PIKE IN TROUT WATERS 189 



perfect hiding places for young jack as well as for 

 spawners. Now that the meadow land is given up 

 to cattle, the banks of the main stream, the sides 

 of ditches, and such like places are trampled down, 

 and fanners seldom care to go to the trouble of 

 cleaning them out in the same way as when the 

 meadow feed was principally used for sheep. These 

 ditches and carriers, moreover, offer considerable 

 facilities to travelling pike, as by following their 

 intricate windings they can avoid such formidable 

 impediments as mills, weirs, and hatches, which 

 would otherwise bar their way in the main river. 



Large ponds and lakes at the head of or by the 

 side of a trout stream are a continual nuisance to the 

 trout preserver. Snugly ensconced ' in leafy shade,' 

 and dotted here and there with patches of reeds and 

 rushes, these attractive sheets of water present a 

 charming picture in summer. As the angler artist 

 pauses to revel in the peaceful scene, and watch the 

 water fowl playing at hide and seek among the rushes, 

 no inharmonious thought finds room in his mind. 

 But let him awake from his reverie, and he will see 

 that such places as these are the pike's true home and 

 breeding ground. From here in due season, when 

 its adventurous spirit tempts it to embark on a 

 voyage of discovery, the pike drops back into the 



