PIKE IN TROUT WATERS 187 



How often his efforts in this direction are frustrated, 

 or fall short of the mark, is a matter of common 

 knowledge among fishermen. Incessant warfare 

 must be waged against the enemy by every means 

 which ingenuity can devise, and if the work is 

 thoroughly well done the preserver may reap some 

 consolation in having been at any rate able to hold 

 his foes in check. 



The misfortunes which may overtake the trout 

 preserver's schemes are manifold. Even assuming 

 that the destruction of the pike and coarse fish in his 

 particular length of water has been successfully 

 achieved, he may nevertheless suffer seriously from 

 the neglect of his neighbour to destroy them in the 

 adjoining section of the river. Once rid of these 

 pests, his energies must be applied to preventing 

 any fresh blood from entering his domains. Pike 

 invade the trout's sanctuary in many different ways. 

 Any fishery owner on the river who harbours pike 

 and coarse fish is a chronic menace to the trout 

 preserver, because, given favourable conditions, 

 sooner or later some of them will certainly stray into 

 other parts of the water, and there probably pro- 

 pagate their species. 



Several cases have come under my notice where 

 land owners who were not fishermen, and did not 



