THB PIKB. 251 



put together ; added to which, if he catches the interloper, he will 

 have removed a very troublesome personage from his fishing 

 ground, near which, as long as he chooses to remain, you may 

 even whistle for anything else you will stand the slightest chance 

 of catching there. 



Another important requisite to success in pike fishing, is a 

 knowledge of the kind of weather best adapted for it, as well as 

 what the height and condition of the water ought to be ; for 

 though, as before stated, the pike is a bold fish, and not easily to 

 be scared by a shadow, yet he cannot readily be prevailed upon to 

 bite in hot sultry weather, or at times when the waters are unu- 

 sually low, and although you continue casting your bait right 

 before his eyes, he will remain motionless as a log, till annoyed by 

 the repetition, he will sheer sulkily off to some place of conceal- 

 ment. It is not often indeed, when a pike is seen basking near 

 the surface, that he can be tempted by a bait, for at such times, he 

 has generally gorged himself with food, whilst at the same time, 

 the situation in which he is placed, enables him to see enough of 

 the trick, to arouse his suspicions, when feeling no inclination for 

 another meal, till in some measure relieved from the effects of his 

 former one, it is not to be wondered that he should decline the in- 

 vitation, coming as he must see it does, from so suspicious a 

 quarter. One plan however has been found to succeed under these 

 circumstances, when all others have failed, and this has been to 

 Souse in the bait with a good splash right behind the pike : when, 

 the commotion suddenly arousing his attention, and turning round 

 to ascertain the cause, which probably resenting as insult, he in- 

 stantly lays hold of the imaginary offender, intending doubtless to 

 annihiliate him utterly for his presumption. But be this as it may, 

 many a pike has been thus taken, and I would strongly advise my 

 angling readers under similar circumstances, at any rate to try the 

 experiment. 



Extreme cold weather is also unfavourable to pike fishing ; the 

 best adapted to it being a cool overcast day, with a good bustling 

 breeze that will thoroughly ruffle the surface of the water ; yet a 

 cold wind in the summer is not so much to be regarded ; and even 

 in the winter, when there has been no frost, I have sometimes had 

 good sport, in a regular black Easterly wind ; though more frequent- 

 ly in such * weather I have toiled away without obtaining a single 

 run. In bright weather I have rarely done much. 



