NOTES. 223 



neither creased nor rubbed. Care should be taken from 

 the very outset with fish intended for preservation; 

 when in the landing-net, they should not be deposited on 

 a dusty path or road, and string should not be tightly 

 tied round them, for it scores the fish and rubs the 

 scales. 



It is most annoying to have fish spoiled, and I have 

 therefore given a few hints that I know from practical 

 experience are serviceable. 



Gentles are the larvs of flies. The best gentles for 

 angling purposes are bred from liver or rump- 

 steak. Hang a large lump of liver in some ^" ^^ 

 sunny place ; in hot weather the blow-flies will soon visit 

 it, and it will be alive with maggots in .a few days. A 

 large dry earthenware pan, half filled with bran, should 

 be placed below the liver ; any gentles dropping from the 

 liver will fall into this, a few small lumps of liver being 

 placed in the bran till final "scouring" is necessary, 

 when the gentles may be kept in sand or bran. It is a 

 nasty process altogether, and it is often better to get the 

 gentles direct from the tackle-dealers. I surround both 

 pan and liver with fine wire netting, and keep the 

 liver and gentles away from animals and birds. Before 

 gentles are scoured they are black inside, and a black, 

 unsecured gentle is an excellent bait for bleak. Gentles 

 may be kept for a long period by depositing the liver in 

 a box and burying it : see that there is no crevice through 

 which they can escape, as they force themselves through 

 a very small hole, even through the perforations in the 

 lid of a bait-box. Carter and Co., of 137 St. John Street 

 Road, Islington, and Peek and Son, of Gray's Inn Road, 

 will always forward gentles on receipt of a remittance ; 

 and they keep a stock through the winter. The 

 dirt in pigeons' nests is sometimes full of gentles. The 

 warmth of the sitting birds is most favourable to the 

 growth of the maggots ; and with the help of a pair of 

 tongs a small handful of gentles may be shaken out of a 

 single nest in hot weather, when the birds bring off their 

 young. I need hardly say these gentles are very strongly 

 scented, and they are yellow in hue. Gentles should be 

 kept in sand or sawdust when in the bait-box ; damping 

 the sand slightly • will keep them from assuming the 



