52 THE ANGLER'S GUIDE. 



bait, when we have baited our hook with 

 gentles, and have found it answer very well, 

 especially in deep, gentle swims. 



PLACES AND TIMES TO FISH FOR BARBEL. 



Barbel will feed either in a gentle or a swift 

 swim, though generally, in the summer, they 

 prefer the latter. They are not, however, to 

 be caught anywhere in the stream, though it 

 may abound with them, for they always have 

 their favourite haunts, and places where they 

 know they shall find food. They are very fond 

 of a deep eddy from which there is a smart 

 run on to a shallow. And the reason is ob- 

 vious ; for in such places, the food that comes 

 down with the stream is stirred up, and lodge's 

 on the shallow near it. In such places they 

 are to be found in the warm weather, and, like 

 pigs in a farm-yard, they will rout about it 

 with their underhung mouths close on the 

 ground, picking up everything in the shape of 

 food, but a baited hook with a line attached to 

 it ! They are sly rogues, and consume a good 

 deal of food when they are on the feed, for 

 I have taken them frequently with many 

 hundreds of gentles in their stomachs, which, 



