yards with a gorge-bait, and five-and-thirty with a lighter spinning bait. No great advantage is gained by long throws, however, as in rivers the fish generally lie under the shelter of the bank or adjacent weeds. You then pull the line in with the left hand a yard at a time as you lift the bait up, until the latter is close to the side, when it is ready for a fresh throw. Take it out slowly, as a pike often seizes it at the last moment. If you see a pike take it or feel a check, give the fish free line, and let him take the bait where he likes. When he comes to a stop, give him about seven minutes to gorge, and then tighten your line, and if he has not rejected the bait upon a closer examination of it, you will hook him.

A pike seizes the bait across the middle, and then turns it head downwards to swallow it. If he is hungry and your bait is not stale, he will in seven or eight minutes' time have got it sufficiently far down his gullet to be hooked. If he is not hungry he will hold it between his jaws as long as you like to let him do so, and longer than you will care to wait. If he moves away a little before the time is up, he will most probably be hooked; but if he moves about uneasily from the beginning, you must give him more time. He will not swallow while he is moving about. If he is hooked, he is generally safely hooked, for the steel is fleshed in his gullet or his stomach. Get him out as quickly as you can, and knock him on the head. To extract your hook, unloose the trace from the line, open the gills, or make an incision in the belly, where the bait appears to be, and draw it out that way. Meddle with his mouth as little as possible, for his teeth will inflict very nasty scratches.

A fish often takes the bait very quietly, and you may think that you have only fouled a weed. In such a case, just keep a light strain on your line for a few seconds, and if it is a fish, you will feel a jerk or two.

Spinning is a more artistic method of fishing than trolling. There are many kinds of flights of hooks used, but I shall briefly describe three. The first is that brought out by Mr. Pennell, and is shown, together with the mode of baiting it, in the illustration.

The lip-hook, c, slides up and down the gimp to suit the length of the bait. The triangle, a, is what is called a "flying" one, i.e., it hangs loose. An additional one, B, can be added if the angler chooses. Mr. Pennell says that one large triangle is sufficient, and claims that fewer fish are missed with it than with any other form of tackle. This is not in accord with my experience, for I have missed more with it than with any other, and I have given up using it. The object of crooking the tail is to make the bait spin round while it is being drawn through the water, so as to conceal the hook and make its movement more attractive. The lip-hook is put through the under lip first, unless the bait be a gudgeon, when it should be put through the upper lip first.

The next illustration shows the Francis tackle and the method of baiting it. This is a neater and better tackle than the other, and is very good for fine fishing, but it is not so good as the third. This is a tackle which I used when a boy on the Shropshire meres, but I did not know that it had any specific name until I saw in Mr. Francis's book that it was called the Chapman Spinner.

It has a brass needle with a pair of bent fans at the top: these are to give the spinning motion. One triangle on one side, and two on the other, constitute its armament. The gimp from both sets of triangles passes through the loop of the wire. To bait it the needle is thrust down the bait until its cheeks lie close against the fans. The top triangles are hooked in on both sides, and the bait is ready with little trouble. In the old tackles the triangles used to be fastened by the gimp to the loop at the head of the wire, and the bait often worked loose; but by the gimp passing through the loop (an improvement by a Mr. Wood), the fish is kept tight up to the fans. I do not like single triangled flights. It is said by their advocates that a pike will generally take the single set into its mouth; all that I can say is that I generally meet with the exceptions. With three triangles kept sharp I do not often miss a fish which runs fairly. Feel the points of your hooks often, and if they are turned or blunted, touch them up with a fine polishing file. Keeping the hooks sharp, and hard striking to drive them

into the hard and bony mouth of the pike, are the two things to remember in spinning.

Above the flight is the trace, which should be a yard of gimp of strength suited to the tackle and expected fish. A foot above the flight should be a loop, which can be taken off and put on a hook swivel, which comes next, thus permitting the flight to be changed without taking the rest of the trace off. A foot above that should be another swivel, and then the lead. The lead should have all

its weight on one side so as to prevent its turning over, and to force

the swivels to act. The use of such leads, and the keeping the swivels well oiled, will prevent the "kinking" of the line, which many a time has driven an angler to the verge of distraction. The "Field" lead, shown in the cut in the chapter on spinning for trout, is the best of leads. At the end of the trace is a loop by which the trace can be fastened to the running-line.

Now supposing your flight baited and attached to the trace, and the trace to the line, take your stand by the water's-side, with the butt of the rod resting against your right groin, and the right hand grasping it about a foot above the ferule. Uncoil a sufficient quantity of line on the ground at your feet, draw the line in through the rings with your left hand until the bait hangs about a yard and a half from the point of the rod; swing the rod gently backwards and sideways to the left, and then more sharply forwards and with