Jack Caught with Withy-Noose. 185 



.swept up from the bottom to conceal the direction of 

 his flight. For it would almost seem as if the jack 

 throws up this mud on purpose ; if much disturbed 

 he will quite discolour the brook. The wire does a 

 good deal to depopulate the stream, and is altogether 

 a deadly implement. 



But a clever fish-poacher can land a jack even 

 without a wire, and with no better instrument than a 

 willow stick cut from the nearest osier-bed. The 

 willow, or withy as it is usually called, is remarkably 

 pliant, and can be twisted into any shape. Selecting 

 a long slender wand, the poacher strips it of leaves, 

 gives the smaller end a couple of twists, making a 

 noose and running knot of the stick itself. The mode 

 of using it is precisely similar to that followed with a 

 wire, but it requires a little more dexterity, because, 

 of course, the wood, flexible as it is, does not draw up 

 so quickly or so closely as the metal, neither does it 

 take so firm a grip. A fish once caught by a wire 

 can be slung about almost anyhow, it holds so tightly. 

 The withy noose must be jerked up the instant it 

 passes under that part of the jack where the weight 

 of the fish is balanced — the centre of gravity ; if there 

 is an error in this respect it should be towards the 

 head, rather than towards the tail. Directly the jack 

 is thrown out upon the sward he must be seized, or 



