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are seldom seen. In fishing for barbel, ground-bait 

 is mostly thrown in to collect the fish; and, to 

 ensure success, it is generally advisable to bait the 

 place where it is intended to angle the night before. 

 The ground-baits chiefly recommended, are soaked 

 greaves, or worms chopped into pieces, worked up 

 into balls with clay and bran. Small pieces of 

 well-soaked greaves are frequently used as bait, aa 

 also well-scoured lob-worms, gentles, paste, and 

 pieces of new cheese. In angling for barbel, it is 

 necessary to use strong tackle, as they struggle hard, 

 and are irequently caught weighing upwards of five 

 pounds. Barbel weighing ten pounds are not un- 

 common, and one is said to have been caught, near 

 Shepperton, weighing twenty-three pounds. Where 

 the angler is likely to catch large fish, it is advisa- 

 ble to use a No. 4 hook, whipped to a link of 

 twisted gut. They are angled for at bottom, either 

 with or without a float. In angling for barbel, either 

 from a punt or the shore, it is necessary to have a 

 reel on the rod, with a line thirty yards long. The 

 best time for catching barbel is from day-break till 

 nine in the morning, and from four in the afternoon 

 till dusk. Towards evening they generally bite more 

 freely than at any other time of the day. Near 

 Shepperton, in August 1807, four gentlemen caught 

 eighty-three barbel, weighing altogether one hun- 

 dred and nineteen pounds, in five hours. Of this 

 number, the two largest weighed twenty pounds ; 



