THAMES ANGLING. 361 



another kind of fishing, who does not trouble himself to 

 keep a supply of worms and live-bait, who does not even 

 keep his punt tidy, and who generally forgets some 

 requisite for a day's sport. Happily, however, this 

 species of fisherman is as rare as a Thames trout of 

 twelve pounds. 



A weakness of Thames fishermen consists in their 

 hyperbolical narratives of days' sport they have had with 

 other customers, of the astounding takes of barbel, of 

 leviathan jack and trout, and of fishing incidents gene- 

 rally. Another weakness with some is their persistent 

 refusal to acknowledge anything in the way of ignorance 

 in any branch of fishing. You may tell them something 

 they never heard of before, or show them some excellent 

 tackle on a brand-new principle they never heard of ; but 

 their line is to pretend to know all about it, and nil 

 admirari. Sometimes they will even wax contradictory, 

 and, however good an angler you may be, they except to 

 all your theories and " crab " your practice. In fact, here 

 and there you will meet with a thoroughly cross-grained, 

 cantankerous fellow, who completely spoils your day's 

 enjoyment, whether you have good sport or not. 



One failing they all seem more or less to have. They 

 hate a gentleman who keeps his own punt and fishes " on 

 his own hook ; " and they even look askance at the humble 

 and persevering bank angler. They seem to think the 

 Thames was made for them and their customers ex- 

 clusively, and that no one should dare to fish it without 

 their assistance. 



Some few, especially in the early part of the trout season, 

 go out by themselves and spin and live-bait the most 

 likely waters. This is an unpardonable sin, and an amateur 



