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annoyed angler to capture him. I should like to see them 

 jumping and rolling about me, 1 could almost bet a wager that 

 I would soon stop their sport. He is a cunning fish certainly 

 and very shy, but he is to be caught for all that. I have not 

 had the pleasure of fishing many Carp ponds, but I have fished 

 them successfully, and will describe by-and-by my style of 

 deceiving the rascals. The baits for Carp are very numerous, 

 and the following are recommended by anglers : Creed malt, 

 wheat, straw-bait, wasp-grub, gentles, cad-bait, red paste, 

 white paste, &c., but in my opinion there is no bait, taking all 

 seasons into consideration, that will catch Carp half so well as 

 the worm properly used : the tail end of a well-scoured female 

 lob worm is an excellent bait, but the cockspur or red worm 

 is the best that can be used for Carp fishing. At all times and 

 seasons when they will bite they will take either of the above 

 baits, giving a preference, however, to the cockspur. The rod 

 for Carp fishing should be twelve feet long, light and handy ; it 

 cannot be too light provided the action flies from the top and 

 the wood be of a good quality. The reel, a three inch wood 

 one ; the bobbin to be filled three parts full with soft cotton or 

 worsted and the line on the top. The line should be made of 

 all silk, plaited or twisted, and should be so fine as not to weigh 

 more than a quarter of an ounce per hundred yards. Bather 

 fine this, perhaps you may think, but not a bit too fine for the 

 gentlemen you have to deal with : what the line wants in 

 strength you must supply with skill and judgment. 



There is only one method of angling for Carp, and that is to 

 bottom fish for him, and you will require a small quill float if the 

 water be four or five feet deep ; but if it be twelve or fourteen 

 feet deep the float must be larger, or else your bait will be too 

 long in getting to the bottom, and by the same rule alter your 

 float when the wind blows wrong for throwing in. Tour tackle 

 should be four feet long, and made of the finest gut, stained in 

 a decoction made from walnut hulks, which will dye the gut 

 a pale brown. If you are fishing in a still water let your 

 bottom shot be twenty inches from the hook ; if in a gentle 



