PIKE-FISHING. 171 



in each there will be some fascinating link with the past, 

 some special charm, artificial or natural, to assert itself. 

 Nor do I forget that in and out of yonder alleys two- 

 centuries ago there walked a great hero musing upon the 

 strange adventures of his life and the temporary cloud 

 which hung over his brilliant prospects. Probably we have 

 been walking over the precise spot where Raleigh sat and 

 wrote, and capturing the lineal descendants of the fish 

 upon which he commented in the following : 



" Here are no false entrapping baits 

 Too hasty for too hasty fates, 



Unless it be 



The fond credulity 



Of silly fish, the worldlings who still look 

 Upon the bait, but never on the hook." 



Were I owner of such a fair piece of water as we find in> 

 every English park, or proprietor of a fishery to which 

 anglers were admitted on payment, each recipient of per- 

 mission to fish, friend or stranger, should be bound strictly 

 to certain rules : for example, there should be no pike- 

 fishing till the ist of October ; all fish under three pounds 

 should be returned to their native element ; and very posi- 

 tively no gorge hooks, for either live or dead bait, should 

 under any circumstance be allowed. This last, I am aware> 

 would appear to be a severe rule, but it would apply to- 

 every one alike and would be absolutely necessary if the 

 smaller fish are to be returned to the water. Snap-fishing 

 is the fairest and most sportsmanlike way of capturing 

 pike ; and though it would be too much to say that it is 

 the only method a real sportsman would adopt, it is cer- 

 tainly the artistic thing to do. 



