THE PIKE, AND PIKE FISHING 



By R. B. MARSTON 



tHE pike (Esox Lucius) is in England usually called the jack 

 when under four or five pounds in weight, and the smaller fish 

 were also formerly called pickerel ; Chaucer says a pike is better 

 than a pickerel. 



In Scotland it is called gedd; in Sweden, gMda; in Germany, 

 hecht; in France, brochet; in Denmark, gjedde; in Italy, luccio; 

 in Holland, snoek; in Russia, schschoka; in Rumania, stuke; in Bohemia, 

 stika; in Poland, szezopak; in the United States and Canada the pike 

 appears to be called after its Indian name, muskellunge, when of large 

 size, but I cannot find that Esox nobilior, as they call it, is either a greater 

 or better fish than our European pike. Pickerel is the name for a young 

 pike, and also of the pike-perch in America. 



The pike is found in almost every part of Great Britain and Ireland, 

 and was certainly not brought into our islands by man, as its remains 

 have been found among those of animals now extinct. The fact of its ap- 

 pearance in waters where it was not previously known is probably due 

 to its spawn having been carried by birds.* Although it cannot live in the 

 sea, it is often found in waters affected by the tide — even when brackish — 

 and an extra high tide will '* turn up the pike," as they say in East Anglia. 

 The colour of the pike varies, like that of other fish, according to the 

 nature of its surroundings. In a dark, poor, peaty water the pike are dark, 

 almost black, when seen in the water from above; in a bright, clear lake 

 or stream they are often a fine golden-olive on the side, with light-coloured 

 markings, which give the well-known mottled appearance — much more 

 marked in fish in some waters than in others— the side colouring gradually 

 shades off into almost black on the back, and almost, or quite, into white 

 on the belly. The shape of the fish varies according to age and condition, 

 and also according to the quantity and nature of the food supply. Some 

 waters produce pike which are really in shape like a thick roundish pike — 

 like a bolster sharpened to a point at one end and flattened out at the other. 

 Other waters produce pike which are very deep for their length, with 

 comparatively small heads and tails. 



*I am unable to ajree with Mr Marston on this point, believing that pre-Reformation clerics are mainly respons- 

 ible for the distribution of pike. There is a £roup of nine lakes in Mochrum (the parish where I live) ; they are of 

 similar character ; seven swarm with pike ; two contain no fish but trout, eels and sticklebacks. If waterfowl carried 

 the spawn, these two lakes could not have escaped bein£ infested with pike.— ED. , 



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