202 THE BARBEL. 



though there are many others he will bite at if he be in the hu- 

 mour. He is however rather nice and particular about his baits, 

 and therefore an unscoured worm, or one that has been scoured 

 till it becomes sickly, will generally be rejected ; he being known 

 by all experienced fishermen who have angled for him to be very 

 fastidious about the sweetness of his food, and is as Walton says, 

 a curious feeder ; yet he is said to prefer a gentle fresh from the 

 stinking offal it feeds upon, to one that has been duly cleansed in 

 bran and meal ; but as the latter are more tough, I am certain the 

 angler's chance would always be improved by using them. These 

 should not be placed singly on the hook, but strung on in the same 

 manner as before directed for trout.* If a cadis is used four or 

 five of them should be run in like manner through the head. 

 It is also said a slug is a good bait for a barbel, and so says Wal- 

 ton, ' is cheese, which is not to be too hard, but to be kept a day 

 or two in a wet linen cloth, to make it tough ; and if the cheese 

 were laid in clarified honey a short time before, as namely one 

 hour or two, you were still the likelier to catch fish ; some (he 

 continues,) have directed to cut the cheese into thick pieces, and 

 toast and tie it to the hook with fine silk ; and some advise to fish 

 for the barbel with sheep's tallow and soft cheese, beaten or 

 worked into a soft paste ;" but he concludes with observing, that 

 " doubtless the lob worm not too much scoured, and cheese 

 ordered as I have directed are baits enough." 



Since preserved salmon roe has been used as a bait, it has 

 been found a very good one for catching barbels during the 

 autumn months, and is perhaps at all times the most attractive 

 bait that can be employed in the deep and tranquil parts of the 

 river. Instances sometimes occur of barbel being taken when 

 trolling for trout, but these are rather rare occurrences, and 

 by no means happen often enough to make it worth the fisherman's 

 while to angle for them purposely in this way. 



The barbel is by no means a general fish, though until re- 

 cently they were very plentiful in many parts of the river 

 Thames; but their numbers are now sadly reduced by the 

 poaching arts of the numerous foes to whose ravages they 

 are exposed ; and the same I have also reason to fear is 



See Sup. p, 120. 



