THE PIKE OF FACT 23 



both great and small, but colloquially a fish under 

 3 Ib. or 4 Ib. is called a jack and over that weight a 

 pike. Amongst modern anglers, especially from the 

 towns, the word ' jack ' is seldom used, save on 

 Thames-side. Pickerel is seldom heard in conversa- 

 tion, and the baby form of the breed is, as often as 

 not, called pikelet in these days. 



Some persons, also, would object to a pike being 

 called a handsome fish, but his vesture in the middle 

 of winter, when he is at his best, is nevertheless richly 

 handsome. It varies in colour from an olive green 

 to a golden brown, and upon this the yellow and 

 white mottlings have a fine ornamental effect of 

 pattern. The white underclothing is also a good set- 

 off against the darker tinting of the sides. These 

 colours vary greatly, however, according to the season 

 and the condition of the fish. Just after spawning 

 the colouring is decidedly sickly, and the gold 

 fades to a dirty white. I have caught old fish that in 

 darting through the water looked the colour of Spanish 

 mahogany, and others that gleamed like old gold. 



There is little symmetry in the form of a pike. 

 The depression of the head, the deep setting of the 

 eyes on the top of it, the cruel-looking mouth, with 

 its rows of large teeth and interior serrated in the 

 most terrible way, are repellent, and the body is long 



