272 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



bait. Carp always nibble a good deal at the bait before they take it, 

 and will often nibble off the tail of the worm, or suck off your paste and 

 leave the hook showing without taking the hook at all. In using paste 

 I prefer sweet paste, made up with honey or brown sugar, to plain, and 

 I have heard of paste made of pound cake being greatly affected by 

 the carp. Poor old Bill Kemp, now with the majoritj", a capital old carp- 

 fisher at Teddington, used to put on a lump of this as big as a large 

 gooseberry, and fish it with ledger tackle; and he used to take a great 

 many fine carp." — [From "Angling," by Francis Francis, London, 1883, 

 p. 48.] 



" Professor Owen, who is a great adept in the art of carp-fishing in 

 ponds, has been kind enough to give me the result of his experience. 

 His practice may be formulated thus : 



" 1. The summer months are the only time of the year for carp-fishing, 

 and the best period of the day is between sunrise and about 7 o'clock, 

 after which time they usually leave off biting. 



" 2. The best bait is a brandling. 



"3. He has, however, found the following paste a by no means bad sub- 

 stitute ; soft herring-roe worked up with bread-crumbs and wool. 



" 4. He uses the ordinary bottom fishing-tackle with a light float, and 

 fishes about half a foot off the bottom. 



" My own experience concurs almost entirely with that of Professor 

 Owen, except as regards paste and bait, with which I never had any 

 sport. I used formerly to use a plain bread-crumb paste, but later ex- 

 perience has convinced me that it was a mistake, and that a well-scoured 

 brandling is the best bait both for carp and tench all the year round. 



" In open waters, however, I employ it in a somewhat different way to 

 that adopted by Professor Owen, placing the shot at about 2 feet from 

 the bait and allowing the latter to rest, with about G inches of the line, 

 on the bottom. The hook for this purpose should be a No. 7, and the 

 collar of fine round picked gut, stained. The float should be a light por- 

 cupine quill, and it will commonly be found expedient to use a reel, as 

 the carp is remarkably powerful, and without this precaution the first 

 rush of a heavy fish is very likely to carry away tbe tackle. A few 

 broken worms, thrown in from time to time, are the best ground bait ; or 

 whole worms, if the place is to be baited beforehand, in which case the 

 depth also should be very accurately plumbed, so as to avoid any dis- 

 turbance in the water when the angler comes to fish. Having thrown 

 in the bait, it is the best plan to lay down the rod until there is a bite, 

 and not to strike until the float goes under or — the more common re- 

 sult — moves steadily away. 



" In very weedy places this mode of fishing is not practicable, and then 

 the best plan is to fish about mid-water, dropping the bait noiselessly in 

 wherever a tempting-looking opening in the weeds presents itself." 

 [From the " Modern Practical Angler," by Cholmondely-Pennell.] 



