5 i6 PRACTICAL LESSONS IN THE GENTLE CRAFT. 



that suitable tackle has been rigged up, we will now proceed 

 to the fishing itself. Ground-baiting, whether in river or 

 pond, is essentially necessary for this fish ; for as they 

 frequently shift their locale and rove about in search o f 

 food, it is obvious that they are likely to be kept together 

 where they find a supply of .palatable rations. Now there is 

 nothing that your river bream takes so kindly to as a diet 

 of worms, and where the fish run large, lobs well scoured 

 are a very attractive bait ; indeed I don't know anything to 

 beat them for big fish. The hole, or run that is intended to 

 operate upon, should therefore be well baited one or two 

 nights before fishing with a plentiful supply of lobs, either 

 chopped up or thrown in whole ? of the two I think the 

 latter is far preferable, and saves a somewhat unpleasant 

 operation. One thing should, however, be borne in mind, 

 that if there is no clay used when ground-baiting, and it is 

 better without it, the worms should be taken sufficiently 

 above the hole, and the set of the current studied to ensure 

 them sinking, and not being swept away from the chosen 

 place. It is an extraordinary fact, yet none the less certain, 

 that these fish will sometimes refuse to have anything to do 

 with a worm that travels down the stream, no matter how 

 neatly or showily put upon the hook, when the self-same 

 bait, stationary upon leger tackle, kills him instantly ; and 

 again they frequently reverse their tactics, declining the 

 leger business altogether, yet attacking the moving bait the 

 instant it reaches the bottom. The bream-fisher, bearing 

 this in mind, should, then, never despair of filling his basket 

 if the fish seem at first to be " dead off/' but try other 

 methods, and by offering them a suitable bait, he will 

 usually succeed in killing a brace or two of fish, and perhaps 

 a good many more, when, if he had stuck to his original 

 style, he would in all probability have gone home with a 



