PIKE PRESERVATION. 7 



pike; now we use salmon-gut, with a fragment of fine patent 

 gimp near the hook, and sometimes fish even still finer. Is it 

 surprising that pike are becoming scarce ? Something must 

 be done, or soon there will be none left, which would be 

 almost a national calamity, for the pike is invariably a fine 

 sporting fish in rivers, and, though not quite so game in 

 lakes and ponds, is, wherever he may be hooked, a gallant and 

 sturdy fighter. 



To preserve our remaining pike three points should be 

 attended to : In the first place, the most stringent regulations 

 are necessary concerning the return to the water of fish 

 caught under a certain size, which should be fixed at not less 

 than 41b. I most earnestly beg of any angler who reads these 

 lines to return to the water any jack he catches under that 

 weight; he will have had the pleasure of playing and 

 landing the fish, and in leaving it to grow large he will be 

 acting in a most commendable manner. A S^lb. pike is 

 nothing to be proud of, or to show one's friends, while the 

 pride which fills the bosom of the man who feels he has done 

 a virtuous and sportsmanlike action should, and no doubt 

 will, far outweigh any trifling regret he may feel at giving 

 up his prey. Secondly, owners of pike-fisheries should have 

 their ditches most carefully watched during the early months 

 of the year, when the pike run up them to spawn, and when 

 many a fine fish falls victim to the deadly wire noose passed 

 over his pointed head by the farm labourer. 



But more must be done than this : pike must be bred arti- 

 ficially. At present, I believe, fish-culturists know next to 

 nothing about pike-breeding; but the thing is surely to be 

 accomplished, and that without difficulty. I would suggest 

 to anyone having the opportunity a trial of the following 

 experiment : Make a long, narrow pond, say 90ft. long by 20ft. 

 wide, and about 6ft. or 7ft. deep ; divide it into three unequal 

 parts — A, B, and C (see Fig. 1) — and from each part dig 

 narrow ditches — similar to those in which pike spawn — and 

 in them plant numerous water-weeds. In the early spring, 

 just before the fish are thinking of leaving for their spawning- 

 grounds, bring nets into requisition, and catch as many pike 



