PIKE FISHING IN LAKES 43 



The water, let me remark, was so clear that one 

 of the entertainments of the day was watching the 

 playing of the hooked fish quite a yard deep. The 

 fifth pike was exactly the same weight as its pre- 

 decessor, and was the only one that darted off with the 

 determined rush which the angler so much appreciates. 

 That, too, I returned. The sixth was a trifle of 3 lb., 

 which had been badly handled by a bigger fish, if 

 one might judge from the deep half-healed scars 

 across the shoulders. It must be remembered that 

 this was pike fishing in sunshine and a glassy surface. 

 The seventh fish interrupted me as before in the 

 filling of a pipe, and a very pleasant interruption it 

 was, though the pike was not much over 7 lb. 

 Matters were not, however, quite satisfactory. I con- 

 sulted with my friend, who had meanwhile been 

 engaged with fish on his own account at the stern ; 

 the keeper was kept pretty busy between us, and the 

 well was becoming overcrowded. We nourished hope 

 and belief that we were bound to get something 'in 

 the teens ' before night ; and, as it was only turned 

 noon, this respectable fish also was put back. 



Out went the eighth bait, and I had just 

 completed the little operation previously interrupted 

 when the float sharply bob-bobbed, and disappeared in 

 the gingerly fashion of yore. ' Ah ! you are a little 



