FISHES OF THE DISTRICT 191 



moments having a perch upon it. Large perch 

 have been taken in most of the lakes and tarns. A 

 4f Ibs. perch has been taken in Windermere ; a 5 Ibs. 

 perch in Ullswater ; and a 5^ Ibs. perch in Bigland 

 Tarn. 



Perch spawn in April and May among the 

 " meakins " on the margins of the lake ; and, it 

 ought to be remembered in this connection that a 

 J Ib. perch will deposit about 15,000 eggs. In the 

 Lake District perch serve a good many purposes in 

 the economy of fishing. They provide the chief 

 food of the pike, they are taken by trout and char, 

 and in fishing for pike they are the chief bait. By 

 way of illustrating the boldness with which perch 

 bite, a local couplet has it 



" When bracken [i.e. fern] is out of crook, 

 Bass will bite at the bare hook." 



THE PIKE (Esox Indus} 



In what is primarily a salmon and trout fishery 

 district, the pike is naturally looked upon as a 

 predatory fish, and is kept in check accordingly, 

 about 5,000 Ibs. being killed annually by the Water- 

 bailiffs in Windermere alone. These fish are 

 mainly destroyed on the shallows in March and 

 April where they have come to spawn. From 

 whatever cause (probably on account of the lower 

 temperature of the water), pike in the Lake District 

 do not attain to the size of fish of the same species 

 inhabiting more southern waters as, for instance, 

 the Norfolk Broads. Still, fish of considerable 

 dimensions have been taken in one or other of the 



