142 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 



little chance of losing him, for he pulls as steady as a 

 Conestoga wagon-horse, and knows few of the wiles of the 

 Trout or Bass. 



If, after seizing your bait and making his first run, he 

 appears long in pouching it, you may feel him gently, by 

 winding up the slack slowly and bearing on him slightly. 

 If he is still there, he will resist or signify his dissent by a 

 shake or another tug, when the line must be again slacked, 

 and more time given him. 



On certain kinds of days a Pike will seize the bait, make his 

 first run and then drop or only chew it, as if he was overfed 

 or indifferent. Then it is better to use hooks, as described 

 for pond-fishing on a preceding page, putting the smaller 

 through the lips of the minnow, and the larger through the 

 back, just behind the dorsal fin, and fish as there directed. 



Much depends on the day in Pike-fishing, some persons 

 say even on the quarter the moon may be in. On a cloudy 

 day, if not too warm, I have found them to take a bait from 

 sunrise to ten o'clock, or from four in the afternoon until dark, 

 though sometimes they are on the feed all day. 



The Pike spawns in this latitude in the latter part of 

 February, or early in March, or directly after the ice is gone, 

 and soon recovers condition. He may be taken by snap- 

 fishing at almost any season after spawning. Trolling with 

 the gorge-hook is not successful until later in the season — 

 from August until November is considered the best time, or 

 even later if the weather is warm. They may be taken all 

 winter in open weather by trolling, and numbers of them are 

 caught by fishing through holes cut in the ice. 



Trolling from the bank is the most sportsmanlike way of 

 taking the Pike ; and, as will be observed, is very different 

 from trolling or rather trailing the bait from a boat, as it is 

 rowed along. Still, after one has taken the magnificent 



