342 WHA T I HA VE SEE A WHILE FISHING 



and you will be able to catch fish of all kinds 

 directly under your feet. Don't be in a hurry to 

 leave this spot ; sit quietly, smoke a pipe, look well 

 about, and, tell me, did you ever fish a snugger, 

 prettier swim in all your life ? 



JACK. 



I have stated that the tail and inner side of the 

 island is the home of a number of jack and perch. 

 I may, without fear of exaggeration, say that the 

 quiet water extending from this spot to the next 

 bend about 400 yards is the best piece of public 

 jack-water within twenty miles of here, and has, 

 without doubt, produced more large fish than any 

 other. 



Had I space I would tell you something of the 

 monsters that have been taken, and a little about a 

 brace that will some day be caught, I hope, fairly 

 with the hook. 



Pike and Jack are synonymous with me. It 

 is a solitary animal and chooses a home amongst 

 rushes, weeds or other cover, from which it can 

 strike at any passing prey, and whence it can 

 come forth when hungry to roam over its hunting 

 ground until satisfied. It is the least particular of 

 Thames fish, and will take almost anything that 

 has life, only limiting its seizures to the capacity ol 

 its gullet, and liable to miscalculation even in this. 



Given the opportunity it will so gorge itself as 



