THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 187 



in summer. He is commended for a fish of excellent nourish- 

 ment : the Germans call him Groundling, by reason of his 

 feeding on the ground ; and he there feasts himself in sharp 

 streams, and on the gravel. He and the barbel both feed so, 

 and do not hunt for flies at any time, as most other fishes do : 

 he is a most excellent fish to enter a young angler, being easy 

 to be taken with a small red-worm, on or near to the ground. 

 He is one of those leather-mouthed fish that has his teeth in. 

 his throat, and will hardly be lost off from the hook if he be 

 once strucken. 



They be usually scattered up and down every river in 

 the shallows, in the heat of summer ; but in autumn, when 

 the weeds begin to grow sour and rot, and the weather colder, 

 they gather together, and get into the deep parts of the 

 water, and are to be fished for there, with your hook always 

 touching the ground, if you fish for him with a float, or with 

 a cork ; but many will fish for the Gudgeon by hand, with a 

 running line upon the ground, without a cork, as a trout is 

 fished for ; and it is an excellent way, if you have a gentle 

 rod and as gentle a hand.'"" 



There is also another fish called a POPE, and by some a 



* In fishing for gudgeons, have'a rake, and every quarter of an hour rake the 

 bottom of the river, and the fish will flock thither in shoals. H. 



[This note of Sir J. Hawkins is imperfect and obscure. In fi shing for gud- 

 geon from a punt, it will not be necessary to rake the bottom of the river so 

 long as you have bites. When they cease, the gravel must be raked up ; in 

 doing which, the water is muddied, and worms and larvae very likely are stirred 

 up. The gudgeon by instinct swim towards the spot, and as the water clears, 

 take the angler's bait dropped thereon. As soon as nibbling ceases again, the 

 punt is to be removed up or down stream a little, and the rake must once more 

 be used. The process must be repeated, not " every quarter of an hour," but 

 every time your bait ceases to be attacked. The cessation is caused by your 

 having caught all the gudgeons on the spot, or by there not having been any 

 there at all. Continual raking and continual change of ground are requisite 

 to secure successful gudgeon-angling a sort of pis-alter piscatorial pastime. 

 ED.] 



