122 BRITISH SPORTING FISHES. 



tasteless. Yet it is eaten in poor rural neighbour- 

 hoods ; the fish costing only about twopence a 

 pound. Guns are sometimes used to secure big 

 fish, as are "click" hooks. Both these methods 

 require lights, which the poacher secures in the 

 shape of burning tar-brands. All through the 

 close season there is constant watching and war 

 between the poachers and the water-bailiffs ; but, 

 despite the exertions of the latter, cartloads of 

 salmon are often taken from the " redds " in a 

 single night. 



