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number offish you were going to angle for, you would know what 

 to do, but as you cannot do this you would be acting quite right 

 by adopting the plan I have laid down, commencing by throwing 

 in a few, and finishing by pitching in as many as you like. As 

 the Angler cannot see beyond a foot or two of the surface of 

 the water, he cannot tell what is going on underneath. I have 

 often thought it would be a great thing for Anglers if some glass 

 or instrument were invented to penetrate through the deep 

 water so that one might see the fish and all there was between 

 the surface and the bottom ; we could then make our arrange- 

 ments for fishing with considerable ease. And who says such 

 a discovery is impossible ? Look at the wonderful inventions 

 which are daily and hourly made, inventions which a century 

 ago were never dreamt of. "We live in an enlightened age — 

 an age in which so many discoveries and improvements are made 

 in the arts and sciences, that one cannot help thinking that such 

 an instrument as I have described could be easily invented. 

 I am persuaded that if some of our great scientific opticians 

 gave their attention to the matter, a glass could be constructed 

 with which one could discern everything from the surface to the 

 bottom, at least .where the water was clear and not more than 

 ten or twelve feet deep. Such a discovery would be a great 

 boon to the Angling fraternity. 



I will show you how I have several times been cheated for 

 the want of an instrument of the above description, how I found 

 out the cheat, and the reason why I recommend a large quan- 

 tity of ground-bait being used as a last resource. I commenced 

 fishing a Barbel swim, where I thought there would be plenty 

 of good fish, with the wind and water to my mind, and a thou- 

 sand worms to start with. I felt confident I should have good 

 sport in a short time, which I had, as you will see. I started 

 by throwing in twenty worms, just as I have recommended, and 

 followed this up by giving the fish five or six such lots in the 

 course of an hour. I fished in a style that I thought nothing 

 could beat — the float going down the stream as steady as if 

 there was no line attached to it, and the tackle and bait going 



