Chapter IX 



Ice- Fishing for Great Pike 



"The fishermen sit by their camp fire of rotten pine wood, 

 so wet and chilly that even smoke in their eyes is a kind of com- 

 fort. There thev sit, ever and anon scanning their reels to see 

 if they have fallen, and, if not catching any fish, still getting 

 what they went for, though they may not be aware of it, i. e., 

 a wilder experience than the town affords."— Thoreaui Journal. 



THERE is no fresh-water game fish which lends 

 itself more admirably to the requirements of the 

 winter fisherman than do great pike and pickerel, 

 though of course the former is the preferred fish, be- 

 cause of larger size and greater toothsomeness. I pre- 

 sume any fish that will take live bait in summer can 

 be caught in winter, provided the eager angler knows 

 where to look for them. This does not apply to the 

 black bass in the North, for they become semi-dormant 

 with the arrival of cold weather, though I once took 

 a large-mouth in Wisconsin in January when fishing 

 through the ice for great pike. Probably more anglers 

 seek the ubiquitous perch and unimportant members 

 of the sunfish family than go in quest of the larger 

 pikes, thinking no doubt that the former are more 

 readily taken through the ice in midwinter. I have 

 no charge to bring against the sunfish and perch. 

 Indeed I consider the latter the most palatable fish— 

 fresh-water fish— save the aristocratic speckled trout. 

 But that is not saying that a six-pound great pike is 

 to be treated with contempt by the epicure or passed 



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