LAWS AND REGULATIONS FOB TAKING FISH. 91 



tives sometimes half-a-dozen together, if he . have as many hooks 

 on his line. 



Artificial flies, tipped with a minute bit of white leather, taken 

 from a white kid glove, will answer very well when gentles are 

 not to be procured. ^ A float, about an inch long, made of the end 

 of a pen, with one little girdle of quill round it to hold the gut, is 

 often used in bleak fishing, and when the water is still it very 

 much improves the efficiency of the tackle. In a strong stream a 

 float is useless. 



Bleak-fishing is very improving to young anglers, and often 

 amusing to older ones. The little fish yields more real sport than 

 many other kinds of fish of much greater magnitude. 



THE LAMPREY. 



The LAMPREY is exactly like the eel in form and colour, but he 

 possesses some attributes peculiar to himself. Close to each eye 

 he has two ranges of small orifices, four' on one side and five on the 

 other, and, independent of these, behind each eye he > has > seven 

 more, through which he effect his respirations. He is slippery, 

 like the common eel, and swims with great force and activity. 

 He possesses the power of attaching himself to Atones, &c., by 

 means of his mouth, which, from the elasticity of his lips, and the 

 strength of his crooked teeth, acts as a kind of sucker, and enables 

 him to hold fast to many substances with singular tenacity. A 

 lamprey of three pounds has been known to lift a weight of twelve 

 pounds. 



We shall not enter into any detailed account of the methods of 

 fishing for the loach, minnow, and ruff. These are known to most 

 schoolboys of ten or twelve years of age in every section of the 

 kingdom. 



CHAPTER 



LAWS AND REGULATIONS FOR TAKING FISH. 



IN the act called the Black Act, it is enacted that any person being 

 armed and disguised, and who shall steal, or unlawfully take away 

 any fish out of a river or pond, or maliciously break down and 

 destroy the mound or head of any river, whereby the fish shall be 

 lost or destroyed, or shall rescue any person in custody for such 



