PIKE FISHING IN LAKES 41 



tackle for the live baiting now forced upon us 

 as a necessity. To cast a spinning bait out upon 

 a burnished surface like this in clear water would have 

 been ridiculous ; there was nothing for it but to set 

 up our live-baiting snap tackle and make the best of 

 the twisted traces, instead of the single salmon gut 

 which best suits such work. The outlook was so bad 

 that we were quite prepared to return to shore with- 

 out a fish. It was not reasonable to expect sport. Yet 

 the unexpected happened. 



Spite of the utter absence of wind, the pike were 

 briskly moving for two hours ; spite of the warm 

 sunshine and absence of even a zephyr's ghost, 

 the sport was as inspiriting as I have ever seen 

 it. Without loss of time I cast out about twenty 

 yards from the boat, laid my rod upon the thwart 

 while I turned round to chat with my friend who 

 had ensconced himself at the stern end, and then 

 proceeded leisurely to fill my pipe. But I had to 

 break off in the act, for the float, after a quick twitch, 

 sank slowly under. I could see its white head about 

 three inches beneath the surface, and as it remained 

 stationary I hesitated to strike, A couple of minutes 

 at least passed; then I pulled gently on the line 

 and struck, with the result that a Q-lb. fish, in the 

 most perfect form and condition, was soon brought 



