168 FISH CULTUKE. 



tution), there were, when I was a boy, a great abun- 

 dance of very fair sized carp ; there were also a quan- 

 tity of roach, running up to a quarter and half a 

 pound in weight : there were plenty of eels, and a 

 tolerable proportion of trout. Of the latter I usually 

 got from two to half a dozen in the course of my 

 day's fishing ; they rarely, however, exceeded half a 

 pound in weight. The carp did not run large, owing, 

 as I believe, to the numerous roach, four or five 

 pounds being the largest I ever saw there. Fish of 

 from one to two or two-and-a-half pounds were plenti- 

 ful, and I could usually, with a float and worm, take 

 from twenty to thirty or forty pounds' weight in a day. 

 I had not visited this pond for many years, when, 

 happening to be in the neighbourhood some time 

 since, I resolved again to fish it with a friend. 

 The trout, I was informed, had entirely disappeared 

 for some time. The pond was literally alive with 

 small roach. Any person standing in one spot 

 could easily, with one fragment of worm, and with- 

 out ever changing his bait, take three or four 

 dozen of them, provided, and as long as, any worm 

 was left on the hook, and it mattered very little 

 what spot he selected. Our whole day's fishing- 

 produced us hundreds (I cannot say how many) of 

 these wretched little roach, some half-dozen small 



