n8 THE PIKE 



person. The greatest care had to be exercised in 

 shifting, for so frail was the little craft that the 

 pressure of a quarter of a pound on the wrong side 

 threatened an upset. This was a sorry prospect for 

 the rod, and my brusque boatman scoffed at the idea 

 of fishing for lunge with anything but the astounding 

 gear which he exhibited. This was simplicity itself. 

 The fishing from such a cranky craft, in which 

 your seat is raised no more than six inches from the 

 bottom boards, is done by hand line. With us it took 

 the form of a coil of fifty yards the thickness of sash 

 cord. To this was attached a huge Colorado spoon 

 of the coarsest make, armed with one gigantic tail 

 triangle adorned with a wisp of red wool, and 

 attached to the line by a length of brass wire one- 

 eighth of an inch thick. 



You sit in the stern of the canoe with, say, twenty 

 yards of line out, as the cockle shell is rowed up and 

 down and across the lake. The weeds, however, were 

 so rank at the time of my visit, which was in the 

 month of August, that ten or fifteen yards of line 

 were quite sufficient, and then the angler had 

 continually to be hauling in to disengage some 

 decayed stuff which the triangle had caught. Of 

 course I had my way with the rod, a short, strong 

 greenheart of about nine feet in length, with a 



