40 THE FISHING-ROD; 



than six pounds ; those from three to four 

 pounds are the firmest and best for the table. 



Always give a tench time in biting : it is 

 soon enough to strike when they begin to move 

 off with the bait. 



CARP FISHING. 



CABP are the boldest and yet the most crafty 

 fish that inhabit the ponds and rivers of this 

 country. None but the most patient and skil- 

 ful anglers succeed in taking large well-fed 

 carp; though small ones may sometimes be 

 taken with humble tackle, and by a very 

 inferior angler. In some ponds, however, 

 where they are very abundant, and there is 

 little food for them, they sometimes bite with 

 astonishing avidity. 



I know a large, deep, muddy pond in which 

 the carp are so prolific, that once in about every 

 seven or eight years, hundreds appear to die, and 

 float on the surface as if seized with an epidemic. 

 They are then raked off the water, carted away, 

 and used on the land as manure. I have observed 

 that during the two or three seasons preceding 

 this singular phenomenon, they swim round and 

 about the pond during the hot weather, in 



