150 GRAYLING. EEL. 



XV. THE GRAYLING. 



NEXT to the trout, the grayling is the fish which 

 affords sport to the accomplished angler. It is a swift 

 swimmer, disappearing almost like a shadow: and 

 hence its old Latin name of tumber. It may be taken 

 with the same baits, and at the same stand, as the 

 trout : only observe, that it is not to be met with near 

 London. The Tean, the Severn, the Wye, the Trent, 

 and the Avon abound with them. In angling for 

 grayling, the line should be a fine gut, and the hook a 

 No. 7 or 8. You do not require a float, but should 

 let your bait swim down before the stream, letting out 

 from ten to twenty yards of line, so that it may reach 

 the spot where the fish are supposed to lie. If the 

 stream be sharp, put one or two shot on the line, in 

 order to sink the bait. Strike immediately you feel a 

 bite, and when you have hooked a fish, play it with 

 caution, as the mouth is very tender. 



XVI. THE EEL. 



THERE are four sorts of eels, the silver eel, the 

 greenish or greg eel, the red-finned eel, and the 

 blackish eel; the last having a broader, flatter, and 

 larger head than the rest, and accounted the worst. In 

 the Thames, the fishermen give eels particular names; 

 but the most usual are the silver eel and the greg; the 

 last being thicker and shorter than the other, and of a 

 darker colour. 



