THE CARP. 89 



are not very numerous, either in the river Thames 

 or Lea, but what are caught are remarkably fine and 

 large, say to ten pounds weight, and they are also very 

 fat and rich in flavour. The Carp is very shy in 

 biting at a baited hook, particularly the large ones, 

 who seem to increase in cunning and craft with 

 their weight and age : in angling for them, use a long 

 light rod, and a winch with fine running tackle on, 

 a small fine tip-capped quill float, fine single gut 

 line shotted with small shot, and a No. 9 hook 5 in- 

 deed you must fish as fine as the nature of the 

 stream will allow, or you have little chance of taking 

 Carp. They will begin to feed in rivers, in the 

 month of February, if the weather is seasonably 

 mild, from which time till June, they generally bite 

 more freely than at any other part of the season, and 

 during those months they will take a bait at any 

 time of the day : after this time, June, till Michaelmas 

 you must not expect much sport in Carp-fishing in 

 the day time, but try for them early and late after 

 November, unless the weather is very mild. Carp 

 will seldom take a bait until the following Fe- 

 bruary. Carp seldom feed in ponds, until the begin- 

 ning of the month of May. The best bait (particular- 

 ly early in the season) is well-scowered red worms and 

 blood worms : in the Summer, half- scowered gentles, 

 and parboiled marrowfat peas and paste. I frequently 

 bait my hook with a red worm and a gentle together : 

 put the worm on first, then the gentle to cover the point 

 and barb of the hook, and thhik it sometimes increases 

 I 2 



