420 
FISH 
feafoned. A general rod, is one which ferves for all the 
purpofes of trolling, dibbing, and throwing. For the 
former purpofe, fmall brafs rings mull be fixed all the 
way up, at about a foot diflance, for the trolling line to 
run through; it fhould likewife be bored in the flock to 
hold the tops you are not ufing; that which you ufij for 
the troll mud have a ring on the top with a piece of quill, 
to prevent the line being cut, when the fifh runs off with 
the bait. For the fmal'ler fillies that bite tenderly, a rod 
made of cane, reed, or bamboo, is the bed ; only be care¬ 
ful when you choofe fuch a one that it will drike well, 
and that the medium between the ferrel and the joint that 
goes in, is not cut too fine; for if it is, when you drike a 
good fifli, it will mod likely break, and you will lofe the 
top of your rod, your line, and of courfe the fifh. The 
angling or fifhing-line for all purpofes fhould be made of 
hair, except for trolling, and then a fi 11c line is to be pre¬ 
ferred. The bed colours for lines are forrel, white, and 
grey ; the two lad for clear water, and the fird for foul 
or muddy water. For fly-fifhing the line fhould be about 
thirty yards long, and wound on a fmall brafs multiply¬ 
ing reel, which is to be fixed on the but of your rod ; 
then run the line through the rings before-mentioned, 
and you may always command the length without the 
trouble of changing the line, and fhorten it when you 
come to places encumbered with wood, See. The gene¬ 
ral length that you diould have off your reel mud be 
about four yards longer than your rod; though fome- 
times the line mud be twice the length of the rod ; for 
to fifh fine and far oft’ is the perfe&ion of trout fifiiing. 
The line diould run taper from the top of the rod down 
to the fly ; that is, if the fird link of the line is compofed 
of thirty-five hairs, the next mud be of thirty-four; fo 
leaving out one hair in each link, till the whole is com¬ 
pleted; then comes the filk-worm gut, on which diould 
be fadened the hook. But tire bed lines for fly-fifliing 
are thofe that are wove, and are all of one piece, and run 
taper like the lafh of a coach-whip, and may be had of 
any length, as from thirty to forty yards, See. Thefe are 
the only lines that can be ufed on a reel, becaufe they 
have no knots to prevent their running freely through the 
rings of the rod. By the.line being thus made taper, you 
will be able to throw it with greater exafdnefs, and it will 
fall much lighter on the water, which is in favour of 
your fport.—Thefe lines are now fold at all the principal 
fifliing-tackle fliops in London. 
Of the BAIT. 
The worm and infedl tribes appear to have been pro¬ 
vided by the bounty of Providence for the food of birds 
andfiflres: hence worms and flies of almofl every kind 
are proper bait for fifliing. The names., however, by 
which thefe are known and diferiminated amongft anglers, 
are not only barbarous, but wholly incongruous to natu¬ 
ral hidory : a driking proof of the flow progrefs of ento¬ 
mology, as a fcience in England.—See the article Ento¬ 
mology, vol. vi. p.824. 
In the more early date of literature, the generic names 
of infedts not being known, or perhaps not even fettled 
by entomologids, it was natural enough for the unlettered 
angler to affign fuch trivial names to thofe infedls which 
he obferved the fifh to fwallow, asaccorded with their lize, 
colour, conformation, and places of Atelier, or retirement. 
And, notwithflanding the abfurdity and vulgarity of many 
of the names thus given them, yet, as they are in a great 
raeafure become technical in the language of the angler, 
it is impoflible, in the prefent date of the fifliing art, to 
rectify thefe abfurdities, unlefs an entire new nomencla¬ 
ture were to be agreed upon and fettled, which would 
not only afford additional reputation to the art of angling, 
but would open a wide-extended field of information as 
to the infinite variety of food, and confequently of new 
and more alluring bait, adapted to the various kinds of 
fiflaes which inhabit our rivers and dreams. Of the bait 
at prefent ufed, we can only give the ufuul defeription, 
I N G. 
as laid down in the feveral treatifes on angling, lately 
publifhed. 
