HOW TO FISH FOR TENCH. 65 



or a green pea boiled in sugar, is recommended. They 

 spawn at the latter end of April or the beginning of May, 

 and are very prolific. They will not bite in cold or windy 

 weather, and in sunny weather they leave the muddy deeps, 

 which they love, for the shallows ; and if the angler can 

 keep out of their visual range he may have a better chance 

 of success under these circumstances. The carp, however, 

 do nothing in a hurry ; they like to contemplate the bait 

 ere making their meal. You may capture carp in the 

 night, if you like nocturnal sport ; and a friend who lives 

 where carp abounds says that he is successful with sweet 

 paste, and he has tried the balsam of Tolu paste mentioned 

 in the second chapter, and found it attractive. In stagnant 

 waters, with deep oozy bottoms, and near floodgates, the 

 carp loves to dwell. 



The Tench, with its shining dark olive coat, is one of 

 the best of the carp tribe. Its slimy mucous skin is said 

 to heal the ills of other fish ; nay, even the ravenous and 

 cruel pike is said to respect this member of the carp tribe 

 out of respect for its healing virtues. It is said to be one 

 of the preventives of the plague, that it relieves pains in 

 the head, cures jaundice, and removes inflammation in the 

 eyes. The tench, like the carp, will live a long time out 

 of water. It is no uncommon thing to catch tench of tha 

 weight of two or three pounds ; sometimes, in v,ery favour- 

 able situations, they are found much heavier. The angler 

 should learn the haunts of the tench ere he fishes for him. 

 He should know the depth of the water, and whether the 

 bottom is a clayey, muddy, or gravelly one, for he must 

 fish only an inch or two from the bottom, and suit his 

 ground-bait to the bottom. If the bottom is a gravelly 

 one, a ground-bait of clay, carrion gentles, bullocks' blood, 



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