18 THE PIKE 



" It seems to be the general opinion that fish have 

 developed a most scandalous habit of losing weight 

 after capture. Of course, if this is really so, some- 

 body ought to talk to them very seriously about it, 

 but my experience tells me that the notion is totally 

 unfounded. A young friend of mine caught a pike 

 the other day, and was so pleased with the monster 

 that he had it set up by a very capable taxidermist. 

 About ten minutes after the fish was landed he 

 scaled 1 1 Ibs. 9 oz. ; but, by the time he had matured, 

 and was set up, his weight had so augmented as 

 to be 15 Ibs. 1 1 oz. This is nothing extraordinary ; 

 every fish that has any respect for itself goes on in 

 just the same fashion." Fishing Gazette, May I5th, 



1897- 



Sir John Hawkins, in his fourth edition (1784) of 

 The Complete Angler , at page 136, gives the 

 following extract from a London paper of the 

 25th January, 1765 ; but it and similar accounts of 

 monster pike may (I think) be relegated to the 

 limbo of myths : 



" On Tuesday last at Lillishall Lime Works near 

 Newport, a pool about nine yards deep that had 

 not been fished for ages, was let off by means of a 

 level brought up to drain the works, when an 

 enormous pike was found ; he was drawn out by 

 means of a rope fastened round his head and gills 

 amidst hundreds of spectators, in which service a 

 great many men were employed ; he weighed up- 

 wards of 1 70 Ibs., and is thought to be the largest 

 ever seen. Some time ago the clerk of the parish 

 was trolling in the above pool, when his bait was 

 seized by this furious creature, which by a sudden 

 jerk pulled him in, and doubtless would have 

 devoured him also, had he not by wonderful agility 



