UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES rf^ Vv Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/fishing02choliala OF SPORTS AND PASTIMES EDITED BY HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF BEAUFORT, K.G. ASSISTED BY ALFRED E. T. WATSON FISHING {PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH) rUIXTED BY srOTTISWOODE AXD CO., NKW-STIIEKT SQUAtlE LONDON TTCKLISH CA^ FISHING BY H. CHOLMONDELEY-PENNELL LATE HER MAJESTY'S INSPECTOR OF SEA FISHERIFS AUTHOR OF 'the MODERN PRACTICAL ANGLER ' AND OTHER WORKS WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM OTHER AUTHORS PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS THIRD EDITION LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1887 All rig^kts reserved o DEDICATION IIR.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES. Badminton: Odober I'^Zi,. Having received permission to dedicate these volumes, the Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes, to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, I do so feeling that I am dedicating them to one of the best and keenest sportsmen of our time. I can say, from personal observation, that there is no man who can extricate himself from a bustling and pushing crowd of horsemen, when a fox breaks covert, more dexterously and quickly than His Royal Highness ; and that when hounds run hard over a big country, no man can take a line of his own and live with them better. Also, when the wind has been blowing hard, often have I seen His Royal Highness knocking over driven grouse and partridges and high-rocketing pheasants in first-rate ii53436 vi DEDICATION. workmanlike style. He is held to be a good yachtsman, and as Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron is looked up to by those who love that pleasant and exhilarating pastime. His encouragement of racing is well known, and his attendance at the University, Public School, and other important Matches testifies to his being, like most English gentlemen, fond of all manly sports. I consider it a great privilege to be allowed to dedicate these volumes to so eminent a sportsman as His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and I do so with sincere feelings of respect and esteem and loyal devotion. BEAUFORT. PREFACE. A FEW LINES only are necessary to explain the object with whicli these volumes are put forth. There is no modern encyclopaedia to which the inexperienced man, who seeks guidance in the practice of the various British Sports and Pastimes, can turn for information. Some books there are on Hunting, some on Racing, some on Lawn Tennis, some on Fishing, and so on ; but one Library, or succession of volumes, which treats of the Sports and Pastimes indulged in by Englishmen — and women — is wanting. The Badminton Library is offered to supply the want. Of the imperfections which must be found in the execution of such a design we are con- scious. Experts often differ. But this we may say, that those who are seeking for knowledge on any of the subjects dealt with will find the results of many years' experience written by men who are in every case adepts at the Sport or Pastime of which they write. It is to viii PREFACE. point the way to success to those who are ignorant of the sciences they aspire to master, and who have no friend to help or coach them, that these volumes are written. To those who have worked hard to place simply and clearly before the reader that which he will find within, the best thanks of the Editor are due. That it has been no slight labour to supervise all that has been written he must acknowledge ; but it has been a labour of love, and very much lightened by the courtesy of the Publisher, by the unflinching, indefatigable assistance of the Sub- Editor, and by the intelligent and able arrangement of each subject by the various writers, who are so thoroughly masters of the subjects of which they treat. The reward we all hope to reap is that our work may prove useful to this and future generations. THE EDITOR. PREFATORY NOTE (BY THE AUTHOR.) Probably few persons who visited the late International Fisheries Exhibition in South Kensington could fail to have been struck by the multiplicity, and, to the un- initiated, complexity of the engines and appliances used in the capture of fish. The observation applies even more to the ' angler ' — a generic term that I have a special objection to, by the way, but let us say to the fisherman who uses a rod — than to the ' fisherman ' proper, whose weapons are net and hand-line, and who 'occupies his business in great waters.' In consequence of the growing artfulness of man or of fish, or both, angling has come to be nearly as wide a field for the specialist as doctoring. Each different branch has its own professors, practitioners, and students ; and its gospel as preached by apostles, differing often widely from one another, and perhaps eventually break- ing away altogether from old tradition and founding a cult of their own. Thus the late Mr. W. C. Stewart, a lawyer of Edinburgh and a ' famous fisher ' of the North, may probably be called the apostle of up-stream fly- X PREFATORY NOTE. fishing, as contrasted with the time-honoured plan of fishing ' down : ' fishing, that is, with the flies below rather than above the angler's stand-point. Not that I mean to assert that Mr. Stewart was by any means the first to preach the new doctrine, still less the first to practise it, but that he was the first to ' formularise ' it, to give it consistency and shape, and to bring it prominently before the angling world. . . . And even then — and it is a good illustration of the 'specialism* referred to— his book was (statedly) confined to one branch of one kind of angling for one species of fish : ' The Art of Trout Fishing, more particularly applied to Clear Water.' It might have been added ' and in streams and rivers north of the Tweed,' for I believe there is not a word in the book about the rivers or lakes of England, Ireland, or Wales, or how to catch trout in them. I say this in no disparagement of the author or his capital book, but only to illustrate the complexity and ' elaborateness ' at which the art of angling has arrived. So far from disparaging, it is probable, on the contrary, that if all writers on fishing had the modesty to confine themselves, as Mr. Stewart did, to subjects they were really personally acquainted with, the gentle art would not be afflicted with a literature containing a greater amount of undiluted bosh — to say nothing of downright 'cribbing' — than probably any printed matter of equal bulk in existence. We want a few more ' Gilbert Whites of Selborne' amongst our angling authors. . . . Poor Stewart! he was a fine fisherman and a right good com- panion, and pleasant days we fly-fished side by side, \\-ith PREFATORY NOTE. xi another famous angler (and politician), alas ! no more — the Johnson of Scotland, as he was well called — I mean Alex. Russel, Editor of the Scotsman, and author of the book of ' The Salmon.' He and Stewart were two of the finest fishermen that it has ever been my lot to know, and I loved them both well — for ' like and difference,' as Mrs. Browning puts it — though Stewart was very wroth with me afterwards and devoted a whole pamphlet to my annihilation, pugnacious ' moss- trooping Scot ' as he was. . . . No reason that, how- ever, why I should not write his epitaph in the Field when he died . . . I'd give the lands of Deloraine Stout Musgrave were alive again ! . . , But, some one asks ' Why do you not practise what you preach ? You eulogise monographs, and you write books yourself which embrace every variety of angling and " fishey lore " from bait-breeding to salmon- catching.' Dear critic (forgive the adjective when perhaps you arc in the very act of sharpening your ' scalping-knife '), I do nothing of the sort ; and though it is true I have 'graduated' in most kinds of fishing, from sticklebacks upwards, there are many subjects germane to angling, such as fish-rearing — both of Salmonida; and ' coarse ' fish — fish-acclimatisation, and several special depart- ments of angling itself, where I have need to learn rather than to pretend to teach. Consequently I have thought myself fortunate to be able to secure for these? xii PREFATORY NOTE. pages the very kind assistance of the eminent and scientific gentlemen who write in regard to such special subjects with equal felicitousness and authority. Thus the volumes of the Badminton Library confided to me by the Editor and publishers will not lose cither in com- pleteness or trustworthiness by my shortcomings. Frankly, however, this is 7tot the reason why I have sought the able co-operation of Major John P. Traherne, Mr. Henry R. Francis, and Mr. H. S. Hall, in dealing with the theory and practice of artificial fly-fishing. The reason is that in some of my former writings I have put fonvard certain opinions on these subjects which if not ' revolutionary,' may certainly be called in one sense 'radical,' and which have not as yet found general acceptance amongst fly-fishers. Whether the said opinions are right or wrong matters not. If I had seen any sufficient reason to alter them — at any rate in regard to their main outlines— I should have unhesitatingly avowed it long ago, for I look upon a man who says that he never changes his mind as an ass, or else as sacrificing truth to ' consistency ; ' but whatever my theories, and whatever may be their ulti- mate fate, I had, of course, no right or desire to air my hobbies in the pages of the Badminton Library ; and I am sure that my readers will, in any case, be the gainers by the substitution of the admirable essays alluded to, written as they are by fly-fishers of long and successful experience and in every sense entitled to be regarded as masters of the craft. To the Marquis of Exeter, Mr. Wilh'am Senior, PREFATORY NOTE. xiii angling Editor of the Field, Mr. Christopher Davies, Mr. R. B. Marston, Editor of the Fishing- Gazette, and Mr. Thomas Andrews, I am also under the greatest obligation for the very charming and interesting con- tributions to which their names are attached. I only regret that circumstances should have unavoidably deprived my readers of a promised contribution on salmon fishing from the pen of His Grace the Duke of Beaufort, which would have been warmly welcomed by all fly-fishers. For the rest, it has been my aim to make these volumes as practical as possible ; and if the exigencies of this role have involved a certain amount of space being devoted to more or less technical matters — which, however necessary and important, are, perhaps, less attractive to the general angling public than to the enthusiastic student — I hope the other part of the pro- gramme laid down by the Editor has not been over- looked, and that the following pages will be found to be sufificiently diversified with anecdotes and incidents of sport to redeem them from being hopelessly ' dull reading.' H. C-P. CONTENTS. Pike and Pike-Tackle 3 Baits, Bait-Catching, etc 4° Pike Fishing 64 Coarse Fish and Float-Fishing generally . . 205 Baits 225 The Perch . . 242 Carp and Tench 269 Barbel and Bream 299 Dace and Chub 308 Gudgeon and Bleak . , 324 ADDITIONAL ARTICLES. Roach Fishing as a Fine Art • ' • • • 335 William Senior f Redspiimer'' ). Norfolk Broad and River Fishing . . . .352 G. Chj-istopher Davies. The Cultivation of 'Coarse Fish' .... 376 R. B. Marston. The Rearing of Black Bass, and Piscicultural Experiments at Burghley 390 The Alaj-quis of Exeter. • Index 407 NOTE. If it is desired to give a trial to the hooks, tackle, &"€., recom- niended in the folloiving pages, it is advised that no change of any kind should be introduced, and that in case of purchases or orders from tackle-shops a7i exact compliance with the i7istructions should be insisted upon. Experimental variations and improvements, so-called, are very apt to produce results the opposite of ' improved.^ This is specially true as regards bends of hooks, and the proportions of spinning flights. FISHING. PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH I NT ROD UCTOR Y REMARKS. I FEEL that some apology is due to what are, after all, perhaps, the great body of fishermen, for the second part of the tide of the present volume. The term 'coarse fish' has been adopted because it seems to be that most generally used and understood, and, there- fore, best calculated to convey readily a correct idea of the contents of this essay. Even whilst employing the expression, however, I must record my protest against it. What is there coarse, for example, about the perch of gorgeous scaling, armed cap-a-pie like a paladin of old, and glowing with half the colours of the rainbow ? Or the ' arrowy dace,' almost as mettle- some, and perhaps even more graceful and glittering than the aristocratic trout ? A cold, sweet, silver life, wrapped in round waves, Quickened with touches of transporting fear. . . . Again, when the term ' coarse fishing ' is used, have those who employ it ever watched, with a sympathetic eye, the consum- mate skill and dexterity which a ' cockney ' roach-fisher will display in pursuit of his game, and the gossamer fineness of every bit of the tackle he uses ? Depend upon it, in the luring and landing of a two-pound roach on a single-hair line, there is II. B 2 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. called for and shown a * fine art,' as my fi-iend, Mr. Senior, ex- presses it, which need not shrink from contrast with that de- manded by any branch of angling whatever. ' Coarse fishing * is as great a misnomer as coarse fish ; every kind of fishing is capable of being brought to perfection, and of being carried out scientifically as well as clumsily and ignorantly ; and I hope I need not appeal to the tenor of all my former writings on the subject to assure my readers that I am a strenuous advocate for the use of the very finest tackle compatible with safety, not in fly-fishing only, but in every branch and every department of the art of angling. Indeed I recall with, I hope, some pardonable pride and pleasure that after the publication of my earlier essays, commentators, more kindly and indulgent, doubtless, than critical, were flattering enough to give me the sobriquet of the 'Apostle of Fine Fishing.' I shall not apologise, therefore, for the fact that in the fol- lowing pages considerable space and attention are accorded to matters, as some might consider them, of almost trivial detail. The ' whole is made up of its parts,' however ; and without careful attention to details neither neatness nor strength can be attained. The difference in killing power between one bend of hook and another, slightly varied, is not less than loo per cent. THE PIKE {Esox Indus). The wary Luce, midst wrack and rushes hid, The scourge and terror of the scaly brood. — AusONiUS. Although there is but one species of pike (i.e. Esox luchis) found in the waters of Great Britain, and recognised in those of Europe, the rivers and lakes of North America produce a great many varieties, all possessing more or less distinct charac- teristics. Into the details of these it is not necessary to enter ; but the following is a list of the principal species which, accord- ing to American writers, appear to have been clearly demon- strated to be distinct : — The Mascalonge {Esox ester) and the northern Pickerel {Esox huioides), both inhabitants of the great lakes ; the common Pickerel {Esox reticidatus), indigenous to all the ponds and streams of the northern and midland States ; the Long Island Pickerel {Esoxfasciatiis), probably confined to that locality ; the white Pickerel {Esox vittatus\ the black Pickerel {Esox ni'ger), and Esox phaleratus, all three inhabiting the Pennsylvanian and ^Vestern waters. Of the species above enumerated the first two are the types, all the others following, more or less closely, the same formation as to comparative length of snout, formation of the lower jaw, dental system, gill-covers, &c. As regards the European pike, it seems probable that there may be varieties yet to be discovered, as Dr. Genzik assures me that he has found some specimens which had teeth like the fangs of the viper— capable of being erected or depressed at pleasure, — a circumstance all the more remarkable as the jaws also of the fish are furnished with extra bones to increase the £ 2 4 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. size of the gape, very similar to the corresponding bones in the viper conformation. We have, however, in the British Islands and on the Con- tinent, only ' one recognised species ; ' which species, according to the author of * British Fishes ' and some other writers, has probably been 'acclimatised.' Personally I am rather disposed to believe it to be indigenous ; but I willingly leave the point to the researches of the curious in such matters, and to the students, if such there be, of mediaeval ichthyology. If the fish was really an importation, it could not, at any rate, have been a very recent one, as pike are mentioned in the Act of the 6th year of Richard II., 1382, and also by Chaucer in the well-known lines : Full many a fair partrich hadde he in mevve, And many a breme, and many a Luce in stewe. . , , One of the names by which the pike w^as formerly known, now obsolete, or at any rate used only as a diminutive, is ' pickerel;' which again, when arrived at a certain, or rather un- certain age of discretion, becomes a 'jack;' to be finally inducted into the full dignity of pikehood. The term 'pike' has been supposed to take its origin in the Saxon word piik, sharp- pointed, in reference to the peculiar form of the pike's head, thus, by the way, furnishing an argument in favour of the indigenous character of the fish, in contradiction to Yarrell's ' importation ' theory. Skinner and Tooke would derive it from the French word piqtte, on account, they say, of the sharpness of its snout. It is the brocJiet or broc/ietort, lance or lanceron^ and hecquet of France, the gadda of the Swede, and the gedde or gei of Denmark, which latter term is nearly identical with the lowland Scotch gcdd. Ingenious derivations of all these names have been discovered by philologists, but they arc, for the most part, somewhat fanciful. The liiccio or liizzo of the Italians, and the term luce or ///r/(?(' white lucie ' of Shake- speare and of heraldry) are evidently derived from the old classical name of the fish, luciiis. Here again, however, we THE PIKE. $ get among the philologists, and I will only give one illustra- tion from Nobbes, who has been called the father of trolling, to show how much, notwithstanding the proverb, can be made out of how little. This remarkable author suggests that the name /uaus is derived ' either a lucendo, from shining in the waters, or else (which is more probable) from lukos, the Greek word iox lupus: for as,' says he, ' the wolf is the most ravenous and cruel amongst beasts, so the pike is the most greedy and devouring amongst fishes. So that lupus piscis, though it be proper for the sea wolf, yet it is often used for the pike itself, the fresh- water wolf The pike is mentioned in the works of several Latin authors, and is stated to have been taken of very great size in the Tiber ; but it has been doubted by naturalists whether this fish — the Esox of Pliny — is synonymous with the Esox, or pike, of modern ichthyology. One of the earliest writers by whom the Pike is distinctly chronicled is Ausonius, living about the middle of the fourth century, who thus asperses its reputation : Lucius obscuras ulva ccenoque lacunas Obsidet. Hie, nullos mensarum lectus ad usus, Fumat fumosis olido nidore popinis. The wary Luce, midst wrack and rushes hid, The scourge and terror of the scaly brood, Unknown at friendship's hospitable board, Smokes midst the smoky tavern's coarsest food. It seems as if from the earliest times the character, so to speak, of the pike has commended itself especially for treat- ment both in prose and verse, and the number of quaint anecdotes, mythical legends, and venerable superstitions which have clustered round it give the pike a special and distinct interest of its own. I confess that to myself there has been always something singularly attractive in the very qualities which have made its chroniclers more often detractors than panegyrists. The downright, unadulterated savagery of the brute attracts me ; he is no turncoat, vicious one day and repentant the next. 6 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. Nothing that swims, or walks, or flies docs he spare when his appetite is whetted by the sharp wind sweeping The half-frozen dyke, That hungers into madness every plunging pike. Woe be to his children, or his brother, mother, or cousin, grandchildren or great-grandchildren, should they cross his path ; and I have not the slightest doubt, speaking ichthyo- phageously, if not ichthyologically, that under sufficient provo- cation he would tackle one of his own ancestors, even to the third and fourth generation. This is all ' thorough,' and is in keeping with the grim muzzle and steely grey eyes which fix upon the observer with unwinking and ferocious glare. The very rush and flash with which he takes his prey has in it a fascination, and I have more than once seen a man drop his rod from sheer fright when a pike, that has been stealthily following his bait, suddenly dashes at it by the side of the boat or at the moment it is being lifted out of water. The pike, I am happy to say, is daily rising in the estimation of anglers as a game and, in the largest sense of the word, sporting fish. This is partly owing, no doubt, to the difficulty, witli an ever-increasing army of anglers, of obtaining decent trout or, still more, salmon fishing (in fact, a good salmon river has now become almost as expensive a luxur)'as a grouse moor or a deer forest), and partly also because the art is now pursued with greatly improved appliances. We live in times in which, as I observed in the first page of the first pamphlet I ever wrote on jack-fishing, no 'well in- formed pike is to be ensnared by such simple devices as those which proved fatal to his progenitors in the good old davs of innocence and Izaak Walton, and were we now to sally forth with the trolling gear bequeathed to us by our great grand- fathers of lamented memory, we should expect to see every ])ike from John o' Groat's to Land's End rise up to repel with scorn the insult offered tliem. No ! depend upon it the dwellers in what Tom Hood called the ' Eely places ' have THE PIKE. 7 come in for their full share of the education movement, and the troUer who at the end of the nineteenth century would expect to make undiminished catches must devote both time and attention to refining to the very utmost every part of his equipment. ' Every hook in the spinning flight, every link in its trace, becomes in his view an object of importance, because it is not only positive but comparative excellence which he must aim at. Other trollers will take advantage of the latest ' wrinkle,' if he will not, and the art is not only to fish fine, but, if he wants to make the best basket, to fish finer than anybody else, at least on the same water. It is perfectly true that when the pike is sharp-set he is, as I have said, practically omnivorous, but where fine fishing and perfection of tackle come in is on the occasions when he is not regularly on the feed, and when his appetite is dainty and requires to be tickled. At these times the man who fishes fine will fill his creel, whilst he who uses coarser tackle will, in all probability, carry it home empty. ' But it is not only as regards the basket that fine fishing is an object worth aiming at. It is the only mode of fishing that really deserves the name of sport ; to haul out a miserable pike with an apparatus like a barge pole and a meat-hook neither demands skill nor evokes enthusiasm. There is no " law " shown to the fish, and not the slightest prowess by the fisher- man; it is simply fish-slaughter, not sport.' PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. FIKE-TACKLE. SPINNING AND TROLLING-RODS. An idea — happily now nearly exploded — has prevailed amongst troUers since the time of Nobbes of the Dark Ages, that a pike-rod should necessarily be a clumsy rod — a thick, unwieldy, weighty, top-heavy weapon — in fact, a sort of cross between a hop-pole and a clothes-prop. Whatever our pike- fishing ancestors may have been in the matter of skill, it can- not be denied that their rods and angling gear generally were in every way vastly inferior to our own, and, indeed, such as to make any display of what we should consider science out of the question. On no part of the fisher's equipment has more patience been lavished, with the result of greater advances, than on the all-important item of the rod. That so far at least as trolling- rods are concerned there was plently of room for improvement may be gathered from the receipt given for the construction of a trolling-rod by the authoress of the * Boke of St. Albans,' about A.D. 14S6, wherein the implement in question is recom- mended to be of at least fourteen feet long ; the ' stafTe ' or butt measuring * a fadom (fathom) and a half,' of the thickness of an 'armgrete,' or about as thick as a man's arm, and the joints to be bound with stout * hopis of yren ' (iron hoops) ! In the first volume I have given a description of the dif- ferent woods used in rod-making, and I will not therefore repeat it here, the more so as both hickory, greenheart, and ash — that is, almost all the principal rod-woods — may be, and are, very commonly employed in the manufacture of Spinning and PIKE-TACKLE. 