298 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. PART I. 



the next place, how you are to prepare your tackling : 

 concerning which, I will, for sport- sake, give you an 



dun grashopper, and sometimes with gentles ; with both which you art 

 to fish as with an artificial fly. They are not to be come at till about 

 September, when the weeds begin to rot : but when you have found 

 where they lie, which, in a warm day, is generally on the shallows ; 'tis 

 incredible what havock you may make ; Pinch off the first joint of the 

 grashopper's legs, put the point of the hook, in at the head, and bring it 

 out at the tail ; and in this way of fishing you will catch Chub, especially 

 if you throw under the boughs. 



But this can be done only in a boat; for the management whereof, 

 be provided with a staff, and a heavy stone fastened to a strong rope 

 of four or five yards in length ; fasten the rope to the head of the 

 boat, which, whether it be a punt or a wherry, is equally fit for this 

 purpose, and so drive down with the stream: when you come to a 

 shallow, or other place where the fish are likely to lie, drop the 

 stone, and, standing in the stern, throw right down the stream, and a 

 little to the right and left: after trying about a quarter of an hour 

 in a place, with the staff push the boat about five yards down, and 

 so throw again. Use a common fly-line, about ten yards long, with a 

 strong single hair next the hook. 



It is true, there is less certainty of catching in this way than with a 

 float or ground-bait : for which reason, I would recommend it, only to 

 those who live, near the banks of that delightful river, between Wind- 

 sor and Isleworth, who have or can command a boat for that pur- 

 pose, and can take advantage of a still, warm, gloomy day; and to 

 such it will afford much more diversion, than the ordinary inartificial 

 method of fishing in the deeps for Roach and Dace. 



In fishing at bottom, for Roach and Dace, use, for ground-bait, 

 bread, soked about an hour in water, and an equal quantity of bran; 

 knead them to a tough consistence, and make them up into balls, 

 with a small pebble in the middle : and throw these balls in, where 

 you fish; but be sure to throw them up the stream, for otherwise 

 they will draw the fish beyond the reach of your line. 



Fish for Roach, within six, and, for Dace, within three inches of 

 the bottom. 



Having enumerated the BAITS proper for every kind of fish, in 

 their respective places, it may not be amiss, here to mention one 

 which many authors speak of as excellent for almost all fish ; and that 

 is, the spawn of Salmon, or, large Trout. Barker, who seems to have 

 been the first that discovered it, recommends it to his patron in the fol- 

 lowing terms : 



" Noble Lord, 



" I have found an experience of late; which you may angle with, 

 " and take great store of this kind of fish. First, It is the best bait 

 ** for a Trout, that I have seen in all my time ; and will take great 

 " store, and not Jfail, if they be there. Secondly, It is a special bait 

 " for Dace or Dare, good for Chub or Bottlin, or Grayling, The bait 

 "^is, the ROE OF A SALMON OR TROUT ; if it be a large Trout that 

 " the spawns be any thing great, you may angle for the Trout with 



