THE BOOK OF THE PIKE 



sport, though I am under the impression that still- 

 fishing is uniformly unsuccessful.* The great pike is 

 as muoh the caster's fish as is the famous black bass, 

 and the casting of live bait is, to my mind, the method 

 that will take the sly old denizen of avoirdupois and 

 experience, suspicious of unnatural lures and spoons. 

 If the reader knows of some "Old Arthur" that has 

 successfully defied the caster of lures, my best advice 

 tp him is, try live bait — minnow, frog, or mouse. 



Always the rodster should exhaust his fish before 

 attempting to net or gaff. The heavy fish should be 

 stunned before either is used. A revolver or pistol is a 

 handy thing to have, lacking which, a good, thick 

 club may be made to serve, though it should be handled 

 with care. A blow across the line or leader is disastrous. 

 I watched a man playing a good great pike in Lake 

 Superior, a large one (there are some big ones taken 

 from its cold waters) and liberate his capture by a 

 misdirected blow. "How did it ever happen?" Easy 

 enough. The fish was not thoroughly exhausted, and 

 when the fisherman struck, the fish flopped, and that 

 was the end of the stjory. Be sure the great pike is 

 played until played out. A gaff is a better landing 

 tool than a net, obviously, and it should be well made, 

 strong of hook, throat, and haft. 



Let no one laugh at the user of live bait for great 

 pike. He is the man that will get the large fish, all 

 else being equal, as will be emphasized times without 

 number probably throughout this work, whether he 

 angles for pickerel, great pike, or muskellunge. Three 

 times in my experience I have won out where others 



♦See Appendix II, "Still Fishing with Live Bait."- 

 86 



