HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. 131 



place in a given time. Moreover, the larger the bait (or, in 

 other words, the greater its vis inertice) the greater inclination 

 has the line when pulled upwards from the top of the rod to 

 lift the sinking lead to the level of the bait. Thus, there is a 

 compound resistance to be overcome in weighting a large bait 

 to sink deeply. 



PIKE-HAUNTS. 



The haunts of pike vary considerably at different times of 

 the year, and vary also with the nature of the particular waters, 

 but it usually prefers a medium depth of water plentifully 

 supplied with weeds and flags, selecting, if possible, a gravelly 

 or sandy bottom. 



The neighbourhood of reeds, docks, bulrushes, and the 

 broad-leaved water-lily are its favourite resorts, and of these a 

 flooring of lilies, with from three to five feet of current over it, 

 and a wall of reeds at the side, springing from the bottom, is 

 the best. Indeed, it may be said that the reed and the lily are 

 to the pike what the hollybush is to the woodcock. In lochs 

 and meres the most shoal and weedy parts, small inlets, and 

 little bays, or the mouths of streams, where minnows or other 

 fry congregate are generally the best spinning grounds ; and in 

 rivers, back waters and dam heads, eddies between two streams, 

 or, in fact, any water that is weedy, of moderate depth, and not 

 too much acted upon by the current. 



As a general rule, pike will be found during the summer in 

 or close upon the streams, and in winter, after the first heavy 

 flood, in the large eddies and deeps. 



K 2 



