166 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



I might here speak of many other fish, whose shape and 

 nature are much like the Eel, and frequent both the sea and 



that are foul and muddy ; though the smaller Eels are to be met with in all 

 sorts of rivers and soils. 



Although the manner in which Eels, and indeed all fish, are generated, 

 is sufficiently settled, as appears by the foregoing notes, tl'ere yet remains 

 a question undecided by naturalists ; and that is, Whether the Eel be an 

 oviparous or a viviparous fish ? Walton inclines to the la'ter opinion. 

 The following relation from Bowlker may go near to determine the ques- 

 tion: 



" Being acquainted with an elderly woman, who had been wife to a 

 miller near fifty years, and much employed in dressing of Pels, I asked her 

 if she had ever" found any spawn or eggs in 1 hose Eels she opened? 

 She said she had never observed any ; but that she had sometimes found 

 living Eels in them, about the bigness of a small needle; and particularly, 

 that she once took out ten or twelve, and put them upon the table, and 

 found them to be alive, which was confirmed to me by the rest of the 

 family. The time of the year when this happened was, as they informed 

 me, about a fortnight or three weeks after Michaelmas ; which makes me 

 of opinion that they go down to the sea, or salt water, to prepare them- 

 selves for the work of propagating and producing their young. To this I 

 must add another observation of the same nature, that was made by a 

 gentleman of fortune, not far from Ludlow, and in the commission of the 

 peace for the county of Salop ; who going to visit a gentleman, his friend, 

 was shewn a very fine large Eel that was going to be dressed, about whose 

 sides and belly he observed a parcel of little creeping things, which at first 

 made him suspect it had been kept too long ; but, upon nearer inspection, 

 they were found to be perfect little Eels, or Elvers: upon this, it was 

 immediately opened in the sight of several other gentlemen, and in the belly 

 of it they found a lump about as big as a nutmeg, consisting of an infinite 

 number of those little creatures, closely wrapt up together, which, being 

 put into a basin of water, soon separated, and swam about the basin. 

 This he has often told to several gentlemen of credit in his neighbourhood, 

 from some of whom I first received this account : but I have lately had the 

 satisfaction of having it from his own mouth ; and therefore I think this 

 may serve to put the matter out of all doubt, and may be sufficient to prove 

 that Eels are of the viviparous kind." 



Taking it for granted, then, that Eels do not spawn, all we have to say 

 in this place is, that though, as our author tells us, they are never out of 

 season, yet as some say, they are best in winter, and worst in May. And 

 it is to be noted of Eels, that the longer they live, the better they are. 

 Angler's Sure Guide, p. 164. 



Of baits for the Eel, the best are lob-worms, loach, Minnows, small Pope, 

 or Perch, with the fins cut off; pieces of any fish, especially Bleak, as being 

 very lucid ; with which I have taken very large ones. 



As the angling for Eels is no very pleasant amusement, and is always 

 attended with great trouble and the risk of tackle ; many, while they 

 angle for other fish, lay lines for the Eel, which they tie to weeds, flags, 

 &c. with marks to find them by. Or, you may take a long packthread line, 

 with a leaden weight at the end, and hooks looped on at a yard distance 

 from each other : fasten one end to the flags, or on the shore, and throw 

 the lead out, and let the line lie some time. And in this way you may 

 probably take a Pike. 



The river Kennet in Berkshire, the Stour in Dorsetshire, Irk in Lanca- 

 shire, and Ankham in Lincolnshire, are famed for producing excellent 

 Eels ; the latter to so great a degree, as to give rise to the following pro- 

 verbial rhyme : 



Ankham Eel, and Witham Pike, 

 In all England is none like. 



But it is said, there are no Eels superior in goodness to those taken in 

 the head of the New River near Islington ; and I myself have seen Eels 

 caught there with a rod and line, of a very large size. 



