74 THE PRACTICAL FISHERMAN. 



water, to be borne as on a stream precisely to where the huge fishes lay. 

 At last the shoal was reached, and, retained by my line, the bait and leaf 

 remained stationary some few seconds fraught with terrible suspense. 

 All on a sudden down went the leaf, the line tightened, and a terrific 

 rush told that a Ci/prinus carpio had found his match. Now came the 

 Greek -to-Greek combat. Eight and left in turn, now down to the bottom, 

 anon quite at the surface, was the fight prolonged ; but, as far as Master 

 Carp was concerned, it was in vain. After an hour's good sport such- 

 sport as I never but once before experienced he was landed, scaling 9lb. 

 He was probably one of the smallest of those whose back fins I had seen. 

 I have simply given this episode as illustrative of the difficulties one has 

 to overcome sometimes in carp fishing. Of course, when carp are near to- 

 spawning, and shortly after, when they are close together, and jostling 

 each other with affectionate demonstration, it is a matter of little difficulty 

 to catch them ; but given the exigencies of the example I cite, and the 

 carp indeed proves himself a " wit." 



It has been the usual custom of writers on angling to connect the carp 

 and tench under one category. "Why, I know not. The same mistake is 

 made in regard to roach and dace ; but of this I shall have to speak in 

 another chapter; there are certainly some points of similarity physio- 

 logically between carp and tench, such as power of endurance of heat and 

 cold, but to the angler proper they are as different in habits as chalk is 

 from cheese, to use a homely metaphor. Carp ever bite best during the 

 early hours of morning, and tench are generally best " on" to wards- 

 evening. Carp can be taken best during the early summer months. I 

 have known good tench biting freely on a dull January day with the 

 wind due east. I have, however, never caught carp under such circum- 

 stances. 



In giving general directions to such anglers as are not experienced in 

 carp fishing, let me impress one or two indisputable truths on them for 

 their guidance. Fish with the lightest tackle compatible with strength ; 

 never use a large long-shanked hook ; cover the shank of the hook when 

 baiting ; let the bait rest on the bottom ; let the fish have the bait while 

 you count five ; give plenty of time to kill the fish ; your hook will never 

 tear out of the gristly mouth ; put no shots near the hook ; and finally, 

 when a fish is hooked keep perfectly cool and deliberate. 



The most useful bait for general fishing is the lob worm or the red 

 worm ; next to these I like a bluebottle fly. Of this bait Mr. Blakey 

 says : " No matter how small your hook, it must be put across the body 

 just under the wings." For large carp, as I have indicated, the green 

 pea, cherry, green corn, or new potatoes may be used with success. It 

 is necessary to use a small triangle hook for the latter bait, putting it on 



