Piscator and Venator
Piscator. The mighty Luce or Pike is taken to be the tyrant, as the
Salmon is the king, of the fresh water. 'Tis not to be doubted, but that
they are bred, some by generation, and some not; as namely, of a weed
called pickerel-weed, unless learned Gesner be much mistaken, for he
says, this weed and other glutinous matter, with the help of the sun's
heat, in some particular months, and some ponds, apted for it by nature,
do become Pikes. But, doubtless, divers Pikes are bred after this
manner, or are brought into some ponds some such other ways as is past
man's finding out, of which we have daily testimonies.
Sir Francis Bacon, in his History of Life and Death, observes the Pike
to be the longest lived of any fresh-water fish; and yet he computes it
to be not usually above forty years; and others think it to be not above
ten years: and yet Gesner mentions a Pike taken in Swedeland, in the
year 1449, with a ring about his neck, declaring he was put into that
pond by Frederick the Second, more than two hundred years before he was
last taken, as by the inscription in that ring, being Greek, was
interpreted by the then Bishop of Worms. But of this no more; but that
it is observed, that the old or very great Pikes have in them more of
state than goodness; the smaller or middle-sized Pikes being, by the
most and choicest palates, observed to be the best meat: and, contrary,
the Eel is observed to be the better for age and bigness.
All Pikes that live long prove chargeable to their keepers, because
their life is maintained by the death of so many other fish, even those
of their own kind, which has made him by some writers to be called the
tyrant of the rivers, or the fresh-water wolf, by reason of his bold,
greedy, devouring, disposition; which is so keen, as Gesner relates, A
man going to a pond, where it seems a Pike had devoured all the fish, to
water his mule, had a Pike bit his mule by the lips; to which the Pike
hung so fast, that the mule drew him out of the water; and by that
accident, the owner of the mule angled out the Pike. And the same Gesner
observes, that a maid in Poland had a Pike bit her by the foot, as she
was washing clothes in a pond. And I have heard the like of a woman in
Killingworth pond, not far from Coventry. But I have been assured by my
friend Mr. Segrave, of whom I spake to you formerly, that keeps tame
Otters, that he hath known a Pike, in extreme hunger, fight with one of
his Otters for a Carp that the Otter had caught, and was then bringing
out of the water. I have told you who relate these things; and tell you
they are persons of credit; and shall conclude this observation, by
telling you, what a wise man has observed, "It is a hard thing to
persuade the belly, because it has no ears".
But if these relations be disbelieved, it is too evident to be doubted,
that a Pike will devour a fish of his own kind that shall be bigger than
his belly or throat will receive, and swallow a part of him, and let the
other part remain in his mouth till the swallowed part be digested, and
then swallow that other part that was in his mouth, and so put it over
by degrees; which is not unlike the Ox, and some other beasts taking
their meat, not out of their mouth immediately into their belly, but
first into some place betwixt, and then chew it, or digest it by degrees
after, which is called chewing the cud. And, doubtless, Pikes will bite
when they are not hungry; but, as some think, even for very anger, when
a tempting bait comes near to them.
And it is observed, that the Pike will eat venomous things, as some kind
of frogs are, and yet live without being harmed by them; for, as some
say, he has in him a natural balsam, or antidote against all poison. And
he has a strange heat, that though it appear to us to be cold, can yet
digest or put over any fish-flesh, by degrees, without being sick. And
others observe, that he never eats the venomous frog till he have first
killed her, and then as ducks are observed to do to frogs in
spawning-time, at which time some frogs are observed to be venomous, so
thoroughly washed her, by tumbling her up and down in the water, that he
may devour her without danger. And Gesner affirms, that a Polonian
gentleman did faithfully assure him, he had seen two young geese at one
time in the belly of a Pike. And doubtless a Pike in his height of
hunger will bite at and devour a dog that swims in a pond; and there
have been examples of it, or the like; for as I told you, "The belly
has no ears when hunger comes upon it".
The Pike is also observed to be a solitary, melancholy, and a bold fish;
melancholy, because he always swims or rests himself alone, and never
swims in shoals or with company, as Roach and Dace, and most other fish
do: and bold, because he fears not a shadow, or to see or be seen of
anybody, as the Trout and Chub, and all other fish do.
And it is observed by Gesner, that the jaw-bones, and hearts, and galls
of Pikes, are very medicinable for several diseases, or to stop blood,
to abate fevers, to cure agues, to oppose or expel the infection of the
plague, and to be many ways medicinable and useful for the good of
mankind: but he observes, that the biting of a Pike is venomous, and
hard to be cured.
And it is observed, that the Pike is a fish that breeds but once a year;
and that other fish, as namely Loaches, do breed oftener: as we are
certain tame Pigeons do almost every month; and yet the Hawk, a bird of
prey, as the Pike is a fish, breeds but once in twelve months. And you
are to note, that his time of breeding, or spawning, is usually about
the end of February, or, somewhat later, in March, as the weather proves
colder or warmer: and to note, that his manner of breeding is thus: a he
and a she Pike will usually go together out of a river into some ditch
or creek; and that there the spawner casts her eggs, and the melter
hovers over her all that time that she is casting her spawn, but touches
her not.
I might say more of this, but it might be thought curiosity or worse,
and shall therefore forbear it; and take up so much of your attention as
to tell you that the best of Pikes are noted to be in rivers; next,
those in great ponds or meres; and the worst, in small ponds.
But before I proceed further, I am to tell you, that there is a great
antipathy betwixt the Pike and some frogs: and this may appear to the
reader of Dubravius, a bishop in Bohemia, who, in his book Of Fish and
Fish-ponds, relates what he says he saw with his own eyes, and could not
forbear to tell the reader. Which was:
"As he and the bishop Thurzo were walking by a large pond in Bohemia,
they saw a frog, when the Pike lay very sleepily and quiet by the shore
side, leap upon his head; and the frog having expressed malice or anger
by his sworn cheeks and staring eyes, did stretch out his legs and
embrace the Pike's head, and presently reached them to his eyes, tearing
with them, and his teeth, those tender parts: the Pike, moved with
anguish, moves up and down the water, and rubs himself against weeds,
and whatever he thought might quit him of his enemy; but all in vain,
for the frog did continue to ride triumphantly, and to bite and torment
the Pike till his strength failed; and then the frog sunk with the Pike
to the bottom of the water: then presently the frog appeared again at
the top, and croaked, and seemed to rejoice like a conqueror, after
which he presently retired to his secret hole. The bishop, that had
beheld the battle, called his fisherman to fetch his nets, and by all
means to get the Pike that they might declare what had happened: and the
Pike was drawn forth, and both his eyes eaten out; at which when they
began to wonder, the fisherman wished them to forbear, and assured them
he was certain that Pikes were often so served."
I told this, which is to be read in the sixth chapter of the book of
Dubravius, unto a friend, who replied, "It was as improbable as to have
the mouse scratch out the cat's eyes". But he did not consider, that
there be Fishing frogs, which the Dalmatians call the Water-devil, of
which I might tell you as wonderful a story: but I shall tell you that
'tis not to be doubted but that there be some frogs so fearful of the
water-snake, that when they swim in a place in which they fear to meet
with him they then get a reed across into their mouths; which if they
two meet by accident, secures the frog from the strength and malice of
the snake; and note, that the frog usually swims the fastest of the two.
And let me tell you, that as there be water and land frogs, so there be
land and water snakes. Concerning which take this observation, that the
land-snake breeds and hatches her eggs, which become young snakes, in
some old dunghill, or a like hot place: but the water-snake, which is
not venomous, and as I have been assured by a great observer of such
secrets, does not hatch, but breed her young alive, which she does not
then forsake, but bides with them, and in case of danger will take them
all into her mouth and swim away from any apprehended danger, and then
let them out again when she thinks all danger to be past: these be
accidents that we Anglers sometimes see, and often talk of.
But whither am I going? I had almost lost myself, by remembering the
discourse of Dubravius. I will therefore stop here; and tell you,
according to my promise, how to catch this Pike.
