THE PIKE. 121 



afraid there was a good deal of language let loose on those 

 occasions that will not bear printing in this book ; anyhow, 

 he was an oldish customer, a ''regular sneezer," said one 

 defeated angler ; u an out-and-out top sawyer," said another ; 

 but, however, he met with an inglorious end, after having 

 had a narrow escape at the hands of Joe Corah, who got a 

 flight made with some extra large hooks, and got him partly 

 out (no landing-net or gaff-hook with him of course). He 

 having incautiously put his fingers under its gill covers for 

 the purpose of landing it, got the skin scraped off for 

 his pains. The fish now made a last despairing kick and 

 plunge, the hooks flew from his mouth, and he rolled into the 

 deep water, and was seen in that swim no more ; sic transit 

 Gloria Mundi. A few months after he was taken in the 

 salmon nets, but his past glory and strength had vanished ; 

 he was as long and as thin as a rail, his inside partly eaten 

 away with some dire disease, and his weight was only twenty- 

 two and a half pounds, if my memory proves correct, 

 whereas in the days of his prosperity he was thought to be 

 thirty pounds at the very least. There are two useful 

 lessons that the angler may learn from this anecdote ; one is, 

 if beaten with a big fish by using an ordinary flight, try 

 some bigger hooks ; and the other is, never go jack fishing 

 without a big landing-net, or a strong gaff-hook ; the latter 

 for choice, because you might get hold of a big fish, and if 

 you do, your chance is all the better by having one of these 

 to help you. When you have landed your fish, the next 

 job is to get the hooks out of his mouth, and it is "ware 

 hawk " here. Don't put your fingers in his mouth, or indeed 

 close against it, for he can bite, and to some tune too. He 

 will snap at you like a savage dog, and if he once gets a 

 fair hold, you will most likely remember it for the rest of 

 your natural life. The best plan would be to rap him over 

 the head with something heavy, and then force his mouth 

 open with a bit of stick, pulling out the hooks with a 

 pair of flat-nosed pliers. Contrivances have, however, been 

 brought out on purpose to prop open the mouth of the pike, 

 so that the hooks can be disengaged without fear of the fish 

 closing his jaws over your hand. Before concluding spinning 



