414 
AMERICAN FISHES . 
The following table from Cholmondeley-Pennell’s “Fishing” will be 
generally useful to students of the Carp: 
Comparative Weights and Lengths of Carp . 
Length. 
Weight. 
Length. 
Weight. 
inches 
lbs . 
azs. 
inches 
lbs. 
ozs. 
9 
i% 
20 
5 
5Y 
10 
11 
21 
6 
2 % 
11 
2 % 
22 
7 
1 Yz 
12 
1 
23 
8 
1 k 
13 
1 
?>% 
24 
9 
EA 
14 
1 
uY 
25 
10 
15 
2 
4 
26 
11 
11 
16 
2 
nY 
27 
13 
2 
17 
3 
4^ 
28 
14 
10 
18 
3 
14 Yz 
29 
15 
4 
19 
4 
9 
30 
16 
0 
I shall not attempt to speak of Carp culture or to give statistics of the 
work of the Fish Commission. All these matters are discussed in the 
angling journals and the Government reports. It is equally useless to 
speak of the value of Carp for food. Every one will soon put this to a 
personal test, and those who experiment with badly cooked or badly kept 
fish will ever after denounce all Carp as worthless. The place of the 
Carp as a fish for sportsmen has not been discussed very fully, and since 
they are now growing abundant in all our streams, it is proper to quote 
the words of Pennell as to the manner of catching them. 
“ Early in the morning, and, occasionally, late in the evening, are the 
best times for fishing ; but, as observed, the catching of Carp with the rod 
and line is always a difficult and uncertain operation, particularly if the 
fish are large. The smaller the pond, the better the chance I have always 
found of catching Carp and Tench, though, of course, they are not so 
large as in bigger waters. I once caught half a bucketful of Carp before 
breakfast, in a pond by the side of a road between Weybridge and Byfleet, 
which was not bigger than an ordinary sized ball-room. The biggest of 
these Carp did not, however, exceed two pounds in weight. 
“'The following is the method of Carp fishing in stagnant waters which 
I have found most successful : 
“ Let the line be entirely of medium sized or fine round gut—clouded, 
if possible—with a very light quill float, say No. 4, and one good-sized 
shot, about six inches or so from the hook, which should be No. 5 or 6 
and baited with a brandling or red worm. Plumb the depth accurately ; 