9 Trolling-rods. The wood really most suitable for the purpose, and which as time goes on will, I have no doubt, come to be more and more used, is bamboo. This wood possesses in a special degree the qualities required for a spinning-rod, being both light, strong, and of sufficient stiffness, and, it may be added, pUabihty also, for the most perfect ' casting ' of a spinning bait and for the ' playing ' of it when it has been cast. I daresay many troUers — much better fishermen than I am • — will warmly, not to say hotly, dissent from this proposition. Every angler has his own hobby on the subject of rods. One man swears by a bamboo rod, another by lancewood or hickory, and a third would lose half the enjoyment of his day's sport if it were not to be effected by his trusty greenheart of early and well-beloved associations. Its owner might say, and say with truth, ' The difference you speak of in weight is exceedingly small, and there is a certain " swishiness " and elasticity in greenheart or hickory which is not to be got out of the most carefully selected bamboo.' I find myself that I get quite as much play, or * swishiness,' as I want out of a four-jointed bamboo rod with a greenheart top, and as regards weight, the difference, slight as it is, tells decidedly in favour of the hollow wood. The other hollow woods are practically useless for pike- rods. The white cane, the greater part of which comes from Spain and America, and is a fragile and delicate creature compared to its swarthy Indian cousin, is used principally for roach-rods — * White Cane Roach-rods,' as they are tempt- ingly described in the catalogues — and it is fit for nothing else ; for this special purpose, however, it is perfection. Another cane also that is quite inferior to the East Indian is the CaroHna ; it is lighter and longer between the knots, and is commonly employed only in bottom-fishing rods of the com- moner qualities. Last on the list comes the jungle cane, a specialty of China, but found also in many other parts of Asia. It grows as thick as a man's body, and is put by the Chinese to a variety of uses, amongst others hollowing out the 10 riKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. pith and converting the skin into water-pipes. It is this skin, or rind, only, with which we have to deal in rod-making, and that must be taken from a cane about as thick as a man's wrist. This is split up into narrow slips, and these slips, when planed and smoothed down, become the solid grained-looking pieces of wood constantly forming the upper splices of top joints. But to my text One of the most charming spinning-rods I ever possessed — or rather possess, for I am happy to say it still exists — came to grief in the butt, and instead of having a new butt of the same wood, bamboo, made in its place, I thought I would try an experiment, and had substituted for the mjured member a butt made of ash. The composite weapon thus produced— ash butt, second and third joints bamboo, top greenheart— seems to combine in an exceptional degree the qualifications to be desired in a spinning-rod. Especially the play and casting capacity of the rod are remarkable, and I think of all the spmning-rods I have, or have had pass through my hands, this is my favourite. The two centre bamboo joints are all that remain of a mottled East Indian cane which I chose from amongst the hundreds m Mr. Farlow's warehouse when a stripling. It has since had tops enough to stock a tackle shop. Can it be tliat association has prejudiced me also in favour of my schoolboy friend ? Many memories may cer- tainly cling round an old rod, and, perhaps, few veteran anglers could be found to dissent from the following lines in which Stoddart has given expres-ion to the senlmicnt : — THE OLD WAND. The wand that hath clone service fair, From tiiy boyliooci to thy prime, Onward to tliinc after-time Cherish. It is worth all care. Many a fair-spoken friend Plath less friendship in his heart Than tliis passive piece of art And will fail thee at the end. PIKE-TACKLE. ii But a trusty rod and tried, Warp'd by service though it be, Toughens in adversity. And clings the nearer to thy side. Cherish it for thine own sake. For the record of events Hanging on its accidents, And the memories these awake. Ferrule bent — distorted ring — Top curtail'd or past repair — The continual wear and tear, And relaxing of its spring. Every notch by knife impress'd, Ranging up and down the butt, In its form of cross or rutt. Is to thee of interest. In the fortunes of thy wand Thou hast part, no common part ; And the beatings of thy heart With its triumphs correspond. Give it place in thine abode — In thy dwelling's inner shrine — ■ In the chamber made divine By love and faith, lay up thy rod. A capital spinning-rod may be made from the spliced-cane grilse-rod described in the first volume. The rod, which was made by Messrs. Hardy Bros., fishing-tackle makers, of Alnwick, has the additional strength given by a steel spring centre — a specialty in spliced rods of which, I believe, Messrs. Hardy alone, or almost alone, possess the secret. In order to turn the fly-rod into a spinning-rod, or indeed a rod suitable for any sort of jack-fishing, it is only necessary, when giving the order for the rod, to include an additional (short) top. The length of mine is three feet (ferrule excluded) as against four feet seven inches in the ordinary fly top, and it seems to be about a happy medium. 12 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. I find a great convenience in having my jack-rods (as well as my fly-rods) furnished with several tops of different lengths — the more the better. By this means one rod will, at a pinch, often answer for several purposes, and the necessity of carrying about a large stock of rods on the off chance of some other fishing than that counted on turning up, will often be avoided. For instance, the 'composite spinning-rod' above described answers with a somewhat longer top exceedingly well for ' pater- nostering,' or for minnow-spinning for trout, for barbelling, worm-fishing for salmon, and, indeed, for any purpose {except fly-fishing) where strength is a more important point than length, or than extreme lightness. When driven into a corner I have even, and not unsuccessfully, used it for casting the fly, and I calculate roughly that if the number of salmon I have caught with it with minnow, fly, or worm (in the manner described in the last volume), were laid head and tail, they would put a girdle round Trafalgar Square. The length of this rod is twelve feet, and for my own part I never care about fishing with a longer one. Many spinners, however, patronise a rod of more ample proportions, and indeed it is evident that a rod which would be the perfection of length for a man of five feet nine or ten, would not do justice to the physical capabilities of a troller of six feet three, to say nothing of the well-known Irish giant of jack-fishing celebrity, the staff of whose rod might be (and is for aught I know) like a weaver's beam. There is a record of a very small troller with a very big rod whose fate, if it may not servo To point a moral or adorn a tale, yet carries with it a caution to reflecting pike-fishcrs. At the first cast his heavy rod overbalanced his light body, and he tumbled out of the punt, below New Lock Weir, and was drowned. One general rule may, I think, be laid down with regard to tops : the larger and heavier the baits used the shorter should be the top joint. PIKE-TACKLE. 13 The rings for all trolling-rods should be what is called 'stiff' (upright), and sufficiently large to admit of the line pass- ing readily through them, and of sufficient hardness to be capable of resisting considerable friction. Another point is that the top and bottom rings should be so shaped as to pre- vent the line catching round or over them whilst in the act of running out. The diagrams represent the sizes and shape of rings which, after a good many experiments, I have found most suitable to the purpose, and which are now very generally adopted by trollers. It will be seen that in the bottom ring, which is about the best size for a medium length of rod, the perpendicular sup- ports are wider apart at the base than at the apex, the object being to frustrate any curls or ' hitches ' which the line may attempt to twist round them. This, it can be safely asserted, FIG. I. — ' PRONGED TOP RING. FIG. 2.— STEEL ROD RING. will be found of really great practical convenience to the troller. Perhaps, however, the form of the top ring is of even greater importance, as it is both more liable to catch in the line and proportionately more difficult to clear at a distance of twelve or thirteen feet. The material, as in the case of all the other rings, should be steel or iron wire, and the shape of the ring shown in the engraving represents the results of some pains and trouble bestowed on the subject by the late Mr. Frank Buckland and myself The merit of this invention is the avoidance of all projec- tions over which the line would or could possibly ' hitch ' itself It is, in fact, to a certain extent, a modification of the principle of the pronged ring recommended for the bottom joint. The wire. It will be seen, is made to branch out in the shape of a V, 14 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. the sides forming a continuation of the ring itself, and acting as a guard on either side to throw off the hne if it should attempt to curl over, very much as the sloping sides of a gate on a barge-walk throw off the towing line. The inclination of the ring is also towards instead of away from the butt,— the head or loop forming, in other words, an acute instead of an obtuse angle with the rod. The woodcut gives the shape recommended for the inter- mediate rings, of which it is important that there should be enough on the rod to prevent the weight of the line bagging between the intervals, and yet not so many as unnecessarily ;o increase the friction of the line passing through them, or add to the weight of the rod. FIG. 3. — ' I'KONGED' bottom KING. For all these rings steel or iron wire is found to answer best ; brass, from its softness, is easily cut or worn into sharp grooves by friction, and these grooves very speedily wear out the dress- ing of the line, and, before long, the line it.self. Many ' dodges ' have been tried to obviate this cutting process, more especially in the case of the top and bottom rings, where the friction is naturally greatest. Mother-of-pearl, agate, &c., liave been used as ' linings,' or inner rings, to receive the immediate friction of the hne, but besides being too expensive for ordinary purjjoses, these solid additions add, not inap[)reciably, to the weight of the rod. I have always been of o[)inion that some sort of china or glass enamel or laccpier, such as that used in the lining of saucepans, might be adapted to rod rings. There is an American process especially, the depot of which is in New PIKE-TACKLE. 15 Bond Street, which seems as if it might be made available, but the proprietors are either unable or unwilling to devote the necessary time to trying the experiment on a scale to bring it within the range of possible commercial success. Whilst on the subject of troUing-rods I may, perhaps, say a few words as to the Ferrules. These should always be what is termed 'hammered,' and not ' tube-cut.' The ferrules used for the commoner rods, or tube-cut ferrules, are simply cylinders, of the same size at both ends, and cut. off, two or three inches at a time, as required, from a piece of common soldered brass piping. These, of course, cost next to nothing, and break or bulge with the first strain put upon them. The ferrules used by the really good tackle-makers are made, I am informed, each one separately, out of sheet brass, hard-soldered, or brazed, and then ham- mered out into the proper shape on steel triblets, — a process which, though somewhat costly and tedious, makes the ferrule in the end almost as hard as the steel itself (' Book of the Pike '). I am not myself a practical rod-maker, and am, of course, therefore, obliged in these matters to depend for my information upon the tackle-makers, whom I always find most obliging in imparting their knowledge, even where it may be considered in the nature of a trade secret. In the present case there appears to be some difference of opinion in regard to the information I have received through the profession ; and the following was sent to me by an amateur rod-maker of large practical experience, but who does not wish his name to be published : — ' I am inclined to think that the cases referred to (in your " Modern Practical Angler ") where the brass ferrules of rods " bulge " and give way, are to be thus explained. The best tubing is mandrel- drawn, and I do not think any hammering would produce a density of metal so hard as that which results from well-drawn tubing : but it often happens (too often) that the tube and its correcter do not fit with that nice accuracy which is essential. In such case what does the ferrule-maker i6 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. do ? I will tell you, he anneals his tubing, and then with the furnisher adapts it to its fellow. For all practical uses its strength is then gone. * My own impression is that mandrel-drawn tube not tam- pered with, is {caterts paribus) denser and harder than ham- mered tubing is, and no hammered tube could be so uniform. *I hope you will forgive this criticism of a work with which I am really charmed, but I shall be only glad to find that you accept it as it is meant, in all courtesy.' Who shall decide when doctors disagree ? There will be no disagreement, however, as to the fact that all joints of trolling- rods should be 'double-brazed' — i.e., covered with brass — not only round the thick part of the joint, where it fits the ferrule, but also round the thinner end or wooden plug below it. In all sorts of pike-fishing, and notably in spinning, this is of particular importance, as the rapid pass- ing of the wet line through the rings tends to cause a perpetual dripping and trickling of water downwards towards the butt. The natural result is that the water does its best to get into the joints, and, if it succeeds and the precaution of double-brazing be not adopted, the joint has a special aptitude for swelling and sticking fast. When joints are only half-brazed, or not brazed at all, the best plan is to grease or soap them before use. Joints which have become hopelessly 'stuck' may generally be easily separated by being turned slowly round and round at the 'sticking point' over the flame of a candle for some seconds, or until it is found that the joint will come apart. This process does no damage to anything but the varnish on the ferrule. After the subject of ferrules naturally comes that of joint fastenings. I have already gone into this matter so thoroughly in the first volume that I do not propose here to repeat the account of the various new joint fastenings therein described in detail with illustrative diagrams. Any one of them will be found a great improvement on the old-fashioned fastening, which, though it has become venerable by time, possesses, PIKE-TACKLE. 17 it must be admitted, nearly every drawback that 'joint is heir to.' What holds true in regard to the joints of fly-rods holds true in regard also to the joints of trolling-rods, and especially of spinning-rods, where the constant swaying to and fro in the action of casting is apt to induce those sudden separations between top, middle, and lower joints which entail waste of time and loss of temper, if nothing more. If anglers would continue to refuse to purchase any more rods with the old- fashioned fastenings they would soon become obsolete. It is monstrous that with such well-known improvements within their reach tackle-makers should go on manufacturing trolling- rods with the old, faulty, and unmechanical joint fastenings. As a good varnish for rods, and generally for varnishing lappings of hooks, &c., the following, used and commonly sup- plied for the purpose by one of the best known tackle manufac- turers, will be found useful : — Spirits of wine, — . Orange shellac, ~. Gum Benjamin, a small piece, about ~. Allow the mixture a fortnight to dissolve before using. A varnish of some sort over the lapping is exceedingly valuable in all tackle, as it protects the silk from the effects of the water. In gimp tackle it is especially important, owing to the corrosion otherwise produced by wet brass and steel coming in contact. This varnish dries almost immediately. Trollers will find a great comfort, and perhaps escape serious inconvenience, by having the butt-ends of their trolling- rods fitted with an india-rubber knob, which is supplied at most of the larger tackle shops in London. The constant pressure of the hard end of the brass or wood against the groin (this being the position the end of the rod generally occupies in pike-fishing) becomes after a short time the cause of considerable irritation in the part pressed against. With regard to the reel for spinning and trolling, any of the II. c rS PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. reels referred to in the first volume as suitable for salmon-fishing would, in smaller sizes, be also suited to spinning, if it were not for the question of weight. In spinning, a reel that will carry sixty or eighty yards of jack-line is practically all that is required, and such an endless assortment of these can now be obtained at the tackle shops that the only difficulty lies in makmg a selection. For the reasons elsewhere mentioned I should recommend a check winch with narrow grooves and deep side plates — one of the greatest improvements which has been introduced into reels in modern times — and a check which should be rather 'weaker than stronger,' to paraphrase the Admiralty instructions to their recruiting officers, 'to prefer recruits having hands rather larger than smaller.' The advantages gained by this sort of reel over the old-fashioned shallow-plate broad-grooved winch are increased speed — inasmuch as the diameter of the axle upon which the line is wound is enlarged — and increased power, because the handle by which it is worked being further from the axis proportionably greater leverage is obtained. The handles of all reels should either be directly attached to the side plate or so adjusted as to amount to the same thing. The only drawback to the solid side plate is the additional weight it gives the reel, but the advantages of the handle thus attached are so numerous as to make other considerations of comparatively little importance. Amongst these advantages are the obviating of the constant entanglement of the line round the old-fashioned detached projecting handle — or rather more correctly speaking, the crank to which the handle is attached — and the greatly increased strength, and improbability of being broken or bent by the many little accidents that lake place during the actual business of fishing. Of the solid reels suitable for spinning — and what I here say of reels for spinning applies equally to reels for every description of pike-fishing — Mr. Chas. Farlow's ' patent lever \vinch,' or perhaps, wliere fish run unusually large, Malloch's 'Sun and Planet,' described in Vol. I., will be found the best, PIKE-TACKLE. ig as they undoubtedly are for salmon-fishing. No doubt they might both easily be made lighter than they are at present. The weight is considerable ; a Malloch reel with a plate 4^ inches in diameter weighing i lb. 14 oz., and this where one of the side plates is of ebonite. The 3|-inch plate reel (Mr. ]\Ialloch's) of the same make weighs i lb. i-^oz. I am very much inchned, however, the next time 'I go a-spinning' to give Slater's very clever and admirable 'com- bination reel' (see p. 55, Vol. I.) a trial. It has all the merits of an ordinary check reel (besides being much lighter) and in addition it combines the advantages of the Nottingham reel, by which under special circumstances, such as wading, spinning from rough stubbly banks, and so forth, the necessity of coiling up the line on the ground, &c., is avoided. This reel, four and a half inches in diameter, with fifty yards of finest dressed-silk running-line on it, only weighs ten ounces. On the whole Slater's reel is the most original, and I am disposed to think, from the spinner's point of view, also the most practically useful of all the inventions in the way of reels to which the late Fisheries Exhibition gave birth. One serious drawback, however, so far as my experience goes — and, so far as my experience goes, one only — is common to every reel hitherto made, viz., that the line is apt to get caught under the back part of the reel itself, thus causing a constant irritating annoyance, and, in the case of the pike-fisher — and especially of the spinner — a serious danger. In order to obviate this I designed some years ago a small spring so adjusted that when the reel is fixed to the rod, it — the spring — presses closely on the butt or winch-fittings behind the reel. The spring (see diagram p. 20, c,) can be attached with perfect ease to any well-made reel at a nominal cost, and I venture to think that no spinner who has once experienced the practical convenience of this antidote to ' hitching ' will ever use a reel without it. It remains to consider the reel used in what is known as the Nottingham Style of fishing. This is a reel, without 'check' 20 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. of any kind, and generally made of wood, on which the line is ' wound in ' by the troller instead of being drawn in by hand, and from which the spinning or other bait is cast, without any reserve of loose line, on the assumption that between the skill of the caster and the unchecked ' running ' of the reel itself the latter will give out sufficient line, and with sufficient rapidity and accuracy, to meet all practical requirements. Indeed, as to spinning, I have often heard Nottingham fishers, or, at any rate, fishers who use the Nottingham style, assert that they can throw more accurately and to longer distances with the reel described than with the meihod practised on the Thames \ iirtiial siz.c I. in:: uiTCiiiNO pkrventek. and most other rivers of letting the lino lie in loose coils on tlie ground before making the cast. \\'hen, however, I have had opportunities of hritiging this assumption to the actual test of ])ractice I find it more or less break down. \\'ith the same weight of bait and trace I am (juite satisfied that both a longer and more accurate cast can be made l)y the ordinar\- nietliod, whilst with a really light l)ait and trace — the whole thing, lead included, weighing, let us say, i <>/. 2 scruples— (sue h as 1 fre- quentlvusc mvself) I am of (jpiiiion that the Nottingham ^tyle wcKild be foimd in i)ractice an entire failure. PIKE-TACKLE. 21 I remember some years ago Mr. Bailey, the then most celebrated professor and exponent of the Nottingham style of spinning, sending me for examination some of his flights and traces. All I can say of them — and I have them in my possession still — is that they are altogether too clumsy and too heavy for spinning in rivers or other waters where the pike have had opportunities of seeing a spinning bait tolerably often, and in the Thames they would be practically useless. Another serious, and I should say ineradicable, defect of the Nottingham reel is its tendency to ' overrun ' itself, thus producing a series of ' complications,' to use a generic rather than a specific term, which, if they did not at critical junctures result in the loss of the fish, are at any rate likely to lead to a frame of mind on the part of the spinner the reverse of equable. Again, with these — un-' checked' — winches there is another danger to be guarded against. If the graduated pressure of the finger be for an instant removed from the reel or line the latter runs out so freely as to produce the effect of complete slackness. This is an evil greater, perhaps, in its results even than the other, as nothing is more certainly disastrous in spin- ning than a slack line on a running fish, and nothing more likely than the contingency alluded to where fish have to be followed rapidly over ditches or broken ground. These two faults — vices would not be too strong a term — are radical and inlierent in the principle of all 'plain' reels, whether wood or brass. They are found, however, in combination, in their utmost perfection in the so-called 'Nottingham reel.' 'It would not be wise,' writes a recent author, ' for any fly-fisherman to use Nottingham reels at first ; the manual management of the checking power would take the tyro months to master, and any mismanagement, which is all but inevitable, would be fatal just when the special qualities of these reels should be service- able.' This testimony carries additional conviction, inasmuch as, on the whole, the writer appears to favour the Nottingham reel — at any rate as improved by some recent additions. I do not, of course, for a moment expect, or, indeed, wish, 22 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. to convert the Nottingham trollers to what is commonly known as the 'Thames style' of spinning ; first, because in fishing, as in everything else, there is a charm in variety ; secondly, because I am well aware that, at any rate on their own river, the Nottingham spinners are both expert and successful as regards the actual results of their system— and these the most important results, viz., making good baskets ... I might add as a third argument against the attempt, that it would, I am quite satisfied, be a failure. Amongst the recent, I was going to say less important, improvements in fishing gear — but no improvement that adds materially to the comfort and efficiency of the angler's equip- ment is unimportant — are the various ingenious inventions before noticed, for attaching the reel to the rod. Of these I can only repeat here that the most simple, inexpensive, and in every way efficient fastening is that brought out at the late Fisheries Exhibition, I believe, by Messrs. Hardy Brothers, of Alnwick. It is applicable, without exception, to all sorts of rods, and to every description of reel which is attached by a plate in the ordinary way. Whether it could be fitted to rods already made with the common ring or other fasten- ings, I am unat)le to say positively, but I have little doubt that in many cases — perliaps in all — it could be substituted. I shall never have a rod made witli any other fastening in future. The 'catch' was originally attached to the rod by nails or screws {7'iik cut), but, at my sugcestion, Messrs. Hardy have now substituted a catch entirely surrounding or clasping the rod, which is both more KEKL-FASTF.NING. PIKE-TACKLE. 