256 FISHES AND FISHING. 



Ground baiting was practised more than 1650 

 years ago. Oppian describes that the paste was made 

 of odorous cheese and flour ; and being divided into 

 pills, the fishermen threw a shower of them in, to 

 attract the fish ; so that fish must have had a pen- 

 chant for cheese, from very early periods of the 

 world. Another ground bait from the same author 

 is, goat's flesh and fat, incorporated with flour, and 

 scattered into the water in small pieces, for one kind 

 offish, the scare. (See Willoughby.) 



I was recently told by a very old angler, of pro- 

 verbial veracity, and elevated rank in society, that a 

 small piece of clean-scraped rind of strong cheese put 

 on the hook whereon the fly is dressed, will attract 

 chub very much ; this also proves how acute must be 

 the sense of smell in fish. Probably, flies that are 

 intended for chub fishing, would be rendered more 

 attractive, if they were rubbed with strong cheese, or 

 enclosed in a box with some. 



In angling with a ledger for barbel, from a punt, 

 have some well-worked clay, let it be made into 

 hollow balls, four or five inches diameter ; fill these 

 balls with lob worms, close them up well, leaving a 

 tail or two of them a little projecting ; put one now 

 and then gently into the water over the side of the 

 boat, it will descend gradually to about the place 

 where your bait is placed, which should be a good 



