PIKE FISHING. 



REV. \VM. MITCHELL. 



Methodist preachers are frequently called 

 on to change their abode. Communities dif- 

 fer as much as do individuals. They differ 

 not only in occupation, but in their pas- 

 times. My favorite amusement in my 

 former charge was fishing. I lived along- 

 side a river so near the ocean that weak fish. 

 porgies, butterfish and crabs were to be had 

 for the taking. When I moved to my pres- 

 ent home, and saw only a fresh water pond, 

 I said, " my fishing is gone." The few times 

 I did try resulted in nothing. I soon no- 

 ticed, however, that there were some who 

 always caught something, and sometimes 

 came back with a string of fish. Then I be- 

 gan to watch and inquire. I must have 

 learned something for the last time I was 

 out I caught 4 pike. One weighed 2 pounds 

 8 ounces. The readers of Recreation may 

 be interested in my observations. 



To be successful in pike fishing the first 

 essential is to have plenty of live bait. You 

 need minnows. We call them shiners. As 

 to your fishing line and its arrangement I 

 refer you to the August number of Recrea- 

 tion. You can easily make a trap for your 

 bait. Take wire mosquito netting and shape 

 it like a fly trap, leaving a little hole large 

 enough for the fish to enter. Fill it with 

 pieces of bread, put it in the water where 

 there are plenty of little fish and in 10 min- 

 utes you will have all the bait you want. If 

 you do not care to make a trap, use a fly- 

 trap. It may not be so large, and get so 

 many shiners at once, but you can reset it 

 as often as necessary. You can buy glass 

 traps, but they cost about $3 each. You 

 can make a wire trap for about 10 cents. 



Live tadpoles, or small frogs, make excel- 

 lent bait for the fall of the year. Put the bait 

 on the hook by slipping the hook into the 

 mouth, then out at the gills, which can be 

 done without injuring the fish. Pull the 

 hook through until about 2-3 the length of 

 the fish and then run it through the body. 

 The tail is then free to move, and will be in 

 motion as long as the fish lives. You will 

 have more bites with live fish than with dead 

 ones, even though they be fresh. Every 

 now and then give your pole a forward 

 movement of an inch or 2. This makes your 

 shiner look as though it were leaping 

 through the water, and is so tempting that 

 the pike cannot resist, but makes the leap. 

 He- has -truck, you notice, but is not 

 hooked. Be patient, not too quick. He 

 does not like to swallow a live fish. He 

 strikes first to kill it: then he makes a grab 

 and is off. as he thinks, but you know bet- 

 ter. He is hooked. Do not lift him out of 



the water. If you do he will be off. Lower 

 the point of your pole and pull him so that 

 in a little while you have him swimming 

 toward the boat. Wait until he annost 

 reaches the side, then give a sudden lift, and 

 you have him Mopping in the boat. 



Perhaps when he found himself caught he 

 made for some candocks. He will if any 

 are around. Keep cool. Do not pull nor 

 tug. but wait and in less time than you 

 could do it he will free himself. Then di- 

 rect him to the side of the boat and lift him 

 in. 



During hot weather the fish will not bite 

 in the heat of the day. They seem dull and 

 listless. I tried day after day with no re- 

 sult, but when I arose at 4 o'clock in the 

 morning and rowed toward the cooler water 

 at the head of the pond it was not long be- 

 fore I was struggling with a large pike. 



In the cooler weather of the fall, how- 

 ever, pike bite well about 4 o'clock in the af- 

 ternoon. Then instead of going for the 

 coldest water go where you think it warm- 

 est. If there is one place warmer than any 

 other there manipulate your bait and you 

 will catch fish. You should keep your boat 

 in motion all the time. Take a seat in the 

 stern and scull, having your line trailing 

 behind, or out from the boat. If you have a 

 bite, and do not hook him move around that 

 spot, and keep on trying until you get him. 

 Small pike will usually keep on coming 

 until they are caught. The older pike 

 soon scent danger and after several trials 

 are off. 



Early in the season I have used pike belly 

 for bait with a little success, but in the fall 

 if I have no shiners I try a tadpole or the 

 skinned leg of a frog, with good results; 

 but I have failed to catch any fish on pike 

 belly in the fall. They have learned that 

 dead bait is not to be trusted. 



When you go piking if you see candocks 

 in abundance at any place go there and ply 

 your bait all around them, for the pike hide 

 there to pounce upon the unsuspecting little 

 fish. 



For some reason you will catch more fish 

 when the wind is from the South. A moist 

 South wind and a day not too clear are the 

 best. If there has been a heavy rain and the 

 water is quite muddy you may as well stay 

 home. The fish cannot see the bait and 

 therefore do not bite. I have seen pike 

 caught that compare favorably with any 

 salt water fish I ever landed. I saw one 

 taken from our little lake that weighed 3 

 pounds 9 ounces, and I often see those that 

 weigh over 2 pounds. 