23 sightly and obviates any possible liability to breakage at that point. Passing from the reel, the next subject demanding attention is the reel-line. Since the times when Dr. Badham assures us that trolling-lines were spun from the iyssus by which mussels anchored themselves to our rocks and ships' bottoms, an endless difference of opinion has prevailed as to the lines suitable for pike-fishing generally, and for spinning especially, as w^ell as to the dressings necessary to give them the exact degree of ' vvaterproofness,' and of stiffness or rigidity, which are the two essentials in any spinning-line fit for use. Without these conditions the lines will either not run out at all, or will do so in a succession of knots or 'kinkings' destructive of any enjoy- ment of the sport. Every kind of material has, as I say, been at one time or other recommended, from sheep's and catgut to ' silver and silk twisted.' These prescriptions, however, it must be admitted, belonged to the earliest historic (or shall I say pre-historic ?) times of the literature of angling. Even amongst our modern authorities, however, great divergencies are observable. There are the advocates of oil dressing, and the advocates of india- rubber dressing — the patrons of silk lines and those who hold to the hemp-spun fabrications of the Manchester Cotton Twine Spinning Corporation, whilst another recent contributor to fishing literature goes out of his way to ' back a hair line against them all at a venture.' A receipt which does not seem likely to prove very successful, as it is within the experience of most spinners that, even with the addition of a goodly propor- tion of silk, twenty yards of ordinary 'fly line' cannot be in- duced by any amount of persuasion to run out through the rings of a jack rod. In the 'Book of the Pike ' ^ I wrote nearly 20 years ago — ' Some discussion has recently taken place as to the merits of catechu, indiarubber, and other waterproof dressings, especially 1 3rd Edit. Routledge and Co., Broadway, Ludgate Hill. 24 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. in securing greater durability ; and I shall hope at a future opportunity to go more fully into this question with reference to a few experiments which I have carried out, but I am satisfied that up to the present time no practical application of either of these dressings has been arrived at, or, at least, made public, which, having regard to the numerous points to be con- sidered, will bear comparison with common 8-plait oiled silk. I did go very thoroughly into the experiments referred to in the above paragraph, but with no result sufficiently satisfac- tory to be worth chronicling in these pages. Indeed, it may freely be admitted, that all the conditions pointed out as neces- sary in a spinning-line are very fairly fulfilled by the ordinary 8-plait dressed silk lines to be bought at all the tackle shojjs. As regards the dressing used by different makers and amateurs, 'as many men so many opinions.' Here, however, is the receipt for this oil dressing which is adopted by a well-known and experienced fisherman : — Take three teaspconfuls of sweet oil, of bees' wax and dark resin a piece of each the size of a walnut ; bruise the resin, cut the wax in pieces, and then put oil, wax, ar)d resin into a small pipkin, and let it simmer before the fire till the whole is in a liquid state. Then dip your trolling-line into tlie hot mixture and let it remain a minute ; then take it out and hang it up to dry, which will take two or more days to do ; when quite dry it will be waterproof, stronger, and last much longer than when dressed with anything else that I am accjuainted with. Next in value 1 consider wax-candle well rubbed on and into lines. The following, for 'varnish dressing,' is from a practical fisherman, whose method has been highly approved' of : — Mix (cold) copal varnish and gold size, in the proportion of ton parts of the former to one part of the latter. Soak the line in tliis dressing for, say, a couple of days, the jar in whirh it is placed being air-tight. Then siictrh the line to dry. The line will not be fit to use for three or four weeks. Here is another 'rcccii't for water]irof)fing lines,' taken from 'Chitty's My-fishing Text-book' : 1 liavc never tried it, but un PIKE- TA CKLE. 2$ the principle of variatio delectat, some of my readers may, per- haps, like to do so. It ' looks well ' on paper : — To a quarter of a pint of 'double boiled cold-drawn' linseed oil, add one ounce of gold size. Gently warm and mix them well, being first careful to have the line quite diy. While the mixture is warm, soak the line therein till it is fully saturated to its very centre, say for twenty-four hours. Then pass it through a piece of flannel, pressing it sufficiently to take off the superficial coat, which enables that which is in the interior to get stiff. The line must then be hung up in the air, wind, or sun, out of the reach cf moisture, for about a fortnight, till pretty well dry. It must then be re-dipped to give an outer coat, for which less soaking is neces- sary ; after this, wipe it again but lightly, wind it on a chair-back or towel-horse before a hot fire, and there let it remain for two or three hours, which will cause the mixture on it to ' flow,' as japan- ners term it, and give an even gloss over the whole. It must then be left to dry as before ; the length of time, as it depends on the weather and place, observation must determine upon. By this means it becomes impervious to wet, and sufficiently stiff never to clog or entangle, the oil producing the former quality and the gold size (which is insoluble in water) the latter ; while the commixture prevents the size becoming too hard and stifi". A trolling-line should be thus dressed every season at least. For ?r-dressing a line, whilst in use or when out of reach of tackle-shops, the following is, perhaps, the best plan that can be tried : — Stretch the line tightly, and rub it thoroughly with white (com- mon candle) wax. Then take a little ' boiled oil,' which can be got at most oil and colour shops, and placing it on a piece of flannel, rub the line well over with it. This will have the effect of making the line flexible, and will give a finish to the dressing. It cannot be denied, however, that there is always some little uncertainty in the effect of oil dressings, especially when manipulated by amateurs ; and I have on several occasions had lines returned after re-dressing — and that too from very careful hands — which from some reason or other seemed to be- come in parts almost immediately rotten, — a result, as far as I could judge, only attributable to the effect of the new dressing. 26 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. One great point certainly is never to put the line into too hot a mixture ; a temperature in which the finger can be placed without inconvenience should be the maximum. Curriers always, I believe, wet their leather before applying oil or grease, which is othenvise supposed to 'fire' it, as it is termed. True- fit recommends the same precaution to be taken before greasing the hair of the beard, and it is possible that there may be some analogous effect produced on silk under particular conditions, even when the oil is not heated beyond the proper temperature. Be this as it may, however, I believe the fact that silk lines are not unfrequently 'fired' or burned in some way whilst dressing is indisputable ; and until some one can discover a remedy we must be content to pay a little oftener for new trolling-lines. In most other respects the oil dressing seems to answer capitally, being neat, very fairly waterproof, and easily applied. One great safeguard against premature decay we do know ; and that is, never under any circumstances to put by a line wot, nor unless thoroughly dried. Attention to this simple precau- tion will save expense, and not a few of those precipitate part- ings between fish and fishermen, which are so painful to at least one of the parties concerned. With regard to the substance or thickness of trolling-lines it is difficult to give suggestions in the form of letterings or num- berings, inasmuch as there is great variation in the enumeration of their different sizes by different line makers. What may be described, however, as a line of medium substance, rather than either very stout or very fine, gives, on ihe whole, the best results. If too fine the friction caused by passing througli the rod rings very soon rubs off the dressing, and renders it un- trustworthy, and if too thick it will not run with the necessary freedom for long casts, especially where light baits are used. Moreover, the very stout quality has also the disadvantage of being very conspicuous — 'a line of invitation,' as somebody calls it, which the fish are not usually in a hurry to accept. A very important item in the perfection— or imperfection — of all spinning and other pike tackle is the Sicivel. Owing to PIKE-TACKLE. rj imperfections in the manufacture of new swivels and the results of rust or wear and tear uj)on old ones, a swivel very often ceases to work properly, — a fact which is generally first made known to the troller by the kinking and twisting up of the line, entailing much trouble before it can be rectified. With a view to remedying this inconvenience, I suggested in the 'Modern Practical Angler'' the substitution of two swivels joined in one (or a ' double swivel ') — wide cut — by which the proba- bility of the accident alluded to is reduced to a minimum. In fact, two swivels like that shown in the engraving will be found ample for the purposes either of spinning-traces, or for gorge or hve-bait tackle. A good many swivels have been invented with some sort of spring loop at one end, to and from which the line or trace can be attached and detached — civVv^f SVVlV EL, such as the 'buckle,' the 'corkscrew,' 'watch-spring' swivel, &c., &c. — and these, if perfect, would be of the greatest practical convenience in the manipulation of all kinds of pike-tackle. None of the ' hook-swivels,' however, which have come under my notice are free from serious de- fects, or combine in all respects what is required. These requirements are very simple — first, that the line should be capable of being slipped on and off with the utmost ease and rapidity, and without such careful manipulation by the thumb and finger nail as may, especially in cold weather, make the operation an exceedingly difficult one ; secondly, that the line should by no possibility be able to disengage itself accidentally from the swivel ; and thirdly, that the arrangement should be small, neat, and sightly — the last desideratum being indispen- sable for practical purposes. These requirements, as I have said, are not to be found united in any one of the existing patterns with which I am acquainted, those fulfilling the former failing more or less signally in the last named, and I have, therefore, endeavoured • Sth Edit. Routledge and Co., Broadway, London. 28 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. lo produce such a fastening as will fulfil them. It will be seen, 1 think, that this is done by the swivel shown in the engraving. Why it should be so a glance at the mechanical arrangement of the swivel will probably suffice to indicate. The thing is so simi)le that the wonder is that swivel makers or tackle vendors have not long ago hit upon the method, instead of year after year continuing to manufacture patterns of hook-swivels which have only to be glanced at to be condemned. It is claimed for the swivel represented in the cut that, besides escaping the charge of un.'-ight- liness, the line can be attached and disengaged Doi'BLii swivr.i. in a moment, and that, owing to the ' hook end ' WITH IMPROVED , • ,• , 1 J, . V- -//.•,- • HOOK projecting towards the ceritre of the loop, it is im- possible that it should work off accidentally when in use. A moment's thought and tlie most cursory examination will, I believe, show this, but if not, a swivel is not a very expensive item, and probably those of my readers who are enthusiastic in pike-fishing will not grudge the slight trouble involved in giving it a trial in practice. The attaching of this hook-swivel to the end of the reel line will save time, and add to the neatness of the trace-junc- tion. Mr. Charles Farlow, of igi Strand, London, is the i)ro- |)rietor of this swivel, and is prcjiared to supi)ly it made exactly according to the pattern shown in the illustration. All swivels work best and last longest when of small or medium, rather than of large size, and they should be well oiled before and after use, and kept in oiled paper. The observance of this very simple ])rccaution will double the efficiency of the swivel. Blue swivels show less in the water than bright ones, and are less lialjle to rust. I think I may venture to say that no one who has ever attempted to extract a fiight of hooks from a pike's jaw with his fingers will desire to rei)eat that experiment ; nor dcjes he need to be reminded that the teeth of the pike are exceedingly PIKE-TACKLE. 29 sharp. They have also been supposed by old writers to be jioisonous, but the truth is, probably, that, like all punctured wounds, the injuries they inflict heal very slowly and painfully. A disgorger of some sort becomes, therefore a necessity for every pike-fisher, and especially for the spinner, as he incurs a double danger from the multiplicity of his own hooks. I shall not forget in a hurry an incident which occurred to myself when fishing some years ago in the beautiful waters of Sir Edward Hulse, below Braemore, on the Hampshire Avon. By a great exertion of agility I had just succeeded, after making a cast from an ' impossible ' standpoint, in conducting to the side, and thence lifting by the gills up to the top of the bank, a pike of some five or six pounds weight. In the position in which I had balanced myself when casting, the chances had been about equally divided between my pulling him out and his pulling me in. In the excitement, perhaps, of the just terminated struggle, I attempted to extract the flight from his mouth without using a disgorger. The first hook came out all right, but the second, just when I had got it clear, was struck, by a sudden wrench of the pike under my knee, clean into and half through the top of the middle finger of my right hand — the fliglit still remaining attached to the pike by the big tail hook ! The only chance of freeing myself from my de facto captor now lay in the untried possibilities of my left hand. At every plunge of the pike the hook in my finger went in deeper ; and it was only by a desperate effort that I at last succeeded in wrenching off the penknife attached to my watch chain, the blade of which I opened with my teeth, and severed the gimp below the hook which had got me. It still remained, left- handed, to break off the hook — one of a triangle — from its shank, which I did with the pair of pliers I always carry in my troUing-case, and finally with the said pliers to force it through the finger and so out point foremost at the other side. . . . On this occasion I recorded a mental vow against the employment of digital disgorgers for the future ! If, in spite of precautions, the fisherman should, by the 30 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. A 2 THE TROI.LEK'S KNTFE.^ 1. Box containing minnow-needle and 5. Pricker, for loosening knots, separating baiting-needle. feathers, Kc. 2. Hole for pricker (marked 5). C. Minnow-needle. S- Hlade for crimping or other purposes. 7. Ijaiting-needle. 4. Disgorger. ' Sold by Watson and .Son, 308 High Holborn. Price ics. 6d. PIKE-TACKLE. 31 exercise of some such ingenuity as that described, succeed in bringing his hand into contact with a pike's teeth, or, what even more often happens, get his finger cut by the blade of a water leaf, or the sudden wrenching out of the running-line by a big fish, a capital temporary plaister is formed by a strip ot fresh fish-skin, lapped round with a bit of waxed silk. This will often enable a day's fishing to be ' fished out ' with pleasure, which would otherwise have been spoilt. The cut so dressed will also often heal ' by first intention,' as surgeons say. In many respects the most convenient form for carrying the disgorger is that of a, so to speak, extra blade attached to the fishing-knife. A blade, that is, of course, without cutting edges of any description. By carrying the disgorger in this manner, as a part of the fishing-knife, there is one thing less to be re- membered every morning before starting, a blessing to absent- minded trollers, such as, I am sorry to say, I am myself. Attached to a knife-handle a disgorger also becomes a much more powerful weapon ; the ordinary disgorger is too short for practical purposes, and there is no handle by which to get a good hold of it. The ' knife disgorger ' will be found to save both time and trouble as well as risk to the fingers. The length of disgorger which I have found, on the whole, most convenient for the purpose is shown in the diagram. The advantage of this arrangement of disgorger in trolling as well as in other fishing suggested the idea of extending the principle so as to embody in the same knife the rest of the angler's more necessary implements, and thus spare him the trouble of collecting and bestowing each before starting for the river. The fishing-knife in the engraving contains, besides the ' disgorger-blade,' a minnow-needle and a baiting-needle in a box, a really powerful blade suited for crimping, lunching, or other general purposes, a sharp-pointed pricker for loosening knots, drop flies, &c., and lastly a strong cork-screw. The success of the ' troUer's knife ' led to its giving birth (though in other hands than my own) to a somewhat smaller- 32 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. sized offspring, suited for trout-fishing, and fishing generally other than for pike. This was brought out some years ago by Messrs. Watson and Son, fishing tackle makers, of High Holborn. The subject of Landing-Nets, Gaffs, and Gaffing demands a few words of notice at this point. In the ordinary business of pike-fishing from the punt or bank, the extreme portability of the net is of small importance. Any net will do, in fact, which is large enough for the purpose, and the only hint on the subject that need be given is that in order to avoid the catching of the hooks in the net the latter is best made of oiled silk. In all cases the longer the handle A MF.CHANICAM.Y-CORUFXT GAIK. the better ; a bamboo handle, which has the advantage also of being able to carry a spare top or two, is the lightest and moi^t convenient. For ])ikc-fishing, when unattended, I never myself use any- thing except the gaff, carried over my shoulder on the portable net handle (figured at p. 212), — an arrangement whicli needs little argument to commend itself to tlie practical ])ikc-fisher. To the spinner especially the gaff presents considerable advan- tage over the landing-net, as it almost invariably hap])ens that some of the hooks of the flight are outside and not inside the fish's mouth, and are thus apt to get caught and inconveniently entangled in the net. In fact, the landing of ]iike caught spinning with a net leads to a freijuent destrut tion (jf the llights, PIKE-TACKLE. 33 the fish pulling one way and the net holding the other ; and even if a separation de corps between the various hooks does not occur there and then, they are likely to be permanently weakened and their efficiency impaired. The disentangling of the hooked pike from the net is also far from a pleasant operation. The gaff for pike -fishing should not be so large as that which can be used with advantage for salmon, but the bend of hook which is best in one is best for the other. A gafif of the form shown in the engraving and measuring about two inches across the hook will be probably found on the whole the most convenient size and shape. It may not be out of place, perhaps, to repeat here a few suggestions that may help the tyro in learning how to gaff his own or his friend's fish. There is a ' high art,' of course, attainable in gaffing as in everything else, and it may even be said that special qualities, physical and mental, are required to make a really first-rate gaffer. Steady nerves and a lightning- like rapidity of decision are amongst the qualities most essential. Nor must the capacity for rapid decision be divorced from its proper complement, rapidity of action. The gaffer should be- ware of letting the ' I dare not ' wait upon ' I would.' He must be ever ready, in fact, to perceive the auspicious moment, and to give instantaneous effect to the perception. The process reminds one of the sort of sudden encounter described as a ' word and a blow,' except that a blow is about the last thing to be resorted to by a successful gaffer ; and that brings me to the threatened hints for beginners, by attending to which they will possibly save the loss of many good fish. 1. Never thrust your gaff forward until you are prepared to strike, and never make any half-attempts. These feints generally scare the fish, and not unfrequently cut the line. 2. Under ordinary circumstances do not attempt to gaff a pike that is more than a foot below the surface, or until he is pretty fairly spent. The best position in which to gaff a fish is when he is 'broadside on.' II. D 34 PII^E AND OTHER COARSE FISH. 3. The proper place to gaff is as near as possible behind the shoulder. 4. The critical moment havmg arrived, rapidly, but at the same time steadily, extend your gaff over and beyond the shoulder of the fish, bringing it gently down upon it, as it were. Then a short sharp jerk from the wrist and elbow will drive in the gaff without prematurely frightening the fish or endangering the tackle. 5. Once more, above all thmgs avoid anything like giving a blow with the gaff. This is Ukely to prove fatal to everything — except the fish. But to continue the question of the fisherman's equipment. A subject not yet treated of in this volume is that of how to carry the fish when they are caught — I mean Fishing-baskets and Bags. In the first volume (pp. 92-97) some descriptions will be found of the latest improvements in the matter of creels and fish- carriers. For purposes of pike-fishing, where the game is apt to be lengthy, either a large wicker creel, such as that some- times used for salmon, or a wide ' bag,' wnth extending sides, is necessary to carry the fish with any comfort. Where sport is really good, however, either with pike or salmon, some other means will have to be hit upon, as circumstances may indicate, in substitution for bags and baskets. In each case it is quite out of the question to attempt carrying one's own fish. I have often known even the extensive well of a Thames punt so far filled by the results of a successful foray that the occupants had to be removed and prematurely despatched to avoid suffocating the baits and each other. For the ordinary purposes of float-fishing — or even jack-fishing where, as I say, the fish are not too large or too plentiful — Farlow's or Hardy's creel, or one of the fish carriers already referred to of the largest si/e, will be found practically to answer every purpose ; all of them, in d'fferent ways, have the advantage of containing tackle or lunclieon compartments separate from the fish-carrying' portion. PIKE-TACKLE. 