PIKE IN TROUT WATERS 199 



It is a matter of certainty that pike will follow 

 the coarse fish into -any water where the latter have 

 established themselves. This fact is proved by my 

 experiences on the river Frome in Dorsetshire, and 

 especially in that part which is preserved by the 

 Dorchester Fishing Club. Kingston Pond still holds 

 a number of pike, some of which occasionally drop 

 down stream through a narrow outlet communicating 

 with the main river. The first pool, which they 

 would pass through on their way, lies below Bock- 

 hampton Village Bridge, and this place is exceedingly 

 well stocked with good-sized trout. It is an unusual 

 circumstance to see as many as half a dozen roach 

 and chub in this hole, and I have certainly never 

 noticed a pike in it. In another pool, however, a 

 few hundred yards below the bridge, there are large 

 quantities of coarse fish, and here the pike will stop 

 if anywhere in the river. It has not been netted for 

 some time, but I expect that the next haul will 

 include most of the vermin which visit this part of 

 the club water. Possibly some of them work up from 

 below in search , of food, for, as a friend quaintly 

 remarked to me, in the event of a scarcity they would 

 climb a ladder. 



On one occasion a pike of about 4 Ib. seized 

 a 14-oz. trout which I was playing in this pool, 



