BOTTOM FISHING. 61 



by a careful underhand cast. The bait is pitched well out 

 to an open space on the water's surface. The prospects of 

 sport are improved when the surface is covered with weeds, 

 as the rodster's movements and person are thus obscured. 

 When a bite is indicated, an interval of a few seconds, 

 varying according to circumstances, must be given before 

 striking; a safe signal is the attempt to carry away the 

 bait; the fish has it then within his jaws, and a sharp 

 strike may be given by the time it has progressed a couple 

 of feet or so. In clear open standing water it is essential 

 that the angler should keep as much out of sight, and as 

 stationary upon the bank as possible; an intervening bush 

 or tree trunk may serve as an admirable cover to operate 

 from. 



There is an endless variety of bait used for carp, par- 

 ticularly of pastes, which range from a compound of 

 honey and sugar to bread and bran. From our own per- 

 sonal experience, we cannot commend them as being 

 generally efficient, though we have occasionally found 

 them taking, but when a particular kind of bait has been 

 much used, a change is often effective.* 



CHUB (Genus Leuciscus). These fish may be fished 

 for by an almost endless variety of baits. They will 

 take a fly with as much avidity as they will swallow a 

 worm. Bottom fishers chiefly use pastes, graves or 

 scratching, ox-brain, and the worm, when angling spe- 

 cially for these fish. But they are more often caught 

 when angling for other fish, as for barbel, roach, bream, 

 etc. Float-fishing is the best in the winter months, 

 when surface and midwater food is scarce. An old 

 haunt for these fish will often yield great sport upon a 

 sharp frosty day in midwinter. We once took six fish 

 that scaled twenty-seven pounds from one hole on the 



* The few paragraphs on fishing for tench and bream are omitted. 

 They possess no interest to anglers on this side of the water. 