35 I once knew a very expensive salmon river in Ireland, where the tenant calculated on paying half his rent by the sale of the fish. In this instance the difficulty of disposing of the game was very simply overcome : the contractor who bought the salmon, went backwards and forwards between his house and the river, and as fast as a fish was caught it was carried off and put in ice ready for shipment to London or Dublin the same A few words here on gimp, and the way to select and stain it, (S:c. Gimp — that is, or should be, a strand of the purest floss silk lapped round with brass or copper wire of different thicknesses — is an almost indispensable adjunct in most kinds of pike-tackle. Its merit is, that whilst as pliant and as fine as the finest twisted gut or silk line, it is practically impervious to the teeth of the ordinary run of pike. Various sizes of gimp are manufactured, and of the thicknesses usually employed by fishermen the num- bers run from 000, 'the finest,' to 3, ' the coarsest.' No. i is dupli- cated, that is, there is, a fine No. i and a coarser No. i. This gives seven numbers in all,' and between them the pike-fisher need find no difficulty in selecting exactly what suits his pur- pose. I never use anything thicker than the fine No. i myself, and if the troUer keeps the other three smaller sizes, that is 000, 00, and o, he will have abundant selection. As there are great differences in the quality of gimp, and consequently in the cost of its production, it will be found the best plan in the long run always to purchase the most expensive, as the differences between good and bad gimp cannot readily be observed by the eye, and are often not discovered until too late. The best rough and ready method of testing its quality, and one which I recommend all purchasers of gimp to resort to, is the very simple one of trying its strength or weight-lifting power. As in the case also of dressed silk troUing-lines, the fisherman will be 1 These are the sizes and numbers of the best gimp as manufactured by Messrs. Kenning, of Little Britain. London. D 2 36 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. surprised at the great differences which he will find in this particular in gimps and lines of the same thickness and apparent value. One other hint. The best gimp is usually made on per- fectly white silk, gimp dressed on yellow-coloured silk being ordinarily of an inferior quality. Although, however, gimp forms an almost indispensable adjunct in most kinds of pike-tackle, it has, in its natural state, the great disadvantage of being exceedingly glittering and showy in the water, especially when new. Nothing can be much worse, in fact, in the interests of ' fine fishing ' than the white or yellow of gimp as it comes first from the tackle shops, whilst copper-coloured gimp is only a degree less offensive ; indeed, so great is the drawback that some authors actually recommend the troller taking the trouble of lapping all the gimp over from end to end like the shanks of hooks. To get over this incon- venience I tried, when writing the ' Book of the Pike,' various ways of staining or clouding it. Green paint and green sealing- wax varnish, I found, both answered this purpose for a short time, so also did in a less degree the common tackle varnish, but these soon wear off, as do also other less effectual dyes. The difficulty is to get a stain that will permanently cloud, without in any way impairing the present strength of the gimp, or affecting its durability. The best stain I could then hit upon, which has since been very generally used in the tackle shops, was based upon soaking the gimp in a solution of bichlorate of platinum. This process is, however, apparently only applicable to brass gimp, and I have certainly had reason to think that in several instances when the coil of stained gimp has been laid by for some time, it has become so much weakened or rotted— eitlier by the original action of the chemical, or subsequent corrosion affecting the silk — as to make it worthless. Others besides myself have had this experience, and altogether I should hesitate now to recommend it. Amongst those who tried it, Mr. Hearder, who is well PIKE-TACKLE. 37 known as an authority on sea-fishing, formed an unfavourable opinion, and in a letter to the Fields wrote : — I have more than once observed in the Field queries from your correspondents respecting the mode of staining gimp black, and I met with a recipe a short time since recommending that it should be dipped into a solution of bichlorate of platinum. There is no doubt of the efficacy of this process ; but it may chance to do more than is required, for allow me to suggest that the ope- rator may find an effect produced analogous to that observed by an amateur who, having been advised by a friend to waterproof his flax line by soaking it in 'boiled linseed oil,' forgot the instructions, and used the linseed oil boiling, which completely charred his line. The following process for blackening gimp is as efficacious and harmless as it is simple. Put your gimp into a little box of card paper, or what not ; cover it with some flowers of sulphur, put it aside, and in a day or two it will be as black as you can desire. If you cannot wait a day or two, but must have it at once, get a little sulphur in the soluble state, viz., sulphide of ammonium — formerly hydrosulphuret of ammonia. Put a few drops of this into water, and immerse your gimp. A few hours will make it black enough, without in the slightest degree injuring the silk within. You had better conduct the process out of doors, as the odour of sulphuretted hydrogen is not agreeable to everybody. To this the editor of the Field appends the following note : — Mr. Hearder is perfectly right in his condemnation of the pre- paration of platinum. We had some traces of gimp stained by it, and after a few months' keeping they snapped under very slight strain, like scorched string. Captain Robinson, late of the Bombay army, writes to me that sulphide of potassium is a good permanent stain, both for brass and silver gimp. He says : — In your ' Book of the Pike,' which I have lately read, bichlorate of platinum is recommended for staining brass gimp. This I failed to obtain in a county town, but being convinced of the importance of staining gimp, I thought of trying sulphide of potassium. As I find this gives a permanent stain to both silver and brass gimp, I take the liberty of mentioning it to you. Sulphide of potassium rf^V r" rP •','• '">' C 38 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. may be made by dissolving a little lapis infernalis in water, mixing flowers of sulphur with it, and heating in a Florence flask. I believe quicklime in boiling water will also dissolve sulphur. As I have not thoroughly tested either of these processes, and am rather disheartened by the 'modified successes' of my original experiments, I have of late years taken to the use of ' Brunswick black ' (such as is used for japanning iron, blacking fire grates, &c.), applying it with a small hard brush to the gimp just before use. It dries in a few minutes, and, I think, for all practical purposes, quite sufficiently removes the objec- tionable glitter. It can be renewed as often as needful, and instead of destroying, I am satisfied that this method of staining tends to the preserving of the strength of the gimp. The smallest of phials of the Brunswick black carried in the pocket or in the troUing-case will suffice for many days' needs. Premising that gimp is far from having the same durability as gut, and that gimp tackle which has been already often in use becomes generally more or less rotten and unsafe to fish with, it may be said that really good gimp can hardly be used too fine. It would appear, in fact, as if the best workmanship and the best silk were reserved for the finer numbers, as they are decidedly stronger in proportion than the large sizes. One word as to the dressing of gimp tackle. All tackle- makers, whether amateur or professional, find that there is a greater difficulty in whipping hooks on to gimp than on to gut — whipping them, I mean, so as to eff'ectually preclude any possibility of their coming off. This is, of course, owing primarily to the fact that the waxed silk only comes in con- tact with the exterior coils or covering of wire, and not with the strand of silk itself. The result is that occasionally the furthest end of the wire coil becomes loosened from tlie silk, the lapping being then held only by the compression of the waxed silk upon the coiled wire of the remaining one half or two thirds, and a sudden wrench is very apt to divorce them finally. To avoid this result it will be found best to [Hill off (or untwist) the wire from about one third the kn|^th of the PIKE-TACKLE. 39 gimp to be lapped over, thus bringing the lapping in direct contact with the central strand of the gimp — or rather silk. The wire detached in this way can conveniently be utilised by a sort of preliminary whipping of the gimp to the hook-shank, which materially facilitates the subsequent process of lapping with waxed thread. In all gimp tackle it is very desirable to carefully varnish the hook lappings so as effectually to exclude the water, which is apt otherwise to corrode the brass. The varnish already described at page 17 will be found an excellent varnish for the lappings of hooks and all other purposes connected with tackle-making. Red and green var- nishes, &c., can be made by dissolving sealing wax of the desired tint in spirits of wine. 40 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. BAITS AND BAIT-CATCHING. The best natural baits for spinning for pike that I am ac- quainted with are either gudgeon cr small dace. I say small dace because — leaving out of consideration some specially preserved English lakes and rivers, or the wide sweeping tracts of water which are to be found scattered over Ireland and Scotland — experience points to the advantage of a small-sized bait over a large one. It spins better, lasts longer, and is much more agreeable to fish with. With a small bait, also, the chances of hooking a fish are considerably increased, on account of the difference in the size of the flight of hooks that can be used, and the diminislied pressure required to make them penetrate. No bait actually spins so well, and— the eel-tail excepted — lasts so long on the hook as a gudgeon, and I confess that, except in cases where the water is very large or clouded, my experience leads me to give the preference to tliis bait over all others. Bigger baits with brighter scaling should, however, he used where waters are much swollen or discoloured. As a rule, it may be said that it is always safe to use a small bait when the water is low and bright, and a larger one when it is full or settling after a flood. Next in merit to gudgeon and dace comes the bleak, a favourite spinning-bait also for Thames trout-fishing, but sadly delicate, and apt to lose its glittering bathing-dress upon the slightest provocation. A small chub makes a very fairly good spinning-bait, as docs also a trout, a salmon parr, or sniolt, a ' pcnk ' grayling, and last, but not least, the tail of a small eel, BAITS AND BAIT-CATCHING. 41 which, with a head extemporised out of a flap of the skin, will be found most deadly in many waters. It possesses also the great advantage of being almost ' unwearable-out.' Amongst occasional spinning-baits I ought not to omit the stone loach, or 'beaidy,' as he is sometimes called north of the Tweed, which, if you can get him big enough, will give a really brilliant spin, and makes an excellent substitute for the gudgeon as a pike bait in very fine waters. He is, however, almost im- possible to keep alive, and, especially of the size I refer to, net indeed easy to get hold of at all. It is a case of ' first catch your loach.' ' The mode of doing so is simply to walk into a stream with a small pronged dinner-fork in your hand and turn up the likely-looking stones. You will soon see when you have disturbed a loach, and, as he never swims beyond a few feet at a time, if, indeed, he does not remain in statu quo, as very often happens, you can easily track him, and then by a sort of eel- spearing operation, transfer him to your bait-box. For trout-spinning on a Scotch or Irish loch there is no better bait. Any sea-fish that approximates to the ' dace shape,' such as bass or grey-mullet — which is not, that is to say, too broad in proportion to its length, and is sufficiently glittering — may be used as a spinning-bait. I have tried sprats and one or two others, but they did not succeed very well, as they seemed to have, one and all, a rooted aversion to remaining on the hooks for above a few casts. Of the other freshwater fish that might possibly be pressed into the spinner's service when nothing else can be got, and which, par pare?ithese, nothing can ever make spin decently, are roach, rudd, carp, and goldfish. I should think a small barbel would make a very good bait, but I have never tried it. Another bait also that I have never used myself for pike-spinning, but which I have been told is deadly under certain conditions of extreme fineness of water, 1 The author of ' Lorna Doone ' says that in the stream of LjTin, ' where, however, they were not quite so large as in the Loinan,' he has taken '1 caches to the weight of half a pound.' From an eighth to a quarter of an ounce would be much more like the ordinary run. 42 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. is a minnow. Indeed, it was mentioned to me by Lord Har- rington that he has a sheet of water in Cheshire containing some exceedingly fine pike which are not to be tempted with any other spinning-bait. It has been recommended by some authors that spin- ning-baits should be allowed to stiffen before being used, and others have stated that the keeping them in salt, or ' pickle,' for a day or two improves their flavour. Certainly it has been well said, ' there is no accounting for taste ! ' Not only does a fresh bait spin better than a stale one, but the lack of elasticity and general ' flabbiness ' of the stale bait to a great extent destroy its life-likeness, whilst its scales lose their metallic brilliance, and the eye — the most prominent feature in all spinning-baits — becomes shrunken and lustreless. Fish, as it has been truly remarked, are not aldermen, and, unless it be the eel, none that I know of prefer their food high. If possible, therefore, spinning-baits, and, it is needless to add, live- baits also, should be kept alive, and carried with him by the troUer. The bait-can, or other receptacle, can then, be placed in the water from time to time, which reduces the chance of the theory of the survival of the fittest being worked out in a manner only too complete and unanswerable. When, however, it is desired to preserve baits alive for any considerable length of time, they ought to be placed in a running stream, if practicable in a box not less than two or three feet square with free gratings in several places, and specially at both ends, the grated ends being anchored up and down stream. The upper portions of the box, also perforated, ought by rights to be partly out of the water, and the whole should be kept clean and well scoured from time to time. Dead baits should be removed from the box periodically, or as soon as discovered, and food in the form of worms, gentles, or chopped liver, scattered in every day or two. This latter is an important part of the business, as baits cannot live and thrive for any considerable length of time without food, although by their practice many fishermen appear to believe that they can. BAITS AND BAIT-CATCHING. 43 To pass from spinning to live-baiting. Of the baits already recommended for the former, the dace will be found, on the whole, the best for live-baiting, except when the paternoster is used, in which case a gudgeon or large minnow is generally preferred. A roach or rudd also forms an excellent live-bait for large pike, and my experiences with goldfish and carp have been sufficiently encouraging to lead me to think that there are probably many waters where the goldfish especially might be found an attractive bait, and a few where none other would be looked at. Both goldfish and carp are very tenacious of life, and consequently fulfil satisfactorily the primary condition of a good live-bait. The tench is also a very ' hard dier,' but there is a popular superstition that being a sort of water Esculapius, he is omitted from the menu by the pike and other predaceous fish. To this superstition I purpose to refer at greater length when treating of the tench himself as a sporting fish, and I would only observe here that although I have tried a good many ex- periments with tench as pike-bait, I have never succeeded in actually catching any pike with them. A novel way of keeping baits lively when on the hooks, has lately been broached in some of the papers, and Mr. W. Old- ham Chambers, Secretary to the National Fish Culture Asso- ciation, whose labours in the field of fish culture and acclima- tisation are so well known and highly appreciated, writes thus on the subject in the Fishing Gazette of October 25, 18S4 :- BRANDY AS A FISH REVIVER. I have continued my experhnents in relation to brandy as a means of restoring suspended animation with quick-dying fish, the results being equally as satisfactory as with carp. It was highly interesting to see the plucky manner a trout {S.ferox) battled with his fainting condition and came out the con- queror. Strange to say, the salmon {S. salar) did not once attempt to rouse himself after being dosed, the consequences being fatal to him ; this was the only fish that succumbed under the treatment. As regards the dace {Leiiciscus vulgaris), I had him ou: of 44 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. water three times of five minutes each. He was exceedingly faint and almost dead ; but immediately the brandy was given, he pulled himself together, and in the course of a few minutes not only recovered, but darted round the can with a rapidity positively amazing. The result of the latter experiment tends in the most conclu- sive manner to show to anglers the great value of a judicious administration of brandy to a dace prior to being used for bait. How often have we felt the want of a nice lively dace when on the warpath for pike ? To have the means at command of not only restoring an inanimate bait, but also increasing its strength and vigour, will be of much service to the angling fraternity. Since the above, letters have appeared from trollers stating that excellent results have been obtained in practice by ' Dutch- couraging ' their live-baits. In order to give baits their best chance of surviving without the artificial aid of brandy and water, it is well that the hands of the troller should not be frequently inserted in the bait-can, as this has the effect both of raising the temperature of the water, and frightening, if not also bruising, the live-bait. The latter should be taken out with the miniature hand-net sold for the purpose, and killed as required. The most instantaneous and effectual way of doing this is to give them two or three sharp ' flips ' with the finger, or, in the case of large bails, taps with a small stick, or else the handle of a fishing-knife, on the back of the head until all sign of motion ceases. The first tap or two, however, when scientifically delivered, generally stuns them completely, and the death thus indicted is probably absolutely painless. To keep the baits lively and well, however, until the fated moment, is not only humane, but eminently judicious from a I)ractical point of view. Failing a punt with a ' well ' in it, which is in every way the most luxurious arrangement, there remains, of course, nothing but the bait-can. As in many other branches of fishing-tackle — using the word in its l)roader sense— there have recently been made great strides towards the perfecting of this very important desideratum. BAITS AND BAIT-CATCHING. 45 The first improvement was the addition of a second, or internal, can, consisting of a movable zinc grating with a sei)a- rate handle, by which the extraction and selection of the baits were vastly simplified. This appliance effects a great saving of time, besides avoiding the probability, as someone observes, of poking out the bait's eyes with the operator's thumb-nail. Another step in advance — for which I rather think I may be myself possibly entitled to the credit — was the addition of a double lid, and the construction of the hdXt-C3iX\ panniej'-shape^ so that it could be carried by a strap, like an ordinary creel, over the troller's shoulder when fishing alone. The most important point in a live-bait can being, of course, that it should be so constructed as to keep the bait alive, the double lid was a move in the right direction. It had the effect, at any rate, of keeping out the sun and keeping in the water. The absence of a second lid often causes or accelerates the death of the baits in hot weather. When the weather is cold its presence will preserve the legs of the carrier from a perpetual sprinkhng of half-frozen water. The convenience of being able to carry the bait-can in the manner described should, I think, be appreciated by those who do much pike-fishing without an attendant. It makes, in fact, in many cases the entire difference between comfort and discomfort. Carried in the troller's hand, the choice lies between, on the one side, stopping fishing and carrying the can along with him, or, on the other, of leaving the can behind and continuing fishing. In the latter case the whole of the river bank has to be traversed three times, once backwards and twice forwards. My can, which is figured in several previous essays, can be comfortably carried without much inconvenience, and relieves the angler from the choice between Scylla and Charybdis. Its effect, too, as an auxiliary to aeration, in other words as a bubble-distributor, is also not to be overlooked. As regards the double or interior bait-can, I am sorry I am unable to give ' honour where honour is due ' for this very excellent invention, but I do not know who it was that first 46 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. conceived the Idea. Mr. Basil Field, whose admirable bait-can I shall presently have to refer to, has frankly disclaimed the authorship. He says he first saw the principle applied to the minnow compartment of a punt-well some forty years ago, and shortly afterwards to an ordinary bait- can — a lady's basket doing duty in this instance for the perforated chamber. In another instance an inner lining was made of net extended on a wire frame — a cheap and useful makeshift which may be recom- mended to those who do not wish to go to the expense of a new can. Mr. Field adds that he himself constructed an in- ternal can out of a biscuit-tin at least twenty-eight years ago, and remembers the fact by having cut his hand badly with the edge of the tin whilst punching the holes. The drawback to both my double-lidded can and the other improved can described is that they have no apparatus for aerating the water, by which means alone the baits can be kept alive during a whole day. The only attempt I ever saw made to meet the difficulty was an indiarubber ' squash-ball,' fitted with a valve and a piece of tubing that could be carried in the pocket and introduced into the bait-can from time to time. At best, however, this was a very imperfect and inconvenient appliance, and in practice seldom resorted to. We are indebted to Mr. Basil Field for a bait-can in which the aerating apparatus — being contained in the handle of the bait-can itself — can be used with the utmost facility and effectiveness while the can is being carried. The keeping of the baits alive all day is of even greater importance to the troller than the inconvenience of having to carry them backwards and forwards ; and taking it altogether Mr. Field's invention is indisputably at present the best description of can obtainable. Whether or not it might be improved by, in some way or another, adding a double lid and a shoulder strap, is a question ; but, on the whole, I should be prepared to face the chance both of dripping and delay in exchange for the pre-eminent advantage of being able to keep my baits alive from morning till night. The engravings represent the two parts of the can BAITS AND BAIT-CATCHING. 47 separated, and the position of the bellows and air-conducting tube. When grasping the handle of the can in the act of carrying, the handle, so to speak, of the bellows (a) can be easily and naturally worked by the thumb. The air pumped from the handle is conveyed down a small tube (b) into the bottom of the can, so that the aeration of the whole of the water must be thoroughly effected. field's aerating bait-can. It is satisfactory to learn that a Diploma was awarded by the late Fisheries Exhibition to Mr. Basil Field for his admirable invention, for which the thanks of all pike-fishers are due. The cans are made at present in two sizes, — i gallon and li gallon — and may be obtained from Mr. Henry Bawcombe, 2 Victoria Road, Holloway, N. For the catching of most of the so-called coarse freshwater fish used as pike-bait already described, the ordinary circular casting-net, familiar to haunters of the Thames, will be found the most convenient implement. Some considerable aptitude and not a little practice are, however, required in the use of this net, and if the caster does not wish to be soaked through to the skin in a few minutes he is recommended to take the precaution of putting on an old waterproof to receive the net- drippings instead of his own garments. 