52 ANGLING. 



In fishing with the ledger in a stream you would discard 

 th.- float, and fish as for barbel, by the feel. In this case, 

 when you feel a nibble, you must yield some inches of 

 line and wait for the tug that announces a bite. This is 

 held to be, by experienced carp fishers, the best and most 

 killing method of carp fishing, particularly for big fish. 

 The great thing is to let the bait and line rest on the 

 bottom for a foot or two. In this way the carp sees 

 neither the line nor the hook, as he cannot fail to do if he 

 is curious in float fishing when the depth is exactly 

 plumbed and the bait only just touches the bottom. I 

 have heard a haricot bean, or even a small broad bean well 

 boiled, spoken of as a capital bait, but I never tried it. 

 It seems, however, a very likely bait. I have no doubt, 

 too, that a lump of pearl barley, such as we use for roach, 

 would be a good bait, using half-a-dozen corns ; and it 

 would be a nice bait to ground bait with. 



In float fishing use as light a float as you can, and have 

 the shots or sinker as far from the hook as you conveniently 

 can ; and here, too, if you can do it, I always find that if 

 4in. or Sin. of the hook gut rests on the bottom it pays 

 best. A worm or other bait only just touching the bottom, 

 with a row of shot 6in. or Sin. above it, is very likely to 

 challenge the attention of the carp, who at once sees 

 something he is not accustomed to, and becomes sus- 

 picious. To show how different it is when the line rests 

 on the bottom, I once took a 71b. carp on an eel line with 

 a coarse string snood and worm bait. Carp always nibble 

 a good deal at the bait before they take it, and will often 

 nibble off the tail of the worm, or suck off your paste and 

 leave the hook showing without taking the hook at all. In 

 using paste I prefer sweet paste, made up with honey or 

 brown sugar, to plain, and I have heard of paste made of 



