Chapter II 



Literature and History 



"The mighty Luce or Pike is taken to be the Tyrant, as the 

 Salmon is the King, of the fresh waters. 'Tis not to be doubted 

 but that they are bred, some by generation and some not: as, 

 namely, of a weed called Pickerel- weed, unless learned Gesner 

 be much mistaken: for he says, this weed and other glutinous 

 matter, with the help of the Sun's heat in some particular months, 

 and some ponds apted for it by nature, do become Pike. But 

 doubtless divers Pikes are bred after this manner, or are brought 

 into some ponds some such other ways as are past man's finding 

 out, of which we have daily testimonies." — The Compleat Angler. 



IN comparison with the Old World, there is a dearth 

 of American literature upon the subject of the pike 

 family; indeed, I know of no single work dealing 

 with the pickerel, pike, and muskellunge alone. Here 

 and there, as in McCarthy's "Familiar Fish," Rhead's 

 "The Book of Fish and Fishing," Henshall's "Favorite 

 Fish and Fishing" and "Bass, Pike, Perch and Other 

 Game Fishes of America," Rhead's "Bait Angling 

 for Common Fishes," Dixie Carroll's "Lake and 

 Stream Fishing," and books of that ilk, we find 

 short chapters dealing with one or all members 

 of the family, but that is about all. Upon the 

 scientific side of the question we find such brief 

 articles as those in Jordan and Evermann's "American 

 Food and Game Fishes" and Goode's "American 

 Fishes." Then there are bulletins from the United 

 States Fish Commission and those states that have 

 undertaken to propagate the pikes. Good as all the 

 foregoing are, they are not complete enough to satisfy 



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