6 ANGLING. 



pick out two or three of the best of such spots as he can 

 see, and fix his forked sticks ; to plumb the depth, and 

 keep an accurate register of it in each spot so as not to 

 have to do it again when he wants to fish, and then, 

 throwing in a few handfuls of bait at each place, to begin 

 with the one first baited, and to vary from one to the other 

 as sport may counsel. To plumb the depth, fix a leaden 

 plummet on the hook, then swing the plummet out to the 

 spot you want to fish. Let the line stand upright in the 

 water, the plummet just touching the bottom ; mark the 

 place where the surface of the water cuts the line, and fix 

 the float accordingly, taking a half hitch of the line round 

 the quill to prevent slipping. The best sized hook for this 

 sort of fishing will be one of about No. 7 or 8, of the 

 round bend series, as this will take both carp, tench, perch, 

 and even small roach too. 



In n>hiii'_r such places the angler will always find that 

 with such sharp-eyed fish it is as well to have a tree, 

 hedge, bank, or bush at his back, if he can get one, so 

 that his body does not stand out clear against the sky 

 behind him. It is quite astonishing what a difference 

 this makes. I have often seen a trout take a fly within 

 five or six yards of me, I having the high bank at my 

 back, when, if I had been on the bank with the sky at 

 my back he would not have looked at my bait, but would 

 have been off under a stone or weed for shelter. A hurdle 

 propped up on end answers very well for this purpose if 

 there is nothing else naturally placed. It should, however, 

 be put up a week before fishing, to let the fish get accus- 

 tomed to it. 



And now we will suppose the angler his pitch chosen 

 and baited, his depth plumbed beforehand, his rod all 

 ready he walks gently down, puts his little stool or 



