PIKE IN TROUT WATERS 191 



Besides those above mentioned, there are lakes 

 and ponds near most of our trout streams which 

 contribute their share of vermin to the river ; nor 

 does it appear that pike, when on the move, are in any 

 way discouraged by the necessity of travelling long 

 distances to reach their goal. Scarcity of food or a 

 growing population of piscivorous fish in their 

 original haunts are no doubt the principal incentives 

 for them to seek 'fresh woods and pastures new.' 

 In the absence of these pike harbours it is noteworthy 

 that the head waters of many of our trout streams 

 are remarkably free from pike. 



No legal offence is committed by the culprit who 

 introduces pike into a trout stream within the bounds 

 of his own fishery ; but it would be a highly unsports- 

 manlike action on his part if. he were to do so, and 

 most discourteous to his neighbours. Instances 

 have occurred, however, where ignorant or thought- 

 less persons have stocked their waters with these 

 marauding fish, to the serious detriment of the trout 

 sections of the river. On a well-known trout river 

 many years ago, a large number of pike were released, 

 with disastrous results to the trout preservers both 

 above and below the locality in which they were 

 introduced. The notion was at the time conceived 

 by several fishermen that the pike might be pre- 



