322 Pike-Fishing. 



sure that a fish was working out its own destruction 

 every time appearances seemed to indicate it, the 

 time allowed for the work could hardly be said 

 to be lost. But, in the first place, the angler 

 may be labouring under a delusion all the while 

 he fancies that a pike is addressing itself to his 

 bait ; there may be no pike at it at all. " Never 

 hurry a jack, Tom," is the advice, in ' Punch,' of the 

 old gentleman to his young friend, as he stands, 

 watch in hand, patiently waiting the turn of events ; 

 " he has had ten minutes already ; I shall give him 

 another five to make sure." But the telling sketch 

 shows the hook fast in a log at the bottom. In the 

 second place, there is no certainty that, even if a 

 pike has taken kindly to the lure, it is doing all 

 it possibly can to carry out the angler's wishes ; 

 it may be only playing with the bait. But again, 

 should the case be more hopeful, and the bait actu- 

 ally within the jaws of the fish, there still re- 

 mains the risk attending all gorge-tackle that it 

 may be ejected again " after it has served the pike's 

 purpose, and before it has served the angler's." I 

 have known a pike retain the bait for ten minutes, 

 and reject it after all. It had got a glimpse of the 

 fisher standing on the bank, and didn't like his 

 appearance. 



A pike generally begins to move off after it has 

 pouched, and then is the time to strike ; but should 



