A DYKE WHERE PIKE SPAWN. 



BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISH AND 



THEIR HAUNTS 



By WALTER M. GALLICHAN 

 With Photographs by Mrs. C. G. GALLICHAN 



PIKE AND PERCH 



NO fish of prey that haunts fresh water 

 is so feared by other fish as the 

 Pike. Its voracityis extraordinary, 

 and it will not even spare the weaker 

 members of its own family, while its 

 dietary ranges from aquatic birds to the 

 fresh-water shrimp. Many are the stories 

 told of the ravenous nature of the Pike, 

 and within my own experience are many 

 instances of its almost omnivorous instinct. 

 Among the hve creatures which I have 

 known to fall victims to its hunger are a 

 mole, frogs, young moorhens, ffies, and 

 earthworms. There is scarcely any bait 

 used by anglers that has not been taken 

 at one time or another by Pike. 



Its depredations among fish of all kinds 



72 56 



make the Pike a very undesirable denizen 

 of salmon and trout rivers. This 

 lurking terror of the waters is detested 

 by e\'eryone concerned in the pre- 

 servation of streams that breed game 

 fish ; and in trout preserves the net, the 

 snare, the trimmer, and the fisliing-rod 

 are continually employed to check its 

 increase. But extermination is well-nigh 

 impossible, even in the most-closely pro- 

 tected rivers and lakes, as Pike possess 

 great power of survi\-ing in the struggle for 

 existence. In ri\ers. such as the Thames, 

 Lea, and Trent. Pike are not regarded as 

 pests, but are accorded all the rights and 

 privileges of their companions, the bream, 

 barbel, roach, and perch ; and the 



