154 HINTS ON ANGLING. 



The baits for gudgeons are small red worms, grubs, and 

 gentles. The very small grubs, to be found sometimes 

 under antique cow-dung in company with an admirable 

 red worm, are a very tempting bait, which we have seen 

 the gudgeons take with great rapidity. When the red 

 worm is used, it should but just fit the hook like a tight 

 glove; to accomplish this, it is often necessary to bait 

 only with the shining red head of the worm. If the bait 

 hang loose, the gudgeons will bother you like little eels, 

 and you will hardly ever hook them. 



It is principally to catch these little fishes, that the 

 Thames anglers peg themselves down in punts for hours 

 together, and squint over the side at a small cork float ! 

 There must, after all, be some pleasure in being thus 

 punted for an entire day, because such multitudes seem 

 to enjoy it; and some fishing manuals strongly recommend 

 the practice. What sort of enjoyment it is, and what the 

 nature of the felicity, does not seem to be very clear. 

 Perhaps the funny plan is adopted, because it induces no 

 remarkable fatigue, and permits the frequent application 

 of pies and porter, or sandwiches and sherry, as the case 

 may be, to the exhausted system, without interrupting or 

 interfering with the ostensible business of the day. At 

 all events, it does not appear to be very intelligible on any 

 other grounds. 



Some recommend baskets containing the leaves of 

 marsh-mallows, with a paste made of hemp-seed, to be 

 sunk in the water, previous to angling for gudgeon, as a 

 kind of ground-bait ; and some again suggest the pro- 

 priety of raking the bottom of the water, under the notion 

 that when it is thus muddled, the gudgeons imagine they 

 are about to obtain a supply of food. This latter plan is 

 frequently attended with some degree of success in tran- 



