THE BOOK OF THE PIKE 



three-ounce rod will put up a battle that will surprise 

 one who has never essayed the game. A chapter on 

 fly-fishing for pickerel will find place in this book 

 later on. 



I desire my reader to disabuse himself as far as 

 possible of all preconceived notions, ideas, and preju- 

 dices and approach this whole subject with a mind 

 open to conviction. If I do not convince him that I 

 am right in my conclusions, likes, and dislikes, I shall 

 at least have the satisfaction of knowing that I have 

 supplied him with some not easily secured informa- 

 tion. Ever since a boy I have been a student of fishes, 

 in later years something of a biologist as well as angler, 

 almost as much interested in how the animal is built 

 as in its capture. Unless you have a penchant for 

 scalpel and dissecting knife, know that you can never 

 be certain of the identity of any given fish. The 

 ichthyologist must ever agree with the poet — 'Things 

 are not what they seem." As "beauty is only skin- 

 deep," so the markings of a fish are only on the surface, 

 and specific rank depends upon anatomical differences 

 and not mere coloration. 



Before I close this chapter I wish to say a word or 

 two for the articles appearing in the various outdoor 

 magazines upon fishing for members of the pike 

 family. Probably the very best and latest information 

 is to be found in the outdoor periodicals. I planned 

 to give a list of articles that had been a help and 

 inspiration to me, but within a year such a list would 

 be antiquated. But read outdoor magazines, bind 

 them, or at least make scrapbooks, and in due time 

 you will possess a veritable encyclopaedia of fishing. 



3^ 



