THE COMMON CARP. 107 



the bait at mid-water, another a foot or less from 

 the bottom, and the third to lie upon it when the 

 line and lead are not discovered, as in the two 

 former ; the places intended to be fished in should, 

 the night before, be ground-baited with grains, 

 blood, and broken worms, incorporated together 

 with clay, the hook baits should be red worms 

 taken out of tan, flag or marsh worms, green peas 

 so boiled as to soften, but not to break the skin, 

 and throwing some in now and then. When this 

 bait is used, which should be with one on the 

 hook to swim a foot from the ground, in case of 

 a bite, strike immediately; a large carp, upon 

 taking the bait, directly steers for the opposite 

 side of the river or pond."* During hot weather, 

 when these fish are about to spawn, and whilst 

 lying among the weeds near the surface, they may 

 be angled for with a fine line, without either sink 

 or float. The hook may be baited with a red worm, 

 a pair of gentles, a caterpillar, or a cad bait, and 

 thrown lightly as in fly-fishing, and then drawn 

 towards the angler. If it can be made to fall first 



O 



upon the leaf of some water plant, and then dropped 

 upon the surface, the chance of success will be in- 

 creased. The best months are May, June, and 

 July, and the most advisable times of the day are 

 from sunrise to eight in the morning, and from 

 sunset during the continuance of twilight, and 

 onwards through the night. It is the opinion of 

 many, though we cannot trace the origin of the 



* Rural Sports, vol. ii. p. 257. 



