A buuK uh FISHING STORIES 



^em as links with a storied past. Should he catch one on the 

 Thames or Ouse, or some similar river, he and his trophy at 

 once become a portion of history, to be recited and celebrated 

 wherever club anglers do congrer 



Happily 20-pounders are ential to enjoyment, 



unless the pike-fisher has beer» hy too much success 



in the past. Some of the pk- i I remember have 



been, not those which gave me m> but those which 



gave me moderate sport under pl^ ?. Three or 



four pike varying from 5 lb. to 8 -ning in a 



river are a very satisfactory rewar and they 



are not too heavy a load to carry e one had to 



carry four pike w ao lb. to 30 lb. three miles to 



the station t sort df c i mediocrity 



after all navix 8'l^OTJAV/ K() 



'OvAtVu«.\^i;iSvV. ^^^A^sYr^»t84<\ n.-wji^'H .(je of oike- 



fishing, and the iittie-pr v.-trolling comes 



"^3rt n. i 1 have no affection. 



^> a spinning bait, and I do 



not see v d not follow his example, should 



I ever meet with such a Rionster. The relative efficiency of 

 live-bait and spmner has been much discussed, and most people 

 seem to hold that big pike take a live bait more readily. I think 

 myself that the fact, if it be a fact, is due to the difficulty of 

 making a spinning bait go close enough to, and stay long enough 

 near, the pike. Once one can overcome this difficulty, I be- 

 lieve a tempting natural bait, spun on its own curve, to be even 

 m«7re attractive than a living fish. 



218 



