Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 3, Anatomy-Astronomy

ANGLING.
Angling, above the fork to the gimp, with a silk or cotton thread;
■^or a neater method is, to pass the needle and thread
through the side of the bait, about half an inch above the
tail, so as to encircle the gimp in the interior. The baits
used vary in weight from one to four ounces, and the hooks
must be proportioned to the size of the fish with which
they are baited. The barbs of the hook ought not to pro¬
ject much beyond the sides of the mouth, because, as the
pike generally seizes his prey crosswise, and turns it be¬
fore it is pouched or swallowed, if he feels the points of
the hook he may cast it out entirely.
In trolling for pike, it is advised to keep as far from the
water as possible, and to commence casting close by the
near shore, with the wind blowing from behind. When
the water is clear and the weather bright, some prefer to
fish against the wind. “ After trying closely,” says Mr
Salter, “ make your next throw further in the water, and
draw and sink the baited hook, drawing it straight up¬
wards near to the surface of the water, and also to right
and left, searching carefully every foot of water; and draw
your bait with the stream, because you must know that
jack and pike lay in wait for food with their heads and
eyes pointing up the stream, to catch what may be com¬
ing down ; therefore experienced trollers fish a river or
stream down, or obliquely across; but the inconsiderate
as frequently troll against the stream, which is improper,
because they then draw their baited hook behind either
jack or pike when they are stationary, instead of bringing
it before his eyes and mouth to tempt him. Note.—Be
particularly careful, in drawing up or taking the baited
hook out of the water, not to do it too hastily, because you
will find by experience that the jack and pike strike or
seize your bait more frequently when you are drawing it
upwards than when it is sinking. And also further observe,
that when drawing your bait upwards, if you occasionally
shake the rod, it will cause the bait to spin and twist
about, which is very likely to attract either jack or pike.”1
These fish are partial to the bends of rivers and the
bays of lakes, where the water is shallow, and abounding
in weeds, reeds, water lilies, &c. In fishing with the gorge
hook, and the angler feels a run, he ought not to strike
for several minutes after the fish has become stationary,
lest he pull the bait away before it is fairly pouched. If
a pike makes a very short run, then remains stationary for
about a minute, and again makes one or two short runs,
he is probably merely retiring to some quiet haunt before
he swallows the bait; but if, after remaining still for three
or four minutes, he begins to shake the line and move
about, the inference is that he has pouched the bait, and
feels some annoyance from the hook within, then such
part of the line as has been slackened may be wound up,
and the fish struck. It is an unsafe practice to lay down
the rod during the interval between a run and the sup¬
posed pouching of the bait, because it not unfrequently
happens that a heavy fish, when he first feels the hooks in
his interior, will make a sudden and most violent rush up
the river or along the lake, and the line is either instantly
broken, or is carried, together with both the rod and reel,
for ever beyond the angler’s reach. “ When the pike
cometh, says Colonel Venables, “ you may see the water
move, at least you may feel him; then slack your line
and give him length enough to run away to his hould,
whither he will go directly, and there pouch it, ever be¬
ginning (as you may observe) with the head, swallowing
nit rst. Thus let him lye untill you see the line move in
159
the water, and then you may certainly conclude he hath Angling.
pouched your bait, and rangeth about for more;
with your trow wind up your line till you think you have
it almost streight, then with a smart jerk hook him, and
make your pleasure to your content.”2
The fresher and cleaner the bait is kept, whether for
trolling, hve-bait, or snap-fishing, the greater is the
chance of success.
As pike, notwithstanding their usual voracity, are some¬
times, as the anglers phrase it, more on the play than
the feed, they will occasionally seize the bait across the
body, and, instead of swallowing it, blow it from them re¬
peatedly and then take no further notice of it. The skil¬
ful and wily angler must instantly convert his gorge into
a snap, and strike him in the lips or jaws when he next
attempts such dangerous amusement. The dead snap
may be made either with two or four hooks. (See Plate
XLI. fig. 21.) Take about twelve inches of stout gimp,
make a loop at one end, at the other tie a hook (size No.
2), and about an inch farther up the gimp tie another
hook of the same dimensions; then pass the loop of the
gimp into the gill of a dead bait-fish, and out at its mouth,
and draw the gimp till the hook at the bottom comes just
behind the back fin of the bait, and the point and barb
are made to pierce slightly through its skin, which keeps
the whole steady: now pass the ring of a drop-bead lead
over the loop of the gimp, fix the lead inside the bait’s mouth,
and sew the mouth up. (See Plate XLI. fig. 22.) This will
suffice for the snap with a couple of hooks. If the four-
hooked snap is desired (and it is very killing), take a piece
of stout gimp about four inches long, and making a loop at
one end, tie a couple of hooks of the same size, and in the
same manner as those before described. After the first two
and the lead are in their places, and previous to the sewing
up of the mouth, pass the loop of the shorter gimp through
the opposite gill, and out at the mouth of the bait; then
draw up the hooks till they occupy a position correspond¬
ing to those of the other side: next pass the loop of the
longer piece of gimp through that of the shorter, and pull
all straight: finally, tie the two pieces of gimp together
close to the fish’s mouth, and sew the latter up.
Some anglers prefer fishing for pike with a floated line
and a live bait. When a single hook is used for this pur¬
pose, it is baited in one or other of the two following ways:
Either pass the point and barb of the hook through the
lips of the bait, towards the side of the mouth, or through
beneath the base of the anterior portion of the dorsal fin.
(See Plate XLI. fig. 25.) When a double hook is used
take a baiting needle, hook its curved end into the loop of
the gimp, and pass its point beneath the skin of the bait
from behind the gills upwards in a sloping direction, bring¬
ing it out behind the extremity of the dorsal fin; then
draw the gimp till the bend of the hooks are brought to
the place where the needle entered, and attach the loop
to the trolling line. (See Plate XLI. fig. 23.) Unless a
kind of snap-fishing is intended, the hooks for the above
purpose should be of such a size as that neither the points
nor the barbs project beyond either the shoulder or the
belly of the bait.
Snap-fishing is certainly a less scientific method of ang¬
ling for pike than that with the gorge or live bait; for
when the hooks are baited the angler casts in search,
draws, raises, and sinks his bait, until he feels a bite. He
then strikes with violence, and drags or throws his victim
on shore; for there is little fear of his tackle giving way,
mo T?'!r by T. F. Salter, Lond. 1820. In the work above quoted will be found a full account of the necessary imple-
n^s, and the most approved practice, in this department of the art.
I he Experienced Angler, p. 36. Third edit. Lond. 1668.