THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 183 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Observations of the Barbel, and Directions how to fish for him. 



PiscATOR. The barbel* is so called, says Gesner, by reason of 

 his barb or wattles at his mouth, which are under his nose or 

 chaps. He is one of those leather-mouthed fishes that I told you 

 of, that does very seldom break his hold if he be once hooked ; 

 but he is so stroncr, that he will often break both rod and line, if 

 he proves to be a big one. 



But a barbel, though he be of a fine shape, and looks big, yet 

 he is not counted the best fish to eat, neither for his wholesome- 

 ness nor his taste ; but the male is reputed much better than the 

 female, whose spawn is very hurtful, as I will presently declare 

 to you. 



They flock together like sheep, and are at the worst in April, 

 about which time they spawn, but quickly grow to be in season. 

 He is able to live in the strongest swifts of the water, and in 

 summer they love the shallowest and sharpest streams ; and love 

 to lurk under weeds, and to feed on gravel against a rising 

 ground, and will root and dig in the sands with his nose like a 

 hof, and there nests himself: yet sometimes he retires to deep 

 and swift bridges, or flood-gates, or wears, where he will nest 

 himself t amongst piles, or in the hollow places, and take such 



* Barbel, Cypritius Barhus of Linnaeus. The weight of the barbel is 

 from two to eighteen pounds, though they are said to grow larger. Block 

 speaks of their having been caught in the Danube from six to twelve feet 

 long. Ausonius, Mosella (01-G), says that the barbel greatly improves with 

 age. — ^vj. Ed. 



t Darcy, who kept a music shop at Oxford, used to take barbel by div- 

 ing in a deep hole near the Four Streams. He said that many of these 

 fish lay with their heads against the bank in parallel lines, like horses in 

 their stalls. They were not disturbed at his approach, but allowed him to 

 come close and select the finest of them. — JVew Monthly Mag., 1820, p. 

 H. 



