PIKE-FISHING IN JANUARY. 13 



fishing we almost invariably fisli near weeds or reeds, and 

 always in moving water, altogether leaving unfished the eddies 

 and lay-bys. 



Six months later we are at the boathouse again ; but not at 

 6 a.m. No; 10 o'clock is soon enough to begin pike-fishing 

 in winter. It is a bright January day, and we are favoured 

 with a soft south wind — not sufficient to find its way through 

 our clothing, and make us feel chilly, but quite enough to 

 ruffle the surface of the now fast-running river. The brilliant 

 green and yellow tints of summer have disappeared, and in 

 their place are the more subdued, but hardly less lovely, colours 

 which Nature puts on after the fall of the leaf. Most of the 

 weeds have died down, and been swept away by the first flood 

 of autumn ; but the reeds, now broken and withered, still mark 

 the spots where we caught the fish that day in August. The 

 river is, of course, higher than in summer, and runs swiftly 

 by the boathouse. 



We start by punting across the river to the backwater, down 

 which we pass for some distance, only coming to a halt where 

 it widens out (1), and deepens considerably. Jack often run up 

 the mouth of this stream, so we carefully fish the lower portion 

 of it, and soon our well is not without a tenant. The next 

 place to fish is the large eddy (2), and we spend some time in 

 it, for fish often collect here in considerable numbers. I need 

 not further describe in detail the sport we obtain, as it will be 

 sufficient for my purpose to point out the spots we fish. From 

 the eddy we go to the tail of the island (3), a few yards farther 

 down stream. Here were weeds in summer, but now the bottom 

 is clear and the water quiet. From the tail of the island we 

 cross over to the deep drain (4), a piece of still water, up which 

 numbers of jack run for shelter during any great flood, and 

 where (being a spawning- ground) they are often to be found 

 at the close of the season. A recent flood has stocked this 

 drain, and few, if any, fish have left it, and we do not regret 

 giving it a trial. We next push some little distance down the 

 river, and fish for some time below the large reed-bed (5) at 

 the point. This is a quiet corner, sheltered from the stream 

 by the debris of the reeds, and generally holds a fish or two. 



