160 BOTTOM FISHING IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE, 

 f 



CHAPTEE XII. 



EELS AND FLOUNDERS. 



THESE fish are generally connected together by Trent anglers 

 similarly to roach and dace, or carp and tench. Why is not 

 clearly apparent, because there is a vast difference in their 

 shape, nature, and habits. The eel, as every one is aware, 

 is long and thin, somewhat after the shape of a snake, while 

 the flounder is a flat fish, like a plaice. Perhaps the reason 

 is that where the flounder is found there also are eels, and 

 both of them are taken on the same tackle and with the 

 same bait. 



Angling for eels as a sport is not of much consequence ; 

 and as it is a sport that any boy can successfully follow, few 

 instructions are needed. As the fish, however, run to a good 

 size in the Trent, and are excellent eating, I think them 

 eminently worth mention. Eels are by no means " coarse " 

 fish as far as their gastronomic value is concerned. Perhaps 

 the only time when the term coarse can be applied to them 

 is when the angler is barbel fishing; or, intent on nobler 

 sport, at that time a miserable little quarter-of-a-pound eel 

 takes the carefully prepared worm bait, and twists and 

 tangles up the tackle in a horrible way ; for of all the Gor- 

 dian knots ever fabricated, those tied by a small struggling 

 eel are the most complicated. The problem about the eel 

 could not be satisfactorily explained until very lately, as to 

 how they produced their young, and where the breeding- 

 grounds were. Years ago, ay, and even up to the present 

 time, old and deep-rooted notions about the breeding of this 

 fish are entertained in various districts : some supposing they 

 were born of the mud ; others from particles scraped off the 

 bodies of large eels when they rubbed themselves against 

 stones ; others from the putrid flesh of dead animals thrown 

 in the water; others that they are bred from the dews 



