THE BOOK OF THE PIKE 



When 'lunge are feeding, however, there is nothing 

 quite so "taking" as a minnow dropped at the edge of 

 a weed-bed close up against the outreaching branches 

 of a down tree, or near marsh grass growing shoulder- 

 high in the water. Just why the plant Pontederia 

 cordata was named "pickerel weed" I do not know; 

 but I have discovered that a luxuriant bed of it in 

 muskellunge water is a good place for the minnow- 

 caster to let fall his bait. It is possible, once the knack 

 is acquired, to slip the bait into the water with next to 

 no commotion. Do not "slam" the lure down, as is 

 the way of the caster of artificial lures, but, as it were, 

 "ease" it into the water. Stop the reel gradually, not 

 with a sudden, sharp pressure. There is more to the 

 proper handling of bait than some casters realize. 



After an angler has fished for muskellunge for a 

 few seasons he will come to feel, to know by instinct, 

 as it were, just where to cast. To the uninitiated 

 this may seem to savor of potash, but it is a veritable 

 fact nevertheless. I used to believe that this phe- 

 nomenon could be explained in the realm of psy- 

 chology, but now I believe otherwise. After casting 

 four or five times into pockets, or at the edge of weed- 

 beds exactly alike in appearance though distant from 

 each other by many miles, and always being rewarded 

 by strikes, a man will come to believe that muskellunge 

 prefer to lie in certain places. A 'lunge lair is a 'lunge 

 lair, and experienced anglers know them instantly. 

 This is not saying that fish may not be found else- 

 where, semi-occasionally almost anywhere, but the 

 chances are that four times out of five a "muskie 

 hole" will conceal a muskellunge. Casting at random 

 with lure or live bait is not the method of the fish- 



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