And it is observed by _Gesner_, that the bones, and hearts, & gals of _Pikes_ are very medicinable for several Diseases, as to stop bloud, to abate Fevers, to cure Agues, to oppose or expel the infection of the Plague, and to be many wayes medicinable and useful for the good of mankind; but that the biting of a _Pike_ is venemous 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 oftner; as we are certaine Pigeons do almost every month, and yet the Hawk, a bird of prey (as the _Pike_ is of 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, then those in great Ponds or Meres, and the worst in smal Ponds.
And now I shall proceed to give you some directions how to catch this _Pike_, which you have with so much patience heard me talk of.
His feeding is usually _fish_ or _frogs_, and sometime a weed of his owne, called _Pikrel-weed_, of which I told you some think some _Pikes_ are bred; for they have observed, that where no _Pikes_ have been put into a Pond, yet that there they have been found, and that there has been plenty of that weed in that Pond, 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 then I profess my self 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 which is fix'd, or made to rest in one certaine place when you shall be absent; and that 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, 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: