THE BREAM. 47 



away from the bullet. A ten- or eleven-foot rod is 

 quite long enough for this work, and a swim should 

 be chosen where the lead and bait can rest quietly. 

 The same way of resting the rod and stopping the 

 winch, as described for floating, may be observed, 

 taking care not to strike too quickly. If the rod 

 be held in the hand the touch of the bite will be 

 found very gentle, nothing like a barbel bite. I 

 like the brown-stained gut length for legering ; and 

 as this should be fine, it is better to fish with only 

 a yard of it, and let the bullet run on the running- 

 line. 



Weir-fishing generally requires a punt to enable 

 the angler to get at the best spots. A great weir- 

 quantity of groundbait should be put in ; fishing 

 and if there be much current, more clay than usual 

 must be mixed with it, and two or three stones 

 enclosed in each lump. In very deep weirs, where 

 the gravel shelves up suddenly at the end of the 

 runs, I have had capital sport with bream, ground- 

 baiting with boiled wheat, thrown in by handfuls, 

 and fishing with the worm. In Chertsey Weir, I 

 once got hold of an enormous fish when breaming, 

 which, I think, was a carp, for nothing would move 

 it off the bottom. After playing the fish some 

 time, the hook-hold gave, and the hook was par- 

 tially straightened by the strain. The bait taken 

 was a small red worm, and I felt the bite of the 

 fish distinctly, so I am sure it was not a water- 

 logged stick or other obstruction being washed 

 round and round the eddy and tangling in the 

 line. This sometimes occurs ; it is impossible to 

 know what debris there is in a weir from one day 

 to another ; a swim or eddy that fishes perfectly 

 one day may have some heavy obstruction in it 



