ItiH 



ANGLING. 



M :i\vn in April, and their average lengili is from four 

 to five iiiclit-s. When their gill fiiis are cut off they 

 serve as good baits for pike ami trout, and, like the 

 Cray fish, when IxMled, their flesh turns red. f V/y> is 

 a fish, that by its frequency of spawning, and quick- 

 ; growth, is greatly used to stock ponds, \\hcrc 

 it thrives better, and lives longer Uian in rivers. 

 (JeMicr speaks of one who livecf to 100 years old; 

 there is much doubt about its general age, but it is 

 supposed to be a very long lived fi^h. They spawn 

 three or four times a year, but the earliest time i- 

 iJ Knit the commencement of May. They are observ- 

 ed to live uncommonly long out of water, and in 

 Holland are frequently kept alive for three weeks, 

 or a month, in a cool place, by being hung with wet 

 moss in a net, and fed with bread, steeped in milk. 

 In angling for carp, it is necessary to make use of 

 strong tackle, with a fun- gut next the hook, and a 

 float formed of the quill of a goose. V They bite 

 almost close to the bottom, and are rarely caught if 

 angled for in a boat. From its subtlety, it has been 

 sometimes called the water fox. The river carp is 

 accustomed to haunt in the winter, the most quiet and 

 broad parts of the stream. In summer they live in 

 deep holes, reaches, and nooks, under the roots of 

 trees, and among great banks of weeds, mitil they are 

 in a rotten condition. The pond carp loves a rich 

 and fat soil, and will seldom or never thrive in cold, 

 hungry waters. The carp ponds of Germany yield 

 a considerable income to the gentry. The Chub, or 

 Checin, is, like the perch, a very bold biter, and will 

 rise eagerly at a natural or artificial fly. They spawn 

 in June, or at the latter end of May, at which time 

 they are easily caught by a fly, a beetle with his legs 

 and wings cut off, or still more successfully by a 

 large snail. When they are fished for at mid-water, 

 or at bottom, a float should be made use of; when at 

 top, it is customary to dip for them, or to use a fly, 

 as if a trout were the angler's object. Strong tackle 

 is abo requisite, as they are a heavy fish, ana usually 

 require a landing net to pull them out. Their aver- 

 age length is from ten to fourteen inches. Dace, Dart, 

 or Dare, are a very active and cautious fish and rise 

 to a fly, either real or artificial. It is necessary, in 

 angling for them, to remain in concealment as much 

 as possible. They spawn in February and March, 

 and their flesh is but inferior in point of flavour. 

 They frequent gravelly, clayey, and sandy bottoms, 

 leaves of the water lily, and deep holes, if well shad- 

 ed. In sultry weather they are frequently caught in 

 the shallows ; and during that period, are best taken 

 v ith grasshoppers or gentles. In fishing at bottom 

 for roach and dace, who are similar in their haunts 

 nnd disposition, bread soaked in water, and kneaded 

 to a good consistency, and then made up together 

 with bran into round balls, and thrown into the place 

 where it is proposed to angle, will be found very 

 serviceable, but must always be thrown up the stream. 

 There is a mode of intoxicating dace, and by this 

 means rendering them an easy prey ; but this is no 

 part of the real angler's sport. The Thames is well 

 known to abound in dace, and the graining of the 

 Mersey is thought to be a variety of the same species. 

 The Eel is rarely angled for, but it is usually caught 

 by the process of sniggling or bobbing, with night 

 lines, &c. Being fond of quiet in the day time, all 

 who expect much sport in eel fishing must devote 

 their evenings and even whole nights to the pursuit. 

