64 COARSE FISH. 



very large one indeed, judging by the disturbance 

 he made whenever the boat came near him in 

 shallow water; at last, however, he went off into 

 deeper water and we quite lost sight of him, and I 

 daresay the broken tackle proved a very pretty 

 object lesson to many of his brethren. Some time 

 afterwards I picked up a dead carp in the lake, 

 over nine pounds in weight, though, of course, I do 

 not suggest this was the same fish. I only want to 

 impress the importance of using strong tackle in 

 obstructed waters, as the idea is so natural that, 

 because carp are so shy, fine tackle must be used in 

 all situations to get fish. This, however, is not the 

 case, as I have actually proved to my satisfaction. 



Carp, although they inhabit stagnant water, 

 have little or no slime about them, while bream out 

 of the same water will be covered with it. Hot, 

 still weather is the best for carp-fishing, I have 

 hardly ever taken carp in windy weather ; and I 

 look upon night fishing as almost the only time 

 you have any real chance of success with big carp, 

 unless you can fish water that is seldom, if ever, 

 disturbed in any way. Late evening is a good time ; 

 the fish are then leaving the deep for the shallow 

 water, searching for food ; and in moving in, come 

 across your bait. I have seen a novel plan em- 

 ployed to reach a deep hole in the midst of weeds 

 Cross- at a long distance out. Two rods are 

 lining required, each rod may be held by an 

 angler, or one may be lashed to a branch or other 

 support if only one man is fishing ; in this case, the 

 winch wants a strong check. The lines from both 

 rods are joined, and one angler, holding one rod, 

 walks away from the other, slackening out line as 

 he proceeds, and keeping the bait, which hangs 



