FISHING. JIMMY'S DODGE. 149 



CHAPTER XXI. 



Fishing. Jimmy's Dodge. Bream -fishing. Good Sport, Fecundity of 

 Fish. Balance Float. Fish-hatching. Edith Rose. A Night Sail. 



IT must not be supposed that the boys neglected that most 

 fascinating of all sports, fishing. They fished in the broads and 

 rivers whenever they had an opportunity. Pike, perch, bream, 

 and eels all were fish that came to their net ; and now that 

 birds' nesting was over they devoted some special days to the 

 pursuit of the gentle art. 



Some years ago, and at the time of my story, the broads were 

 as full as they could be of coarse fish, especially pike ; but by 

 the indiscriminate use of the net and the destruction of spawning 

 fish, the poachers have so thinned the water of pike and perch, 

 that the proprietors are preserving them, and the public are 

 agitating for a close time at certain seasons of the year, so as to 

 protect the breeding fish. Even at the present time, however, 

 the bream is so abundant as to afford plenty of sport to every 

 fisher, however poor he may be. In shape this fish is some- 

 thing like a pair of bellows and it is commonly met with from 

 one to five pounds in weight. It swarms in vast shoals and when 

 it is in the mood for biting, you may catch as many as you like 

 and more sometimes, for the bream is not a nice fish to handle ; 

 it is covered with' thick glutinous slime, which sticks to and 

 dries on the hands and clothes. Bream-fishers provide them- 

 selves with a cloth, with which to handle the fish and wipe off 

 the slime. 



One morning Frank, while dressing at his open window, 

 looked at the broad and was surprised to see it dotted with 

 round, bright coloured objects. 



" What can they be ? " he said to himself in surprise. " They 

 cannot be trimmers. They look like bladders, but who would 

 paint bladders red, blue, green, and yellow ? I am going to 

 see." 



