2OO THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



not unlike a maggot, at which bream will bite 

 freely. Or he will bite at a grasshopper with his 

 legs nipped off, in June and July, or at several 

 flies under water, which may be found on flags 

 that grow near to the water-side. I doubt not but 

 that there be many other baits that are good, but 

 I will turn them all into this most excellent one, 

 either for a carp or bream, in any river or mere ; 

 it was given to me by a most honest and excel- 

 lent angler, and, hoping you will prove both, I 

 will impart it to you. 



1. Let your bait be as big a red-worm as* you 

 can find without a knot : get a pint or quart of 

 them in an evening in garden-walks, or chalky 

 commons, after a shower of rain, and put them 

 with clean moss well washed and picked, and the 

 water squeezed out of the moss as dry as you can, 

 into an earthen pot or pipkin set dry, and change 

 the moss fresh every three or four days for three 

 weeks or a month together ; then your bait will 

 be at the best, for it will be clear and lively. 



2. Having thus prepared your baits, get your 

 tackling ready and fitted for this sport. Take 

 three long angling-rods, and as many and more 

 silk, or silk and hair, lines, and as many large 

 swan or goose-quill floats. Then take a piece of 

 lead made after this manner, and fasten them to 

 the low-ends of your lines. Then fasten your 

 link-hook also to the lead, and let there be about 

 a foot or ten inches between the lead and the 