48 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. It will often be found of assistance to expend a few handsful of ground-bait in attracting fish to the spot which the caster can most conveniently cover with the sweep of his net. I have also heard of glass bottles filled with fresh roses being used for the same purpose, though I do not vouch for the success of this novel sort of horticultural show. In the casting for Gudgeon ' raking ' the bottom is often a good expedient. The modern casting-net was, there is good reason to believe, similar to or identical with the amphiblestron, or casting-net of the ancients. A fisherman with net in hand and just about to make his cast was one of the figures on the shield of Hercules, whose attitude was thus described : — 'And on the land there stood a fisherman on the look out, and he held in his hands a casting-net for fish, being like to a man about to hurl it from him.' Or as it has been versified — On the crag a fisher sat Observant ; in his grasp he held a net, Like one that poising rises to the throw. The Latin names for the casting-net were jaculum and fiinda, each of which terms etymologically explains its use ; thus Ovid writes, — • Hi jaculo pisces, illi capiuntur ab hamis, and Virgil uses the latter name — ■ Atque alius latum fundd jam verberat amneni. The Greek term to denote the cast was fi6X.o'rations of a ' mad bleak,' as it is sometimes called, jumping and twisting about on the surface of a stream, could have failed to notice the resemblance between the two. The propensity of all animals, and of fish in particular, for destroying the sick and wounded members of their own species is less amiable than it is indisputable. As an illustration of this I may mention that when I was spinning with a gudgeon over a deepish part of the Thames below Hurley Weir, a second gudgeon hooked himself fast through the lip whilst, it can only be supposed, intent on attacking the first. The origin of spinning, as we understand the word, has often been discussed and disputed. The first distinct mention of it that I remember to have met with occurs in Robert Salter's ' Modern Angler,' the second edition, which was pub- lished in 181 1. Even as late as Bagster's second edition of 'Walton's Angler,' in 1815, the existence of the art is rather hinted at than described. I quote the following from the ' Book of the Pike ' :— ' On the Continent some sort of spinning seems to have been known even earlier than the times of Walton himself, for his contemporary, Giannetazzio, writing in 1648, thus alludes to the art as practised by the Neapolitan fishermen for the benefit of the belone, or sea-pike, a fish of the same family as our fresh- water pike, and formerly included in the same genus : Burnished with blue and bright as damask steel Behold the belone of pointed bill ; AH fringed with teeth, no greedier fish than they E'er broke in serried lines our foaming bay. Soon as the practised crew this frolic throng Behold advancing rapidly along, Adjusting swift a tendon to the line, They throw, they drag it glistening through the brine.' II. F 66 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. But no definite account of the process, as we practise it, appears to have been given by any of our countrymen before the time of Robert Salter, and to him, therefore, must be awarded the credit for the first substantial improvement in dead snap fishing, so far as pike are concerned. Since Robert Salter's time a great deal of ingenuity has been expended on improving Hawker's, formerly Salter's, spinning- tackle — in which it may at least be granted that there was room for ample improvement — with the result that the difficulties in baiting the old flight were to some extent at least overcome by an improved style of ' lip hook,' and by transferring the position of the lead from the bait's head or belly to the trace itself. These improvements proceeded, however, in almost every case upon a principle which involved the crowding of a great number of hooks on to the inside curve of the bait — a principle not only destructive to its spin and durability, but also entailing the loss of a large percentage of the fish run. A modified example of one of these revolving chevaux de frise may be seen in the flight recommended by ' Ephemera ' in his ' Handbook of Angling, &c.,' and which he proposes to substitute for the ordinary flights as being 'too intricate and composed of too many hooks.' His own flight consists of eleven, including three triangles ! This is also the flight recommended by Hofland, 'Otter,' and many others. Another drawback to spinning was the 'kinking' or, un- technically, crinkling up, of the line owing to want of thought and a little application of mechanical principles to the sub- ject of the swivels and leads, and especially to the position of the latter on the trace. This 'kinking' used to be the veritable curse of spinners. I have often been reduced by it myself to the verge of desperation, and, indeed, I have known cases where, rather than submit to it, spinners have been willing to sacrifice altogether the convenience of a reel, and to trail their running line behind them in the grass, which had the effect of taking out the ' kink ' at one end as fast as it was imported at the other. PIKE FIS RING— SPINNING. 67 And I would remark here, in passing, that if, in spite of the new lights, or, more accurately, leads, which have been thrown on the subject, the troller should from any cause find his line beginning to ' kink,' the best and, indeed, only practical remedy that I know of is either (i) to adopt the plan above suggested, affixing to the lower end of the running line a small cork ball to prevent its passing through the rod-rings, but not sufficient to prevent its twisting in the grass upon the slightest provocation ; or (2) where it is probable that the ' kinking ' may be only accidental, to draw out twenty or thirty yards of line from the top of the rod and trail it once or twice back- wards and forwards over a grass-field. To return. The faulty construction, then, of the spinning-flight and the inconveniences of ' kinking ' were, no doubt, the principal obstacles in the way of spinning becoming the prevalent and popular method of jack fishing. Such being the state of the art as regards the spinning- flights, there was plenty of scope for the new tackle (to be de- scribed presently) which I first brought to the notice of pike- fishers through the columns of the Field (1861-2), and after- wards in the form of a pamphlet.' As regards spinning-flights, the great object to be attained was clearly the getting rid, once for all, of the large number of superfluous hooks and triangles — the latter ranging from three to five — commonly employed on a good sized flight. In discussing the old objections and the remedies which I proposed for their removal, I cannot, perhaps, put the argu- ments better than I stated them in the little brochure above referred to. ' The great number of fish that escape with the ordinary tackle after being once struck is undoubtedly one of the most forcible objections which has been hitherto urged against spinning. The average of such losses has been computed at from fifty to sixty per cent., and that estimate is under rather 1 H Fiihing Gazette, April 12, 1S84. PIKE FISHING— SPINNING. ^l catches less — less fish I mean, for in weed-catching its suc- cess is remarkable. In addition, however, to getting rid of this unsightly appendage the new method secures the further ad- vantage of adding very con- siderably to the durability of the bait, in fact, I don't think I should be exaggerating if I said that a bait attached in the manner above described would last half as long again as a bait attached with the ordinary lip- hook. On the score of simplicity, provided the trace be made in the manner described, with a hook-swivel of my pattern below the lead, no objection can pos- sibly be urged. The loop of the trace, whether gut or gimp, being lapped dose up to the end {vide cut), will be found stiff enough to pass through the nose and under-lip of the bait, if a puncture be previously made above and below with the point of the tail-hook. This obviates entirely the necessity of a bait- ing-needle. The loop should in every case be passed through the upper lip— or rather nose— of the bait first, and the under lip second ; as a neater knot is thus formed and the bait appears both to last longer and spm better. The ' straight- 2 FEET OF TRACE FLIGHT NO. 4, DISPENSING WITH LIP HOOK. G 2 84 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. reverse' hook is recommended; and — at any rate for the smaller-sized flights — the extra * body-hook ' can then be dis- pensed with. A gudgeon baited in this way with one of my flights, the lip-hook being removed, is shown in the engraving. The loop of the trace lapped up close to the end is here indicated, as well as a portion of the trace, with the lead and hook-swivel. MATERIAL FOR DRESSING FLIGHTS. There would be nothing, of course, so ' fine,' nor, it may be added, so excellent as a medium for tying spinning-flights and traces as single salmon-gut, if only it were not liable to be cut by the pike's teeth, — the probability of such an accident being increased in proportion to the size of the pike. I have often, however, used single gut in very bright water and where extreme fineness of fishing was essential to sport, taking my chance of being cut. I have also used the twisted gut, and this malces a very enduring and serviceable flight though, of course, far from being as fine as single gut. On the wliole, ordinary gimp, fine rather than stout, and stained as directed, or varnished with Brunswick black, will probably be found by the majority of spinners the most satisfactory medium, at any rate for the flight itself. When I dress my own flights on gimp I very commonly make an exception of the flying triangle, which it is desir- able should stand out with a certain amount of crispness or ela^ucity (N.B. not rigidity) hardly to be obtained by silk ginip. I dress this triangle on twisted (sometimes single) gut, knotting it as well as lapi)ing it round the central strand in the manner shown in the flights already figured. The idea struck me a few months ago, wlicn in a co1)l)ler's shC'!), that the hog's bristles which are used in shocmaking would fori \ an admirable material on which to dress the Hying triangles, as t: ey are so much thicker and apparently tougher than salmon- gut. Having procured a good su[)ply of the bristles, which I was PIKE FISHING-SPINNING. 85 allowed to pick out myself at a trifling extra cost, I dressed a flight of hooks in this manner, and I cannot but think that the picked hog's bristle makes a very perfect flying-triangle so far as elasticity is concerned, whilst I should doubt its being ' cutable ' by the teeth of a pike unless of very exceptional dijnensions. THE TRACE, Travelling upwards from the hooks the next point we come to is the trace. Upon this, the intermediate link between the bait and the reel-line, depends only in a secondary degree the neatness and efficiency of spinning-tackle, and the first point to decide is of what material the trace should be. Any sort of wire, gut, or gimp, which is not too clumsy, will answer the purpose to a certain extent, but the point to be aimed at is to secure the utmost possible amount of fineness combined with the requisite strength, and here I may be, perhaps, allowed to quote a few remarks from my pamphlet, ' How to Spin for Pike.' ' It has become a habit with many fishermen to consider the pike as a species of fresh-water shark, for whose voracious appetite the coarsest bill of fare and the most primitive cookery only are required. To a certain extent this view is founded on fact. There are few morsels so indigestible that, if they come in his way, a really hungry pike will not make an effort, at least, to bolt. I have known one to be taken with a moorhen stuck in his throat, the feet protruding from his moutli, and bidding fair to have choked him in a few minutes, had not destiny, in the shape of a landing-net, reserved him for a more aristocratic fate. In the Avon three pike were not long ago found on a trimmer, one inside the other ; whilst it is well known that watches, spoons, rings, and even, it is stated, the hand and fingers of a man have been taken out of this fish's maw. ' But the fallacy of the opinion, or rather of the theory based upon it, lies in the assumption that because a hungry pike will take this or that, a pike that is not hungry will do the 86 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. same. Nothing can be a greater absurdity. A pike is regularly on the feed at certain hours only during the twenty-four ; and when partially gorged, or not very hungry, his appetite is dainty and requires to be tickled. At these times a man who "fishes fine " will take plenty of fish, whilst one who uses coarse tackle will as certainly take few or none at all ; and this observation is equally applicable to every description of tackle.' Now, as I have before said, the finest material that can be used is the best picked salmon-gut, which, when knotted in the way I shall presently describe, is strong enough to hold anything. There should be at least three feet of gut between the bait and the lead, and as much between the lead and the running-line. Or the trace may be made with single gut below the lead and twisted or double gut above it. The way to twist gut for this purpose is to take an ordi- nary gut casting-line of, say, three yards long, knotted with a single fisherman's knot. Soak the line in tepid water ; when it is soaked double it in the middle, but so that the knots shall not exactly coincide. Attach the line, at the point where it is bent in the middle, to a hook or anything that will hold it firmly. Then with the finger and thumb of the right hand twist the two lines together slowly and evenly, separating the two sides of gut somewhat in the form of a V. They are rolled, as it were, between the finger and thumb both at the same time, always keeping the V separation mentioned. It will then be found that the two separate strands will twist together of their own accord, and will always afterwards retain the twist. The left hand, and sometimes the right for a change, will be required during the operation [a rather fatiguing one for the finger and thumb] to keep separating the two loose ends of gut, which have an instinct to come together and crinkle up on their own account. If it is desired to make the twisted line tapered, two separate tapered pieces of gut must be used and twisted together, begin- ning at the two thick ends and ending at the two finer ones. Tliis process is equally ajiplicahle to sahuon-lines, and is much neater than the separate strands of twisted gut knotted clumsily PIKE FISHING— SPINNING. 87 together as generally supplied by the tackle shops. The gut used should always be carefully stained in the first instance of the shade desired. NEW KNOT FOR SALMON-GUT. The way to tie the knot before referred to is as follows : — Having thoroughly soaked the gut in tepid water, begin by tying the two strands in what is known as the ordinary fisherman's knot, — that is two half-hitches, a, a, each separate half-hitch being completed. The difference between my knot and the ordinary fisherman's knot is that having drawn each separate half of the knot thoroughly tight I do not draw the two together, but only draw them to within the space of about one eighth of an inch, marked b in the diagram, of each other. I then lap between these two knots either with white waxed silk or very fine soaked gut, and cut off the ends tolerably close. (See vol. i.) The between-lapping relieves the knot itself of half its duty, and on any sudden jerk acts as a sort of buffer to receive and a Ti THE 'BUFFER KNOT FOR SALMON-GUT. distribute the strain. This knot, moreover, is one of the sim- plest possible forms that can be tied, and from its being much neater and nearly twice as strong, may be substituted with advantage for the ordinary fastening in all salmon casting- lines. As commonly tied, I find that stout salmon- line will break— at the knot — on a steady strain of twelve or fifteen pounds ; tied as suggested it will break at any other place in preference, no matter how great the strain may be. The Fishing Gazette., in an editorial notice of the Buffer knot says, 'The Buffer knot, invented by Mr. Cholmondeley- Pennell, js double the strength of the ordinary knot, as we have frequently proved by experiment. . . . We would suggest that spinning-traces for pike and trout made on the same plan would be appreciated.' 88 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. I tried formerly a long series of experiments with wire, both single and twisted, of different sorts. Although very strong and fine, however, none of my experiments were sufficiently encouraging to lead me to adopt wire as a permanent substitute for gut or gimp. The difficulty was always that with certain particular sharp turns or hitches, the wire, whether single or twisted, was apt to break, and generally was much less easy to manipulate. Mr. Charles Farlow has lately, however, brought out some twisted copper-wire specially intended for extra strong traces for pike, or mahseer fishing. This wire is annealed by some special process which makes it as tough and impossible to break under any complication of twisting as gimp itself. Indeed, its strength is enormously in excess of that of gimp, and it is admirably stained of a dark neutral tint. Al- though I have not had the opportunity of putting this invention to the only real test — practice, I can feel no doubt whatever that it would certainly form an admirable substitute for gut or gimp in the portion of the trace above the lead, and very likely for that below the lead also, though on this point I express no decided opinion. The twisted wire is so exceedingly strong and tough that there can be no advantage in using any but the finest sizes, which would probably be at least equal in strength to the running line itself The next point is THE SWIVELS, which should be double, and having for convenience of shifting baits, &c., one of the hook-swivels figured at page 28. These two swivels will be found all that are ever re(iuircd upon the spinning-trace. Immediately above the swivels comes THE LEAD, and this brings us to the question of tlie second great drawback of spinning, namely, 'kinking,' and its cure. Vexatious as must, doubtless, be the loss of a fish owing to the faulty construction of the flight, for sheer downright aggra- vation and * cussedness ' there is nothing equal to the ' kinking' FIKE FISHING— SPINNING. 89 or crinkling up of the line, which no care in the selection of the swivels or the preparation of the tackle can always avert. ' In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred " kinking " is the result of insufficient vis inerfice in the leads to make the swivels act. The lead was always attached to the trace by the trace passing throtigh a hole in the centre of the lead, and, in consequence, it was impossible it could offer any resistance worth mentioning to the rotatory motion of the bait, the effects of which — that is the twisting — instead of being confined to the yard or so of gut or gimp below the lead, naturally extended to the upper pait of the trace and running-line, and produced " kmking." ' " Kinking" is only another word for twisting ; get rid of twisting and "kinking" at once becomes impossible. The nature of the disease being thus diagnosed, the cure became easy : — The lead, instead of being evenly balanced on the line, should be attached with its principal bulk or weight hanging horizontally beneath it. By changing the position of the centre of gravity the resisting power or vis inerticz of the lead is, for the purpose in question, more than quadrupled without any increase in the actual weight, and the proper action of the swivels is ensured.' Since I first brought this plan to the notice of the public in the columns of the Field some twenty years ago, dozens of spinning-leads have been invented — all imitations or modifica- tions of this system. I have myself made many experimental varieties, some of which have appeared from time to time as new editions of my books on fishing have been called for ; the object being to arrive at perfection in the form of the lead. The first point to be overcome in the original lead was its tendency to hang or catch in the weeds, which gave some irreverent critics an opportunity for aspersing it as ' Mr. Pennell's weed-catcher.' This criticism, however, even if not kindly meant, had a salutary effect in stimulating the inventive powers of myself and others. We soon had the ' Field lead,' followed by half a score of others, the names of which I forget. But I remember that none of them hit upon, what I will apo- 90 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. logise for calling, the complete idea,— a 'solid half-sugar-loaf shaped lead,' threaded iiiJon the trace horizontally, and having the apex upwards. This idea, apparently by a sort of law of natural justice, was reserved for the original inventor, and, I believe, the latest outcome {vide diagram) will be found ' not easy to beat.' The rounded end, it should be well understood, hangs lowest down or _^ nearest the bait. This lead will not ^ v^iEW '^"^y ^^ found an absolute cure for kinking, but also gives the necessary ' ballast ' for the trace in the most con- densed form — weight for bulk — and, 2 therefore, in the form least conspicuous. The lead should be attached to the trace in the form shown in the en- graving, page 83, of this volume, in which the position of the swivels below 3 the lead will also be seen. The trace should, of course, fit closely into the lead hole, in order to prevent the line twisting through it ; but the natural thickening produced by 4 doubling the trace at the point of junc- Fro. I.— LEADS roR tion with the swivel will, with the lap- si'iNNiNG-TKACKs. ping, afford the necessary thickening of the plug. The four sizes of leads shown in the diagram will be found, as a rule, all that are recjuired ; from the lightest (No. i), suited for very fine or 'shallow' fishing, to the heaviest (No. 4), which is a (-onvcnient size for very large baits or spinning in dec}) water. The weights of tliese leads are as follows : No. I . . ] oz. No. Z • ' ^' ^'''^- '^'*^''y f^"''- No. 2 . . -.', oz. bare. No. 4 . . ;; oz. full. If it is desired temporarily to increase the weight of the PIKE FISHING— SPINNING. 91 trace, this can be done with perfect ease, and without anj^ interference with the action of the legitimate lead and swivels, by twisting some ' lead-wire' round the trace a foot or so above the lead, or, if no lead-wire is at hand, by adding a second lead above the junction between the running line and the trace. FIG. 2. — LEAD-WIRE ADDED TO INCREASE WEIGHT. It is now some years since I have had the pleasure of seeing my principle of spinning lead adopted by the large majority of trollers, and its efficacy as a cure for 'kinking' generally admitted. I guarantee that with the lead and trace of the form shown at p. 83, and the flight of the proper size for the bait ^the latter may be trailed (the severest test) from Teddington to Oxford, without a single ' kink ' taking place above the leads. After this ' tall ' blast upon my own trumpet, I may, perhaps, be pardoned for quoting a few extracts from letters by well- known sportsmen, and a few ' opinions ' of the sporting press in substantiation of what has been said. MR. pennell's spinning-tackle. Sir, — As I observe that a discussion has lately appeared in your columns between Mr. Cholmondeley-Pennell, the apostle of fine fishing, and the advocates of the status quo., I beg to bear my testimony to the success of the former gentleman's theories, so far as I have had an opportunity of testing them. During the last fortnight I have been using a set of the spinning-tackle recom- mended by Mr. Pennell, and nothing could be more admirable than its working ; ' kinking,' an old enemy of mine, did not once make its appearance, and of the six fish run on the last day, not one failed to find its way safely to the bag. — One who is not too OLD TO LEARN. Ficld^ Nov. 30, 1 86 1. Sir, — Allow me to add my testimony to that of your corre- spondent, ' One who is Not Too Old to Learn,' as to the merits of the spinning-tackle explained in your columns by Mr. Pennell, the 'apostle of fine fishing.' I dressed a trace, flight, &c., according to his plan, and I must say that I never had better sport (for the Q2 ■ PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. water) than since I have used it. I lost comparatively few fish, and besides basketed several perch, which I had not previously done over the same ground, probably owing to the coarser tackle then employed. The greatest boon, however, for which spinners are indebted to Mr. Pennell, is the complete cure of ' kinking,' accomplished by his mode of fastening the lead. — Jack Ketch. Field, Dec. 7, 1861. A friend of mine. Colonel Villiers, is in raptures with the killing tendencies of your pike tackle, and tells me he has discarded all others. From my limited experience, I fully endorse his opinion ; it is deadly indeed, proving fatal in about five times out of six, or perhaps rather more. — From W. Peard, Author of 'A Year of Liberty,' ' Fish-farming,' &c. The remedy proposed to obviate kinking, pleases me very much, the said kinking having been invariably my bugbear. I have discarded line after line all to no purpose, but I feel satisfied that you have found a remedy for this hitherto bete noire of anglers. The perusal of the ' Book of the Pike,' has completely revolutionised my faith in my own tackle. — Richard B. Austin. I gave this tackle a severe trial a short time since ; I tried it with a bleak. Now a bleak is always a difficult bait to make spin well, it is very apt indeed to get out of spinning, and is so soft, that the slightest touch dislodges the hooks and throws it out, so that it often will not spin properly ; and this reluctance with the aggravation natural in spinning-baits, somehow always occurs just at the very moment when you want your bait to spin its best. The bleak I had, too, came from a spot where some hot water is discharged, and this always makes them much softer than their fellows. Added to this they were in spawning condition, and in even a worse state still than ordinary. Nevertheless in spite of all these adverse circumstances, I spun a bleak with Mr. PoinelPs tackle for more than two hours. I was fishing long cast and two or three times it fouled the bottom and took hold of twigs and rubbish, yet it never once got out of spinning for an instant, but spun on to the last as well as it did when I put it on. With the ordinary thrcc-triangle tackle, the bait would have been out of spinning and the centre triangle loose, in ten minutes, and in ten minutes more the bait would have been useless. — ANGLING Editor. Field, May 17, 1S62. Mr. Pennell's plan of hanging the lead is glorious for pike fishing.