WIRING. 123 



and the pike seem as silly as possible. The 

 number of pike to be taken by the wire is 

 limited only by the stock in the river and the 

 perseverance of the keeper. I know of one 

 keeper who, in the latter half of February 

 and March, 1893, wired 240 pike, and in the 

 same water wired 366 more between the spring 

 and autumn netting. A good many of these 

 were from five to eight inches in length, and 

 would have escaped through the meshes of the 

 net to prey upon the fry for another year, had 

 not the wire (a single one) cut their career 

 short. These were chiefly taken in the meadow 

 hatches, after the water had been diverted. 

 Such places should therefore be carefully looked 

 over on the first and earliest opportunity. 



Persistent work with nets, trimmer, and wire, 

 of course, in time thin down the ranks of the 

 pike, but perhaps their effect is even more 

 noticeable in the direction of the decrease of 

 average size. Thus, in a piece of water where 

 careful records were kept, in 1893, ou ^ 0I a 

 total of 2087 there were taken forty-three pike 

 of 2^1b. or over, while in the same water in 1894 

 only nine out of 836 weighed as much as 2-|lb. 