 The method for sniggling for eels is as follows : 

 Take a common needle, attached in the middle by 

 fine waxed twine a packthread line, or a strong small 

 hook fixed to this kind of line ; place a large lob- 

 worm, by the head end, on your needle or hook, and 

 draw him on to his middle ; affix another needle to 

 the end of a long stick, and guide your bait with it 



into any of the known liaunts of the fish, between 

 mill boards, or into clefts of banks or holes, holding 

 the line in your hand ; now give the eel time to gorge 

 the bait, and then l>y a sharp twitch fix the needle 

 acn>ss his throat, or the hook into Ins body ; tire him 

 well, and your triumph is certain. 'Although thi- i> 

 not strictly a method of angling, the losers of that 

 sport, will find it. so successful a mode of diversifying 

 their pursuits, where eels are common, that the j.rc 

 sent appeared the most convenient place to insert it. 

 Bobbing is a rough species of angling. The l>e>t 

 method is to provide yourself with ftOOOnderable num- 

 ber of good-sized worms, and string them from head 

 to tail, by a needle, on fine strong twine, viz. to 

 the amount of a pound, or a pound and a half in 

 weight. Wind them round a card into a dozen or 

 fifteen links, and secure the two ends of each link by 

 threads. Now tie a strong cord to the bundle of 

 strung worms, about a foot from which put on a bored 

 plummet, and angle with a line from two to three 

 feet long, attached to a stout tapering pole. I 

 and perhaps pike, are found in no part of Great Bri- 

 tain in such numbers or variety as in the marshy 

 parts of the counties of Cambridge and Lincoln. The 

 silver eel is the finest, and is very common in Scot- 

 land. The manner in which this fish is propagated, 

 lias long been a matter of dispute. They liave neither 

 spawn nor melt, as known organs of generation. Wal- 

 ton gravely argues for their being bred of corruption, 

 " as some kind of bees and wasps are ;" others strong- 

 ly contend for their being viviparous. It is a subject, 

 indeed, upon which naturalists have no certain infor- 

 mation. The lamprey, " a lambendo petras, from 

 licking the rocks," says the quaint author of the 

 Worthies of England, is a species of eel variously 

 esteemed. In Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, 

 the Severn lamprey is regarded as a luxury ; and, by 

 the city of Gloucester, a pie made of this fish is an- 

 nually presented to the king. In the north of Great 

 Britain it is much disliked. Eels bite in a shower, 

 and in windy, gloomy weather, at the lob and garden 

 worm, designed for other fish, particularly trout. I'n- 

 like other fish, they are never out of season. They 

 are a very greedy fish, and if you wish to angle for 

 them hi the ordinary way, they will take a lamprey, 

 wasp grubs, minnows, &c., but particularly the first. 

 The Pinnock, or Hirling, is a species of sea trout 

 which usually attains the length of from 9 to 14 

 inches, and is principally known in Scotland ; the 

 whitling, another species, is from 16 to 24 inches long. 

 They will both rise equally at an artificial fly, but 

 require generally a more showy one than the com- 

 mon trout. The Grayling, or Umber, spawns in May, 

 and is in the best condition in November. They will 

 greedily take all the baits that a trout does, and fre- 

 quent the same streams. They are said to have tin; 

 fragrant smell of the plant Thymallus. Their aver- 

 age length is from 16 to 18 inches ; and they must 

 be angled for with very fine tackle, as they are a re- 

 markably timid fish. When hooked, they must also 

 be cautiously worked, as the hold in their moutli 

 easily gives way ; but they will speedily return to the 

 bait. It is fine eating, unknown to Scotland or Ire- 

 land. The Gudgeon is a fish in some request, both for 

 its flavour and the sport it affords to the inexperienced 

 angler. It is very simple, and is allured with almost 

 any kind of bait. It spawns two or three times dur- 

 ing the year ; is generally from 5 to 6 inches long, 

 and fond of gentle streams with a gravel ly bottom . J n 

 angling for gudgeon, the bottom should be previously 

 stirred up, as this rouses them from a state of inac- 

 tivity, and collects them in shoals together. Some 

 anglers use two or three hooks in gudgeon fishing 

 A float is always used, but the fish should not be 

 struck on the first motion of it ; as they are acous- 



