22 DAYS AMONG THE PIKE AND PERCH 



the stream is, as it were, cut in two, with a curling, oily 

 dimple of an eddy between those two streams. 



The side of reed beds, among the flags and rushes, in odd 

 corners and lay-byes, the tail end of old lochs, up deepish 

 backwaters, and cuttings that have entrances into the 

 river, are all favourite spots for lurking jack, and should 

 not be missed on any account. 



A deepish corner away from the main stream, particularly 

 if it is fringed with a dense undergrowth of weeds, water- 

 lilies, and a scattered crop of flags and rushes sticking up 

 here and there, with little runs winding through and be- 

 tween them, is, generally speaking, a capital place to find 

 pike. I have found good ones, particularly during Sep- 

 tember and October, in the rough water close under the 

 foot of a weir, where old tree roots had been swept over 

 by a flood and lodged there, or where large stones stuck 

 up above the surface and an eddy formed behind, and 

 the frothing waters kept churning round and round. I 

 remember once working my old spoon in one of these weir 

 eddies, a place not more than six feet by four, and getting 

 two jack in two casts, going nearly fifteen pounds the 

 pair. In another place, half of an old gate and the stump 

 end of a willow tree had been carried over the weir, forming 

 a curious wedge-shaped eddy, with the water racing away 

 on either hand ; the eddy itself was not more than two feet 

 deep. I tried a Clipper artificial, as that bait would begin 

 to spin rapidly as soon as it struck the water, and got a 

 jack eight and a half pounds, and a trout nearly four 

 pounds. I wondered how these fish got into such a difficult 

 and cramped position, and how they agreed so closely 

 together. 



Another capital haunt for jack during the early part of 

 the season say, September and October are the shallow 

 streams that flow from mill-tails, weirs, and similar places, 

 especially those streams where small tufts of weeds stick 

 up, and you can see the scattered undergrowth in strings 

 and ribbons and bunches,, waving and swaying under 



