70 BOTTOM FISHING IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE BARBEL. 



THIS fish is another distinguished member of the carp family, 

 and derives his name from the peculiar beard or wattles that 

 hang from his mouth. His scientific name is Cyprinus 

 jBarbatus. "With these beards or wattles," says Walton, 

 "he is able to take such a hold upon weeds and moss that 

 the sharpest floods cannot move him from his position," but of 

 course this is wrong. His Roman nose seems to me to be 

 peculiarly adapted for rooting among the sand at the bottom of 

 deep holes and overhanging banks, and he is a well-made, 

 handsome, and powerful fish ; still I think he is not quite so 

 good-looking as the chub. The barbel is very active and 

 vigorous, and quite the fellow to try the angler's skill, and 

 the strength of his tackle. The mouth being situated very 

 much underneath, that is, the top jaw being much longer than 

 the lower, he is enabled to pick up food from the bottom, for 

 he is for the most part a ground-feeding fish, although we 

 hear of odd ones running at a spinning bait. These are, how- 

 ever, more often hooked foul than anything else. The upper 

 scales of barbel are of a bright olive-green colour, with a 

 gold tinge towards the white belly, and a fish in good con- 

 dition, of six pounds' weight or so, looks very attractive. The 

 barbel is mostly found in the deepest part of the river, for he 

 does not like the fiery heat or the extreme cold, although in 

 the month of June it may be found in the weed beds or on 

 the shallows, where they congregate in considerable numbers 

 for the purpose of scouring themselves. I have been by the 

 river side during the darkness of the early summer's night, 

 and been suddenly startled by a tremendous splashing in the 

 rapid shallow streams, as though a whole cartload of bricks 



