PIKE. By Fred Buller. First edition - paperback issue.

1971 1st edition paperback issue. 4to paperback (184 x 245mm). Pp318. B/w photographs, illustrations, bibliography.

An erudite and informative monograph on pike and pike fishing, and one of the most collectible angling books. The book is divided into three parts; Great Pike, The Fish, Catching Pike. Chapters include: The big pike list; A chapter of errors; John Garvin's record rod-caught pike; The great pike of Whittlesea Mere; The 60lb Dowdeswell pike; The Kenmure pike; The Endrick pike; Thirty-nine pounder caught on a 5lb live-bait; Hancock's pike; The fighting qualities of big pike; Anatomy of the pike; Fossil pike; The diet of pike; How much does a pike eat?; Big waters - big fish; Age of pike and growth rate; Spawning and fecundity; Hybrids of the pike family; Notes on the pike in North America; Weather; Locating pike in large waters; Do pike shoal?; Rigs, tackles and methods (2 chapters); Spinning; Dead-bait and live-bait mounts and rigs (several chapters); Paternoster rigs (several chapters); Nylon and wire traces and similar (several chapters); The strike; Pike for the table, preparation, cooking. Appendices are contributed by Bill Giles, Notes on Norfolk Pike fishing, and E.J. Crossman, PhD, Pike - Related Forms and History.