Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1917-04-10
HIS HONOR, THE wALL-EYED PIKE

My Dear Buck:
Right at the start, old man, / must
tell you that the wall-eyed pike is liv-
ing under an assumed name, his real
montcker is pike-perch, but the boys
have sort of acquired the habit of
calling him wall-eyed pike, and SO we
leave it go at that. Fact is, however,
he is also known as the jack-salmon,
glass-eye pike, yellow pike, and blue
pike. He probably fell heir to these
names on account Of his habit of
cumming around, making no particu-
lar spot his homo. After he fathers
his spring family of from one to two
hundred thousand husky youngsters,
and the little pikers have learned to
wag their tails he leaves home and
hikes out on a. still hunt for food, as
he is always hungry, having the repu-
tation of being the heaviest eater of
entirely on other live fish, and often
eats his own progeny to satisfy his
lust for food.
Where you find the wall-eyed in
good numbers one day, does not guar
antee that they will congregate there
the next. There is no dope on his
route and he has no schedule. At
times he freQuents the very deep
pools and the next day he may be
lying off shoal or sandbar. In no
matter what depths Of water you To-
cate him, however, you will find that
he Is close to the bottom.
Wall-Eye Travels in Schools.
He can be coaxed into the creel with
live bait such as mud minnows, clubs,
sinners or small white-bellied frogs,
or you can use an underwater plug
weighted with a sinker or troll with
a spoon. The wall-eyed seldom trav-
els single, invariably they run in
schools, a habit acquired no doubt
from fear that he may miss feed,
Where you catch one, you can figure
on more fish from the same spot I'M
til they hustle off to locate better
feeding grounds. This hungry feel
ing, Buck, makes him a great little
bitter, which feeling has made him
a boon to the fisherman who can
always count on bringing home the
bacon if he locates a pike feeding
ground.
In the rivers he hangs out below
rapids, dams and log jams, where the
current is swift, gorging on the min
nows, which are easy prey as they are
tired out with their battle with the
swift waters. This is fine place
to cast for him, using live or artificial
bait with a fair-sized dipsey sinker to
take the bait down deep in the water.
re also has a fancy for sandbars in
the rivers and wading along a bar,
casting on both sides, brings good
results.
Troll for Him In Lakes
In the lakes you will be more sue
cessful in trolling for the wall-eye.
Live bait, plug or a spoon with buck
tail gang hook makes an attractive
lure for him. Use your bait-casting
rod with trolling tip to add strength
and reel out about hundred feet OF
line. Don't make the common mis-
take of moving the boat too speedily;
just go along fast enough to keep the
bait moving, about one and half miles
an hour is right. When you get
strike you will notice the difference
between the action of a bass and a
wall-eyed pike. The pike will give a
firm and decided tug at the line, he
will not dash away with the bait, right
then is the time to strike with
strong, quick jerk, as the large amount
of line out makes this necessary.
Buck, if that wall-eye is a ten or fif-
teen FOUNDER, you are due to have as
game a piece Of fish work" on your
hands as you could wish for. =.
Caught Big One Aecidently.
Last summer was actually forced
by accident to land a twelve and half
pound wall-eyed pike, and the way this
happened illustrates the fact that one
must study the action Of the different
fish, especially the manner in which
they take bait. It was one OF the hot
test days in July when Charley and
W. 70 C1OOOlLS O1dSh 1tbhO Al AOA bANA A.
Wisconsin, so hot, in fact, that l
only put a line out after old Henry
the local fishing expert insisted that
he hated to waste a minute on the
water. We were in about thirty feet
of water when my reel began to sing,
there was no other action, and after
striking, Hen padded back, thinking
/ was snagged. Charley ran his hand
along the line and gave it jerk to
loosen it, and right then things sure
opened up. Splash out of the water, at
the side of the canoe. flashed the pike,
and down again to the bottom. 1t
was some sport With light rod, ten
pound test bass line, and husky
wall-eye. Three times / brought him
up to the canoe, fighting back and
forth without any long runs, but a
continuous bunch of snappy jerks fol-
lowed by dives to the bottom, before
| Hen could gait him.
DIXIE.