His feeding is usually of fish or frogs; and sometimes a weed of his
own, called pickerel-weed, of which I told you some think Pikes are
bred; for they have observed, that where none have been put into ponds,
yet they have there found many; and that there has been plenty of that
weed in those ponds, and that that weed both breeds and feeds them: but
whether those Pikes, so bred, will ever breed by generation as the
others do, I shall leave to the disquisitions of men of more curiosity
and leisure than I profess myself to have: and shall proceed to tell
you, that you may fish for a Pike, either with a ledger or a
walking-bait; and you are to note, that I call that a Ledger-bait, which
is fixed or made to rest in one certain place when you shall be absent
from it; and I call that a Walking-bait, which you take with you, and
have ever in motion. Concerning which two, I shall give you this
direction; that your ledger-bait is best to be a living bait (though a
dead one may catch), whether it be a fish or a frog: and that you may
make them live the longer, you may, or indeed you must, take this
course:
First, for your LIVE-BAIT. Of fish, a roach or dace is, I think, best
and most tempting; and a perch is the longest lived on a hook, and
having cut off his fin on his back, which may be done without hurting
him, you must take your knife, which cannot be too sharp, and betwixt
the head and the fin on the back, cut or make an incision, or such a
scar, as you may put the arming-wire of your hook into it, with as
little bruising or hurting the fish as art and diligence will enable you
to do; and so carrying your arming-wire along his back, unto or near the
tail of your fish, betwixt the skin and the body of it, draw out that
wire or arming of your hook at another scar near to his tail then tie
him about it with thread, but no harder than of necessity, to prevent
hurting the fish; and the better to avoid hurting the fish, some have a
kind of probe to open the way for the more easy entrance and passage of
your wire or arming: but as for these, time and a little experience will
teach you better than I can by words. Therefore I will for the present
say no more of this; but come next to give you some directions how to
bait your hook with a frog.
Venator. But, good master, did you not say even now, that some frogs
were venomous; and is it not dangerous to touch them?
Piscator. Yes, but I will give you some rules or cautions concerning
them. And first you are to note, that there are two kinds of frogs, that
is to say, if I may so express myself, a flesh and fish frog. By
flesh-frogs, I mean frogs that breed and live on the land; and of these
there be several sorts also, and of several colours, some being
speckled, some greenish, some blackish, or brown: the green frog, which
is a small one, is, by Topsel, taken to be venomous; and so is the
paddock, or frog-paddock, which usually keeps or breeds on the land, and
is very large and bony, and big, especially the she-frog of that kind:
yet these will sometimes come into the water, but it is not often: and
the land-frogs are some of them observed by him, to breed by laying
eggs; and others to breed of the slime and dust of the earth, and that
in winter they turn to slime again, and that the next summer that very
slime returns to be a living creature, this is the opinion of Pliny. And
Cardanus undertakes to give a reason for the raining of frogs: but if it
were in my power, it should rain none but water-frogs; for those I think
are not venomous, especially the right water-frog, which, about February
or March, breeds in ditches, by slime, and blackish eggs in that slime:
about which time of breeding, the he and she frogs are observed to use
divers summersaults, and to croak and make a noise, which the land-frog,
or paddock-frog, never does.
Now of these water-frogs, if you intend to fish with a frog for a Pike,
you are to choose the yellowest that you can get, for that the Pike ever
likes best. And thus use your frog, that he may continue long alive:
Put your hook into his mouth, which you may easily do from the middle of
April till August; and then the frog's mouth grows up, and he continues
so for at least six months without eating, but is sustained, none but He
whose name is Wonderful knows how: I say, put your hook, I mean the
arming-wire, through his mouth, and out at his gills; and then with a
fine needle and silk sew the upper part of his leg, with only one
stitch, to the arming-wire of your hook; or tie the frog's leg, above
the upper joint, to the armed-wire; and, in so doing, use him as though
you loved him, that is, harm him as little as you may possibly, that he
may live the longer.
And now, having given you this direction for the baiting your
ledger-hook with a live fish or frog, my next must be to tell you, how
your hook thus baited must or may be used; and it is thus: having
fastened your hook to a line, which if it be not fourteen yards long
should not be less than twelve, you are to fasten that line to any bough
near to a hole where a Pike is, or is likely to lie, or to have a haunt;
and then wind your line on any forked stick, all your line, except half
a yard of it or rather more; and split that forked stick, with such a
nick or notch at one end of it as may keep the line from any more of it
ravelling from about the stick than so much of it as you intend. And
choose your forked stick to be of that bigness as may keep the fish or
frog from pulling the forked stick under the water till the Pike bites;
and then the Pike having pulled the line forth of the cleft or nick of
that stick in which it was gently fastened, he will have line enough to
go to his hold and pouch the bait. And if you would have this ledger-bait
to keep at a fixt place undisturbed by wind or other accidents which may
drive it to the shore-side, for you are to note, that it is likeliest to
catch a Pike in the midst of the water, then hang a small plummet of
lead, a stone, or piece of tile, or a turf, in a string, and cast it
into the water with the forked stick to hang upon the ground, to be a
kind of anchor to keep the forked stick from moving out of your intended
place till the Pike come: this I take to be a very good way to use so
many ledger-baits as you intend to make trial of.
