PREFACE 



PIKE and perch fishing have many votaries; thou- 

 sands of anglers dearly love a day among those 

 fish. Among the working men of a better class, and the 

 small tradesmen, and even some of very much greater 

 affluence, these fish take the place of the salmon and 

 trout of the nobleman and the squire. 



Some of these men have not the time to make a 

 complete study of these fish ; and I know by long ex- 

 perience that they are ever ready to welcome any 

 practical and useful remarks by a known practical 

 man, who has travelled far and wide for his sport. A 

 series of short chapters on the different branches of 

 this sport is the special feature of this volume. 



That there is a demand for a work of this kind, 

 written by one who has faced unkind fate and all its 

 buffets, and has had to depend upon his own keen obser- 

 vation for all his facts and knowledge, is proved by the 

 fact that a small pamphlet on these two fish that I wrote 

 some years ago met with a ready sale, and has been 

 for some time out of print. 



This edition is entirely rewritten from start to finish 

 and brought down to date, and is also very much 

 extended. 



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