WIRING FISH. 185 



attached to the smaller end of the stick. The loop is 

 adjusted to the size of the fish — it should not be very- 

 much larger, else it will not draw up quick enough, nor 

 too small, else it may touch and disturb the jack. It 

 does not take much practice to hit the happy medium. 

 Approaching the bank of the brook quietly, so as not to 

 shake the ground, to the vibrations of which fish are 

 peculiarly sensitive, the poacher tries if possible to avoid 

 letting his shadow fall across the water. 



Some persons' eyes seem to have an extraordinary 

 power of seeing through water, and of distinguishing at 

 a glance a fish from a long swaying strip of dead brown 

 flag, or the rotting pieces of wood which lie at the bottom. 

 The ripple of the breeze, the eddy at the curve, or the 

 sparkle of the sunshine cannot deceive them ; while others, 

 and by far the greater number, are dazzled and see no- 

 thing. It is astonishing how few persons seem to have the 

 gift of sight when in the field. 



The poacher, having marked his prey in the shallow 

 yonder, gently extends his rod slowly across the water 

 three or four yards higher up the stream, and lets the wire 

 noose sink without noise till it almost or quite touches the 

 bottom. It is easier to guide the noose to its destination 

 when it occasionally touches the mud, for refraction distorts 

 the true position of objects in water, and accuracy is im- 

 portant. Gradually the wire swims down with the cur- 

 rent, just as if it were any ordinary twig or root carried 



