304 ESOCID^E. 



fectly free from the earthy taste which is in general so 

 great a drawback to its flavour. 



August, September, and October are the best months 

 for trolling, as the pike are then in first-rate condition, 

 and take most freely ; for though they may be captured 

 with the natural bait throughout the summer, either 

 morning or evening, and if the sky is at all cloudy at 

 almost any hour of the day, they are generally lazy and 

 indifferent to food in hot weather, and not easily moved. 

 In winter they will take readily any ordinary bait 

 dropped through a hole cut in the ice, darting on it at 

 once, from beneath the overhanging stones and stumps 

 to which they retire at that season. 



On the lakes it is best to fish from a boat, which 

 should be stationed over the weed-grown bottom of 

 some quiet bend or inlet where there is no current, and 

 where the surface of the water is comparatively smooth. 

 The boat should not be too close to the shore, and the 

 greater the length of line the better consistently with 

 convenience in casting the bait, which it is hardly neces- 

 sary to remark cannot be too lightly dropped into the 

 water. The best sized hook is No. 5 salmon hook. In 

 river trolling, where slow running streams are bordered 

 by reeds, or covered with patches of surface weed, it is 

 better to fish from the bank. 



During the Fall pike appear generally to prefer 



