CHAPTER II. 



January 



PIKE FISHING ON THE BROADS. 



THE ideal winter fresh-water sport is undoubtedly 

 pike-fishing, if it can be got. I say advisedly " if 

 it can be got," because good piking is daily getting 

 scarcer, especially on free water. 



In the Norfolk. Broads district, however, there are 

 still sheets of water where, for a small daily fee, or, in 

 some cases, without payment, good sport may be had. 

 In speaking of pike-fishing on the Broads two methods 

 of capture, and two methods only, need be mentioned 

 namely, spinning and live-baiting. Training is practised, 

 but it is to be hoped that such a system will not be pur- 

 sued by true sportsmen, as, mainly owing to the shallow r - 

 ness of the water, the majority of fish so taken are 

 undersized. 



Nearly every pike-fisher has his own favourite methods 

 for both spinning and live-baiting, which probably have 

 found special favour with him from the success 

 achieved by their employment. The tackle and methods 

 here mentioned are not advocated to the exclusion of 

 all others, but are described because the writer has 

 found them most suitable for the waters he has fished. 



In spinning a broad for pike the first necessary is 

 local knowledge as to shallows and sub-aqueous weed- 

 beds. If the angler possesses such knowledge he can 

 dispense with the services of a man and work single- 

 handed from a boat ; for such is necessary, as, owing to 

 weeds, etc., it is impossible to properly spin a Norfolk 