— H. B. Field, May 24, 1862. PIKE FISHING— SPINNING. 93 Trent. — INIr. Pennell's new and improved style of fixing the lead on a spinning-trace to prevent the line from twisting, will prove the best thing that ever happened to pike fishers who fish from a reel. He is quite right, it is a perfect cure for all kinking. The gentlemen whom I have supplied with the tackle are much pleased with it, and tell their friends it is the best idea ever invented — and I think so too. I have frequently been perfectly stuck fast from the line twisting, and have been obliged to take it all ofif the reel and draw it behind me through a field before I could start again ; but, thanks to Mr. Pennell, that sort of work is now all over. — Wm. Baily, Nottingham. Field, Nov. 6, 1862. From the Field. Spinning for pike is an accomplishment so very widely practised by modern anglers, and the means hitherto adopted are, from a variety of circumstances, so unsatisfactory, that we are glad to welcome any attempt to improve the apparatus in general use, or to render those sudden partings between individuals connected by the fine line or strong gimp sympathy, which are so distressing to one of the parties concerned, less common than they unfortunately are. It is notorious among spinners for pike that no tackle has ever yet been invented from which a very large proportion offish hooked do not manage by some inscrutable means to eftect their escape. We have ourselves noticed this fact, and many of Mr. PennelFs views upon this head, as well as others connected with the art, certainly meet our warm approbation. His remarks regarding kinking, for example, are excellent, and the means he takes to avoid it are ap- parently all that is needed. His plan of employing flying triangles is, to us, original. • . . For the purpose of avoiding conspicuousness, I recommend that all pike leads should be bronzed with a coating of Bruns- wick black. If this cannot be obtained, common tackle varnish will be better than nothing. This can be altered to a dark green tint if desired, by the addition of a little powdered green sealing-wax. 94 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. A league of grass washed by a slow broad stream That, stirr'd with languid pulses of the oar, Waves all its lazy lilies and creeps on. . . . Tennyson. I HAVE now dealt with the subject of pike- tackle,— and espe- cially of spinning-tackle — in detail ; the point that remains to be considered is, how and where to use it. If in this branch of the art the skill of our troUers has not left very much to be said that is Jie^n', I can at least undertake to advance nothing that I do not know to be t?-ue. The great object I have set before myself is to combine theory with practice ; in every case carefully employing the latter to verify the deductions of the former. To begin then at the beginning. The spinner being pro- vided with the rod and tackle indicated, and baited with say a small dace or gudgeon, according to the instructions given at page So, unwinds from the reel as much line as is necessary to reach the spot desired, and allows it to fall in loose coils at his feet. He places himself ' half-facing ' the spot to which he wishes to cast — that is, with the left leg and left shoulder further back than the right. The right hand grasps the rod some distance \ip the butt, and the left hand is employed in restraining the line, which should be so drawn in that the bait hangs from two to three yards from the top of the rod. First setting the bait in motion with one or two ])cndulum-like movements, to give it momentum, the spinner swings it vigorously out over the water, at the same time letting go the line altogether, and permitting the bait to run out to its full extent. HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. 95 After allowing a few moments (according to the depth of the water) for the bait to sink, he lowers the point of the rod to within a foot or so of the surface, and holding it al sometliing approaching a right angle to the bait, immediately begins draw- ing in the line w-ith his left hand, making with his right a corre- sponding backward movement of the rod between each ' draw.' The effect of this backward movement (which to the spinner soon becomes a sort of mechanical see-saw), is practically to recover the position of the rod, which is deranged by each drawing in of the line — being, in fact, partly bent, and partly pulled forward by the ' draw,' — and the object is, to prevent the bait being stationary whilst the left hand is preparing for a fresh movement. In order to accomplish this compound operation satisfactorily, the most convenient plan is, to hold the rod firmly with the right hand, just below the lowest ring, letting the line pass between the upper joints of the middle and fore- finger, and resting the butt of the rod firmly against the hip. In spinning from a punt, an agreeable change of posture is obtained by standing with the right foot on the side or well of the boat, and partially supporting the elbow and rod on the knee. The 'draws' or pulls, and the corresponding movements of the rod must, of course, be varied-in length and rapidity accord- ing to the depth of water, size of boat, and other circumstances; but a good medium speed, when the left hand, or rather the line, is carried well back, is about forty ' draws ' per minute ; and a cast for every two yards of stream fished, is the allowance which, on the whole, will generally be found the most advan- tageous. The bait should not be taken out of the water until brought close up to the bank, or side of the boat, as it is not at all an uncommon circumstance for a fish, who has perhaps been following it all the way across, to make a dash at it at the last moment when he appears to be about to lose it. When there is danger of throwing the bait into opposing trees or weed beds, it is well to let the line run lightly through 96 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. the left hand, the spinner by this means keeping, as it were, * touch ' of it, and being able to check it if he sees it is getting into danger. The sort of thing that occurs when this precaution is not taken, is graphically described by Mr. H. B. Bromhead in a recent number of a sporting periodical. There is something very artistic in being able to throw the spinning-flight properly. If the river is unnavigable, and old tree- trunks and reed-beds jut out from either bank every few yards, then the tyro or novice will come to grief before he has made many casts. He will speedily become 'hung up;' and if the flight is wound firmly round a willow branch, or deeply embedded in a patch of half-rotlen reeds, then 'something must go.' Possibly he will put the strain on ; but his hooks are highly tempered, and his gimp trace strong enough to tow a barge. At last a break occurs. The released line flies back into his face, and he hopes everything has come away clear. He is disappointed ; for on that stout branch on the opposite side of the river, still swaying backwards and for- wards, remain his flight, trace, leads, and perhaps two or three yards of line. But see ; how does the practical spinner go to work "i No bungling here, no erratic throws, no catching branches, no hooking into reeds, or other floating debris. The bait, properly leaded, shoots evenly and swiftly to the desired haven like an arrow from the bow. Right across the river, twenty-tive yards if an inch, and it falls right under the drooping boughs of an old willow, m a quiet eddy caused by a small bay in the bank-line. With but little splash the bait drops into the water, and after sinking a foot or two is drawn evenly across the river. It is a pikey bit of water, a fringe of waving, rotting, sepia-tinted reeds bordering the bay. If any kind of the species Esox liiciits possessed an especial retreat this is the one. Is master pike at home to-day.'' I think he is. A swirl in the water, a sudden resistance on the line, a gleam of light colour in the dark green depths of the river flowing smoothly along, as a mighty fish seizes the bait, and endeavours to return to his lair to munch his captive at his leisure. Not so fast, my friend. That lofoot of greenheart and lancewood is struck upwards smartly, the line quivers like an arrow just embedded in the target, and a right royal battle has commenced. Gamely the fish struggles, vainly endeavouring to once more take up his quarters in those willow roots which for months past have been his home, a j^lace carefully HO IV AND WHERE TO SPIN. 97 avoided by every well-educated roach and dace in the water. It is not to be, though ; two or three frantic rushes on the part of the fish, as many steady pulls by piscator, and master pike is brought within reach of the gaff or landing net. The proper play of the rod, which is one of the most certain tests of a good spinner, is highly important, not only to prevent the stopping of the bait between the ' draws,' but in order to give it its full glitter and piquancy. It produces a more life-like motion, as it were, than that imparted by the mere pulling in of the line by hand or reel, whilst for some reason or other, — pro- bably the greater elasticity of the lever used, — the spin of the bait is also far more rapid and brilliant. The substitution of a mere mechanical motion for this com- bined movement of the hand and rod is, in my opinion, one fatal objection to what is termed the 'Nottingham style' of spinning, already adverted to, and thus described by Mr. Baily, the chief priest of the system, in his 'Angler's Instructor,' pp. 5, 6, 9, and 10 You cannot have a reel too light or that runs too free. The best is a four-inch common wood reel, varnished to keep the rain from swelling the wood, the only brass about it being the hoop for fastening it to the rod. Brass inside and out adds to its weight and lessens its utility. To cast a long line you must have a free and easy running reel. ... A line made wholly of good silk well plaited is the best for pike-fishing. Fifty yards of such a line ought to weigh no more than three-quarters of an ounce. . . . Well, having cast your bait as far as possible, allow it, if you are fishing in a pond, or lake, or deep water, to sink a little, say two feet ; then wind away at a brisk rate, holding your rod on one side rather low ; if no run wind out and throw again, but this time wind briskly four or five yards, then all of a sudden stop a moment, then off again, doing so three or four times in one cast. I have often found this a good plan. If you still have no run, try another throw and wind briskly as before, but occasionally giving your rod a sharp and short twitch. I have also found this an excellent method of using the spinner, but should it prove unsuccessful, here is another style : Throw as before, but on this occasion wind slow four or five yards, then with II. H 98 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. your rod drag the bait one or two yards sharp through the water, stop a moment and wind slow again ; you will sometimes find when resuming the slow winding process that your bait is brought to a dead stop, which, of course you must answer with a jerk of your rod. If you feel you have got a fish give him one or two more as quick as lightning, for you can seldom put the hook in firmly at the first strike. When you have got a run you will sometimes feel a sharp tug, but you will invariably be apprised of it by your line coming to a sudden stop, as if you had hooked a clump of wood. When you do hook a fish, give him line, but keep one finger on the reel, so as to preserve the line taut, and play him artfully. . . . When spinning in rivers where there is a strong current, take care to wind very slow, otherwise your bait will be always on the surface of the water. The peculiarities of this system, as has been observed, are the substitution of a plain wooden for a metal check reel ; the throwing from the reel (that is, leaving the momentum of the bait when swung out to unwind by its own impetus as much line as is required for the cast) ; and the winding in of the line on the reel, instead of the pulling of it in by the hand and rod, and coiling it loosely on the ground. This plan has doubtless some merits, and in the hands of really good si)inners (and not a few such have adopted it) it may occasionally have a very slight advantage in bank-fishing, where the rough or scrubby nature of the ground renders the ordinary loose coils of the line liable to catch or tangle. But I think even in this case some light net or basket-work projecting shelf or tray, strapped to the hip of the troller, would be found a more satisfactory solution. A few years ago I had such a tray made of perforated zinc, which I found a great convenience in worm-fishing for trout, where it is constantly necessary to wade. To test the fact that a loss of efficiency does actually take place when the reel-movement is substituted for the hand, the following simple experiment will suffice : — drop your spinning- bait into the water, and wind it in as fost as jxjs.sible, on the Nottingham plan (that is, by the reel only), keeping the ])oint of the rod stationary ; then draw the bait througli the water at I/OPV AND WHERE TO SPIN. 99 the same pace using the rod only, and it will be found that whilst a rapid spin is gained by the one, the effect of the other is little better than a ' wobble.' These are the obvious theoretical objections to the Not- tingham style as a system, which must occur to anyone accus- tomed to the Thames method of spinning. It is much to be doubted, however, whether practically it would be found even feasible with the very small baits and very light leads and traces constantly used on the Thames and other fine waters. When fishing in the Avon some year ago with the late Mr. Frank Buckland, we came upon a party picnicing on the then dry eel- stage at the head of the pool above Braemore Mills. Whilst watching the performance for a few seconds we suddenly noticed a pike feeding upon the far side of the pool opposite the eel-stage. This distance appeared to be hopelessly great, the more so as there was no wind and my spinning-rod had been reduced to about eleven feet and a half, owing to its being fitted with a short top. However, at Mr. Buckland's instigation, and, perhaps as much to amuse the picnicing party as for any- thing else, I determined to make the attempt. As good luck would have it, at the very first cast the bait fell almost into the pike's mouth, and, after an exciting and amusing struggle the whole way across the mill-pond, we had him up, with the assist- ance of a gaff, on to the eel-stage, where he was duly admired. His weight was seven pounds. The bait, lead, and trace were weighed, and together were found to be one ounce and two scruples, and the spot where the pike was hooked, which could be easily identified, almost touching the weeds right on the opposite bank of the pool, was subsequently measured by Mr. Buckland, who mentioned in one of his writings the fact that it was forty-two yards. With such a bait and trace, such a cast would, I opine, be entirely out of the question if the bait were thrown from a reel in the Nottingham style. Mr. Baily's own bait and trace, which he furnished to me as patterns, weighed 3} ozs , nearly three times as much. H 3 loo PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. Before dismissing this part of the subject, I ought probably to mention the system not unfrequcntly adoi:)ted, — by Thames trout spinners more particularly— of winding in the line by making a figure of eight over the thumb and finger of the left hand, or— an alternative method — coiling it in a ball in the hollow of the hand. I fear that it would be impossible to give on paper such a description of either of these processes as would be of any use towards putting them into practice ; I should rather suggest a few lessons from some experienced Thames spinner. These two methods of drawing in the line are, it is to be observed, much more suitable to spinning such as that which commonly happens for trout and pike on the Thames — that is, in swift rushing water where the stream of itself suffices to spin the bait and very little auxiliary movement is required — than to the case of ordinary river or lake spinning where the line has to be pulled in rapidly in order to prevent the bait sinking. As to the Where of spinning, there is no open water, whether pond, lake, river, or canal, in which it is not applicable, and I really hardly know to which I should myself give tlie preference as a matter of taste. I decidedly prefer, how- ever, shallow to deep water for spinning, as in deep water it is difficult to insure that the bait is seen by the fish — a some- what important point — and, indeed, when the spinner is no longer able to see or imagine that he can see the river bottom, it is difficult for him to judge at what precise dej^th he ought even to attempt to s])in. It is in the case of pike-fishing, in fact, as with most other fishing — the best place to fish is not where most fisli are (or arc supposed to be) but where they can most easily be fished for and caught. Some of the prettiest spinning tliat I have ever had has been in water from a foot-and-a-half to two-and-a-half or three feet deep where the great difficulty has been to make the bait spin ' shallow ' enough. I have in my mind's eye just such a si)ot below Braemorc Bridge on the Avon already HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. loi spoken of. The river is about forty yards wide and the bottom pretty thickly coated with weeds which, however, form a capital hide for the pike that come up on to these shallows no doubt partly for the purpose of feeding on the young trout that are hatched in the spawning beds above and around. On this piece of water, which belongs to Sir Edward Hulse, when fishing with a friend some years ago, either he or I, I forget which, caught twenty pike in half-an-hour without moving sixty yards from the spot where we commenced. About half a mile below this again, opposite the farmhouse, there is another still wider and shallower stretch, perhaps seventy or eighty yards across in the widest part, one of the surest takes for pike on the whole river. A short time ago I caught fifteen pike, most of them small however, out of this water, wading out for the purpose some dozen yards from the shore. Whenever I could manage to make a good cast into the stream, I think I should be within the mark in saying I never failed either to run or to move a fish. How many more I could have gone on catching out of the hundred yards of gravelly shallow in front of me it would be difficult to say, but my baits gave in, and the artificial bait, though moving several, failed to actually touch a single fish. This is one of the instances I always call to mind, when considering the efficiency or inefficiency of artificial pike-baits in general. Here was a piece of water literally swarming with pike, evidently on the feed, and where I had been catching or moving the fish at every cast with the natural bait. The artificial bait is substituted, and, presto ! the whole scene changes. Not a pike can be tempted by my carefully prepared Phantom or Archimedian (I believe I tried several varieties) although flaunted before their eyes with a ' damnable iteration ' which one would think would have tempted a run if only from provocativeness. Some old author, indeed, would lead us to think that the pike is, par excellence, the irritabile genus of fish society. He says that if a pike refuses a bait when thrown in the proper 102 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. manner in front of his head, the great art is to repeat the pro- cess with still more emphasis behind his tail. The philosopher quoted from asserts that where this plan has been pursued in a scientific and persevering spirit he has seldom or never known it to fail ! One of the delights of pike-spinning over such shallow waters as those I have been mentioning, is that you are able to see the approach of the enemy, and even to some extent to calculate his dimensions by the wave which he carries in front of him as he rushes after the bait This, it may truly be said, is an excitement added, and one which cannot be had in any other branch of the art except, perhaps, in a lesser degree, in chub fishing. The moment is, indeed, not only exciting, but critical, and is a severe trial to the nerves of a young beginner. The incli- nation is almost irresistible to check or entirely stop the action of the bait so as to let the pursuer get hold of it. On the con- trary this is the very moment when the sj:)eed of the bait should be preserved unchecked at its normal rate of progression. The moment the bait is checked it ceases to be a spinning-bait, and becomes a mere dead gudgeon or dead dace, and having no further attraction or incitement for predacious fish You are Ugudwash, the sun-fish. You are not the fish I wanted — • to misapply Hiawatha's angling expedition. The rest of the passage is so charmingly original that really, even at the risk of being ' impertinent ' (to use the word in its Pickwickian sense) I must cjuote it, the more so as the hero of a part of the adventure is ' the pike, Kenozha.' Hiawatha's fishing. Forth upon the Gitche Gumce, On the shining Big-Sea-Watcr, With his fishing-line of cedar. Of the twisted bark of cedar, HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. 103 Forth to catch the sturgeon Nahma, Mishe-Nahma, King of Fishes, In his birch-canoe exulting, All alone went Hiawatha. Through the clear, transparent water He could see the fishes swimming Far down in the depths below him ; See the yellow perch, the Sahwa, Like a sunbeam in the water, See the Shawgashee, the craw-fish, Like a spider on the bottom, On the white and sandy bottom. At the stern sat Hiawatha, With his fishing-line of cedar ; In his plumes the breeze of morning Played as in the hemlock branches ; On the bows, with tail erected, Sat the squirrel, Adjidaumo ; In his fur the breeze of morning Played as in the prairie grasses. On the white sand of the bottom Lay the monster Mishe-Nahma, Lay the sturgeon, King of Fishes ; Through his gills he breathed the water, With his fins he fanned and winnowed, With his tail he swept the sand-floor. There he lay in all his armour ; On each side a shield to guard him. Plates of bone upon his forehead, Down his sides and back and shoulders, Plates of bone with spines projecting ! Painted was he with his war-paints, Stripes of yellow, red, and azure. Spots of brown and spots of sable ; And he lay there on the bottom. Fanning with his fins of purple. As above him Hiawatha In his birch-canoe came sailing. With his fishing-line of cedar. ' Take my bait ! ' cried Hiawatha Down into the depths beneath him : I04 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH, • Take my bait, O Sturgeon, Nahma ! Come up from below the water, Let us see which is the stronger ! ' And he dropped his line of cedar Through the clear transparent water, Waited vainly for an answer, Long sat waiting for an answer, And repeating loud and louder, • Take my bait, O King of Fishes !' Quiet lay the sturgeon, Nahma, Fanning slowly in the water, Looking up at Hiawatha, Listening to his call and clamour, His unnecessary tumult, Till he wearied of the shouting ; And he said to the Kenozha, To the pike, the Maskenozha, • Take the bait of this rude fellow, Break the line of Hiawatha! ' In his fingers Hiawatha Felt the loose line jerk and tighten ; As he drew it in, it tugged so That the birch-canoe stood endwise Like a birch log in the water. With the squirrel, Adjidaumo, Perched and frisking on the summit Full of scorn was Hiawatha When he saw the fish rise upwards, Saw the pike, the Maskenozha, Coming nearer, nearer to him, And he shouted through the water, ' Esa ! esa ! shame upon you ! You are but the pike, Kenozha, You are not the fish I wanted. You are not the King of Fishes 1' Reeling downward to the bottom Sank the pike in great confusion. And the mij^hty sturgeon, Nahma, Said to Ugudwash, the sun-fish, *Take the bait of this great boaster, Break the line of Hiawatha !' HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. 