144 Bass, Pike, and Perch 



but will take it if allowed to sink a foot or two 

 after casting. Many years ago, in Wisconsin, I 

 devised the " polka " black-bass fly, and on its 

 first trial, at the very first cast, it was seized by a 

 pike of six pounds. The polka has a body of red 

 floss silk, with spotted wings of the guinea fowl. 

 I have frequently taken the pike with other red- 

 bodied flies, as the Abbey, red ibis, king of the 

 water, and Montreal, but the polka was always 

 the favorite. Flies with bodies of peacock harl, 

 as coachman, Henshall, Governor Alvord, etc., 

 are very useful, as well as some with yellow 

 bodies, as professor, queen of the water, and 

 Lord Baltimore. The afternoon hours, especially 

 toward sundown and until dusk, are the most 

 promising for fly-fishing. Large flies are also 

 successfully used in trolling for pike, from a 

 rather slow-moving boat. For fuller instructions 

 for fly-fishing the reader is referred to those 

 given for the black-bass, which will answer very 

 well for the pike, especially where the two fishes 

 inhabit the same waters. 



Fishing through the ice for pike or pickerel 

 has quite a fascination for some persons, even for 

 those who never fish in any other way. And 

 there is a certain kind of enjoyment in it, though 



