FISHING AT A DISTANCE. 75 



good big piece of paste quite far enough to be 

 within sight of the fish. It sinks to the bottom, and 

 remains there. The angler hides himself behind 

 the rushes on which his rod rests, and waits, 

 watching the loose coil of line, about four feet, 

 which has been drawn off the reel and left on the 

 ground. The signal of a bite will be the gradual 

 stealing of that line through the rings. When it 

 has all gone he picks up the rod and tightens 

 decisively. Hooked, a carp is a vigorous opponent 

 and requires a good deal of playing, Unless the 

 water is remarkably weedless I do not myself care to 

 use too fine gut for him, preferring the alternative of 

 fewer bites and fewer breakages to that of many 

 bites and many breakages, though the word 

 " many " is scarcely the one to use with reference 

 to carp-bites ! If the fish run big the gut which the 

 novice used on his first trial of angling would be 

 none too strong. The hook also would be about 

 right for paste-fishing, for a good big piece of paste 

 can and should be put on. 



For fishing with a little potato a treble-hook or 

 " triangle " is generally employed (No. 9 or 10 in 

 the scale of sizes) and it is inserted in the bait by 

 means of a small baiting-needle, an implement with 

 an open eye to which the loop of the gut is attached. 

 It then passes through the middle of the potato, 



