PIKE-FISHING. 1 7 9 



put rod together, scorning such a namby-pamby fashion of 

 fishing. Within a couple of hours of their pushing off from 

 shore, between eighty and ninety trimmers were bobbing 

 upon the surface of the water, and for the remainder of the 

 day the men were incessantly occupied in rowing from 

 trimmer to trimmer and hauling in the spoil. The fish 

 happened to be in one of those hungry humours when there 

 seems to be scarcely any bounds to their voracity, and at 

 the end of the day the "sportsmen" were compelled to 

 hire a farmer's cart to take home the booty. At a loss to 

 know how to dispose of the quantity, thej sold it in open 

 market at twopence per pound. By accident the owner of 

 the Broad, next morning, passed by the stall, and was 

 naturally arrested by the novel sight. When he carelessly 

 inquired where the fish came from, and was informed — for 

 the fellows had not the cunning to keep their own counsel — 

 that they were the representatives of his own domain, his 

 astonishment and anger may be imagined. 



Once more let me confess to preaching where I do not 

 always practise. On one AUhallows Day I had the oppor- 

 tunity of fishing a small lake under the Chiltern Hills. 

 There had been a remarkably sharp frost for that time of 

 the year, and there was, over the narrow mouth of the reser- 

 voir, ice a third of an inch thick, which took full half an 

 hour to cut through with a punt. The morning was a 

 simple blank. Dace curled by the best spinning flights to 

 be procured. Artificial gudgeon and minnows, and spoon 

 bait, were tried, and there was not a sign of success. The 

 luncheon hour found us weary and despairing : a live roach 

 was then tried with the usual gorge hook, whose gimp was 

 passed from the shoulder under the side skin, out of the 



