ICE-FISHING FOR GREAT PIKE 



great pike! It weighed — figures will not suffice; I 

 must write it out in words — ^just fifteen pounds and 

 seven ounces. 



I stood for long minutes gazing down upon the 

 monster, "lost in wonder and amaze," the largest 

 great pike I had ever heard of being taken through 

 the ice, and one of THE large fish of my fishing expe- 

 rience. Large fish are always more a matter of luck 

 than skill, though usually it is the veriest dub that 

 secures the monster, where the expert catches min- 

 nows. Suddenly I was brought back to earth by hear- 

 ing my friend meanly remark: "Well, you needn't be 

 so darn cocky about it. Other fellows undoubtedly 

 have caught larger great pike," Of course, I do not 

 believe that I was half as set up over my great good 

 fortune as was he over a much smaller fish earlier in 

 the day. Anyway, / had good reason for being elated. 



As we tramped along toward home, the big fish 

 swinging from a pole carried on our shoulders, my 

 companion broke a long silence with, "Say, O. W., 

 what would you have done had this fish been too large 

 to pull through the hole?" To the victor all things 

 are possible, so I answered easily, "Oh, I would have 

 drawn him out longC 



My only excuse for appending the above narrative 

 to this chapter is the one all-sufficient reason — "It is 

 not all of fishing to fish." There are times when we 

 must stop talking tackle and methods and just fish. 



127 



