THE BOOK OF THE PIKE 



repenting. One should cast exactly as in bass fly- 

 fishing, allowing the flies to settle well in the water 

 before reeling in, and reel slowly with a right and left 

 jerking motion unless the current prevents. Which 

 leads me to say that if the river possesses much cur- 

 rent, the fish will be found in pools above jams, in 

 eddies and elbows of the stream. Cast upstream and 

 reel with the current. Do not hurry. The fish has 

 all the time there is and so have you, or you would not 

 be fishing. 



You will often see, as in bait casting, the little fellow 

 following the fly in, a trick he may repeat again and 

 again. Do not worry or become overly anxious for 

 him to strike; he is only investigating. More than 

 once I have compelled the fish to "take" by simply 

 drawing the fly through the water quite rapidly and 

 then stopping suddenly, the result being that the 

 pickerel would take the fly instantly, overrun it, as it 

 were, to all appearances without intending to do so. 



Not always, however, is a pickerel hooked when the 

 fly is mouthed. The fish has an armor-plated mouth, 

 not easily penetrated by the hook. The angler must 

 **set" the hook with an exaggerated "wrist motion." 

 Swing the rod sharply to the right or left, as the case 

 may demand, against the current if possible. Always 

 keep control of the fly. A slack line is suicidal so far 

 as "net results" are concerned. The only place for 

 haste in pickerel fly-fishing is when the fish has over- 

 run the hook; then strike instantly, upon the fraction 

 of a second, or the lure will be rejected. Verily there 

 is more to the game than first appears, and, wanting 

 better sport, it is rare fun. 



I well remember a shallow pond in North Minne- 

 54 



