150 FAMILIAR FISH, THEIR HABITS AND CAPTURE 



prove to be of good size, unless very large fish are 

 liable to be taken. 



In the spring and early summer large pike are 

 caught by drifting with minnows, in the same man- 

 ner as described for large-mouth bass in the preced- 

 ing chapter. This can be done both with and with- 

 out a cork float. The former method does not 

 require as much skill, since the float indicates not 

 only the bite of the fish, but its every subsequent 

 movement. Without the float this must be learned 

 by the sense of feeling. In the former case, when 

 pike or pickerel take the bait, the float is immedi- 

 ately pulled under water, reappears again in a few 

 moments, and then is kept bobbing up and down, 

 until finally it disappears, being gradually moved 

 away. Then is the proper time to strike the fish. 

 This delay is owing to the fact that the minnow, 

 being always hooked through the lips, is first taken 

 lightly by the fish and slowly turned about to be 

 swallowed head first. The bobbing of the float indi- 

 cates the turning of the bait, the final moving away 

 and its disappearance showing that the minnow has 

 been finally gorged and the hook taken well down 

 into the mouth of the fish. It will be found more 

 satisfactory to use a stiff trolling rod for this fishing, 

 as the line can be kept well away from the boat, the 

 strike made more effectually, and the fish more easily 



