248 MODERN PRACTICAL ANGLER. 
the stream for several hours. .A few worms should be 
allowed to protrude half their length or so, here and 
there, through the outside of the thicker balls. The 
object of these dispositions is to avoid glutting the fish at 
one time, and then leaving them without anything to 
attract or amuse them for the rest of the twenty-four 
hours interval between baiting and fishing. 
On the other hand it is most important that the 
solidity and number of the clay balls be so adjusted that 
their contents should be consumed some hours before 
the swim is to be tried with the rod and line—that the 
fish, in fact, should be allowed an interval to regain their 
appetites. 
These are the principles which must guide the angler 
in “previous ground baitings,” whether for Barbel or 
other fish. Their application, which differs of course 
according to the circumstances of each individual case, is 
a matter often requiring both nicety and judgment, 
upon the display of which the success of the bottom 
fishing will in a great degree depend. 
The Barbel spawn in May or June, and as soon as 
they have recovered a little strength make their way 
into the swiftest streams they can find, such as weirs, 
mill-tails, &c., to scour and brace themselves ; beginning 
to get into condition again in a few weeks, and being in 
the best season for the angler until September and 
October, when the frosty nights drive them from the 
streams and shallows into the deeper waters.. Here they 
