THE JOLLY ANGLER. 41 



eats equally well fried, boiled, or, when large, roasted ; 

 (the late Mrs. Scorer, at Broxbourne, used to send them 

 up in good style.) The Eel is mostly under two pounds, 

 but in some places they have been taken six times that 

 weight. The bright silvery bellied ones are the most 

 wholesome ; during the winter season they bury themselves 

 in the mud, till the sun with its warmth again entices them 

 forth ; they feed best in the course of the night, and in the 

 hottest weather, during and after rain or thunder ; when 

 heavy floods come they run down the stream, and are 

 taken in great quantities at flood-gates, weirs, &c. where 

 they have nets fixed on purpose to stop them; by these 

 means I have known some hundreds weight taken in a 

 night. The usual means of taking them with a rod and 

 line is to let your shot and hook (which should be baited 

 with a worm) lie upon the ground ; when they bite, do not 

 strike at the first snatch, but wait till your float goes 

 steadily off j then pull them on shore as quick as you can, 

 and put your foot on them, or they will tie your line in 

 knots, and otherwise entangle it ; if you cut them across 

 the back of the head, they will lie quiet while you unhook 

 them. I use a silk line, with a yard of strong gut at bot- 

 tom; the hook about No. 7, with a quill float. If in a 

 river, you can only fish for Eels in the stillest parts, unless 

 with a ledger bait. The large ones, in the middle of the 

 day during the months of June, July, and August, lie under 

 great stones, roots of trees, large clumps of earth, as well 

 as behind and between old boards, where the bank has been 

 kept up, or any other place where they can get their bodies 

 in, just below the surface of the water. If the river is very 

 low, and bright, you may now take them by Sniggling, a 

 simple plan, but not much followed ; you have only to get 

 a tailor's needle, and fix it tight to the end of a piece of 



depth for Roach Fishing, and I caught one myself with a gentle'; 

 they will also take flies occasionally ; but 1 fear these unnatural 

 occurrences cause many works on angling to he filled with a variety 

 of baits that seldom succeed. I might as well put in my list of 

 baits for Jack " flies, gentles, and plummets," though I will 

 readily admit that the same kinds of fish, in different waters, do not 

 always give a preference to the like bait, as their food is often 

 regulated by local circumstances. 



