PIKE-FISHING. 169 



what false when the voracity of the pike is the question 

 under consideration. Stories almost as marvellous as any 

 of the above you may hear to the present day, vouched for 

 as true by modern anglers. At the first blush you laugh to 

 scorn the narration which gives the weight of a pike at 

 lyolb. a pretty sensational return as things go ; but judging 

 from the rate of growth, constitution, and general character, 

 there is no reason for drawing the hard and fast line at say 

 thirty pounds. I have perfect faith in the oft-repeated 

 assurance that in Holland, Germany, and Ireland fish up to 

 sixty pounds may be of course as exceptional examples 

 met with. Still, if the pike-fisher can average captives ot 

 eight pounds he has no reason to complain, and from what 

 I have seen during the last year or two I suspect there are 

 far too many anglers who are not ashamed to take and 

 exhibit jack amongst which a miserable two-pounder is the 

 premier sample. 



Not the least source of pleasure to the pike-fisher is the 

 opportunities which now and then fall in his way of visiting 

 the parks of English landowners where the waters are strictly 

 preserved. Such water usually takes the form of ornamental 

 lakes, placed where it shall add new charm to the tall 

 ancestral trees of the fair estate. I have in my mind's eye 

 at the present moment one of these sheets of water where 

 the abounding sport is not less enjoyable than the beautiful 

 scenery and interesting historical associations. On one 

 side the trees not only grow by the waterside, but hang over 

 the lake in dense foliage always mirrored in the surface, and 

 always lending new colour to it. Opposite stands an ancient 

 rookery, from which, before the tender May leaves have 

 become too fully developed, many a young cawer is tumbled 



