THE BOOK OF THE PIKE 



appeared, so far as I know, dealing exclusively with 

 the family. Much has been written of the lordly 

 muskellunge. It is a "lordly fish," if we are to believe 

 the magazine writers, and we will not disagree with 

 them; but if the muskellunge is a noble fish, why, in 

 the name of all that is reasonable, is not the great 

 pike — by which name I propose to designate the large 

 pike we all know — ^just as noble, pound for pound? 

 That the muskellunge, pound for pound, is one whit 

 more gamy than the great pike I will not for a moment 

 admit. So you see, I may get into trouble right here 

 in the introduction. 



What I hope to do, in addition to giving some in- 

 formation on tackle and methods of angling, is to help 

 clear up the matter of names ; enable the angler to tell 

 the difference between pickerel, pike, and muskellunge, 

 impressing upon him over and over again that the 

 so-called "wall-eyed pike" is not a pike at all, but a 

 perch; tell him what I have learned of the habits of 

 the various pikes, and of the tackle employed for their 

 capture. It is a "large order," and it will take some 

 time to fill it, but we have all the time there is. 



The Author. 



12 



