch reaching the extraordinary weis^ht of six, 
 eight, and even one of nine pounds, but there does not ap- 
 pear to be any evidence in existence that such can now be 
 seen preserved, so I am afraid we must take these gigantic 
 perch with a good deal of caution. A two pounder is a 
 good one, while as for a three pounder, they are not often 
 caught. I have seen them taken from various rivers when 
 they tipped the beam at from two to two and a half pounds, 
 and probably twice when they scaled nearly three pounds ; 
 but never yet have I landed one or seen one landed that 
 went over the three pounds. In some of the Scandinavian 
 lakes we hear of them reaching extraordinary dimensions, 
 and in the Danube there are some that go into the teens of 
 pounds. The perch is blessed, or perhaps he would call it 
 cursed with a very large mouth, and sometimes it is wonder- 
 ful the bait he will go for, he must regulate the size of his 
 
Il6 THE PERCH. 
 
 quarry by the size of his mouth, and not by the size of his 
 stomach at all, for some odd times it would be an utter im- 
 possibility for him to swallow the bait he ran at. The most 
 extraordinary case that I ever heard off, was a little perch 
 of only five or six ounces running at and getting hooked on 
 a gigantic spoon, that a friend had purchased to use for 
 large pike in one of the Irish lakes. He laid the fish in 
 the bowl of the spoon, like a herring on a dish ; whatever 
 that perch took a six inch spoon to be, is merely a matter 
 of speculation. I have taken half and three quarter 
 pounders on pike baits, that it was utterly impossible for 
 him to swallow ; they seemed to me to be like the boy in 
 the nursery rhyme, whose eyes were bigger than his belly. 
 As a fish for the table perch are Ai, being remarkably firm, 
 white, and sweet in the flesh. It is not much good trying 
 to scrape the scales off ; the best plan to prepare them for 
 the table is to cut off the head, tail, and fins, remove the 
 insides, and wash them well inside and out, dry them 
 thoroughly with a cloth and drop them in a frying pan 
 among a liberal supply of boiling lard. As soon as they 
 are cooked sufficiently on one side turn them over, and re- 
 peat the dose on the other. The skin and scales will all 
 slip off together as soon as the cooking is completed. I 
 am wonderfully fond of a dish of good river perch, and 
 consider them better than a good fresh haddock, and equal 
 to a lemon sole. With regard to the rod, reel, line, and 
 tackle necessary for perch fishing, there is no need for any- 
 thing very special, except an odd item or two. for extra- 
 ordinary purposes. A good strong roach rod, eleven feet 
 long, or a decent chub rod with an extra short top for oc- 
 casional spinning, will be plenty good enough without run- 
 ning to the expense of a special rod for perch. The reel 
 also can be a plain, easy going Nottingham, three and a 
 half inches in diameter, or the centre pin reel I so carefully 
 described in the vol. on barbel and chub fishing. The 
 line also can be the stout roach or the chub line, say a 
 No. 7 or No. 6 at the outside, and of undressed plaited silk, 
 in fact, you cannot do better than use the rod, reel, and 
 line I describe in Vol. I for chubbing down the streams. 
 Perch tackle should be fairly fine, I don't recommend the 
 
THE PERCH. 
 
 117 
 
 very finest, four or five x drawn gut for stream fishing, al- 
 though it should not be any stouter than the finest refina, 
 undrawn quality. Hooks should be nearly as large as re- 
 commended for chub, say, Nos. 6, 7, and 8, and they can 
 either be round bends, crystals, or sneck bends, according 
 to fancy or the bait in use. Floats can be swan quill, some 
 six or seven inches long, capable of carrying half-a-dozen 
 B.B. split shot for use down lighter streams, and a pelican 
 quill or small Nottingham curved cork float, capable of 
 carrying ten to a dozen shots for work down the deeper, 
 heavier waters. A small pilot, say about three quarters of 
 an inch in diameter, a good deal like the one recommended 
 in live-baiting for pike, will also be extremely useful in 
 fishing the holes under the boughs or roots with a single 
 minnow. Tackle for worm fishing need not be much longer 
 than a yard, anyhow, I should say a gut line a yard long with 
 a loop at each end, and stained either a dark blue or a yel- 
 lowish brown will be capable of fishing nearly any place 
 that contains perch. Hooks to suit all purposes can be 
 carried securely whipped to fine single lengths of gut 
 stained the same colour as the main gut line. By having 
 your hook lengths separate, you can easily change the hook 
 should a different size or pattern be required for special 
 baits or purposes. The food of perch consists principally 
 of the small fry of most sorts of fresh-water fish. Although 
 he will take worms of various sorts, from a huge lobworm 
 down to a tiny cockspur ; I look upon him as being a fish 
 eater generally. Nor is he by any means confined to worms 
 and small fish, for he will sometimes go for a lump of cheese 
 paste intended for a chub, a bit of bread crust when roach 
 fishine^, or a bunch of gentles or cad-baits when fishing the 
 streams for dace, and even when raking the bottom for 
 gudgeon perch will take the tiny scrap of worm intended 
 for the smaller fish. But still, as I said before, I don't 
 look upon those baits as being his staple food. I have 
 dozens of times seen large perch on the feed, he gets on 
 the track of a bleak, chasing it right across the river and 
 all over the place, all the time close to the surface, chop- 
 ping at it with a splash a dozen or m.ore times until the 
 .poor bleak gets too exhausted to jump for freedom any 
 
