42 THE BARBEL. 



time, which he will do somewhat impatiently, you 

 may strike, but not too hard ; hard striking is 

 always objectionable, and the barbel represents a 

 heavy mass of matter, which is very apt to operate 

 as a break upon tackle, when force is too roughly 

 applied. When struck, your fish is absolutely safe, 

 barring breakage ; for your hook would be as likely 

 to lose its hold on a piece of india-rubber as on this 

 essentially leather-mouthed fish, and it is just a 

 matter of discretion or taste what time you may 

 spend in landing him. His piggishness is never 

 more manifest than when he is hooked ; he neither 

 jumps out of the water nor runs out the line, but 

 spreading his broad fins, putting his head well 

 down, and opposing his great body to the weight 

 of the water, he pulls in an obstinate, swinish way, 

 never yielding an inch, but succumbing at last to 

 main force an ignoble prize, for the barbel is 

 coarse to look upon and worthless to eat. 



Another and a better mode of barbel-fishing is 

 one more generally practised on the Trent than on 

 the Thames. A longer, lighter rod than that used 

 as already described is fitted with a " pirn," a kind 

 of wooden reel, which runs round on the slightest 

 possible pressure, without check of any kind, and 

 which requires some little skill and experience to 

 manage properly. This is furnished with some 



