120 THE ANGLER-NATURALIST. 



It is essential in all cases to ground-bait some hours 

 previously the spot at which it is intended to fish for 

 Barbel. For this purpose bran, clay, and boiled greaves, 

 worked up together into balls of about the size of a small 

 cocoa-nut, form a good mixture ; gentles or chopped worms 

 may be added with advantage, but clay and any of the 

 before-mentioned materials will answer the purpose. An- 

 other excellent ground-bait to which the Thames fishermen 

 are very partial is made by putting handfuls of whole lob- 

 worms into hollow clay balls, some of the heads and tails 

 of the worms being left sticking through the sides. In all 

 ground-baiting, however, the great principle to be observed 

 is, that the ground-bait should be similar in kind, but in- 

 ferior in quality, to the bait used on the hook, so that 

 the suspicions of the fish may be lulled by the former, and 

 their appetite excited by the latter. Lob-worms may 

 usually be obtained in great abundance upon damp lawns 

 and gravel-walks by searching for them late in the evening 

 with a lantern. They should be kept in fresh damp moss, 

 changed every three or four days to prevent its getting 

 sour. In choosing baits for the hook, worms without knots 

 in them should be selected. The last two observations hold 

 good with regard to every description of worms and worm- 

 fishing. 



The Barbel spawns in May or June, depositing its ova, 

 which in a large fish sometimes number 7000 or 8000, 

 in the gravelly or shingly beds of the stream, where 

 they are immediately covered by the parent fishes. These 



