190 



history assert that they are generally found in 

 running water and clear streams. The only streams 

 in which we have known them caught are such as 

 run very slowly, and which are not remarkable for 

 their clearness. 



STICKLEBACK. 



The stickleback is the smallest of fresh-water 

 fishes, and is sometimes used "by the angler as "bait 

 for perch, after cutting off the spines on the back and 

 sides. They are a voracious little fish, and most 

 destructive of the fry of roach and dace, and of every 

 other kind of fry which they can manage to swallow. 

 Zoung leeches are their favorite food. Boys catch 

 the stickleback without using a hook, merely by 

 tying a small worm to their line, which the greedy 

 little fish attempts to swallow, and holds fast till 

 pulled out. 



Having now concluded our brief observations on 

 the fish principally caught in the rivers and lakes 

 of England, and on the mode of angling for them, 

 we may be permitted to remark, that though a love 

 of angling may be excited by reading, no good an- 

 gler was ever yet formed merely by book. To excel 

 in the art requires diligent practice, together with 

 a "tact" in the management of the rod and line 

 which no directions can teach, and which some per- 

 sons angle all their lives without attaining. It is 

 also to be observed, that a most skilful angler, but 



