SPECIALISING. 55 



his rod and putting the plummet on his hook, the 

 novice must look for a likely spot. He need not 

 go very far from his first swim. About twenty 

 yards below it the river widens and forms a big 

 pool with an eddy on either side. Just at the top 

 of the pool the bed of the river shelves rapidly, and 

 it is possible to sit at the corner and fish in 

 about 8ft. of water just where the eddy meets the 

 mainstream. Bream are best fished for by tight- 

 corking, with the bait well on the bottom, so the 

 ground-bait can be dropped in as nearly as possible 

 in the same spot. Half a dozen balls as big as 

 oranges, with a stone inside each, are not too 

 many, for bream are hearty eaters, and are not so 

 easily satisfied as roach. And when the angler 

 returns after tea he may throw in three or four 

 more, for the chances are that the bream (if they 

 are in the pool) will have eaten up all the first 

 consignment, and have gone away again. More 

 ground-bait, however, will attract them back, and if 

 the angler sees the bubbles alluded to before 

 coming up from the bottom he may be hopeful 

 of bites. His bait may be either a big piece of 

 paste (the largest bream I ever caught took a lump 

 as big as a small walnut), an equally big lump of 

 ground-bait, or eight or nine gentles. Or and 

 this is, I think, a matter of local taste on the part 