Il8 THE PERCH. 
 
 more, it is almost sure to fall a victim at last, as I never yet 
 saw a bleak in the deep, quiet stretches of the Ouse succeed 
 in escaping from a perch, and I have watched the contests 
 some scores of times. I don't know as I need say anything 
 about fishing down the streams for perch with a worm, ex- 
 cept that the worm, be it tlie tail end of a lob or the suc- 
 culent marsh worm, or the red cockspur, should be clean 
 and well scoured, and swum down very near the bottom, 
 and let the swims be as long as possible, for it is a good 
 deal like roach fishing when water is clear; fine and far 
 off must be the order of the day. The instructions given 
 for roach fishing down the streams in Vol. 2 will fit in for 
 perch fishing exactly; a few scraps of clipped up worms 
 thrown in from time to time in the track of the float is all 
 that is required by way of ground bait. The only differ- 
 ence between roach and perch fishing in this style, and in 
 the summer and autumn months, is that in roaching we 
 generally stick to one place during the day, especially if it 
 is a well ground-baited swim, whereas in perch fishing it is 
 the best to rove about, throwing a few scraps of ground- 
 bait into every fresh place tried. A small fish, say a min- 
 now or a tiny gudgeon, in fact, anything not over two inches 
 long, will be found as good as anything that can be tried 
 during the autumn months, and these can be fished on 
 either a float tackle or a paternoster. The most common 
 paternoster in use is generally made of stout gut, with a 
 couple of bone runners at intervals in it ; fastene 1 to these 
 bone runners are single sneck bend hooks dressed on short 
 lengths of pig's bristles, while at the bottom is a pear shaped 
 lead of a size to suit the requirements of the stream. Some 
 anglers say that nothing else is so good as pigfs bristles to 
 dress the hooks on, as they always stick out straight from 
 the main gut line at right angles, whereas a bit of gut col- 
 lapses and hangs downwards. I don't know, I am sure, 
 because I never used a bristle in my life; I always found 
 a bit of stiff gut, about four inches long, plenty good 
 enough for me. The wav I like a paternoster to be made, 
 is to have a gut line, fairly fine, about one and a half yards 
 long, with a couple of those swivels (very small size, with an 
 extra eye in the side, same as recommended in the chapter 
 
TciE PERCH. 
 
 119 
 
 on pike fishing), about eighteen inches from each other, 
 the bottom swivel to be eighteen inches above the lead. 
 Into each of these swivels a stiff bit of gut, somewhat 
 thicker than the main line, is firmly whipped in such a 
 manner that they stiqk out at right angles; a bit of gut 
 about five inches long for each will do very well. On one 
 of these bits of gut a single round bend hook is whipped on 
 the extreme end for worms or similar baits; some anglers 
 only use a single hook for minnows, but I don't consider 
 it hardly sufficient. I like a tiny treble, one of the smallest 
 that is made whipped on the end, and a moveable lip hook 
 several sizes larger, say a No. 8 single, above it. In baiting 
 a minnow or tiny gudgeon, the moveable lip hook is put 
 through both lips of the bait, and the tiny treble is stuck 
 fair into the root of the tail, just where the flesh ends and 
 the tail fin begins. By having the lip hook moveable, it 
 can be adjusted to suit any sized bait. In using a small fish 
 on a single hook baited through both lips, you are obliged 
 to give a perch time to get it well into his mouth, or you 
 will fail to hook him. A perch generally seizes his prey 
 by the tail, and so by having a treble fixed there you can 
 safely tighten on him, as soon as you feel the first pluck. 
 Don't use a large treble that looks so awkward and clumsy 
 against the bait's tail, but get the smallest you can; you 
 may lose one or two runs by failing to hook firmly with 
 the little hook, but then, on the other hand, you get more 
 bites. I like one hook for minnows on my paternoster, and 
 the other for worms; the bottom one, in my opinion, is 
 the best for the former, and the top one for the latter. The 
 lead on the end of the paternoster should be no larger than 
 you can comfortably swing out, say fifteen yards on the 
 fine line you are using, and should be worked or dropped 
 into every available space in which you think a perch is 
 lurking ; if the place is open water and fairly deep, swing 
 the lead and baits out as far as you can and allow it to 
 touch the bottom, pause a few seconds, and then raise the 
 rod point, winding in a foot of line, and so on until you 
 have searched all the water between the furthest extent of 
 your cast and the rod point But whatever you do, don't 
 let the baits go down too deep, only let the lead rest on 
 
