PIKE AND PERCH 



567 



many years ago, the weight of which was 

 about ninety-two pounds, in the river 

 Shannon, by some visitors at Portumna 

 Castle, the family seat of the Marquis of 

 Clanricarde." 



The biggest Pike that I have ever 

 handled was one of sixteen and a half 

 pounds which I gaffed for my cousin, Mr. 

 C. W. Pike, from a pool in Worcestershire ; 

 vvhile my own " record " Pike weighed ten 

 and a half pounds, and was caught from the 

 Dee above Corwen. In the Thames and 



sharp teeth, and the throat is capacious. 

 Adapted in colour to its surroundings, a 

 Pike wiU lie among the weeds of a stream 

 without attracting the eyes of the passer- 

 by. But those accustomed to watching 

 fish can often detect a lurking Pike, lying 

 motionless as a log, near the bank. 



Except when impelled to range by 

 hunger, or when in search of a mate, 

 Pike resort to the cover of weeds or haunt 

 the deepest pools. In the Norfolk Broads 

 they enter the dense beds of reeds sur- 



iC 



WHERE PIKE FEED : EVENING. 



Kennet I ha\-e seen Pike of quite twenty 

 pounds weight, basking near the surface 

 of the w'ater in the early summer; and 

 when skating upon very transparent ice. 

 on a lake in Berkshire, I saw an enormous 

 Pike, carrying in its jaws a fish of its own 

 species, weighing about five pounds. 

 The Pike was so encumbered by its victim 

 that it could only swim with diihculty. 

 Edward Jesse relates that a keeper in 

 Richmond Park sent him a Pike of about 

 se\'en pounds, which had died through 

 endea\'ouring to swallow a Pike almost 

 as big as itself. It is said that these fierce 

 and rapacious fish will attack a dog when 

 swimming, and there are one or two 

 instances of Pike biting the legs of boys 

 while bathing. 



A glance at the illustration of the head 

 of a Pike on the opposite page will show 

 with what a powerful jaw and huge moutli 

 the fish is pro\'ided. The head is cruel 

 and sinister, the jaws armed with many 



rounding the \\-ater, and remain there in 

 close hiding. Anglers sometimes expel 

 them by means of dogs before fishing for 

 them in the open water. 



Pike are not sociable fish, and ^^'alton 

 describes them as " sohtary " and '' melan- 

 choly." They select feeding-places, and 

 guard them jealously from other Pike. 

 In streams they often make excursions, 

 especially towards evening, into the 

 shallows, where the}^ pursue small fish. 

 When a Pike is questing for food, its 

 whereabouts is frequently marked by a 

 swirl or a splash of the water, and the 

 leapings of the dace and bleak, upon 

 which it has murderous designs. 



When rivers are iU-pro\-ided with har- 

 bours among weeds. Pike usuaUy haunt 

 the deep water ; but they will he in a 

 foot or two of water if there is ample 

 cover. They dart at a passing fish, seize 

 it crosswise, and hold it for a time before 

 swallowing it. In the old da\-s of "gorge 



