4 BARBEL AND BREAM. 



taut as possible to the float, which will then point up-stream ; 

 while the tackle will swim in advance of it, the bait, naturally 

 being first. If the wind is blowing down the river, the stream 

 at the top is impelled faster than the stream at the bottom, 

 and the float must be managed accordingly ; always regulating 

 the line so that the bait shall be in advance. After a few 

 fish have been taken, throw in some more chopped worms, 

 but not too many ; and be particular, to calculate as near as 

 possible when you throw in the first instalment of worms, 

 what distance they will be carried by the stream before they 

 reach the bottom. Do not spread them about, but draw the 

 fish as much to one part of the swim as you can. If the water 

 is very clear it will be better to keep them ten or fifteen 

 yards below you ; they will bite better and for a longer time 

 by being kept at a distance. Strike directly the float goes 

 down and play your fish carefully so as not to disturb his 

 late companions in the swim ; proceeding in this manner and 

 throwing in a few chopped worms occasionally, to keep the 

 Barbel together, success is certain. Always, of course, pro- 

 viding that the place has been ground-baited the previous 

 day, and that you do not overdo it while fishing. It must be 

 evident that as each fish can only eat a certain quantity, by 

 throwing in too much at once, you probably satisfy the greater 

 portion and then wonder why they will not feed, when your 

 bait is rendered almost invisible by the cloud of worms you 

 have sent in. But throw in about twenty chopped small, and 

 there will probably be a scramble amongst the shoal attracted 

 by the prospects of an El Dorado of lobworms ; prospects 

 which your large deposit of ground-bait of the previous day 

 would seem to warrant. What are eighty little bits among 

 a shoal of Barbel waiting for a fresh banquet 1 Presently, 

 down comes a bonne- boucke in the shape of your bait ; it is 

 immediately pounced on by an unsuspecting gourmand, who 

 to the astonishment of his confreres, immediately departs in 

 an extraordinary manner for the upper world. Another goes 

 in like manner, and so on through the shoal, a very few 

 chopped worms serving to whet their appetite ; until the few 

 that remain have been rendered too shy by the continued 

 hooking and disappearing of their friends. 



