THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



[There is no fish better known to London anglers than the jack and 

 pike. When the pike weighs less than 41bs. it is .technically called in 

 England a jack ; above that weight a pike. Its right vernacular name, 

 however, at all ages and sizes is pike. Scientifically it is called Esox 

 Lucius, and Dr. . Fleming describes it thus : body, olive above, with 

 yellow spots ; beneath white, with black spots ; body of nearly an equal 

 thickness, suddenly decreasing behind the dorsal and anal fins. Of this 

 notorious fish I painted some years ago a fancy miniature, which has 

 been extensively admired and copied. Here it is. " The pike, commonly 

 called jack, when under 31bs. or 41bs. in weight, is a well-known fish ; like 

 many of us, better known than trusted or treated. He is a greedy, 

 unsociable, tyrannising savage, and is hated like a Blue Beard. Every 

 body girds at him with spear, gaff, hook, net, snare, and even with 

 powder and shot. He has not a friend in the world. The horrible 

 gorge hook is specially invented for the torment of his maw. Notwith- 

 standing, he fights his way vigorously, grows into immense strength, 

 despite his many enemies, and lives longer than his greatest foe, man. 

 His voracity is unbounded ; and, like the most accomplished corporate 

 officers, he is nearly omnivorous, his palate giving the preference 

 however, to fish, flesh, and fowl. Dyspepsia never interferes with his 

 digestion ; and he possesses a quality that would have been valuable at 

 La Trappe he can fast without inconvenience for a se'nnight. He can 

 gorge himself then to beyond the gills without the slightest derangement 

 of the stomach. He is shark and ostrich combined. His body is 

 comely to look at ; and if he would hide his head by no means a 

 diminished one his green and silver vesture would attract many 

 admirers. His intemperate habits, however, render him an object of 

 disgust and dread. He devours his own children ; but, strange to say, 

 likes better (for eating) the children of his neighbours. Heat spoils his 

 appetite ; cold sharpens it. I envy the pike constitution." There are 

 more anecdotes in written and oral circulation, about this furious fish 

 than about any other denizen of our fresh waters. Those relative to his 

 ferocity I believe for the most part. No wonder that he should be 

 always a-hungered. He will digest a small roach, dace, or trout in 

 half an hour. It requires a large fish to be pouched to render torpid his 

 muscular action, or arrest the action of his most strongly and rapidly 

 dissolving gastric juices. The rascal's stomach is rarely empty, and 

 therefore there occurs continually a large absorption of nutritious matter 

 into the system. Hence the rapid growth and large size of pike. In 

 my opinion the salmon is a greater eater than the pike. But he feeds 

 with a prettier mouth, silently and unobserved, and does not ^ gobble 

 with avid eyes and crunching jaws like the pike, so nobody notices the 

 large quantity of food he " puts away" in a gentlemanlike^ manner. 

 The salmon is a gourmet, the pike is a gourmand ; which, being inter- 

 preted, means that the former is a nice, though a large feeder ; the latter 

 a gluttonous muncher, even of garbage. The one would be a Beau 

 Brummel at table, the other a Dr. Samuel Johnson. I do not believe 

 the story of Frederick the Second's pike mentioned in the second page of 

 the preceding chapter, nor do I believe Mr. Seagrave's story following 



