72 ANECDOTES OF FISHES 



these places than in rivers. They may be sought 

 for where aquatic plants abound, under the large 

 leaves of which the trolled bait (gently cast) is 

 seldom refused. They will take almost any kind 

 of live bait, but the best is the gudgeon. Always, 

 in live bait trolling, give the pike time to pouch. 

 Their voracity is such, that they will even seize 

 one another. Jack takes the name of pike when 

 weighing more than four pounds. When trolling 

 in the county of Norfolk, the Editor was much 

 surprised to find them in solitary ponds which 

 had been dried up for a season. They were 

 generally the size of mackerel. This remarkable 

 fact was formerly the subject of much surprise ; 

 but as the knowledge of natural history advanced, 

 it was ascertained that certain aquatic insects, 

 who subsist on the spawn of fish, in their journey- 

 ings from pond to pond, deposit the spawn before 

 its vitality is destroyed, and thus, by a bountiful 

 intention of nature, renew the supply. 



%* The contents of this work afford ample 

 instances of this point. Editor. 



Curious Trimmers for Pike. These trimmers 

 are so fixed with a natural bait on the hook, by a 

 rather curious contrivance, that whether alive or 

 dead, the fish always remained in a swimming 

 position. Lloydd's Northern Sports. 



