CHAPTER XI 

 A DAY WITH THE OUSE PIKE 



The Great Ouse and its pike Spinning round the bends Paxton 

 Hill and Wray House Island How the big pike was hooked and 

 lost A rustic Phyllis The young cuckoo and the reed-warblers 

 Down Houghton Wale, and round Batcock's Island A 

 glorious wind up. 



DURING an eight years' residence on the banks of 

 the Great Ouse, I obtained an intimate knowledge 

 of the deeps and shallows, slacks and runs of that famous 

 river, down the whole of that stretch that flows between 

 the two small towns of St. Neots and St. Ives. This reach 

 of the river lent itself admirably to the persevering spinner, 

 although taking it on the whole the water ran clear and 

 sluggish, and it was only after long-continued rains that a 

 heavy stream and a flooded water could be looked for. 

 Taking it all round, however, I did well on it with my 

 spinning rod, the record season's catch mentioned in 

 Chapter I being had in those very waters. 



The miles of water that divide those two towns are very 

 diversified in their character ; here and there, fostered by 

 the low, swampy bed, rise enormous masses of giant reeds ; 

 again a row of old pollard willows looks gaunt and grim in 

 the distance ; now a trim house and lawn peep invitingly 

 from a fringe of shrubs ; while ever and anon the river 

 with its many bends and corners invites all and sundry to 

 taste the pleasures of the sport that most certainly lies 

 under its placid surface. 



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