98 MALACOP. ABDOM. PIKE FAMILY. 



tised in the Scotch lochs. " Set lines," says Mr. Col- 

 quhoun, " is the most deadly way to capture Pike, 

 and this either with a long line with many hooks, 

 or Avith single hooks fixed to a bottle, or other 

 equal buoyant float. After very tightly corking the 

 bottles, and fastening the cord to them, long, accord- 

 ing to the depth of the water, fix your baited hook. 

 The best time for this amusement is on one of those 

 delicious evenings with scarcely a breath of air, 

 when the shadow of the mountain becomes more 

 imposing on the unrippled loch, and twilight be- 

 gins to steal over the scene. Let the hour of the 

 beetle be your warning bell. Having arranged your 

 tackle, place them orderly in a light two-oared boat, 

 and row to the weedy bay. You will now drop 

 them, one by one, about twenty yards apart, out- 

 side the weeds, between the shallow and the deep. 

 The Pike has been basking all the sultry day in the 

 shallows, and are just emerging from their grey 

 covering in search of food. The first object that ar- 

 rests their hungry eyes and craving stomachs is 

 your tantalizing bait, suspended at such a distance 

 from the surface as to excite no apprehension, and 

 perfectly still. With avidity it is seized and pouched ; 

 down goes the bottle : scarcely perhaps has it dis- 

 appeared, when another follows its example; and 

 it is nothing uncommon to have four or five all bub- 

 bling up and down at the same time. ' The sport' 

 now begins, the angler stretching to his oars, first 

 after one, then another, as they alternately rise and 

 sink. If large Pike are hooked, they will often 



