THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 77 



fly * as the Ant-fly, the Flesh-fly, or Wall-fly ; or the Dor or 

 Beetle, which you may find under cow-dung ; or a Bob, which 

 you will find in the same place, and in time will be a Beetle ; 

 it is a short white worm, like to and bigger than a Gentle ; or 

 a Cod- worm ; or a Case-worm : any of these will do very well 

 to fish in such a manner. 



And after this manner you may catch a Trout, in a hot 

 evening : when, as you walk by a brook, and shall see or hear 

 him leap at flies, then, if you get a Grasshopper, put it on your 

 hook, with your line about two yards long ; standing behind a 

 bush or tree where his hole is : and make your bait stir up and 

 down on the top of the water. You may, if you stand close, 

 be pure of a bite, but not sure to catch him, for he is not a 

 leather-mouthed fish. And after this manner you may fish for 

 him with almost any kind of live fly, but especially with a 

 Grasshopper. 



Venator. But before you go farther, I pray, good master, 

 what mean you by a leather-mouthed fish ? 



Piscator. By a leather-mouthed fish, I mean such as have 

 their teeth in their throat, as the Chub, or Cheven ; and so the 

 Barbel, the Gudgeon, and Carp, and divers others have. And 

 the hook being stuck into the leather, or skin, of the mouth of 

 such fish, does very seldom or never lose its hold ; but, on the 

 contrary, a Pike, a Perch, or Trout, and so some other fish, which 

 have not their teeth in their throats, but in their mouths, 

 (which you shall observe to be very full of bones, and the 

 skin very thin, and little of it :) I say, of these fish the hook 

 never takes so sure hold but you often lose your fish, unless he 

 have gorged it. 



Venator. I thank you, good master, for this observation. 

 But now what shall be done with my Chub, or Cheven, that I 

 have caught ? 



Piscator. Marry, sir, it shall be given away to some poor 

 body; for I'll warrant you I'll give you a Trout for your 

 supper : and it is a good beginning of your art to offer your first 

 fruits to the poor, who will both thank God and you for it, 

 which I see by your silence you seem to consent to. And for 

 your willingness to part with it so charitably, I will also teach you 

 more concerning Chub-fishing : You are to note, that in March 

 and April he is usually taken with worms ; in May, June, and 

 July, he will bite at any fly, or at cherries, or at Beetles with 

 their legs and wings cut off, or at any kind of snail, or at the 

 Black Bee that breeds in clay walls.* And he never refuses 



* The Anthophora retusa of naturalists. It is the female only that is 

 black, the male being brown, with a feathering of hairs on his feet. Of 

 these Linnaeus made two species. J. U. 



