PUNT FISHING. 25 



on a day's sport. "We quote tliem at length 

 from a clever article, entitled "A Day in a 

 Punt:"- 



" Punt-fishing possesses many advantages 

 over angling by the river-side. The angler 

 can have his boat moored where he pleases, and 

 enjoys a far better opportunity of catching the 

 larger fish, which, excepting when the tide is 

 high, prefer the deep water to the shallows. 

 The experienced angler, on the Thames or else- 

 where, knows well in what part of the stream 

 he will find a certain ' swim,' by which term is 

 meant the favourite resort of any particular 

 kind of fish. Thus, there may be at one spot a 

 barbel swim, at another a dace swim, at a third 

 a swim of perch or roach, and so on. Then, 

 again, he has greater facilities for keeping his 

 fish alive, as the punt is provided with a well, 

 into which the fish are immediately placed when 

 taken, and perhaps for a time flatter themselves 

 that they have escaped fmm their captor's 

 power. 



"Punt-fishing is not so irksome as bank- 

 fishing. The angler can sit at his ease in his 

 chair, while the bank-fisher is mostly compelled 

 to retain the perpendicular. Thus he is more 

 likely to be seen by his intended prey, who may 

 turn round and wag their tails at him in con- 

 tempt. The punt-fisher, too, is not so pestered 

 by inquisitive passers-by, who are apt to make 

 over-curious inquiries as to what he has caught, 

 and perhaps to show impertinent interest in 

 his tackle. A bank-fisher, when he is observed 

 to hook a fish, may be immediately surrounded 