r. The bait called gentle. —This is the larva or maggot 
of the common flefli-fly. To have thefe alwavs ready for 
life, take a bullock’s liver, and fcarit'y it deeply all over; 
then hang it up for the flies to blow it. Tn two or three 
days the gentles may be feen alive; then take down the 
liver, and put it into 3 deep earthen pan ; and there let it 
remain till you And that the fird brood are of full growth; 
then put into the pan, (letting the liver remain,) a fnffi- 
cient quantity of fine fand and bran, and in a few days 
they will come out of the liver into it, and fcour thern- 
felves ; in a fhort time after, if you put any inflrument 
through the liver and hang it acrofs the pan, the red, or 
latter brood, will foon drop out, and become fit for ufe ; 
and thus you may preferve them for winter fifliing, by 
breeding them in Ofdober, and keeping them a little 
warmer than thofe bred in the ftimmer, till they come to 
their full growth, after which they are to be kept in a 
dampifli vault, in the fame pan. 
2. Cadbate. —This is the infetft called caddicc, or caddy ; 
and is the larva of the phryganea , fo eagerly fought after 
when on wing, by the fwallows. The cadbate is found 
in great plenty in gravelly and flony rivulets, and by the 
lides of dreams in large rivers, among pebbles. When 
you want to colled! them, turn up the flones, and you 
will find the bed flicking to them. When you have pro¬ 
cured a fufficient quantity, put them into a linen bag, 
hang them up, and dip them, bag and all, into water once 
a-day, for flve or fix days; they will then turn yellow, be¬ 
come tough and fit for ufe, being much better for angling 
than when fird taken out of the water. For the different 
fpecies, fee the article Phryganea. 
3. The lob-worm , or dezo-worm. —This Is the common 
fpecies of lumbricus, or earth-worm, found in gardens, paf- 
ture-lands, Sec. They are alfo dug up in fields, and other 
places by the fides of ditches and drains. To fcour and 
preferve them for ufe, take fome mofs ; dip it into clean 
water, and put half of it into an earthen pot, then the 
worms, and the other part of the mofs, at the top ; cover 
it clofe, and keep it in a cool place in fummer, and in a 
warmer in winter, fo as to prevent the hot weather or 
frod front killing them. The mofs mud be changed every 
third or fourth day in fummer, and once in about fix days 
in winter. 
4. Brandlings, red worms, and gilt-tails. —Thefe are dif¬ 
ferent fpecies of earth-worms, found in dunghills, and 
rotten earth ; and alfo in old thatch and dung; but thofe 
found in tanners’ bark, after it has laid by till quite rot¬ 
ten, are faid to be the bed. Put them into a bag, with 
mofs moidened witli new milk, and they will appear more 
beautiful and tempting to the fifh. 
5. The long white worm. —This is another fpecies of 
lumbricus, found chiefly in turnip-fields, where the foil is 
ofadittilh quality, are longer than the brandlings, and 
naturally tough, and are an excellent bait in muddy wa¬ 
ter. Preferve them in fome of their own earth, keeping 
it properly damp, with fome mofs at the top. 
6. Marjh worm. —This is alfo a fpecies of earth-worm, 
found in marfliy grounds, and rich banks of rivers; they 
are of a blueifli cad, very tender, and require more fcour- 
ing in mofs than mod o her worms; but are good baits. 
7. -Cozo-dung and horfe-dung bobs. —Thefe are the larvae 
of the oejlrxts, or gad-fly ; and are found under cow-dung 
or horfe-dung in the fields, when it is about half dry. 
They are of a brownilh red colour, and are bed preferved 
in fome of the earth from under the dung where they are 
found, and a little fine mofs, taking care to keep them 
moifl and cool.—For t! e natural hidory and a figure of 
this curious grub, fee Entomology, vol. vi. p. 842. and 
t he article Oestrus. 
8. White worm bobs. —Thefe are the larvae of the dif¬ 
ferent kinds of beetles, particularly cf the chafer and 
lucanus, or dag-beetle, and alfo of the wafp and hornet. 
.—They are found in mellow bandy ground, chiefly in the 
autumn 