105 Slowly upward, wavering, gleaming Like a white moon in the water, Rose the Ugudwash, the sun-fish, Seized the line of Hiawatha, Swung with all his weight upon it. Made a whirlpool in the water ; Whirled the birch-canoe in circles, Round and round in gurgling eddies Till the circles in the water Reached the far-off sandy beaches, Till the water-flags and rushes Nodded on the distant margins. But when Hiawatha saw him Slowly rising through the water, Lifting his great disc of whiteness, Loud he shouted in derision, * Esa ! esa ! shame upon you ! You are Ugudwash, the sun -fish, You are not the fish I wanted. You are not the King of Fishes !' Wavering downward, white and ghastly, Sank the Ugudwash, the sun-fish, And again the sturgeon, Nahma, Heard the shout of Hiawatha, Heard his challenge of defiance, The unnecessary tumult. Ringing far across the water. From the white sand of the bottom, Up he rose with angry gesture. Quivering in each nerve and fibre, Clashing all his plates of armour, Gleaming bright with all his war-paint ; In his wrath he darted upward. Flashing leaped into the sunshine. Opened his great jaws and swallowed Both canoe and Hiawatha ! On the principle of the ' penny dreadfuls,' this is the proper place to take leave of Hiawatha, and if there are any of my readers who do not know the sequel to his ' prodigious fishing,' I must refer them to the poem itself, to my mind far the most io6 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. original and fascinating of any of the writer's longer poems. But this is digressing. To return to my text, the Where of pike-spinning. I have said that the spots to select are, as a rule, rather where fish can be caught, than in ' unfishable ' waters where they are known or supposed to be more numerous or larger. The water below my shallow on the Avon furnishes a very good example of this. Some way lower down it becomes a narrower and much deeper stream, and it is here that Sir Edward Hulse's keepers and water-bailiffs locate their best fish and the most of them. Whether they are there or not I cannot say, though the water, I admit, looks exceedingly well calculated to hold heavy fish, but this I can say, that my attempts to fish it with the spinning bait have never been really successful — I mean in the way of making a good bag. There is another reach of the Avon lower down called Sandy Balls, overhung by the romantic beech and fir-covered cliffs of the New Forest, which local superstition peoples with pike of altogether pre-historic dimensions, yet I have never succeeded, that I can remember, in catching a pike out of this celebrated ' hold,' nor have I ever seen anybody else do so. In the ' drawns ' and shallow rushes of water, on the contrary, by which the mazy stream is tapped in order to water the sur- rounding meadows, I have had excellent sport, repeatedly killing pike of nine or ten pounds weight, out of a stream where it seemed almost too small to throw the spinning bait. Below one of these rushes or sluice-gates a curious incident happened to my wife, in the presence of myself and the late Lord Anglesey's keeper. I thought the double capture suf- ficiently remarkable to be sent to the Field. 'When pike- fishing to-day with my wife in Lord Anglesey's water on the Avon, a very singular circumstance happened. Mrs. Pennell, when spinning above the Flax Mills, caught two pike at the same time. The first fish was hooked in the usual way, and about a foot and a lialf above the flight of hooks a second fish was found, twisted up in the gut trace, the line having HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. 107 made a very Calcraft-like noose just below the gill-covers. The fish weighed about 2 lbs, and 3 lbs. respectively.' I have seen a good many curious captures of pike, but never in my knowledge, nor that of the keeper Jeffries, has a similar ' double event ' been known to have occurred on the Avon. There is a * drawn ' between Braemore and Downton which, whilst little more than a watercourse and nearly dry at many parts of the year, in one corner by the sluice-gate always con- tains enough water to harbour a pike ; and a pike the water almost always contains, generally a large one. On one occasion I remember running two fish from it in two consecutive casts, one 9 lbs. which I basketed, and the other, as my old hench- man Sandy would have said, ' fully bigger,' which, for want of a gaff, I lost, after actually getting it out on to the bank, from whence it rolled back. This circumstance is alluded to by the late Mr. Frank Buckland, with whom I first made the acquaintance of this part of the valley of the Avon. His account of some of the episodes of the joint expedition is so humorous and graphic, that with the reader's ( and Mr. Bentley's) permission I must quote a few extracts from it. JACK-FISHING ON THE AVON. We came down the incline into Salisbury by the express train at a fearful pace ; round the curves and over the embankment we flew with a speed that took one's breath away, and dashed into the station like a comet. A rush for a fly (for it was fair-day), and off we went to the Star hotel, Fordingbridge, where we were cordially welcomed by the civil and obliging landlord and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Bill, and our friend Mr. Cholmondeley-Pennell, who preceded us in order to try experiments on the Hampshire jack, which were said to abound in the deep waters of the Avon. 'What sport ?' said I. ' I have had four days' fishing and have caught thirty jack out of thirty-six runs (the largest fish running between six and nine pounds) with a spinning-bait. The water, however, is very bright and the weeds very high. I have got an order for a splendid place to-morrow, and hope we shall have luck.' io8 riKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. Accordingly on the following morning we got ready for the start. Great cans with the bait ; the rods, luncheon, tackle, &c., were all placed in the landlord's four-wheeler, and in we jumped. ' I will drive,' said Pennell ; 'all right behind ? let gc' The ostler let go, but not an inch would our noble steed pro- ceed ; she put back her ears, shook her head, and made an attempt to kick, foiled, however, by the kicking strap. The ostler then tried persuasion, but it was no use ; the mare reared back and made another false start. The coachman then touched her with the whip, and we were off at last, first a walk and then a trot and then a gallop. We had not gone ten yards when the mare all of a sudden turned right round in the shafts ; she first wheeled to the right and then sud- denly to the left, the four-wheeler going in the opposite direction. She then began to kick, and backed right into the railings. Out went the landlord and the ostler from behind, coachman and my- self from the front. I was nearest the railing, and took a Leotard-like leap over it, mercifully not falling, for in an instant down came the mare or her side with a crash, breaking both shafts short off, and kicking and plunging furiously. She did not, however, touch me, though 1 was between her and the railing ; but it was a very narrow es- cape. We disentangled the mare, who was not much hurt ; picked up the live bait, which were flopping about in the dusty road ; and walked back to the hotel as dignified as circumstances would permit. Another horse was then put into a borrowed dogcart, and we had just got to the place of the former accident, when the shafts began to elevate their noses in a most unpleasant manner ; the old grey seemed to be walking on his toes, being almost lifted off his legs. ' Out with you, gentlemen,' said the landlord, ' or we shall all be over again ;' so we all jumped oft" like artillerymen from a gun- carriage. ' Is this what you call going out jack-fishing, Pennell ?' said I. ' I don't see much chance to-day. We have been just two hours getting ten yards from the door, the live-bait is dead-bait ; and one of the rods is smashed.' ' Never mind,' said Pennell, ' let's go into the garden and catch some more bait.' . . . Away we went once more, this time getting a fair start. We soon arrived at the mill where we found the keeper awaiting HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. icg us. He seemed rather surprised at our small baits, ' For,' said he, ' in the winter we generally use very large tackle, and fish with a roach from half to three-quarters of a pound in weight ; but I think Mr. Pennell's tackle very good to spin over the weeds, which are terrible thick about.' The keeper was right ; the river was one mass of dense solid forests of weeds, which moved about in the rapid stream like great sea-snakes. Between them, however, were here and there streets and lanes of beautiful deep water, looking almost ink colour on account of its depth and the darkness of the weeds, the water itself, however, being as clear as crystal. ' Have you any large jack about here, keeper ? ' said I. . . . ' Yes, we have, sir, and I will tell you a curious thing : One day I put into the stew pond a jack that had a gorge hook in him, for the gimp was just sticking out of his mouth. I did not take him again for six months, and when I came to look at him I could not find the hook at all. As I was cleaning him, something hard struck upon the edge of the knife, and I found that it was the gorge hook that had worked itself right through him, and was nearly coming out. It was quite loose in the intestine, and did not seem to have injured the fish, for he was in good condition, and I know he fed while he was in the pond. But, hark ! your friend, Mr. Pennell, is crying for the gafif. We must be off, sir. Run ! it's a good fish, from the bend of the rod.' We had first to cross a water ' carrier,' as they call them in these parts. Off we both started as hard as we could go, the keeper going easily over a foot-board bridge, and I myself flounder- ing, head-over-ears, bang into the muddy water and rushes, and getting my first wetting for the season. . . . 'It's terribly hot !' said Pennell; 'how I envy those cows in the water ! I have been a long way up stream, and this is what I have got. I saw a beautiful quiet dyke, about five yards wide, and at the first cast I was delighted to see a huge wave issue from the side of the bank. Slacking [?] the speed of the bait, I let him have it fairly, and struck him as he turned for home ; he made a gallant five minutes' fight, and has left this " line-cut" on my finger as a mark of his prowess. 'As I knew these big jack often hunt in couples, I had another cast, and hooked an equally fine fellow, within two yards of the spot where I caught the first, but I unluckily lost him, when at the last gasp, for want of the gaff, which, by the way, I see sticking no riKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. out of that capacious pocket of yours. The fish I •' now produce" (as the lawyers say) will turn the scale at 9 lbs. ' I found the sun very powerful, and my head would have ached considerably if I had not adopted my usual plan, which is to put a handful of water weeds in the crown of my cap ; it keeps the head as cool as a cucumber.' * Well, I suppose I must give you a wrinkle in return for this,' said I. ' Do you know how to keep away midges and mosquitoes when you are fishing ?' ' No, I do not,' said Pennell. * Neither did I, till last night when reading that delightful book, "Life in Normandy," I learnt that tiirpe)ttine {\ suppose spirit of turpentine is meant) will keep off all the midges in the parish. The author, a true sportsman, says : " It is singular how little this is known. Many a man has suffered martyrdom when a single drop of this turpentine would have protected him as effectually as a coat of mail, and allowed him to enjoy a good day's fishing. . . ." If I were about to fish in a "midgy" locality, I should order the chemist to make up the turpentine in what we doctors call an " elegant formula," which he can easily do ; and an ointment thus made can be agreeably spread on the skin of the face and hands.' . , . — ViyjCV.hA'SDS Curiosities 0/ Natural History.^ I have often since then reaped the benefit of this wrinkle given me by my old friend and comrade — one of the most gonial and charming of companions, and a true lover of nature m all her moods. On the first opportunity I took Buckland's prescription and found it excellenL I had the turpentine made up as he advised in an 'elegant formula,'. the actual compound admixed being glycerine jelly ; and I re- member on one occasion by Kylemore Lough in Galway, being so tormented wiih midges night and day, that but for the turpentine, which acted like a charm, I must have been fltirly driven out of the neighbourhood. My two friends, who scorned to adopt any precautions, actually 7C'ere driven out of the house in the middle of the night, and up to the top of a neighbouring hill for relief. The admixture of glycerine makes the 'anointment' far * RiclKird B'iiUlcy and Son, New Burlington Street. HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. iii from disagreeable, and in hot suns will prevent those unplea- sant excoriations and reddenings which, about August, we are all familiar with on the noses of our Norwegian tourists, 'Alpine* climbers and nomadic brethren of the angle generally. I would have given a handsome sum for just a thimbleful of the ' anti-midge mixture ' one day last August, when grouse shooting in Kirkcudbrightshire with Mr. J. Colzean Kennedy. At about four o'clock, when on tolerably high moorland, we were suddenly enveloped in a swarm of almost invisible tor- mentors. Eyes, nostrils, ears, even between our shirts and our necks, they clustered like bees. In vain we slapped the afflicted parts with more energy than direction ; in vain we lit up pipes all round and blew the wildest of ' clouds ; ' the whole party, dogs included, rubbed, scratched, and, I daresay, swore ; and if we had happened to find birds at that moment, I doubt if even the well-known science of my friend Mr. Kennedy, ' top- weight ' as he is both at Hurhngham and the Gun Club, would have added greatly to the ' bag.' But to return to my text. It is, I believe, a great fallacy to suppose that large pike are more likely to be found in large deep waters, than in such quiet and undisturbed nooks, where anglers come but seldom, and the supply of baits is usually abundant. In just such a spot as that above described I once saw a pike which I am satisfied must have weighed nearer 30 than 20 lbs. With my heart in my mouth I crept up to the edge of the ' drawn,' about twenty yards from where he was lying, and made my cast. It was neck or nothing as I knew, because if he did not take the bait on the first impulse, he would be inevitably scared and take refuge in his lair of water lilies, from which there would be no tempting him. The bait fell exactly as I desired, and it had hardly touclied the surface when there was a sudden boiling and up-tearing of the water, as the monster rushed hither and thither in his efforts to seize the bait. Alas ! he missed it, although I am bound to say, in justice to myself, that I did not violate my own canon of neither checking nor expediting its motion. 112 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. Further attempts were, as I expected, useless, and the same afternoon I was called away, so that I never had another opportunity. One other illustration. At Lord Normanton's water at Somorley, finding one day but little sport in the main stream, I asked the keeper if there were no drawns or shallow water- courses leading away from it, where I might be able to throw a spinning-bait. His reply, after some consideration, was that there certainly was one, but that he would not say what fish there might or might not be in it ; on the last occasion, how- ever, when it was fished by some troUer more enterprising than usual, nothing was caught, although he thought there ought to be some pike there. The description appeared to me quite sufficiently tempting, and, without more delay, I begged him to guide me to the unknown land, or rather water. Here I hooked a fish almost at the first cast, and, in fine, I went on catching them one after another until sixteen good sized fish had bitten the dust. I was so struck by the extraordinary rapidity with which I was catching them, that I asked a gentle- man who accompanied me to notice how long it was since I began. On completing the sixteenth fish, and there appear- ing to be somewhat of a falling-off, I asked him to look at his watch, and it was found that the time, from first to last, includ- ing that necessarily occupied in baiting, was very little over thirty minutes. But, alas ! the glorious days of Avon pike-fishing are, I fear, numbered. Many of the rii)arian owners, in their eager- ness to encourage salmon and trout, have ruthlessly killed down the pike, with the result that on the last two or three occasions of my visits the sport has been comparatively poor, in size as well a'; numbers. Once upon a time there was a fair sprinkling of splendid trout in the Avon, running from three to ten pounds and upwards, which afforded magnificent sport to men of the •Thames trout- fisher stamp of mind,' whilst the pike-fishing was simply superb. Now the river is first rate for nothing ; moderate for pikcj HO IV AND WHERE TO SPIN. 113 moderate for trout, of which there has been some slight increase in numbers at the expense of size ; and very moderate, indeed, for salmon, although I must frankly admit that, partly owing to his indomitable perseverance and skill and partly to his having the command of some of the best pools on the river, my friend Mr. Turner-Turner, of Avon Castle, has killed a very consider- able number of splendid fish in his waters — on one occasion, if I remember rightly, landing no less than three, averaging twenty pounds a-piece, before breakfast. : One swallow, however, does not make a summer, and, if I were offered the range of the best salmon casts on the Avon from mouth to source, I should decline with thanks. Men's tastes differ, but for myself I must confess that the chance of dropping upon what Dougal calls a ' happenin' baste ' does not sufficiently gratify my 'hunting' instincts. In my opinion sport consists primarily in catching something, and if I cannot make pretty sure of at least two or three salmon a day, irre- spective of size, commend me to the nearest stream or loch where I can fill my creel with trout. If trout cannot be got in 'remunerative' numbers I would try pike-fishing; or, failing pike, perch-fishing ; or, failing perch, roach-fishing ; or, failing roach, gudgeon-fishing — any fish, in fact, which will afford the amusement of catching as contrasted with endeavouring to catch. I am afraid my ethics will recall the Frenchman's idea of an Englishman. '0, what a fine day! Let's go and kill something!' . . . The mistake the Frenchman made was in supposing that it wa5 the love of killing instead of the love of sport. And yet what is sport ? Would it be sport if there were no killing anything? But this is becoming casuistic. I have not that fierce thirst upon me winch can only be slaked with salmon blood, to quote the expression of my dear old friend, Willie Peard, whose charming writings have given delight to all lovers of fly-fishing, and who was himself one of the most brilliant performers in practice of the art which he so eloquently described in theory. Some time ago the Thames Angling Preservation Society II. 1 114 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH: were strongly urged by a few fanatics to take means for turning the Thames into a trout stream — a salmon river also, if I re- member rightly — at the expense of its ancient inhabitants, the pike. At the time this attempt was made I took the oppor- tunity of expressing my views on the subject in a leading angling journal, and, as the warning which I then endeavoured to give, I hope not altogether unsuccessfully, is not without application to other rivers similarly situated and threatened, I here reproduce it : THE PRESERVATION OR NON-PRESERVATION OF THAMES PIKE. There is a rumour that an attempt is being made to excite amongst fishermen a feeling hostile to the Thames pike, on behalf and in favour of the trout which the Thames Angling Preservation Society have been for some time past industriously breeding at Hampton, and turning into the river ; and also that this * trout mania,' if the expression is admissible, is now alleged as an excuse by a good many fishermen for an indiscriminate slaughter, by fair means or foul, of all pike that may fall into their hands, whatever be their size or condition. I trust this report may prove to be unfounded, or at any rate greatly exag- gerated ; but yet I have generally found the proverb true, which says that there is ' no smoke without a fire,' and therefore as one who, in common with, I am sure, thousands of my feUow- trollers, has stored up many pleasant memories of many pleasant days spent amongst the Mazy lilies' and pikey pools of the Thames in pursuit of this fish, and the sport against which a set is now, it appears, being made, I cannot allow the occasion to pass without raising my voice in terms of strong warning and protest, — protest against the unsportsmanlike proceedings alluded to, and warning against the strong delusion on which they are apparently based. Moreover, even if the reports of what has actually occurred have been exaggerated, there is another very excellent proverb, more generally acknowledged NO IV AND WHERE TO SPIN. 115 than acted upon, which says that 'Prevention is better than cure.' The 'strong delusion,' then, to which I refer is the assumption (under whose cBgis these quasi judicial murders are being perpetrated and winked at) that the Thames can be denuded of its pike, and can be made a trouting river — a river, that is, capable of maintaining a sufficient stock of trout to offer the angler a fair day's wage for a fair day's work ; in other words, to enable him to calculate upon a certain number of fish in his creel as the probable result of a given expenditure of time and skill. If a river will not do this, it is worthless to the fly-fisher, and is not a trouting river in the only valuable sense of the term. Now, is there any chance of such a consummation so far as the Thames is concerned ? Let us see what are the facts of the case. The first fact is that the pike could not be destroyed ; not only not absolutely, but not even so as practically to affect the trout question at all. How, indeed, can it be expected that a few years of permissive poaching under the Thames Angling Preservation Society, should effect what all the com- bined efforts of netting, trimmering, and every conceivable mis- management and abuse for centuries have been unable to accomplish ? What could, and probably would, be accomplished, would be to reduce the stock of pike just sufficiently to make the river entirely unattractive to Thames troUers, of whom there are at present, I believe, somewhere about twenty for one trout fisher. But supposing, for the sake of argument, that the pike could all be destroyed, and that the Society continued, or increased their trout breeding operations, is there good ground for be- lieving that the river could ever be made a trouting stream, in, as I have already pointed out, the only useful sense of the term ? So far from it, the assumption, nay, I may say the cer- tainty, is exactly the opposite way ; and I will undertake to prove to any unprejudiced mind, not only that the change would fail to improve the trout-fishing which already exists, but that it would be positively detrimental to it. I 2 n6 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. What are the peculiar characteristics, the essential natural conditions of trouting rivers ? Are they not shallows, sharps, gravels, scours, eddies, mill-races, and every other form and combination of swift-running water from mouth to source? the very antithesis, in short, in every particular of the still, weedy, slow-gliding Thames, with its miles of reed-bed and clay banks, and its interminable ' deeps,' in which nothing but the shadow of the trees seems to have movement ? Now every one who has given much study to questions of pisciculture knows that certain naturally adapted conditions of soil and water are indispensable to the wellbeing of certain kinds of fish — as, for instance, to the grayling clay, to the pike weed, and to the trout the class of water I have attempted to describe ; and that you might as well expect to produce a large stock of either of them without such natural adaptation as to cultivate pine-apples at John o' Groat's, or ptarmigan in the plains of Hindostan. I un- hesitatingly assert, therefore, without fear of contradiction, that the Thames is, and always will be whilst it remains cut up into a series of lock ponds, totally and irremediably unfit for a trouting river ; and I challenge the mention of any single instance of an English river analogous to it in which similar results are not found to obtain. The Hampshire Avon, perhaps, in some portions of its course, presents more points of resemblance than any other river with which I am acquainted, the part of locks being performed by a succession of mill-dams and eel-stages, with slow-running, often deep, always weedy reaches between ; and here we find almost identically the same con- ditions as regards fish — viz., plenty of pike, and a few large trout. Or I might take the river Lea as probably an equally good instance, and one perhaps better known to Thames fishermen. But go where you will, I believe you will find the rule to be Medo-Persian in its unchangeableness. And this brings me naturally to the second point which I have undertaken to prove — that even the at-prcscnt-existing trout fishing would suffer rather than gain by the deterioration of the J like. At present the river contains a fair sprinkling of splendid . now AND WHERE TO SPIN. \ ii7 trout, of almost unequalled size. The pursuit of these affords a keen excitement to a number of first-rate fishermen, both trollers and fly-fishers — men whose skill, which has been considered unequalled, is only surpassed by the patience with which, day after day, and even week after week, they will pursue some one of these historic leviathans, pitting their brains against his (perhaps almost as highly educated !) and at last hauling him gurgling into the net, after a death struggle the excitement and triumph of which has been multiplied in an exactly corresponding ratio to the number of hours of toil and thought they have expended in achieving the result. The capture of one of these monster Thames trout is indeed, par excellence^ the ' blue riband ' of angling ; and it is probable that there is no other feat, not even the killing of a 40-lb. salmon, which is so often looked back upon with pleasure, and re- counted with pride in after days. It seems really almost doubtful, therefore, whether a slight increase in the number of these great trout would produce a corresponding increase of pleasure, as whatever tended to diminish the difficulty would, of course, equally diminish the honour and gratification. If