14 A BOOK: OF THE RUNNING BROOK: 



if they are set with the stream, instead of against 

 it. In Norfolk, where immense quantities of 

 eels are caught every year, the capture is 

 mostly effected by eel-sets, which are nets set 

 across the stream, and in which the sharp-nosed 

 eel is the one almost invariably taken. 



Besides these eel-sets, however, the Norfolk 

 Broadmen use " babs," a mode of fishing which 

 can hardly be called sport in any sense. The 

 " bab," or " clod," as it is sometimes called, is 

 a number of lobworms threaded on pieces of 

 worsted, and all tied up in a bunch not unlike a 

 small mop. The bab is then tied on to the end 

 of a cord attached to a stout pole. The eel's 

 teeth get entangled in the worsted as soon as 

 he attempts to take the bab, and he can then 

 be lifted out of the water into the boat, if the 

 angler be in one, or else allowed to drop off the 

 line into a pail, which the angler puts on the 

 bank at a convenient distance from his standing- 

 place. Norfolk " babbers " frequently catch 

 four stone weight of eels to a boat per night, 

 especially in the spawning-grounds. 



Night-lines also are much used for eels. 

 These are long lines, weighted heavily at each 



