THE BOOK OF THE PIKE 



killed his victim. This tenaciousness is a characteristic 

 of the whole pike family. Again and again great pike 

 have been brought to gaff when untouched by the 

 hook, simply because they would not let go the bait. 

 I have fastened a knot of red-and-white cloth to a 

 trolling-line and captured pike without a hook, a not 

 at all difficult feat. 



Added to the fish's insatiable appetite, wolfish 

 ferocity, and bulldog tenacity, is a liking for solitude. 

 The larger the fish, the more he is inclined to a hermit 

 life, save at the spawning season. I am tempted to 

 believe that both great pike and muskellunge have 

 "homes" and well-defined hunting grounds, but moje 

 of the matter further along. As soon as the ice goes 

 out, great pike feel the urge of procreation, and seek 

 out the shallows and marshes to spawn. During the 

 spring freshets when creeks and rivers are out of their 

 banks, pike may be found well inland. The size of 

 the fish is often a revelation. From a **fished-out" 

 lake will come eight-, ten-, and fifteen-pound "lunkers,** 

 not singly or in pairs, but dozens and scores. Where 

 they keep themselves during the open fishing season is 

 a problem for anglers to solve. Around the marge of 

 a certain Wisconsin lake and out on the overflowed 

 marshes at the outlet I have seen some sights to 

 gladden the eyes of the lover of great pike fishing. 

 Yet, when spawning was over, the weather warm, and 

 the season open, one would have to fish hard early 

 and late in order to take a pair of medium-sized fish. 



It is while the fish are spawning that the spearers 

 and illegal fishers generally get in their nefarious work. 

 As a boy I have hunted pickerel on the marshes, the 

 result being a wetting and a severe cold, for I was seldom 



