sembles the barbel's. Barbel and bream are commonly caught in the same swim, but bream like to have a deep quiet eddy to lie in. They are a curious fish, suddenly appearing in places where they have never been seen before, and after stopping for a year or two, as suddenly disappearing. They run up to 7 lb, and in the Thames average from 1 lb to 4 lb. They are a very fair fish for the table, and fry well. Size of hooks, 4, 5, 6.
The Carp.
The carp (Cyprinus carpio) is described by the Dame Juliana Berners as a "deyntous dish." Unfortunately the decline of knowledge in the matter of fish feeding and rearing in ponds, &c., renders it difficult to realise the dame's assertion, an ordinary carp from an ordinary pond being poor in flesh and muddy in flavour, but it is quite possible that the flesh, which is so susceptible of taking the nasty flavours exhaled around it, would, under better management, with better food and purer water, be both delicate and "deyntous." Of all fresh-water fish, the carp is one of the most cunning and difficult to catch where he is much fished for, though, singularly enough, they take much better in rivers than in still water. In still water, even if you can induce a good carp to pay attention to your bait (which you cannot always), he will nibble, and turn it about, until he either sucks it off the hook without touching the hook, or he discovers the hook on the line, becomes alarmed, and swims away. Very fine tackle, therefore, is required in carp fishing; but as he is big and lusty, it should be round and strong. There are various baits which more or less attract him. Paste sweetened with sugar or honey is one of the best; but he will at times take gentles, greaves, and red worms. Some affect boiled green peas, some beans, and many are taken with parboiled potato, which is one of the best of baits in some places for large fish. The best ground-baits are those recommended already, of bran, rice, bread, &c. If the fish are very shy, float tackle is to be avoided, and a very light ledger on a pistol bullet used instead. As the line rests on the ground, the carp does not see it, and takes the bait without suspicion. A clear bottom, however, is desirable. Carp run up to a heavy weight, sometimes between 20 and 30 ft, and they live to a great age. Size of hooks, 5, 6, 7.
Fig. 26.—The Common Carp.
Tench.
The tench (Cyprinus tinea) very much resembles the carp in his habits, feeding on much the same matters, though neither paste nor any vegetable baits are to be recommended for tench. The best bait that can be put to him is a red worm, or two or three gentles; and for ground-baits, chopped worms and gentles are preferable. Tench bite best in the morning and evening, when there is hardly light enough to see the float; for float tackle is best for the tench, though he nibbles and mumbles at the bait exactly as the carp does and often, like him, leaves it after nibbling off all the tail of the worm that is beyond the point of the hook. When the tench is so shy his eagerness may be stimulated by very gently drawing the float and bait away a few inches, when he will often rush at the bait and seize it at once. Tench are a very quiet, unobtrusive fish, and may exist in a pond for a long time without being known to be there. They are very capricious in biting, sometimes biting well for a day or two, and again refusing all baits for weeks without any apparent reason. If taken from clear waters, the tench is a very good table fish second only to the eel. Size of hooks, 6, 7, and 8.
Fig. 27.—The Tench.
The Eel.
The eel (Anguilla acutirostris). The eel is scarcely an angler's fish, but it is often taken in angling, and it is a most excellent and luscious table fish. It takes various baits, as worms, small dead fish, which are the best for it, and takes them better when they are still than when moving. Thus, night-lines are the best way of capturing the eel. Occasionally float tackle is used for the purpose, when the roughest tackle, with a float-hook and worm, suffices. Sniggling for eels is an amusing way of taking them. A stout needle, lashed to a long string, is concealed in a worm; the point of the needle is stuck lightly in the end of a long stick. This is then introduced into the mouth of a hole in which an eel is supposed to shelter. As soon as the eel sees it he secures it, pulls it from the stick, and devours it. The string is lashed to the middle of the needle, so that when the angler pulls at it the needle turns crosswise in his gullet. The angler pulls with a steady strain at the line, until at last the eel, unable to resist longer, comes out and is caught. Clotting for eels, by means of a big bunch of worms strung upon worsted and gathered up into festoons, is another way. The eels entangle their teeth in the worsted, and are lifted out and dropped into a pail. A hundredweight in a night has been caught in this way. They are chiefly caught, however, by baskets, nets, or traps set in mill-weirs, when they are migrating, and in some places, at such times, tons of eels are caught in a night. Fresh-water eels run up to a large size. They have been known to exceed 20 lb, but 4 or 5 lb are more common, and the average is from 1 to 2 lb. Hooks any size that is suitable from 4 to 8.
The Gudgeon.
