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"When leave has been obtained to angle in any gentle- 

 man's ponds, it is very easy to ascertain, by inquiry 

 among his dependents or labourers, which is the part 

 most favourable to your intentions. There you would 

 do \vell to sound the waters, and to cast in a little grotind- 

 lait the day previous to throwing your line. 



I have already said, that near small inlets you will pro- 

 bably find good sport ; therefore, fail not to try the depth 

 in such parts, and do not despair, even though you 

 should find it shallow j owing, perhaps, to the soil washed 

 down by heavy rains : at the edge of such a bank you 

 may expect the water to fall, rather suddenly, to a con- 

 siderable depth, in which the great fishes will often lie, 

 especially after any fresh, awaiting the supplies usually 

 brought down by the current. 



Near sluices, penstocks, and flood-gates, the water 

 is usually pretty deep, and clear of weeds for a few yards 

 at least ; they being sometimes cleared away for the pur- 

 pose of having a free draught, and for placing a net to 

 catch such fishes as may be attracted to the spot when 

 the sluice is opened a little on many occasions, but espe- 

 cially for the supply of a stew, or nursery-pond, depen- 

 dent on the larger water. 



The time of the day will often occasion a change in 

 your proceedings, as will a change in the wind j espe- 

 cially if it comes down a vista, or any other opening be- 

 tween plantations, hills, buildings, &c. 



The fishes themselves will often prove excellent guides, 

 and by their rising, at least, will shew you where they 

 chiefly lay ; though this is by no means so certain an in- 

 dication in a pond as it is in a river ; for, in the former, 

 fishes are more apt to change their places, than they are 



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