12 ANGLING. 



stale one ; let the perch-fisher try a dead worm and then 

 a live one ; or let him set his trimmers with both fresh and 

 stale baits, and he will truly find that one is taken and the 

 other left. I was much struck with the discriminating 

 power of fish in this respect when fishing for hake off the 

 coast of Waterford. We had no regular bait, which is a 

 piece off the tail of the fish, but had to content ourselves 

 with some pieces of salted fish, herrings, and sprats. The 

 promise of sport was not very brilliant, though we knew 

 that the fish were there, and could hear the dull heavy 

 thud from the neighbouring boats as the fish were struck 

 on the back of the head with the boat stretcher. We toiled, 

 but in vain, until a bold ling seized my bait, and was 

 speedily in the boat, killed, and strips of his tail on our 

 hooks, three fathoms deep. Then we were rewarded. The 

 fresh bait were greedily taken, and we secured half a boat- 

 load of fine fish. An old Nottinghamshire angler, to whom, 

 when a boy, I was indebted for many valuable hints, told 

 me that when fishing in the Trent, he used to meet an old 

 collier, who was not only a most successful angler, but one 

 who could lure the fish on to his hook when everybody else 

 failed. This naturally excited the curiosity of the neigh- 

 bouring fishermen; and as the taciturnity of the collier 

 equalled his skill, they resolved to find out his secret. They 

 watched him, and found that his pastes were coloured and 

 scented ; but with what 1 After an investigation not much 

 unlike espionage, they discovered that a variety of essential 

 oils, saffron, and balsam of Tolu entered into the composi- 

 tion of the old man's pastes, and that he changed them 

 month by month to suit the varying appetite of the fish he 

 angled for. As balsam of Tolu is sweet, aromatic, and of a 

 lemon flavour, it might be tempting to the piscine palate, 