Or if you bait your hooks thus with live fish or frogs, and in a windy
day, fasten them thus to a bough or bundle of straw, and by the help of
that wind can get them to move across a pond or mere, you are like to
stand still on the shore and see sport presently, if there be any store
of Pikes. Or these live baits may make sport, being tied about the body
or wings of a goose or duck, and she chased over a pond. And the like
may be done with turning three or four live baits, thus fastened to
bladders, or boughs, or bottles of hay or flags, to swim down a river,
whilst you walk quietly alone on the shore, and are still in expectaion
of sport. The rest must be taught you by practice; for time will not
allow me to say more of this kind of fishing with live baits.
And for your DEAD-BAIT for a Pike: for that you may be taught by one
day's going a-fishing with me, or any other body that fishes for him;
for the baiting your hook with a dead gudgeon or a roach, and moving it
up and down the water, is too easy a thing to take up any time to direct
you to do it. And yet, because I cut you short in that, I will commute
for it by telling you that that was told me for a secret: it is this:
Dissolve gum of ivy in oil of spike, and therewith anoint your dead bait
for a Pike; and then cast it into a likely place; and when it has lain a
short time at the bottom, draw it towards the top of the water, and so
up the stream; and it is more than likely that you have a Pike follow
with more than common eagerness. And some affirm, that any bait anointed
with the marrow of the thigh-bone of a heron is a great temptation to
any fish.
These have not been tried by me, but told me by a friend of note, that
pretended to do me a courtesy. But if this direction to catch a Pike
thus do you no good, yet I am certain this direction how to roast him
when he is caught is choicely good; for I have tried it, and it is
somewhat the better for not being common. But with my direction you must
take this caution, that your Pike must not be a small one, that is, it
must be more than half a yard, and should be bigger.
"First, open your Pike at the gills, and if need be, cut also a little
slit towards the belly. Out of these, take his guts; and keep his liver,
which you are to shred very small, with thyme, sweet marjoram, and a
little winter-savoury; to these put some pickled oysters, and some
anchovies, two or three; both these last whole, for the anchovies will
melt, and the oysters should not; to these, you must add also a pound of
sweet butter, which you are to mix with the herbs that are shred, and
let them all be well salted. If the Pike be more than a yard long, then
you may put into these herbs more than a pound, or if he be less, then
less butter will suffice: These, being thus mixt, with a blade or two of
mace, must be put into the Pike's belly; and then his belly so sewed up
as to keep all the butter in his belly if it be possible; if not, then
as much of it as you possibly can. But take not off the scales. Then you
are to thrust the spit through his mouth, out at his tail. And then take
four or five or six split sticks, or very thin laths, and a convenient
quantity of tape or filleting; these laths are to be tied round about
the Pike's body, from his head to his tail, and the tape tied somewhat
thick, to prevent his breaking or falling off from the spit. Let him be
roasted very leisurely; and often basted with claret wine, and
anchovies, and butter, mixt together; and also with what moisture falls
from him into the pan. When you have roasted him sufficiently, you are
to hold under him, when you unwind or cut the tape that ties him, such a
dish as you purpose to eat him out of; and let him fall into it with the
sauce that is roasted in his belly; and by this means the Pike will be
kept unbroken and complete. Then, to the sauce which was within, and
also that sauce in the pan, you are to add a fit quantity of the best
butter, and to squeeze the juice of three or four oranges. Lastly, you
may either put it into the Pike, with the oysters, two cloves of
garlick, and take it whole out, when the Pike is cut off the spit; or,
to give the sauce a haut goût, let the dish into which you let the Pike
fall be rubbed with it: The using or not using of this garlick is left
to your discretion. M. B."
This dish of meat is too good for any but anglers, or very honest men;
and I trust you will prove both, and therefore I have trusted you with
this secret.
Let me next tell you, that Gesner tells us, there are no Pikes in Spain,
and that the largest are in the lake Thrasymene in Italy; and the next,
if not equal to them, are the Pikes of England; and that in England,
Lincolnshire boasteth to have the biggest. Just so doth Sussex boast of
four sorts of fish, namely, an Arundel Mullet, a Chichester Lobster, a
Shelsey Cockle, and an Amerly Trout.
But I will take up no more of your time with this relation, but proceed
to give you some Observations of the Carp, and how to angle for him; and
to dress him but not till he is caught.
The fourth day-continued
On the Carp