358 TACKLE AND BAITS FOR CARP. 



says, " must possess several qualifications ex- 

 tremely valuable to the angler, and bids fair by 

 general practice to be, according to the old 

 saying, able to teach his master." All I can tell 

 you is, that you must fish for the carp proper with 

 as fine tackle as you use for the roach, and at the 

 same time it must be stronger, for carp grow to 

 salmon size. The baits are worms, larvae, grain, 

 pastes, green gentles, and green peas. A sweet 

 paste is perhaps the best. The angling season 

 for carp is from February to October. In 

 stagnant waters they are found in the deepest 

 parts during the spring and autumn, particularly 

 near flood-gates through which water is received 

 and let off. In summer they frequent weed-beds 

 and aquatic plants, and in rivers they are ge- 

 nerally.found in the still deeps having oozy bottoms, 

 with rushes, reeds, and so forth. Worms are the 

 best baits in spring ; gentles and pastes in the 

 spring and autumn. A Huntingdonshire cor- 

 respondent once wrote to me, that he had a pond 

 well stored with very large carp, and that after 

 seven years' patience with rod, line, and hook, he 

 could not catch one of them. He asked my 

 advice. I told him that it lay in a net. 



