"Has this book a sufficient excuse for existence - or has it not?" is a question which, even before that of "Is it good or is it bad?" reviewers and readers have a right to ask from each new candidate for our overcrowded shelves.
The excuse in the present instance is briefly this: -
Excepting two brochures, one of Nobbes, temp. 1682, and another by Salter of 1820, and a modern compilation entitled 'Otter's Guide to Spinning, &c.,' pp. 44, no English work has ever been devoted exclusively to Pike-fishing: the authors who have touched upon the subject have contented themselves with a few passing chapters, and none have investigated it with the attention and research lavished, almost ad nauseam, upon the sister arts of Salmon and Trout fishing.
