Page:British Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fresh-water Fishes.djvu/120

BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES nature, there is an authentic instance recorded of two Pike being discovered inside a third, the smallest of the three having been hooked and then swallowed by a second, and the second by a third, thus all three specimens were secured at one time when the line was pulled in. Pike have even been known to attack human beings. Shallow and deep water are both frequented, but the latter is more often sought in Winter. It is a great lover of the surface. Spawning takes place in Spring, and at that time the more usual haunt will be left for some quiet backwater until the egg-laying process is at an end. Several hundreds of thousands of eggs are capable of production by one female, but the greater majority never hatch out, and young fish (called Jack) often pay the death-penalty in their eagerness to swallow a stickle-back whose spines do not permit the latter to travel down its captor's throat. It is fairly well established that Pike attain a good age, and as regards weight a very large fish in prime condition may turn the scale at anything from 40 pounds upw^ards. Between 60 and 70 pounds seems to be the record weight for a Pike from British waters, but a fish of half that weight may be looked upon as a very fine specimen. That the Pike is the king of coarse fish is generally agreed, and it affords the greatest sport of them all. It is a game fighter, and rarely gives in until its energy is thoroughly exhausted. Yet I caught one beautifully marked specimen (now in Letchworth Museum), which was exactly three feet in length and 13 pounds in weight, which gave me little or no 102