The Pike Family 145 



actual fishing, as we understand it, has but little 

 to do with it. If the ice is glare and free of snow, 

 one can vary the amusement with skating. The , 

 bracing, nipping air on a clear day, with the sun 

 shining brightly on the winter landscape, has its 

 charms, and fishing through the ice is a good 

 pretext for a winter outing. A dozen or more 

 holes are cut through the ice in a circle, its 

 diameter extending over the feeding grounds of 

 the pike, whether small or great in extent. A fire 

 may be built in the centre, if far from the shore 

 on a lake, or on the shore itself if convenient to 

 the holes. The holes being cut and a fire made 

 for comfort, the next thing to do is to place the 

 " tip-ups," as they are called, and bait the hooks, 

 when there is nothing more to be done but to fill 

 one's pipe and wait by the fire for the anticipated 

 event — the rising of a signal proclaiming a " bite." 

 Tip-ups are made in several ways, but the 

 simplest plan, which is as good as any, is to 

 provide a piece of thin board, say two or three 

 feet long and two or three inches wide. A few 

 inches from one end a hole is bored, through 

 which is thrust a round stick, like a section of a 

 broom-handle, and long enough to extend well 

 across the hole in the ice. A short line, usually 



