NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 361 



the bait from a considerable distance. Many ardent pike-fishers 

 never think of going out until after Christmas. 



I have only once seen the artificial fly used in fishing for pike 

 in Norfolk ; but from what I then saw, and my own experience 

 on north country tarns, I think that a suitable fly would be very 

 killing. It would be essential to have a fly that would float, and 

 then the very broad stretches where the weeds are within two or 

 three inches of the top, with interspaces where the pike lie, could 

 be fished more easily than by live-baiting or by fishing. My idea 

 is to float the fly by means of a cork body, but yet have suflS- 

 cient lead weight in it to enable one to cast in the ordinary 

 spinning manner, not as in fly-fishing. I feel confident that a 

 fluffy, gorgeously attired fly, with a good deal of white and gold 

 tinsel showing, would attract the attention of many a pike sur- 

 feited with roach and dace. 



In the north of England I used to be very successful with 

 goldfish as bait. A warm water pond attached to a manu- 

 factory was well stocked with goldfish, which could be caught 

 freely with paste, and which made the best of live bait. If one 

 could only obtain them in Norfolk they would ensure success. 

 The great thing is to Show the pike something new. Where 

 bait are so plentiful the fish can seldom be really hungry, but 

 their appetites may be tickled by a novelty. A proof of this is 

 that whenever I have used the eel-tail bait it has beaten all 

 others — that is, in clear water. It is hardly brilliant enough to 

 attract attention in discoloured water. On Norfolk waters it is 

 quite unknown as a bait, but it is undoubtedly a killing one. 



Leaving the fascinating topic of pike-fishing, we come to 

 what is distinctively known in Norfolk as angling — that is, fishing 

 for bottom-feeding fish. It is a common notion among the old 

 fishermen resident amidst the Broads that, while the pike and the 

 eels may belong to the owner of the soil, ' angling ' is free to all 

 on any navigable water. This possibly arose from the fact that 

 riparian owners thought the eels and pike of value, butconsidered 

 roach and bream as worthless. When drag netting was allowed 

 certain persons used to dispose of the tons of roach and bream 



