LIVE-BAITING. 147 



I extralct the following from the published works of the 

 authors mentioned :— 



Nobbes says : — 



One pike of 40 inches might haply be of as many years standing; 

 not that a pike grows just about an inch a year, for that is a thing 

 that is hard to determine ; some grow faster, some slower, accord- 

 ing to the diversity of their water and their feed. River fish are 

 thought to grow much faster than pond fish, except the pond be 

 very large and have a good stream run through it ; for there is 

 nothing helps so much to the feeding of pike as fresh water. Jacks 

 or ■pickerels grow faster than great ones, and I have observed in a 

 clear and springing brook that a jack spawned in March will take 

 a bait in October following, and will be increased to 18 inches the 

 next March (?). In standing water, as moats and ponds, he grows 

 nothing so fast j for to try the experiment I have taken one out 

 with a cast-net in May, measured him and marked him on his tail, 

 and about Michaelmas I have taken the same fish, and he hath 

 not increased in length above 2 inches, and very little in breadth. 

 A river fish will grow very fast until he come to be 24 or near 30 

 inches, then he stands a little more at a stay, and spreads himself 

 in thickness ; after that he will grow a long time, and be much 

 longer growing to his full bigness from 30 inches than he was 

 increasing to that proportion. 



The following is 'Ephemera's' opinion : — 



Young pike grow rapidly, and it is said by the end of the first 

 year attain a weight of 2 lbs. I doubt it, and am persuaded that 

 pike do not each add every year a pound to its weight. They 

 may do so for a few years, but the time comes when their growth 

 is stationary (!), size varying according to their good and bad conr 

 dition, which is regulated by food and the seasons of the year. 

 (From Yarrell):— ' Block says the young reach the length of 8 to 10 

 inches the first year; 12 to 14 inches the second; 18 to 20 inches the 

 third ; and there are proofs on record that from this last size, pike, 

 if well supplied with food, will grow at the rate of 4 lbs. a year for 

 six or seven successive years. Rapid growth requires to be sus- 

 tained by a proportionate quantity of food.' 



'Piscator' (' Practical Angler,' p. 240) has the following : — 

 The pike is a rapid-growing fish, though his increase in bulk 



