THE BOOK OF THE PIKE 



place unheralded is so great that an angler will be more 

 than likely to frighten a fish to the bottom. More 

 than once, just at the edge of night, I have let my 

 boat down to the head of such a pool by the aid of a 

 long rope, and so circumvented the wary old denizens, 

 to my great joy and sport. I can assure the reader 

 there is an abundance of sport in a twelve-pound great 

 pike at the end of loo feet of line attached to a reel 

 on a twelve-ounce rod. Take my word for it, you will 

 be required to call upon all your skill and angling 

 knowledge to bring such a fish to gaff. Always my 

 method is to fish out the near water first, covering 

 carefully and without haste all the pool until the far 

 corners are reached. I should emphasize ^^ without 

 haste.' ^ Perhaps more fish are frightened from our 

 lures by our overeagerness than by any lack of skill 

 on our part, a statement which is true of all angling. 

 The old fable of the hare and the tortoise is very appli- 

 cable to the angling game. Then, too, the fisherman 

 who has learned how to make haste slowly has dis- 

 covered the great secret of enjoyment, as well as of 

 success. Where others hurry, I often loiter — and catch 

 fish. 



I have had but poor success wading for great pike, 

 for waters containing fish worth while are seldom 

 shallow enough for wading. I fished one lake once 

 where there was what might be termed a ledge of 

 clay some two hundred feet or so from the shore, over 

 the edge of which the water was probably in the 

 neighborhood of forty feet deep. There were no 

 marging weeds of any variety. However, the lake was 

 alive, literally, with medium-sized great pike (from 

 three to six pounds), and standing near the edge of 



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