388 CARP FISHING. 



other aquatic plants. Old Carp are very crafty and wary, 

 and will not easily be taken by the angler; but young ones, 

 when a pond is well stocked, may be easily taken in great 

 quantities. 



" Notwithstanding these instances of familia,rity, it is by no 

 means easy to make a large Carp familiar with your bait : to do 

 this, the greatest nicety and caution must be observed ; but if 

 the young angler, who has been often foiled in his attempts, will 

 patiently and implicitly follow my instructions, he will become 

 a match for this cunning fish. 



" Use a strong rod with running-tackle, and have a bottom of 

 three yards of fineish gut, and a hook No. 9 or 10 ; use a very 

 light quill-float, that will carry two small shot, and bait with a 

 well-scoured red worm. 



" Now plumb the depth with the greatest nicety, and let your 

 bait just touch, or all but touch, the bottom ; but you are not 

 yet prepared ; for a forked stick must be fixed into the bank, 

 on which you must let your rod rest, so that the float will fall 

 over the exact spot you have plumbed. Now throw in a suffi- 

 cient quantity of ground-bait, of bread and bran worked into a 

 paste, and made into little balls ; or, in want of these, .throw in 

 the garbage of chickens or ducks ; and all this is to be done on 

 the evening of the day before you intend to fish. 



" The next morning, if in summer, be at the pond-side where 

 you have baited and plumbed your depth, by four o'clock at 

 least, and, taking your rod and line, which is already fixed to 

 the exact depth, bait with a small, bright, red worm; then 

 approach the water cautiously, keeping out of sight as much as 

 possible, and drop your bait exactly over the spot you plumbed 



