104 BOTTOM OR FLOAT-FISHING. 



wagered that she would catch ten out of a dozen 

 bites, " nibbles included," and actually did it. 

 Notwithstanding, however, its somewhat feminine 

 reputation, there is no doubt that Gudgeon-fishing 

 often exercises a fascination over male minds also ; 

 and I am acquainted with many men who prac- 

 tically confine their angling to the capture of this 

 fish. 



Gudgeon are hardly ever seen, unless by an 

 accident, in other than running waters ; and here 

 they are to be found principally on gravel or sand 

 during the summer, which is the time for taking 

 them. I have seen them in July and August, on 

 the rippling shallows of the Hampshire Avon, 

 literally by thousands, and that often in water little 

 more than enough to cover them. In one throw of 

 the cast-net on such a spot I took on one occasion 

 no less than 98 Gudgeon, most of them large ; and 

 probably a score, or so, at least escaped in 

 carrying the net over the fifty yards of shallow 

 which intervened between me and the shore. 



The ordinary tackle for bottom-fishing should be 

 used for Gudgeon with a medium-sized porcupine 



