THE BARBEL. 73 



every swim he was fast in a barbel till he had landed a very- 

 good catch, whilst his companions could scarcely show a single 

 fin. Some anglers like round bent hooks, and some like 

 sneck bent ones. I think a round bent Carlisle hook is the 

 best, for you can put a worm on it so much nicer than you 

 can on a sneck bent one. An old friend of mine, when barbel 

 fishing, after the first mad rush or two of the fish and when 

 he once begins to wind on him and gets the float above water, 

 hardly ever allows the float to disappear again, but holds him 

 tight and lets the spring of the rod kill him. I don't recom- 

 mend this, but still it is done by that old friend of mine, and 

 he is a very good and successful angler. If your barbel is 

 only a small one, it is perhaps as well to hold him tight, but 

 if he feels heavy don't risk losing fish and tackle by not 

 allowing him to have a little of his own way. The mouth of 

 a barbel being situated very much underneath, and as he 

 has some very hard leathery jaws, it is certain if you hook 

 him firmly you need not fear the hook cutting through. A 

 moderately sharp stroke is necessary to fix the hook well, and 

 when he is once well hooked, the hold very seldom gives way. 

 " Tight corking " is a plan that is adopted by many barbel 

 fishers on the Trent. For this style a cork float a trifle larger 

 than the one in use for " traveller '* fishing is the best, except 

 that it must be adjusted so that the bait lies w^ell on the 

 bottom, say about two feet deeper than the distance between 

 the float and the ground. The bait is thrown in and allowed 

 to swim down as far away from you as you think requisite ; 

 it is then held stationary, and you can tell at once by the 

 bobbing of the float when a barbel attacks the bait. This 

 plan is chiefly used if the swim be a deep hole or eddy not 

 far from the bank. I like the plan under these circumstances, 

 but as a general rule I prefer to fish with a traveller float, so 

 as to let the bait be always moving about over the swim, or in 

 other words, wherever the ground bait may be. (I have giv en 



