BEST KIND FOR BAITS. 131 



and flounder about in an insensible state, when they may 

 be scooped out with a landing-net. 



I have invariably found that during, or immediately 

 after, a flood, when most wanted, they could not be had 

 on any terms, having either been driven from their 

 usual haunts, to seek safer quarters from the violence 

 of the stream, or, after the example of their betters, so 

 completely gorged themselves as to regard the most 

 tempting little worm with disdain. The only alternative 

 then is, to try the sides of the eddies close by the mar- 

 gin of the stream, or any quiet retired hole behind a pro- 

 jecting bank or stone, with the hoop-net, when a few may 

 be taken. And, by the way, quantities of trout may be 

 taken in the same way during high flood, although such 

 a method of fishing, I need not say, is only adopted by the 

 poacher and the sneak. For the above reason, a good 

 stock of salted minnows should always be kept on hand, 

 as they will render the angler perfectly independent. 



It is only the medium sized and smaller minnows, 

 with bright silvery bellies, that should be retained for 

 use, while all overgrown and dingy coloured gentry must 

 be returned to their native element, unless the angler 

 wishes to try their quality as an edible, in which re- 

 spect I can inform him from experience that, as a fry, 

 they are fit to be set before a king, being equally as 

 delicate as the renowned whitebait, and inferior to few 

 fish that can be cooked. But one consideration alone al- 

 ways prevents me from indulging more frequently in this 

 delicacy, viz., the vast number of innocent little lives that 

 must be sacrificed ere a moderate dish can be made. Who 



