Two Big Pike. 97 



or seven pounds, and a splendid perch of over 

 two pounds. We hung the squire's jacket 

 out to dry and got aboard again. We had a 

 very fine afternoon, bringing to book five more 

 fish, the biggest of which, however, did not 

 make more than seven pounds, and with two 

 more on the trim.mers, wound up the day. On 

 getting to the farm we weighed our fish, which 

 amounted to nearly ninety pounds, my fish 

 turning the scale at eighteen and a half pounds, 

 and the squire's not quite eighteen ; and having 

 left a due share with the farmer, for whoever 

 cared to eat them (I don't ; they are dry and 

 insipid to my fancy ; the only jack I ever 

 caught worth eating were in Windermere), 

 we packed up our traps and departed, highly 

 delighted with ourselves and our day. 



JN"ot long afterwards the pond was emptied, 

 and we went over with our nets when the water 

 was about half out, and the fish had all got 

 down into deep water, and a glorious catch 

 we had of pike, perch, tench, and carp. One of 

 the latter, which I pulled out with an eel spear, 

 weighed over fifteen pounds ; and we took lots 

 of large tench home alive to stock our own 

 waters. Mine I never saw again, as they were 



