88 THE PRACTICAL FISHERMAN. 



of tench were caught, of about 31b. weight each, of a colour the most 

 golden and beautiful ; but when dressed and brought to table they smelt 

 and tasted so rankly that no one would eat them.' " 



I must beg to differ, however, from this, having always found it 

 necessary to scour tench in clean water for a week previous to cooking ; 

 besides, everyone knows that clear-running streams produce the best 

 and cleanest eels. I must differ from Mr. Pennell's assertion, there- 

 fore. 



The tackle to be used in the capture of this fish is sufficiently 

 simple, and consists of the ordinary appliances in use for all the carp 

 family. In the chapter on carp I referred to the wide-spread idea that 

 some sort of connection existed between the two fish, either in habits 

 or in physical relation. This idea, like many others which have as 

 widely obtained, is quite untenable and devoid of foundation. The 

 two fish, it is true, thrive fairly well together, but they are by 

 no means inseparable or even invariably associated. I can at this 

 time point to half a dozen pieces of water which, while containing 

 carp, have no tench, and vice vers&. Beyond the fact that fineness 

 of tackle is necessary in angling for tench, there is no more similarity 

 between the method of angling for them and carp than between the 

 style in vogue for roach and that for carp. 



In fishing for tench it is advisable, of course, to use the very finest 

 gut or hair bottoms, and it is also necessary that the hook be not 

 too large, and that the bait rest on the bottom. Nearly all the 

 fresh-water flat fish take their food standing as it were on their 

 heads, and they make no exception when taking a bait on a hook. The 

 bait is first investigated very closely by the brilliant-eyed tench, then 

 turned over gently, and finally taken in the mouth and held there for 

 some few seconds ; if it be not approved it is rejected, but if the fish 

 be satisfied it is passed on down to the saw-like teeth in the throat, 

 the fish meanwhile moving somewhat away from where the bait was 

 taken. Immediately, therefore, if the bait has rested with some few 

 inches of loose gut on the bottom, that the float bobs, it is necessary 

 to strike, not too savagely, but with sufficient decision to fix the hook 

 in the soft succulent lips of the fish. A few mad plunges and borings 

 characterise the struggles of the fish, and the result is as per usual. 

 The lightest quill float should be used, and the time of most frequent 

 capture is early morning and late evening. I always, in fishing late 

 at night, especially in summer, when tench are most frequently to be 

 taken, arrange a piece of white paper or a white feather on the top of 

 the float, so that when the said float is moving its motion is easily 

 perceived, and an additional certainty added to the strike. 



