ICE-FISHING FOR GREAT PIKE 



with such a fish as seldom comes to the caster's lures 

 or bait-fisher's waiting hook. That there are bigger 

 fish in the lake than the angler has ever taken, is as 

 a rule, I believe, something other than fiction. 



As the reader has undoubtedly already discovered, 

 the writer, if not an expert ice fisherman, is an en- 

 thusiastic devotee of the sport. One reason winter 

 fishing appeals to me is because the outfit is simple 

 and there is little "getting ready" necessary. It is 

 the very antithesis of ordinary angling where the out- 

 fit is as elaborate as the pocketbook of the fisherman 

 will allow. The ice fisherman can carry his whole 

 paraphernalia in his great-coat pocket; that is, unless 

 the ax be considered a part of the outfit. However, 

 there are certain supplemental articles which, while 

 they are not considered absolutely necessary, are very 

 convenient to say the least. An ice-chisel is handy to 

 ream out the hole after the ax-blade has struck through 

 into the water. Then, too, the coffee pail and fry-pan 

 should never be left at home; for I know of no place 

 where a cup of hot coffee and a heaping platter of 

 fried great pike possess greater value or more com- 

 forting power. Every ice fisherman will understand 

 when I say that it is more disastrous to forget the 

 coffee pail than to forget hooks and lines. 



I remember one warm March morning — it was 

 warm on shore — I, in company with one of the best 

 and truest sportsmen, who fills an important place in 

 the world's scheme of things, set out to capture great 

 pike through the ice. Our destination was a slough 

 or side-channel opening off from a large body of water. 

 Many a monster fish had fallen to my rod there in the 

 good old summertime, so why not fish through the ice? 



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