2 THE PIKE 



writers, when trolling for pike was very little known, or at 

 most only in its infancy, regarded the pike as a fish of char- 

 acter preying upon his smaller and weaker kindred ; while 

 the very look of his powerful and cruel jaws they held to be 

 sufficient to strike terror into the hearts of the timid and 

 superstitious people of those days. 



Years ago, when I only had what I could claim as a very 

 rudimentary knowledge of this fish and his habits, I used to 

 eagerly read everything connected with him that I could 

 possibly get hold of, and, like a true enthusiast, believe it 

 all ; and the more wild and improbable the story, the greater 

 was my belief. But viewed nowadays, by the cold light of 

 several years' practical experience, I am sadly afraid that 

 there have been more lies — to put it in very plain English — > 

 told about our pike than are exactly good for his character 

 and reputation. For instance, look at that tale that is men- 

 tioned, I should suppose, in dozens of books on angling and 

 natural history, about that giant pike, said to have been 

 captured in 1497, out of a lake in the vicinity of Manheim, 

 which legend or tradition said had a medal fastened to one 

 of his gills with an inscription saying it had been turned into 

 the lake by Frederick the Second in the year 1232 ! It 

 would appear from this that that pike had lived over 25a 

 years, and had survived many social and political changes. 

 But the most astounding part of this fish fable was not 

 exactly its Old Parr-like antiquity, but the giant size it was 

 said to have attained, being no less than 19ft. in length, and 

 reaching a weight of 3501b.; and then to prove the state- 

 ment they tell us that his skeleton could be seen by anyone 

 interested, as it is, or was, carefully preserved in the Man- 

 heim Museum; but unfortunately on a careful examination 

 of this skeleton by a naturalist, he came to the conclusion 

 that it was a clever deception, and had evidently been built 

 up for the occasion. 



Our English pike, or jack, as it is generally called nowa- 

 days, when in good condition is a handsome fish, and a fish 

 that is much sought after by anglers of all degrees. I know 

 of no other fish for whose capture such a bewildering quan- 

 tity of artificial baits, spinning tackles and flights, live-bait 

 tackles, floats, and traces have been invented. 



