304 ON SOME ODD WAYS OF FISHING 



side where the water was deeper than he imagined, 

 and the consequence was that he fell forward, his 

 feet still on the bank, but his hands resting on the 

 top of the pole within a foot of the water, into 

 which he gradually subsided, in spite of our efforts 

 to pull him back by the slack of his trousers. I 

 have seen the cleeching net used in a very effective 

 manner by bargees on canals. As their vessel is 

 towed along, they put the net into the water along- 

 side the bows, and walk back to the stern as the 

 boat moves, so as to keep the net in the same posi- 

 tion. The rush of the water, displaced by the pas- 

 sage of the barge, drives a good many fish into the 

 net, and I have even known fair-sized pike to be 

 captured in this way. 



Once I was cruising down the Severn, and had 

 moored the canoe under some bushes in a very 

 secluded part of the river to take my midday rest. 

 Presently I saw two men in coracles coming down 

 the river. They stopped just opposite me, and 

 commenced to net the river with a small meshed 

 net. They paid the net out in a semi-circle, and 

 then, beating the water with their paddles, they 

 closed and completed the circle ; and with their 

 coracles side by side hauled their net in. It was a 

 caution to see the fish they caught. Great chub of 

 five, and one of nine pounds' weight, roach, pike. 



