THE CARP. 183 



ter leaping out of water to fall back upon the line in such a man- 

 ner as to snap it right off. At such a time the line should be 

 suddenly slackened ; for being a leather mouth fish there is no 

 danger of his getting unhooked, as there would be in the instance 

 of a trout or a salmon under such circumstances. Every carp an- 

 gler should also be careful to provide himself with a good scope 

 of line, as a strong carp is very apt to make right off for the mid- 

 dle or some distant part of the pond to which the former is 

 unable to follow him: but still an unnecessary quantity of line 

 should not be allowed, and the fish should be followed up as close- 

 ly as can be well managed : and never for one moment must an 

 angler allow his attention to be diverted from the business he is 

 engaged in : for the better the fish is worth capturing, the more 

 likely will he be to try all sorts of plans and manoeuvres to effect 

 his escape ; particularly by turning suddenly and bringing the line 

 across his back so as to cut it asunder with the sawlike spine on 

 his dorsal fin, when he attempts this, take care to slack away ; keep- 

 ing it constantly in mind that a carp of all fish is the most diffi- 

 cult, and takes a longer time than any fish, the salmon only 

 excepted, to tire out to a dead stand still. 



It also sometimes occurs, that in spite of all you can do to pre- 

 vent it but prevent it you must if possible that a carp will run in 

 amongst the weeds, in doing this he very often gets you foul, and 

 go breaks the tackle ; but instead of this it often occurs that he de- 

 taches some portion of the weeds which adhere to the linerin which 

 case let him lug about his burden to his heart's content, and never 

 attempt to relieve him of it, as by this means it is probable he will 

 tire himself out much quicker than you could affect by any contri- 

 vance of your own ; and above all things don't attempt to land 

 him till he is thoroughly beaten, otherwise the event is not very 

 likely to occur at all. 



Although carps are very fond of sporting about on the surface, 

 frequently leaping several feet out of water, yet they are rarely 

 taken either with a natural or artificial fly, though sometimes a 

 grasshopper sunk beneath the surface proves an attractive bait. 

 The best time for fishing for carp is just before sunrise in the 

 morning, and during the twilight of an evening. More may be 

 done in half an hour at those times, than during an entire sum- 

 mer's day, as both early and late they approach the shore in search 

 of food. The best places to angle in at such times, are in the 



