146 HINTS ON ANGLING. 



him out, the best thing you can do is to throw him in 

 again for another bout, as he is not worth his salt in a 

 culinary point of view. 



The receipt for ground-bait, without which there is 

 little profit in angling for this fish, is recorded in the in- 

 structions for carp-fishing, and will do for all fish which 

 require such inducements. 



Barbel-fishing is not much sought after by thorough- 

 going anglers. You can seldom catch him unless the 

 ground-bait has been previously thrown in; and even 

 then you must often be pegged down in a punt to insure 

 good sport. The Londoners are fond of it, and are skil- 

 ful hands at it; and as the Thames abounds with these 

 fish, they can enjoy as much amusement as this kind of 

 fishing is calculated to afford. Fishing in a punt is per- 

 haps a desirable position, for amateurs, whose tackle and 

 equipments are very recherche, and who are unable to 

 get through the day without piquant pies, and superior 

 sherry or sparkling champagne ; but the angler who loves 

 the free air, and the broad hills, and the winding streams, 

 and can snap his hasty meal of bread and cheese, or cold 

 bacon, washing them down with honest beer, or light 

 Bordeaux, as he reclines on the emerald grass; would as 

 lief be stuck in a jail as a punt, preferring in a noble 

 cause, to gaze on the bright stars through the gratings of 

 the one, rather than to squint away at a bit of cork all 

 the best hours of the glorious day over the gunwale of 

 the other. 



23ntt for OTIjub. 



This fish is a strong, somewhat clumsy fellow, and re- 

 quires adroit management when first hooked. But clumsy 

 and strong as he is, and thickheaded as he looks, we would 



