66 COARSE FISH. 



still on the banks. In night-fishing, put a piece of 

 white paper on your winch-handles, pushing the 

 paper on the handles ; you will then see exactly 

 where to grasp your rod, and will perhaps avoid 

 treading on it. As a general rule, carp are little 

 fished for in rivers ; the fish taken there are usually 

 chance fish, hooked when legering for bream or 

 barbel. Two fine carp were taken in 1896 just 

 above Shepperton Lock ; one of these I saw, a fine, 

 thick, handsome fish, between six and seven pounds 

 in weight, not a large one by any means, but very 

 deep. His captor showed him to me with much 

 pride, and- the fish, resting on a cabbage leaf, 

 certainly looked beautiful. The second fish was a 

 larger one, but I do not recollect its weight. Two 

 or three years ago, a carp of eight pounds was taken 

 from Halliday's Hole, Shepperton, by a bream- 

 fisher, I believe on very fine tackle indeed. 

 Weir Teddington Weir generally produces a big 

 fishing carp or two every year, while Boveney Weir 

 is excellent for carp-fishing when the water is low 

 and warm. To fish a place of this sort, a thorough 

 baiting of lumps of bread-paste should be given 

 some two or three times before fishing, and I have 

 no doubt this would do good in some of the Sussex 

 rivers, where I hear there are large carp. 



To see, and hear, what big carp are, let anyone 



„. , ' visit Penn Ponds, Richmond Park, some still 

 Rich- . ' ' 



mond summer's night, and sit quietly by the 

 Ponds jj^argin of the water for an hour or two. I 

 warrant he will be astonished, if the carp are on 

 the move. However carefully you may step, 

 a walk round the pond will scare some great 

 fish feeding at the very edge, perhaps with his 

 back half out of water, and off he will go with 



