SPINNING. 7 7 



quickly as possible (" bis dat" &c.) I know this is 

 controverted, but, so far as my experience goes, I 

 have never, while spinning, lost a jack by striking 

 too quickly. When he is struck, hold him hard, 

 and play him cannily. 



If in good condition, well baked, with a pudding 

 inside, and very simple sauce, the pike will satisfy 

 you that your labour has not been thrown away. 



I hardly know whether I shall appear to be pre- 

 suming on my readers' patience, but I cannot resist 

 the temptation to give an account of the capture 

 of a very large pike I was fortunate enough to 

 catch last autumn. 



One does not go to Scotland for //^-fishing. 

 The fisherman who travels northward is supposed 

 to be in search of higher game ; and there are 

 many lakes in Scotland abounding with pike 

 which are rarely or never fished for them, the 

 angler being generally ignorant of their existence. 

 In fact, the introduction of pike to Scottish waters 

 is of comparatively recent date. Fifty years ago 

 there was not one in Loch Awe ; they were put in 

 by some evil-disposed or officious " person or per- 

 sons," and have since increased, as their nature is, 

 beyond all reason, to the manifest diminution of 

 the trout, perhaps of the salmon. Every reedy bay 

 or shallow inlet is now stocked with this ravenous 



