Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/45

Rh on to the hook; the bait, if properly adjusted, spins pretty well. Some anglers, however, cut a slice out of the back from before the dorsal fin down to the tail, leaving a small part of the tail and only part of the belly, and by adjust ing this on hooks suited to it, it rather more resembles the natural fish. These baits are used exactly like the minnow.

In fishing for larger trout, as the large lake trout or the Salmo ferox, the method generally adopted is that of trailing. Here a small trout or par is used on the three- triangle tackle already mentioned above. The line is weighted according to the depth of the water, and the boat is rowed slowly along, some 30 or 40 yards of line being let out, so as to permit the bait to sink and to tow some distance astern. Two rods are chiefly employed for this sport one being placed at each corner of the stern of the boat, and each having on a different bait, weighted differently, and with a longer or shorter line out, so as to give any fish inclined to feed a double chance. The proper line to take for these large trout when moving along the shores of a lake is just where the water begins to go off between the deep and the shallow; and the bait should travel as near to the bottom as it can, without catching in weeds or stumps ; as, though fish will frequently rise some distance to a bait, it is not desirable to compel them to do so. When a big lake trout strikes, he usually runs heavily, and bores down to the very depths of the loch, showing fine sport. They frequently run to a large size, reaching 16 and 18 Ib weight, and sometimes heavier. They are, however, better for the table when 4 or 5 Ib. The small lake trout are spun for by trailing a minnow in the same way, but an shallower water ; and often when the fish are dull at the fly, they take well on the trail. There are various artificial baits used for spinning, some of them imitating fish of different kinds, and made of bone, horn, gutta-percha, mother-of-pearl, glass, and other substances. One of the best and most generally known and used is the " phantom bait/ invented and made by Mr Brown of Aberdeen. It is made of oiled silk, and painted to represent a small trout or par ; being cylindrical, when drawn against the stream, it fills with water and plumps out to the size of a fish ; when seized, however, it compresses to a mere rag of oiled silk, leaving nothing but the hooks in the fish s mouth. There are various other spinning-baits which do not exactly imitate any fish, as spoons, otters, kill-devils, &c.

Live Baiting. The plan pursued in this kind of fishing for pike is generally to use either what is termed " live snap or gorge tackle." In the former, the object is to strike as soon as the pike takes the bait into his mouth ; in the latter, to allow him to swallow or gorge it. In both cases a float is used. This is usually a lump of cork nearly as large as a hen s egg, to carry a good-sized bait. The bait used generally is either a small roach, dace, or gudgeon ; failing these, any other that can be obtained. The best kind of snap tackle may be seen in fig. 6. In the cut it consists of a single hook and a triangle. The single hook is hooked through the root of the dorsal fin of a small roach, dace, or gudgeon, and the triangle hangs down at the side of the bait, as shown in fig. 7. Now, when a pike first seizes a bait he takes it across his mouth, so that while the head and tail appear outside his jaws on either side, the whole of the middle parts of the body are well within them ; and, as will be seen from the position of the hooks, they will most probably be within the pike s mouth also; consequently, as soon as the pike has had time to take the bait so arranged into his mouth, the angler strikes smartly, and very often hooks his fish and lands him. It will of course happen sometimes that the triangle is not well in the fish s mouth, in which case either the fish is missed altogether, or, being very slightly hooked, he breaks away. Another method of using the live bait is what is termed the " live gorge." In this case a pair of hooks, tied back to back, are used. The loop of the gimp on which they are tied is hooked into a long needle, called a baiting needle. (See fig. 8, which shows the hooks and the needle.) This is inserted under the skin at the shoulder of the bait, and carried down just under the skin, towards the tail, being brought out just behind the dorsal fin. The gimp is drawn through, and the hooks stand as shown in the illustration. (See fig. 9.) In the illustration the loop is hung on to the trace, and the tackle used as in ordinary live bait fishing ; only, when a pike takes the bait he is allowed to gorge it before the angler strikes, being permitted to go where he will with the bait, and ten minutes being allowed for him to gorge or pouch, as it is termed. This is a tedious method of fishing, and is only used for pike, as often the fish runs the line foul of some weed, and leaves the bait ; or, after mumbling it and killing it, refuses to gorge, and the constant waiting whenever there is a run is wearisome. But as there is less show of hooks, more runs are obtained in clear water than with the live snap tackle. Another method of using the live bait is with the paternoster, though this is chiefly used with minnow or small fry for perch fishing. It is, however, sometimes used for pike, when a gimp tackle is preferred and only two hooks used. For perch fishing, the paternoster simply consists of a line of gut about 4 or 5 feet long ; at the bottom of this is a leaden bullet or plummet to sink it to the bottom ; about 6 or 8 inches above this a hook, on some 6 inches of gut, is fastened ; a foot above this another hook is fixed on, and a foot above that again, a third. This third hook is often a gimp hook, when pike and perch are found in common, and a rather larger hook and bait are used, so that if a pike should come to the bait, there may be a fair chance of capturing him. A minnow being hooked through the lips on each of the other hooks, the tackle is dropped into an eddy where perch are supposed to be, and the three baits swim round and round the main line ; so that, no matter whether the fish are resting at the bottom or searching for their prey in mid-water, they may be attracted. As soon as there is a bite from a perch the angler feels it at the rod-point, slackens line for two seconds to let the fish get the minnow well into his mouth, and then strikes. Should the immediate neighbourhood not afford a bite, the tackle is cast to a distance, and after being allowed to rest for a minute, it is drawn in a few feet, when another cast is made, and then another draw, until the tackle is worked up on the boat or bank, when another cast is made. In the winter, after the floods, very many perch are caught in this way on the Thames, from 100 to 200 in a day being not very uncommonly taken. Trolling with the dead gorge is another way of fishing ; and this is employed chiefly when the water is full of thick weeds and rush-beds, which prevent either spinning or live bait fishing, and solely also for pike. An elon gated piece of lead is cast on to a bit of twisted brass wire, which has a couple of hooks similar to those on a live bait gorge tackle at the other end (fig. 10) ; a gudgeon (which is the best bait for the purpose) to suit the length of the lead is chosen ; the loop of the gimp, to which the brass wire is fastened, is slipped into the eye of a baiting needle. The needle is passed in at the mouth of the bait and down along the spine, out at the tail. The lead being drawn into the stomach of the bait, the two hooks lie on each side of the mouth. The tail is tied tightly on to the gimp with three or four laps of silk, to prevent it from slipping (see fig. 11), and the tackle and bait fastened on to the trace used, which is usually a yard of gimp, with one