292 PIKE AND PIKE-FISHING. 



elapse of twenty minutes, I have managed over and 

 over again to abstract a large creel-load of fish, varying 

 in point of numbers from two to six, and in point 

 of weight from ten to two pounds. The period of 

 the day I commonly, on these occasions, devoted to 

 pike-trolling, ranged from one to five in the afternoon, 

 and often succeeded a morning spent in trouting, when 

 I was well supplied with fresh and proper sized baits. 

 In their edible qualities, the Teviot pike are the finest 

 I ever tasted. They cut firm and white, have little or 

 none of that slimy flavour which this fish generally 

 possesses, and in their formation are comparatively 

 small-headed, deep-flanked, and broad-shouldered. 



In respect to size they have varied considerably of 

 late years, and at present, except in one or two spots 

 difficult of access, few very large ones are to be met with. 



The first time I had reason to suspect that pike were 

 somewhat numerous in the part of Teviot alluded to 

 was on the 29th of May, 1838. Previous to this date 

 no one, I believe, ever dreamt of angling for them 

 further down the river than the pool at Mount Teviot, 

 a strictly preserved stretch of water, into which the 

 original stock had been committed by the late Marquis 

 of Lothian, along with a breed of perch of a valuable 

 description, attaining individually the weight of three 

 or four pounds. On the day in question, the water 

 being of a fine amber colour, I had been engaged trout- 

 ing at the turn above Sunlaws Mill, the Nine Wells, 

 and lower portions of the Ormiston streams, and had 

 met with very fair success, having captured a fine 

 whitling and several dozen of good yellow trout. 

 Nearly three in the afternoon it was before I thought 

 of retracing my steps homewards in the direction of 

 Kelso, and this I did leisurely along the south bank of 



