BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 
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nature, there is an authentic instance recorded of two 
Pike being discovered inside a third, the smallest of the 
three having been hooked and then swallowed by a 
second, and the second by a third, thus all three specimens 
were secured at one time when the line was pulled in. 
Pike have even been known to attack human beings. 
Shallow and deep water are both frequented, but the 
latter is more often sought in Winter. It is a great lover 
of the surface. Spawning takes place in Spring, and at 
that time the more usual haunt will be left for some 
quiet backwater until the egg-laying process is at an end. 
Several hundreds of thousands of eggs are capable of 
production by one female, but the greater majority never 
hatch out, and young fish (called Jack) often pay the 
death-penalty in their eagerness to swallow a stickle- 
back whose spines do not permit the latter to travel 
down its captor’s throat. It is fairly well established that 
Pike attain a good age, and as regards weight a very large 
fish in prime condition may turn the scale at anything 
from 40 pounds upwards. Between 60 and 70 pounds 
seems to be the record weight for a Pike from British 
waters, but a fish of half that weight may be looked upon 
as a very fine specimen. That the Pike is the king of 
coarse fish is generally agreed, and it affords the greatest 
sport of them all. It is a game fighter, and rarely 
gives in until its energy is thoroughly exhausted. Yet I 
caught one beautifully marked specimen (now in Letch- 
worth Museum), which was exactly three feet in length 
and 13 pounds in weight, which gave me little or no 
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