SP1NOUS FISH. 



321 



Is the most active and voracious; and our poets, 

 whose business it is to observe the surface of 

 nature, have called it the tyrant of the watery 

 plain. In fact, in proportion to its strength 



is as follows : Take a common needle, attached in the 

 middle by fine waxed twine, a packthread line, or a strong 

 small hook fixed to this kind of line ; place a large lob- 

 worm, by the head end, on your needle or hook, and draw 

 him on to his middle ; affix another needle to the end of 

 a long stick, and guide your bait with it into any of the 

 known haunts of the fish, between mill boards, or into 

 clefts of banks or holes, holding the line in your hand; 

 now give the eel time to gorge the bait, and then by a 

 sharp twitch fix tlie needle across his throat, or the hook 

 into his body; tire him well, and your triumph is cer- 

 tain. Although this is not strictly a method of angling, 

 the lovers of that sport will find it so successful a mode 

 of diversifying their pursuits, where eels are common, 

 that the present appeared the most convenient place to 

 insert it. Bobbing is a rough species of angling. The 

 best method is to provide yourself with a considerable 

 number of good-sized worms, and string them from head 

 to tail, by a needle, on fine strong twine, viz. to the 

 amount of a pound, or a pound and a half in weight. 

 Wind them round a card into a dozen or fifteen links, 

 and secure the two ends of each Jink by threads. 

 Now tie a strong cord to the bundle of strung worms, 

 about a foot from which put on a bored plummet, and 

 angle with a line from two to three feet long, attached 

 to a stout tapering pole. Eels, and perhaps pike, are 

 found in no part of Great Britain in such numbers or 

 variety as in the marshy parts of the counties of Cam- 

 bridge and Lincoln. The silver eel is the finest, and is 

 very common in Scotland The manner in which this 

 fish is propagated, has long been a matter of dispute. 

 They have neither spawn nor melt, as known organs of 

 generation. Walton gravely argues for their being bred 

 of corruption, " as some kind of bees and wasps are;" 

 others strongly contend for their being viviparous. It 

 is a subject, indeed, upon which naturalists have no cer- 

 tain information. The lamprey, (see it noticed at page 

 280) "a lamhendo petras, from licking the rocks," says 

 the quaint author of the Worthies of England, is a spe- 

 cies of eel, variously esteemed. In Worcestershire and 

 Gloucestershire, the Severn lamprey is regarded as a 

 luxury; and, by the city of Gloucester, a pie made of 

 this fish is anmially presented to the queen. In the 

 north of Great Britain it is much disliked. Eels bait 

 in a shower, and in w'ndy, gloomy weather, at the lob 

 and garden worm, designed for other fish, particularly 

 trout. Unlike other fish, they are never out of season. 

 They are a very greedy fish, and if you wish to angle 

 for them in the ordinary way, they will take a lam- 

 prey, wasp, grubs, minnows, &c., but particularly the 

 first. 



The Pinnock, or Hirling, is a species of sea trout 

 which usually attains the length of from nine to four- 

 teen inches, and is principally known in Scotland ; the 

 whitling, another species, is from sixteen to twenty-four 

 inches long. They will both rise equally at an artificial 

 fly, but require generally a more showy one than the 

 common trout. 



The Grayling, or Umber, (noticed at page 303) 

 spawns in May, and is in the best condition in Novem- 

 ber. They will greedily take all the baits that a trout 

 does, and frequent the same streams. They are said to 

 have the fragrant smell of the plant Thymallus. Their 

 average length is from sixteen to eighteen inches; and 

 they must be angled for with very fine tackle, as they are 

 a remarkably timid fish. When hooked, they must also 

 be cautiously worked, as the hold in their mouth easily 

 gives way; but they will speedily return to the bait. 

 It is fine eating, unknown to Scotland or Ireland. 



VOL. II. 



and celerity, the pike does some mischief; 

 but what are its effects compared to those of 

 the cachalot or the shark ! they resemble the 

 petty depredations of a robber, put in com- 



The Gudgeon (figured at page 295) is a fish in some 

 request, botli for its flavour and the sport it affords to the 

 inexperienced angler. It is very simple, and is allured 

 with almost any kind of bait. It spawns two or three 

 times during the year; is generally from five to six 

 inches long, and fond of gentle streams with a gravelly 

 bottom. In angling for gudgeon, the bottom should be 

 previously stirred up, as this rouses them from a state of 

 inactivity, and collects them in shoals together. Some 

 anglers use two or three hooks in gudgeon fishing. A 

 float is always used, but the fish should not be struck 

 on the first motion of it ; as they are accustomed to 

 nibble the bait before they swallow it. It frequently 

 happens, that in angling for gudgeons, perch are 

 caught. 



The Loach, or Groundling, sheds its spawn in April, 

 and remains in the gravel ; where they are usually 

 caught with a small red worm. They are principally 

 found in the north of Great Britain, and in the streams 

 of the mountainous parts. They are about three 

 inches in length; and their flesh is pleasant and whole- 

 some. 



The Minnow, or Minim, one of the smallest river 

 fish, seldom exceeds two inches in length. They spawn 

 generally about once in two or three years, and swim 

 together in shoals, in shallow waters, where they are 

 very free, and bold in biting. They serve also as excel- 

 lent baits for pike, trout, chub, perch, and many other 

 fish, which prey upon and devour them greedily. 



The Mullet takes almost the same baits as the trout, 

 and will very eagerly rise to an artificial fly; they are 

 considered free baiters, and come and go with the tide. 

 If artificial flies are made use of, their size should be 

 larger than those generally used to insnare the trout. 

 They are found in their greatest perfection, in the river 

 Arun, Sussex ; but are seldom or never seen in Scot- 

 land. 



The Par, or Samlet, (see it figured and described at 

 page 302) is a fish that is known by different names in 

 different parts of Great Britain. On the river Wye it 

 is usually called a skirling; in Yorkshire, a brandling; 

 in Northumberland, a rack-rider ; arid in some parts of 

 England, a fingering, from the resemblance of its spotted 

 streaks to the human fingers. Par, or Samlet, is its 

 Scottish name, and in that part of Britain it is best 

 known. Some have affirmed, that it is the blended 

 spawn of the trout and salmon. This opinion is strength- 

 ened by the circumstances of their usually frequenting 

 the same haunts with the salmon and sea trout, and flieir 

 being forked in their tail like the former. 



The Perch (see it noticed at page 298) is a very bold 

 biting fish, and affords excellent amusement to the 

 angler. He is distinguished by the beauty of his 

 colours, and by a large erection on his back, strongly 

 armed with stiff and sharp bristles, which he can raise 

 or depress at pleasure. Defended by this natural excres- 

 cence, he bids defiance to the attacks of the ravenous 

 and enormous pike, and will even dare to attack one of 

 his own species. Perch spawn about the beginning of 

 March, and measure from eight to fourteen inches. 

 In fishing for perch with a minnow, or brandling, the 

 hook should be run through the back fin of the bait, 

 which must hang about six inches from the ground. A 

 large cork float should be attached to the line, which 

 should be leaded about nine inches from the hook. It 

 must be observed, that they invariably refuse a fly. 



The Pike, Luce, or Jack, (see it figured and described 

 at page 303) is a fish of enormous size, and the greatest 

 voracity; indeed, so notorious is he for the latter quality, 

 2 s 



