60 THE JOLLY ANGLER. 



tried them without success. I do not think fish either 

 smell or hear, except in a very slight degree, water not 

 being a conductor of sound, which you may easily prove; 

 let a heavy chain in the water with a rope attached to it, 

 and you will then hear it fall faintly on the bottom; the 

 rope conducts the sound ; take the rope off, and drop it- 

 you will then find that the organs of hearing would be uso 

 less to the inhabitants of the deep: the same, in some 

 measure, by smell ; water may be impregnated with it, but 

 it does not readily conduct it; for instance, a dead dog 

 floating along in a putrid state, how offensive! take a 

 stick, and hold him but one inch under water, and there 

 the nuisance ends, as far as the olfactory nerves are con- 

 cerned. The principle upon which I should recommend 

 you to act is, to have your baits fresh and clean, and to 

 keep yourself as much out of the sight of your prey as 

 possible ; observe, they are delicately sensible of any con- 

 cussion of the bank, or other motion therefore avoid 

 moving about where you are angling. 



The next bait I shall treat of is Greaves; these should 

 be broken in pieces, and soaked all night in warm water; 

 if you are in a hurry, let the water be boiling, and they 

 will do immediately, but are not in such good order as if 

 done the former way; then pick out the best and whitest 

 pieces for your hook, which you should put on two or 

 three times doubled, in size according to the fish you are 

 trying for ; this is the best bait for Barbel, but inferior to 

 the Gentle for the other named fish. 



The last I shall describe under the head of " Baits for 

 Bottom-fishing" are Worms; every fish, from a Prickle- 

 back up to a Salmon, is, at seasons, partial to them; they 

 ought to be put in a pan, with some wet rncss, or a piece 

 of very coarse cloth dipped in water and wrung out, for 

 them to crawl through and scour themselves, which will 

 make them tough, lively, and more tempting to the fish ; 

 (a Trout will not take a dead worm". The largest, or Lob 

 worm, is used for Eels, and sometimes for Salmon, but the 

 small lively Marsh, or flat-tailed worm, is the most gene- 

 rally successful for Trout, Eels, Tench, Carp, Perch, 

 Barbel. Chub, and sometimes Bream. The next in favour 

 is the Red worm; this is nearly as gocd, putting the order 



