96 



strike .: if it be a large fish, he is either not disposed 

 to swallow the bait, or there is some impediment, such 

 as a hook in his gills., &c. that debars his doing so. This 

 we may be sure of, that none but a fish of prey will 

 touch a live bait, nor a dead fish played, as in dipping, &rc. 



Such reflections should ever be present in the mind of 

 the angler; they, in a certain measure, approach to, 

 or, indeed, constitute, science. Whether from nature, 

 or by habit, or by study, it is, I know not, but, in ge-r 

 neral, I can form a tolerable guess as to what kind of fish 

 I have to deal with. 



This, however, is not certain ; for in some waters, 

 fishes will be found to act very differently from what the 

 same kinds do in other places. Nay, I know waters 

 which seem to have no sort of difference, that form a 

 little island, where the fishes, to be seen in numbers, 

 will not bite on one side of it, though they are ravenous 

 on the other. The whole island is not equal to an acre of 

 land, and the two branches are in no place twenty yards 

 asunder. How to account for this 1 know not -, but i t is 

 strictly a fact, known to every angler about the place, 

 and prevails equally at all seasons : the waters are nearly 

 equal on both sides. 



Hence it is seen how necessary it is for an angler to 

 frequent all kinds of water, to perfect himself in his pur- 

 suit j for we cannot expect him who angles only in one 

 river, &rc. to become perfect in this pleasing, but by no 

 means very easy art. 



Of Various Waters. 



The foregoing digression has led me to this part of our 

 subject j a part abounding \vith variety, and requiring 



both 



