lO THE PIKE. 



A trial proved this theory to be correct. I could select from 

 my own experiences several more instances of the same kind, 

 but I have said enough I think to give our young fisherman 

 a useful hint. Pike spawn between the latter end of Feb- 

 ruary and the end of April, or even under exceptional cir- 

 cumstances right to the middle of May, but it all depends 

 on the state of the weather, as to whether they are early or 

 late. I have noticed them pairing as early as February 

 and in the same season observed them even as late as the 

 second week in May ; in fact, I have an idea that it is a long 

 and trying time for them. During this operation they seek 

 all sorts of dykes, ditches, creeks, and backwaters, depositing 

 the ova among the weeds, and so lazy and absorbed are they, 

 that scarcely anything will frighten them. Scores of them 

 have been lifted out with wire snares, or even scooped out 

 with landing nets; to say nothing of snatch hooks on the 

 end of a pole. It is not to be wondered at considering the 

 long and exhausting time they take over spawning, that they 

 should be in the very worst possible condition for several 

 weeks after that operation ; they are long, thin, slimy, and 

 even unwholesome as food, and should not on any account 

 be tried for before August, in fact, I don't consider them 

 in condition before the first of October. If my opinion was 

 asked as to what I should consider to be a proper close time 

 for jack, I should most certainly say, between the first day 

 of February, and the first day of September. 



Pike, under favourable circumstances, will grow to a very 

 large size, but their well being depends upon the locality 

 and condition of the water they inhabit. Deep holes and 

 weedy shallows should both be in evidence, while if the 

 place is a lake with a gravelly bottom, a stream of some sort 

 should run right through it, so that a constant supply of 

 fresh water could be assured, and last, but not least, the lake 

 should also contain an abundance of natural food; these 

 conditions together with a careful preservation, would be 

 condusive to these fish reaching their very heaviest weight. 

 As to what that weight is likely to be, it is difficult to de- 

 termine, for so many fables and romances have been written 

 on the subject ; that we have to be very careful before ac- 

 cepting all of them. We are told that in some of the large 



