202 Fishing in Estuaries. Chapt. xvii. 



" I now come to the flight of hooks, and for this there cannot be 

 " anything better than the spinning tackle recommended by Mr. 

 " Thomas for Mahseer, in ' The Kod in India ' (page 48) ; but as the 

 " liahmeen is a hard mouthed fish, and as he sometimes comes short, 

 " I found it best to add to this flight. I consider the following to be 

 " the most serviceable. A snood of medium brass, or silver gimp, 

 with two* trebles instead of the one treble that Mr. Thomas 

 '•' recommends for Mahseer, and a flying treble, made with a short 

 "loop, to slip over the snood, after the latter has been threaded 

 " through the bait. 



" It will save you time and trouble, for you only have one 

 " really good tide to fish on, if you have six or seven of these flights 

 " ready baited. 



" Baits are the next thing to speak of, and I will confine my 

 "remarks on this point to natural baits, as I have tried for Iiahmeen 

 "with both spoon and phantom, without success, though I have 

 "heard that others have found the spoon and phantom answer." 



I may here put in a word to say that not only have others 

 written me of kills made with phantom and spoon, but one used 

 nothing but phantoms, and exhausting his shop supply had to set 

 up a home manufactory thereof. I, too, have killed and seen them 

 killed with a white, fly in the 1'amban Channel But a tish bait, 

 as argued above, is doubtless the deception nearest to their natural 

 food ; apropos of which remark it was thai 1 was once upbraided 

 in the presence of these very Ba-in'm, " You have written a book 

 " to teach men how to deceive." 



" A young grey mullet about 3, 4, or 5 inches long, is the best 

 "bait that can be used; these small mullet are not difficult to 

 "procure, for they abound in all waters inhabited In the I'.ahmeen, 

 " and the latter seem chiefly to feed upon them. On the shores of 

 " these waters also, native fishermen and casting nets are always to 

 "lie found. Some time before the turn of tide, set one of these 

 " men to work with his net, give him a bait kettle, or an earthen 



"pot a; a substitute, to hold the baits, and bid him be careful to 



" sink the kettle in the river each time he puts fresh baits into it, 



"as natives have do idea of the necessity of supplying fish fre- 

 quently with fresh water to keep them alive. By the time the 

 " tide ebbs or flows, you should have enough small mullet to last 

 * The last ono flying free about on n lord with the ta '. 



