tie the tail to the gimp, which will not only keep it in a proper position, but prevent the tail from catching against weeds and roots in the water; thus baited, the hook is to be fastened to the line, and dropt gently in the water, near the sides of the river, across the water, or where it is likely Pike resort; keep the bait in constant motion, sometimes letting it sink near the bottom, and gradually raising it; the Angler need not make more than two or three trials in a place, for if a Pike be there, he will within that time bite, if he means to do so; when the bait is taken, if at a depth too great to see, it will easily be ascertained by the line being drawn tight, and by some resistance; let the Pike have what line he chooses, it will be soon known when he has reached his harbour by his not drawing more; allow from five to ten minutes for his gorging the bait, wind up the line gently until the Pike is seen, (which he will permit, though he has not gorged,) should the bait be across his mouth, give more time, but if he has swallowed, manage him with a gentle hand, keeping him however from roots and stumps, which he will try to fasten the line upon; in clear water, veer out line until he is sufficiently tired, and a landing-net can be used, but by no means, however apparently exhausted, attempt to lift him out with the rod and line only, for the moment he quits the water, he will open his mouth, and from his own weight tear the hook from his stomach, and the fish will be lost to the Angler, altho' it must inevitably perish. In trolling, the bait should never be thrown too far, in small rivers the opposite bank may be fished with ease, and the violence of its fall upon the water in extensive throws, soon spoils the bait by rubbing off its scales, and alarms the Pike, instead of enticing him. The bead hook is used by putting the lead into the mouth of the live bait and sewing it up, the fish will live some time, and notwithstanding the lead, will swim with the support he receives from the line, with nearly the same ease as if at liberty; this is the most successful way of tempting the Pike. Pike are to be allured by a large bait, but a small one is more certain to take them; never suffer weeds to hang upon the hook or bait when recast into the water, and which cannot touch the surface too softly. Always prefer a rough wind, and when the stream is clear, for trolling ; Pike never bite in white water after rain, &c. If a Pike goes slowly up the stream after taking the bait, it is said to be a signal of a good fish. The largest Pike ever known to be caught by trolling, was in Scotland, in the year 1784, by Colonel THORNTON, an engraving of this fish is given, which wanted only two ounces of fifty pounds weight, he was an hour and a quarter upon the line, before he submitted to his fate, nor would the tackle have held him, altho' purposely prepared for large fisli, had not the Colonel been in a boat upon the lake, and by that means enabled to humour the Pike's struggles to escape. Upon the belly, in the print, may be seen a small speck, which was a wound from whence was taken a hook he had swallowed and broke away with ten years before, (from a person who ascertained the fact,) and which had then worked itself nearly through the skin, for upon the discoloured part being pressed, the hook appeared and was extracted from eye to fork this fish was 4 feet 1 inch, extreme length 4 feet 9 inches, depth 11/1/2/ The next Pike in size to the foregoing, taken by the troll, was in December 1792, by Mr. Bint, in the Pool at Packington, (the Earl of Aylesford's,) being from eye to fork 2 feet 11, full length 3 feet 104, circumference 1 foot 10 inches, and weighed thirty-four pounds and three quarters. Sir CECIL WRAY's Pike, caught in June 1799, at the draining off the water from the lake at his seat at Summer Castle, in Lincolnshire, weighed 47b gross, 361b after being cleaned, of eatable meat, was 48+ inches long, and 2 feet 2 inches in circumference; this fish must have got into the lake when very small, and had acquired this enormous size in twenty-two years, for at that time the lake was laid dry. Sir |