THE BOOK OF THE PIKE 



minnow will balance as perfectly as possible ; otherwise, 

 when it dies, it will hang head down or tail down. 

 *Too particular," did I hear you say? Well, my par- 

 ticularism has given me fish when the other fellow 

 failed, so I continue being particular. I watched the 

 float bob away, knowing that the uneasy minnow down 

 below could but prove attractive to any foraging great 

 pike moving about. So I thrust the rod into the 

 ready holder and settled back in my easy seat, for I 

 had seen to it that I was provided with a back-rest. 

 No necessity for being uncomfortable when one might 

 just as well be comfortable. 



The minutes slipped unregarded by, for I had all the 

 time there was and was not impatient. That is one of 

 the beauties of still-fishing. One can invoke his soul 

 and think his thoughts without interruption. So small 

 and unimportant an object as the green-and-red 

 "bobber" could not hold my attention with the wide 

 lake open before me. The clouds were thickening up, 

 perhaps hinting of more rain before night, though the 

 constantly freshening breeze seemed to preclude that 

 contingency, and it was blowing from the southwest, 

 too. A pair of loons came toward me, bobbing over 

 the water, facing into the waves in a way that made me 

 envy their power. Even while my eyes were fixed upon 

 them my "bobber" must have gone down, for when I 

 turned my attention to the fishing, the float had dis- 

 appeared and the line was running from the reel 

 gently. 



I jerked the rod from the holder and attended to 

 the reel forthwith. The click and drag had not been 

 sufficient to hold the fish, the waves making enough 

 noise to prevent my hearing the click's warning. 

 Though nearly all the line was gone, no harm resulted, 

 and I brought that great pike back where he belonged 

 in short order. It was quite a battle, owing to the 

 heavy sea, but the rod conquered, as it has always had 

 a habit of doing, and I settled the old fellow with a 

 pill from the .32 and added him to my string, after 

 the scales said he weighed a f^ush five pounds. I was 



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