306 ESOCID^. 



need not waste his time or patience in experimenting 

 with them. 



A large pike will frequently run the whole line off 

 the reel, darting away with a strength and velocity which 

 call into play all the skill of the angler, who should be 

 provided Avith a good rod with a stiff top, and plenty of 

 strong silk line, the nature of his other tackle being 

 matter of choice and preference, though gorge-tackle is 

 undoubtedly the most simple and efficacious. 



Pike are also taken in other ways, as by spear- 

 ing, which in winter is effected through a hole cut 

 in the ice, to which the fish are attracted by bait ; and 

 in summer by torchlight from a canoe or a scow, and by 

 other means even more uninteresting to the sportsman. 



Though the finest pike are found in the Great Lakes 

 and in the St. Lawrence, some one or other of the various 

 species belonging to North America, exist in almost every 

 stream and pool throughout the country. All these are 

 indiscriminately called " Pickerel," and are popularly sup- 

 posed to be one and the same fish at different stages of 

 growth. The distinctions between them however are not 

 sufficiently important to render any separate description 

 necessary. I have thought it more desirable to notice 

 the abundance of the Common Pike {E. Lucius), as its 

 existence in North America has been denied by more 

 than one writer. 



