TACKLE AND BAITS FOR CARP. 307 



carp ; he is so sly, and nibbles in such a namby- 

 pamby way, that he strips the hook of its bait 

 mouse-like. The angler that can catch large 

 carp, Captain Williamson says, 'must possess 

 several qualifications extremely valuable to the 

 angler, and bids fair by general practice to be, 

 according to the old saying, able to teach his 

 master.' All I can tell you is, that you must 

 fish for the carp proper with as fine tackle as you 

 use for the roach, and at the same time it must 

 be stronger, for carp grow to salmon size. The 

 baits are worms, larvae, grains, pastes, green gentles, 

 and green peas. A sweet paste is perhaps the 

 best. The angling season for carp is from Febru- 

 ary to October. In stagnant waters they are 

 found in the deepest parts during the spring and 

 autumn, particularly near flood-gates through 

 which water is received and let off. In summer 

 they frequent weed-beds and aquatic plants, and 

 in rivers they are generally found in the still 

 deeps having oozy bottoms, with rushes, reeds, 

 and so forth. Worms are the best baits in spring; 

 gentles and pastes in the summer and autumn. A 

 Huntingdonshire correspondent once wrote to me, 

 that he had a pond well stored with very large 

 carp, and that after seven years' patience with 

 line, rod, and hook, he could not catch one of 

 them. He asked my advice. I told him that it 

 lay in a net. 



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