CARP AND TENCH 57 



brazed together back to back, such as are used on spinning 

 tackles. This holds the paste on far more firmly, thus resisting 

 the carp's power of suction, and gives the angler a better 

 chance of hooking him. The hooks must be completely buried 

 in the paste, and the bait should be the size of a moderate 

 gooseberry. 



Some anglers in fishing a pond employ various devices to 

 hide themselves from the sharp eyes of the fish, and stick in 

 bushes by the margin, or even hurdles to shelter them. I never 

 found this particularly desirable, though there can be no harm 

 in it ; but it is most needful that the angler should move 

 with perfect caution, and should not stump about on the bank 

 a very few steps of an Irish jig, for example, on the bank, 

 would be fatal to all hopes of sport for an hour or two. The 

 angler need never be afraid to lay down his rod, as the bite is 

 always so slow that he has ample time to regain it before striking 

 time ; but when he takes it up he must take it up carefully and 

 not jerk the line. 



In rivers carp bite more boldly than they do in ponds'; at 

 any rate, such is the case in the Thames, where they are often 

 taken when the angler is roach or barbel-fishing in some parts. 

 The favourite method of fishing for them there is by a very 

 light ledger with a pistol-bullet, and a lump of paste. I do not, 

 however, think the carp is native to the Thames. Some years 

 ago a good many were turned in at Teddington, and there they 

 certainly have thriven, and in the eddies by the weir (a some- 

 what strange place for them to affect) they frequently take the 

 worm boldly, and show good sport ; no doubt they might 

 easily be increased in the Thames, and would form an agreeable 

 diversion if more general. 



The worst of the carp is that you must be content with your 

 sport ; for when you have caught him (in England at any rate, 

 as far as my experience goes) he is not worth eating, being a 

 muddy, bony, woolly beast, on whom any sauce or condiment 

 is simply wasted. In many places carp are tamed so that they 

 will come and feed out of their keeper's hand, and will even 

 come to his whistle or any other accustomed signal. 



THE TENCH (Tinea vulgaris) 



The tench is a better fish for the table than the carp, and if 

 caught in a tolerably well-kept pond, is not a bad fish to eat, 

 the skin being thick and glutinous, and the flesh white, firm, 