I20 THE PERCH. 
 
 the bottom and always keep the line as tight as possible. 
 All sorts of places can be searched by a ^atemoster, but 
 more particularly those places where the stream is deep and 
 strong, with a clear and wide expanse of water. When fish- 
 ing among the roots and under the boughs I prefer a float 
 tackle with only one set of hooks on, and this float can 
 either be a stout pelican quill or a small Nottingham cork^ 
 or the little pilot as before mentioned. Three or four fair 
 sized shots are distributed on the tackle at intervals, the 
 lowest one a foot or so from the hook. For hooks them- 
 selves I have a preference for the same as described on the 
 paternoster, and baited exactly the same way. The float 
 tackle is arranged so as to suit the depth of water, but I 
 should say if you can anyway hit it, if the bait is a foot to 
 I Sin. above the bottom, you stand the best chance. The 
 minnow is swum down by the edge of the boughs, or quietly 
 insinuated into any opening large enough among the roots,, 
 and the draw or strike should be made as soon as you feel 
 the first pluck of the fish. 
 
 Fig. 19. The Devon Minnow. 
 
 One of the best day's perch fishing I ever had was down 
 the Witham, fishing the boughs in this manner. I got 
 fifteen perch going nearly a pound apiece on the average^ 
 and three very decent chub, besides losing a few owing to 
 some veiy awkward places I tried in. A very simple plan 
 of carrying live minnows down to the river is by putting 
 them in a bottle among some clean cold water, one of those 
 sodawater bottles " without a bottom," as Andy called them,. 
 is as good as anything that can be employed ; a half-pint 
 bottle will accommodate two dozen minnows very well. 
 Cork them down and slip the bottle in your side pocket; 
 they will live very well corked down in a bottle. I suppose 
 
THE PERCH. 
 
 the jolting about during carriage keeps the water weH 
 aerated ; but still if two or three small triangular nicks are 
 cut into the cork, the chances of them living longer will be 
 all the better. It is a nuisance carrying a bait-can with a 
 
 Fig. 20. The Quill Minnow. 
 
 few minnows in, a bottle is far handier, you are not so liable 
 to empty the water into your pocket as you are with a can. 
 Small perch are sometimes taken with an artificial fly. A 
 little Zulu with a red tag appears to be the favourite ; but 
 it is very little good, or, indeed, I should suppose hardly 
 any anglers go after perch specially with the fly. When they 
 are captured it is generally when dace fishing across the 
 shallows and streamy backwaters, and looked upon as 
 merely an accident ; but still I have known as many as a 
 dozen perch to be landed during a single evening on the 
 fly. 
 
 With regard to spinning for perch, this, in my opinion, 
 is only a very sorry business, and not so safe as either worm 
 fishing or patemostering. It is true a few odd ones are 
 got now and again by that plan, but this game is apt to be 
 
 Fig. 21. The Spiral Minnow. 
 
 a little expensive. You are in all probability using an arti- 
 ficial that cost from one to two shillings, and small jack will 
 persist in running at them and quietly severing the gut with 
 their teeth, and if this happens two or three times during 
 
122 THE PERCH. 
 
 a day, why the game is hardly worth the candle. It is as 
 well where small jack abound to have four or five inches of 
 fine gimp close up to the swivel of the minnow, or whatever 
 else you are using. Almost any small artificial from one 
 to two inches long will do for perch, such as spoons, 
 Devons, phantoms, spirals, Caledonians, etc., and once I 
 saw a spinning ai'rangement on which a lob worm was fixed. 
 This, I fancy, was named " The Jigger," and was a pretty 
 fair success. I give here two or three illustrations of arti- 
 
 FiG. 22. The Phantom Minnow. 
 
 ficials that are about as good as anything that can be tried 
 for perch, but I say again that it is not a very brilliant plan 
 to fill a bag with large perch. 
 
 I must now bring this part of my experiences and in- 
 structions to a close, and trust I have made myself perfectly 
 understood, so that no one, however inexperienced, who is 
 anxious to learn, can possibly make a mistake. 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
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