68 BRITISH SPORTING FISHES. 



geon is placed, in the presence of the Judge and 

 jury, in the polluted water, and he does not ' turn 

 up,' therefore the counsel argues that manufactories 

 or the town sewer are not in fault, as the water 

 allowed to flow into the river is not injurious to 

 fish life. If an expert in fishery matters does not 

 happen to be present, this gudgeon argument 

 will go down, as the Judge and jury probably are 

 not aware that gudgeon are very fond of living in 

 sewer-water as long as it is just running, whereas 

 the same water would be almost immediately 

 fatal to a trout or young salmon. The tastiest 

 gudgeon I ever caught were in a sewer which ran 

 along the east side of the College meads at 

 Winchester." 



Enjoyable angling may be had with gudgeon, 

 and the sport is of the most lively kind. Small red- 

 worms are the best bait, with line well down ; and 

 if a shoal of fish have once been enticed round 

 the delicate morsel there is no reason why every 

 one should not be taken. They fight for the bait, 

 and the fact of a silvery brother being suddenly 

 jerked out of his element seems only to whet the 

 appetite of the next comer. And yet there is con- 

 siderable skill in gudgeon-fishing. The smaller 

 fish are apt to toy with the bait, and often manage 

 to disgorge it more quickly than the angler can 

 strike after the float disappears. Although gud- 



