THE TENCH. 255 



ing on their heads as they " nozzled " the gravel about, 

 apparently in search of food. I have no doubt now that 

 they often take the bait on a hook when in this position 

 and then rise straight upwards, tail first, as I observed 

 them at the aquarium. The leads on the line, as I have 

 already suggested at page 122, thus become suspended 

 from the fish's mouth, and naturally the float ceases to 

 " cock." As to baits, our fish do not seem particular. 

 They take worms of all kinds, gentles, paste, and grubs, 

 but perhaps a brandling is the most tempting. In the 

 Thames, however, the tail of a lobworm takes more 

 tench and carp than any other bait. Small boiled potatoes, 

 beans, peas, cherries, and other- vegetable dainties have 

 also been recommended for carp, but I have not much faith 

 in them. 



In limited pieces of water which are well stocked with 

 small or medium- sized fish, and not often fished, carp and 

 tench may often be taken almost without intermission. I 

 have already (page 115) mentioned a raid I made on carp 

 in a pond at Stratford which had never been fished before. 

 In weedy ponds, such as that was, it often pays better to 

 fish a foot from the bottom in the open spaces, or even in 

 mid-water, and sometimes it is well to use no float, but 

 simply to let the line rest on a weed or leaf of some aquatic 

 plant. And this leads me to refer again to the pond at 

 Blackheath (mentioned on the same page) which was 

 studded with patches of water-lilies. In bright hot 

 weather the carp hung about these at or near the top of 

 the water, frequently putting their noses clean out, and 

 taking in a mouthful of oxygen. Sometimes they took in 

 a triangular hook with paste on it, which I simply let 

 down into their mouths (perhaps I ought to be ashamed 



