ioo THE SPOTTING FISH 



are credited on occasions with an inconvenient 

 habit of cutting through the angler's line with the 

 sharp spine of their dorsal fin. It also seems to be 

 a well-established fact that when they see a net 

 approaching they will bury their noses in the mud 

 of the bottom and refuse to move, even though the 

 leads of the net sweep heavily over them. By this 

 means they escape. If, however, they should 

 happen to be dragged up by the net, they will fre- 

 quently endeavour, like the grey Mullet, to spring 

 over the top : in short, there is no doubt that the 

 Carp quite merits his sobriquet of the " water-fox." 

 The following method of Carp-fishing in stag- 

 nant waters, which I recommended in the " Angler- 

 Naturalist," appears, so far as my experience goes, 

 to be more successful than any other. " Let the 

 line be entirely of fine, round gut clouded if pos- 

 sible with a very light quill float, and one or two 

 small shot about a foot from the hook. Plumb the 

 depth accurately ; and arrange the distance between 

 the float and the shot so that the shot may exactly 

 rest on the bottom, weighing down the point of the 

 float a little out of the horizontal, and letting the 

 foot of gut below the shot and the bait lie on the 

 ground. Fix the rod in the bank, and keep per- 

 fectly quiet. When a bite is perceived, do not 

 strike, until the float begins to move away." 



It constantly happens, however, that the Carp, 

 especially if large and wary, will not be taken 

 either by this or by any other mode of fishing. 