this should sound somewhat Quixotic let it be borne in mind that the Thames trout-fisher in very many, probably, in the great majority of cases, is not a tyro or Cockney angler, far less a mere pot hunter. He has probably had his surfeit of the best sport, whether with trout or salmon, that the three kingdoms — and perhaps Norway and Canada also — can offer. He has wetted his flies in the swirling pools of the Blackwater or the Thurso, or filled his creel to his heart's content by the teeming waters of the Driffield or the Itchen, the Test or the Teme ; and therefore he is satiated with slaughter, or he is getting old, and ' with stiff" limbs and frosty pow ' cannot shoulder, as of yore, his twenty-foot Castle Connel ; but at any rate, he requires a peculiar class of fishing to give him any peculiar pleasure, and that pleasure he finds in killing a big Thames trout. And therefore, as I have said, it really seems doubtful whether anything that tended to diminish the difficulty ii8 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. of catching the said trout would not also somewhat diminish ihe general fund of amusement yearly derived from the sport ; but if this slight increase in numbers was to be accompanied by a corresponding decrease in size, then assuredly the fisher- man would 'gain a loss' and nothing else; and that such would actually be the effect of impoverishing the stock of pike seems inevitable. For what says experience? Why, that a given v/ater will only support a given quantity of fish of a particular breed, and that you may take that quantity out either in numbers or in weight, but not in both. All waters which breed a heavy stock of pike breed, if any, trout cor- respondingly large. This is the case in both the rivers which I have already mentioned, and the rule seems to hold good as well in lakes as in rivers. Take, for example, in the three divisions of the kingdom the three lakes most celebrated for the great size of their trout — viz., Windermere in England, Awe in Scotland, and Corrib in Ireland, and what do we find? Why that all three are almost equally celebrated for the number or size of their pike. So that in fine ' the greater the stock of pike, the larger the size of the trout,' may be almost taken as the formula of the question. The conclusion, then, which I would earnestly desire to press upon all my brother fishermen of the Thames, is — Make the best of what you have got, and in grasping at the shadow do not drop the substance ; instead of attempting to destroy, preserve by every possible means your pike, from which we have all had so much sport for so many years ; and, as the most obvious and important rules, do not begin killing them until the beginning of July or middle of June, at the earliest, and then throw in again all that are under a pound and a half in weight, — by which two means you will ensure (i) that your pike shall not be killed until they are in decent condition for the table ; and (2) that before being killed at all they shall have had the opportunity of contributing at least once towards the replenishment of the stock of the liver. J/0 IV AND WHERE TO SPIN. 119 With regard to the direction in which to cast the spinning- bait ' doctors disagree,' although, so far as stagnant waters are concerned, Httle difficulty can he felt, as the obvious rule is to cast over the place in which the fish are judged most likely to be. With rivers, however, the case is different, and the cast straight across stream and the cast straight down stream have both had their advocates. If the late lamented Mr. W. C. Stewart had been a pike fisher, no doubt he would have recom- mended the cast straight up stream. ... As in other matters, 1 believe that the truth here lies midway between the two extremes advocated — between, that is, the straight across stream and the straight down stream theories. And putting aside exceptional circumstances, which, of course, make their own rules, the best direction in which to cast with the spinning bait over running water is diagonally^ or in a direction rather slanting down and across stream. This conclusion would seem to be unavoidable if we con- sider what are the objects to be attained. They may be stated thus : — To cover the greatest extent of water within a given time ; to present the bait in the position most attractive to the fish ; and to make sure of hooking him when he takes it. Now, to begin with the first of these desiderata. It is clear that by drawing the bait from one side of the stream to the other the greatest area of water will be fished, and for this reason — that in order to give the proper intervals between the casts when throwing straight down stream, it would be neces- sary to move the boat across the current a yard or two at a cast until it reached the other side, and then drop down stream twenty or thirty yards before a fresh series of casts could be commenced, whereas when thrown diagonally or across, it is only necessary to let the boat drop down on one side of the river without delay or hindrance. Moreover, supposing the spinner to be without a boat, he would, if he confined himself to casting down stream, never be able to fish more than one side of the water, and that close to the bank. I20 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. Thus, in the question of the amount of water covered, the ' cast down stream ' must be held to be radically bad, the argu- ments being about equally divided between the 'cast diagonal* and the ' cast straight across ; ' but on the second point, viz. the presenting of the bait to the fish in the most attractive manner, the advantage will be found to be all in favour of the diagonal mode of casting. The fish, it will be remembered, lie with their heads vp stream^ and the object, must, of course, be to show them the bait, whilst showing them at the same time the least possible proportion of the line or trace. Bearing this point — and a most vitally important one it is— in view, the cast straight dmvn stream will again be at once 'put out of court,' inasmuch as it is evident that, except at the very extremity of the cast, the whole of the line and trace must pass right over the fish's eyes before he can possibly see the bait The question, therefore, narrows itself as between the ' diagonal ' and * straight across ' casts ; and as the cast diagonal fishes at least one-third more water than the cast straight across without any counterbalancing drawback, and indeed, with an additional gain in the item of making the bait spin better, inasmuch as it is worked the whole time more against the stream, it can hardly be doubted that the jury will find a verdict in favour of the diagonal cast, fur all ordinary river spinning. STRIKING AND PL.WING. So far as to casting. Presuming the spinner to have ' run ' a fish, the next point is to strike him, a part of the i)erforniance which is much more critical than many trollcrs are, perhaps, aware of. Whatever may be the case as to 'striking from the reel ' m the instance of salmon or trout fishing when only a single, or at most a double, hook has to be made to penetrate over the barb, there is no doubt that in fishing for pike with a large bait, decorated with some half-a-dozen hooks, striking with a tiglit line is most essential to the proper hooking of tlie fish. : I£OJ¥ AND WHERE TO SPIN. 121 : " The usual manner in which a pike seizes the bait is cross- wise, and in this position it is probable that the points of several hooks will be pressed upon by some part of the mouth, whilst the bait also to which they are attached is held by his sharp teeth and powerful jaws. The whole of this resistance must be overcome, and that sharply and at a single stroke, before a single hook can be expected to penetrate. Nor dees the action of the fish himself, as in the case of salmon-fishing with the fly, tend to drive the hooks home. The salmon, as soon as he has taken the fly, turns head downwards, and dis- covering probably, almost instantaneously, the deception that has been practised upon him, instead of holding on to, naturally lets go of the fly in his mouth, the result of the two opposite simultaneous evolutions being, with considerable probability, to strike the hook firmly in. In the case of the pike all this is reversed. The pike does not, as a rule, immediately turn in the opposite direction, nor has he the slightest inclination, at any rate for some few brief moments, to eject the bait which is not a sham but a reaUty. What he does do is generally to sail about quietly with the bait in his mouth, sometimes holding on to it, and even appa- rently tugging at it more or less vigorously until brought up close to the side of the boat, leading the inexperienced spinner to imagine that, he has been hooked, whilst, in point of fact, for the whole time he has only been 'holding on.' When frightened, or, perhaps, when realising that there is something abnormal about the bait he has just seized, he will — I was about to say, drop it, but that he cannot do owing to the nature of his jaws and his teeth — he will free his mouth from it by a vigorous shake, somewhat after the action with which a terrier shakes a rat. It is at this moment that the best chance lies of the pike hooking himself, but it is, at the best, evidently a very uncertain one, and I should advise the troUer not only to strike as soon as he runs a fish, but to cojitinue striking until the fish com- mences a sort of tearing struggle, .which is a very different 123 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. thing to the sensation produced by his only holding on to the bait The stroke should be as hard as the tackle can bear with safety. I have repeatedly, on the bright shallows of the Avon, been able to watch exactly the effects of my stroke both upon the bait and upon the pike, and I have been astonished how little result of any kind is apparently produced except with the very hardest blow. Sometimes, however, and especially where a pike is hooked at the end of a long cast, it is almost impossible for the troUer armed with civilised gear, to strike a pike effectively, and in such cases he must take his chance, never, above all things, allowing slack line for an instant. The argument as to the difficulty of getting a number of hooks to penetrate was, of course, vastly increased with the old-fashioned form of three triangled spinning flights. With such flights it has been calcu- lated that a loss occurs of certainly not less than fifty per cent, of the fish run. This may, probably, seem an excessive average, partly because few fishermen keep an exact register of their runs and losses during each day's sport, but of corroborative testimony as to the fact being as stated, there is an einbarras de richesses. One has been already given at page 81-2, from a recent writer in the Fishing Gazette. Here is another from the visitors' book at Slapton Leigh Hotel: — 'Oct. 8, 1862 — Mr. Clarke caught ninety-one pike — all by spinning — and lost ninety-three others after hooking them.' Robert Salter refers to these losses in his 'Modern Angler,' second edition, page 103, where he says, 'Snap-fishing (spinning) cannot be considered the most certain method of taking pike, because so many are missed after striking them.' Professor Rennie, in his ' Alphabet of Angling,' also mentions the fact, but attributes it to the pike not being a leather-mouthed fish. Salter, who is entitled in some sense to be considered the ' father of spinning,' as Nobbes was called the ' father of trolling,' was, no doubt, a skilful performer, pro- bably one of the best of his time, and his testimony, therefore, may be taken as conclusive. HO IV AND WHERE TO SPIN. 123 In former years I myself fished for pike with many of our best spinners on the Thames, amateur and professional, from the late Tom Rosewcll downwards, and I can unhesitatingly endorse the fifty per cent, estimate for losses after striking. Indeed, I should say the estimate erred on the score rather of moderation than of excess. In the case of indifferent spinners, the average of losses would doubtless be considerably greater. It has been already shown that with my tackle the losses after striking have been found to be enormously less, being calcu- lated by several independent authorities as not exceeding one in six, or a little over sixteen per cent, in lieu of fifty. Taking them, however, at say even twenty-five /^r cent.^ the difference still represents one-fourth of the total catch. I should think this was a fair average of the losses for a fair average of days, but every spinner knows that there are occasions when pike seem hopelessly off the feed and will only take the bait between their lips just by way of playing with it as it were. On such occasions it is very difHcult to say what the percentage of losses after striking might, or rather might not be. When fishing last year at Leeds Castle with my friend, Mr. Wykeham-Martin, I had an experience of this sort which I shall not forget in a hurry. The water was thick after a flood of, in that part of the country, almost unprecedented dimensions, and this, no doubt, put the fish — with which these beautiful waters are plentifully stocked — off their feed. They merely toyed with and teazed the bait ; nibbled it, flipped at it with their tails for aught I know, did everything, in fact, except attempt to swallow it ; and the result was a proportion of misses to kills, the figures of which I cannot give because, unfortunately (or fortunately ?) I did not keep them, but it was something portentous. What it might have been with the unexpurgated tackle can only be conjectured. Very likely the couple or brace or so I did even- tually succeed in bagging would have been represented by a ' duck's egg ! * No doubt, the great size and thickness in the wire of the 124 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. hooks used in these old fashioned spinning flights, contributed much to the heavy percentage of losses. The shape or bend of the hooks is also a very critical point as regards the killing powers of any flight. The difference in the killing power between a triangle of Limerick hooks and one of my pattern, or even of the ' Sneck ' bend is not less, perhaps, than one hundred per cent, against the first named. Round bends and Kendal bends stand about midway in penetration; the differences in each case being caused, to a great extent, by the different angles at which the points of the different hooks meet the skin of the fish's mouth when the line is pulled tight. The following table shows the results of experiments I have tried with four hooks, selected at random from the stock of a London fishing-tackle maker (they were all No. z's of his sizes) : — Bend of Average pressure required hook. to penetrate over barb. Limerick •••••*.. 3 lbs. I\ound 7.h lbs. Kendal , 2^ lbs. Sneck l^ lbs. Now, suppose that only one triangle is used (as in my No. i Flight), of the same size as that above, and of the ' Sneck ' bend, and that no other hook on the flight touches the fish. Well, it is probable, we may assume, that two of the hooks of this triangle will be in contact with the pike's mouth ; therefore a stroke equal to three pounds pressure at the very least will be required to fix these two hooks over the barb, and that without taking into account the resistance offered by the holding of the bait itself between the fish's jaws. Have any of my readers ever tried what the pressure actually exerted by an ordinary stroke with a jack-rod is at, say, twenty five yards? If not let me suggest a slight experiment which will assist them, perhaps,' in future in judging what the force really exerted by ordinary striking is : — Take a three-pound weight, and adding another pound to HO W AND WHERE TO SPIN 125 represent the loss of power caused by the obstruction of the water, and two more to allow for the pressure of the pike's teeth on the bait itself (six pounds in all), attach the end of your trolling-line to it, and using an averagely stiff jack-rod, see how much striking force is required to be exerted in order to move the weight smartly — say, four inches — at twenty-five yards dis- tance. If the bait be very heavy, or larger-sized hooks be used or more of them, or of a less penetrating ' bend,' a Httle calcula- tion on the foregoing basis will easily enable the spinner to adjust the weight used in the experiment so as to represent the average pressure or force required for an efficient stroke. It is, therefore, strongly recommended to all spinners, as the very alpha of their craft, and notwithstanding th6 opinions to the contrary expressed by many angling authorities, to strike, — and that the moment they feel a run. All other rules, such as ' giving the fish time to turn,' ' waiting till he shakes the bait,' &c. ■&c., are useless, and, indeed, generally impossible in practice. Again, the pike, with many other predacious species, shows a •great reluctance to let go a prey once seized. Most of us have probably witnessed this pertinacity in the case of both eels and perch ; and the stickleback, as is well known, will let itself be pulled out of the water by its hold of a worm. On one occasion, for the sake of experiment, I fastened a large cork to a string, and drew it across a pike pond, giving it at the same -time an irregular, life-like motion. It was quickly seized by a fish of about two pounds, which made a most determined re- (Sistance, running out the twine as if really hooked, and only relinquishing its grasp of the cork when within arm's length. The experiment was repeated several times with a similar jresult. Therefore, I say once more, — Strike, and strike hard ; and repeat the stroke until a viole?it tearing struggle is felt ; such a struggle almost invariably beginning the moment a fish really feels the hook, and being easily distinguished from the sluggish resistance, sometimes absolute inaction, experienced when he is only 'holding on.' It is generally large unwieldy pike which 126 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. act in this fashion, and an attention to the above suggestion wifl not unfrequently save the loss of the best fish of the day. Always strike doum stream when feasible, and, when fishing in still water, in tlu opposite direction to that in which the fish is moving ; the hooks will thus be brought into connection with his jaws and the soft parts at the corners of the mouth, instead of being pulled, as it were, away from him. In the majority of instances, however, neither time nor circumstances admit of these rules being adopted, and in such cases the simplest and safest plan is to strike straight upwards, the spinner being always prepared for shortening the line the moment the stroke is made in case the fish should make a rush towards him. In regard to playing pike after being hooked, the golden rule is, first, to keep a steady and even strain upon them with- out intermission ; secondly, to get them into the basket with as little delay as may be. The maintaining of a sufficiently heavy strain is particularly necessary in pike-fishing, where stiff rods are used, and flights containing several hooks, as the sudden slackening of a foot or two of line is sufiicient to restore such a rod to the straight position from which it has been comparatively little bent, thus removing the strain altogether ; whilst the tendency of using a good many hooks on the same bait is, of course, to lessen the pull on each particular hook. Even with a ' swishy ' salmon or trout rod it is always desirable to keep up a certain steady strain on a fish, although in this case a slackening of at least two or three feet of line must occur to restore the rod to its straight position, and remove the pressure from the hook ; whilst the fact of the hook being single diminishes the probability of its becoming unfixed, and in- creases the chance of its tearing out of its hold. Should a fish run under or into weeds, there is but one plan to be pursued — tighten the strain upon him to the very utmost that rod and line will bear ; by this means the line will fre- quently act as a knife and cut its way, with the fish, through all obstacles. But whcthci the expedient fails or succeeds, it is the . HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. 127 only one that can be adopted ; if once the fish passes under the weeds without the Hne cutting through, the latter forms an angle at the point where it strikes the obstacle, and all power over the fish is instantly lost. Not one large fish in twenty will be brought to basket under such circumstances. LANDING. For landing a pike with the gaff I have already given what hints occur to me at page 33. If neither landing net nor gaff is accessible the best plan is to grasp the fish as tightly as pos- sible just behmd the head and either lift or jerk him on to the bank. In regard to the landing of pike, as on most other matters piscatorial, there are, of course, many varieties of opinion. One warning I would give, however, do not follow Nohbes' suggestion to land him by ' putting your fingers in his eyes,' nor by his gills, though we have the authority of the father of trolling for the fact that 'some will adventure to take him thereby,' although, as he quaintly observes, ' the hold is neither so secure nor so safe for the fisher, because the fish in the heat of passion may accidentally take revenge upon his adversary by letting him blood in the fingers, which way of phlebotomy is not esteemed so good.* Probably no very elaborate argument is required to recommend this latter remark to the judgment of pike-fishers. Of late years I never go out pike-fishing without a gaff, but in former years I disdained the use of anything longer or stronger than my own fingers, and it is curious how seldom I lost a fish in consequence. On one of the few occasions on which I hooked so large a pike (23 lbs.) that I could not manage him myself, the late Mr. Frank Buckland was luckily close at hand, and wading heroically into the water carried the fish out in his arms. I once performed a similar operation for the benefit of a pike my wife had hooked below the Flax Mills at Fordingbridge, This troublesome individual weighed only 9 lbs. or 10 lbs. 128 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. but then there wasr a lady in- the case which makes all the diflerence. To come back to pike-spinning. I have often been asked when is the proper time or when are the proper occasions for using the spinning bait ; my answer has been 'always,' except when the water is so full of mud and weeds as to be 'impossible.' Such advice is, however, seldom really required as men who have once taken to spinning rarely care very much for any other method of pike-fishing. Moreover the spinning-bait is, with the exceptions above indicated, always killing from June to the end of February — that is during the whole season when pike can be taken. When, however, the water is much dis- coloured by a flood, a live bait, such as a roach or dace, or any- thing that looks large and bright, is the best and, indeed, practically the only chance. When a river or lake is so much overgrown by weeds as to make either the live-bait or spinning- bait impracticable, the gorge-bait should be substituted, and only on such occasions should I personally ever resort to it. What is the best weather for spinning? I must confess my inability to answer this question. I doubt if there is any rule as to the state of wind and weather by which the most ex- perienced pike-fisher can really prognosticate what will be a good day for spinning, and what for live-bait or trolling, or even whether the day will prove good for pike-fishing at all. I have been led to this opinion by a careful observation of the condition of weather and water existing on dayson which I have had the best and the worst sport, and I cannot say that I have ever been able to make out that there was any rule or system whatever traceable in the result. In this I am confirmed by Captain Warrington, of Sandhill House, Fordingbridge, a most experienced pike- fisher, who assured me that he had kept an exact register of the state of the wind, water, barometer, &c., on the days when he had been jack-fishing _/i?/- a great many years, and had not been able to arrive at any result whatever, — the results, in fact, were altogether contradictory and un- inteHir^-bait should be 7Vorked, that depends entirely upon the state of the water with reference to weeds and other circumstances. It will be generally found, however, that in hot weather the fisli lie near the surface, and in cold weather near the bottom, so that the bait should be spun ' shallow ' or ' deep ' accordingly. In 'leading' the trace for the purpose of regulating the depth, it should always be borne in mind tliat to sink a large bait to a given dc])tli recpiires a heavier lead than is necessary in sinking a smaller bait. Tims, if a half-ounce lead will sink an ounce bait to the dcpili of one foot, a lead of an ounce in weight would be required to sink a two-ounce bait to the same jioint. This is owing to the fact of the bait being as nearly as may be of ilie same li.'ci'^hf as tlie iiwards, to prevent the ten- dency of the bait to rise to the surface. LIVE-BAITING. 135 Curiously enough the tackle I have been describing very nearly fulfils them all when its mode of attachment to the bait is changed from the lip and back either to the back and flank, vide ji engraving, or to the back and pectoral fin, (position shown in miniature live-bait, illustrating jMr. Jardine's tackle, p. 169, but the top hook inserted further back, quite behind the dorsal fin, m fact). This shifts the bait from perpendicular to horizontal, or, better, with head pointing rather downwards. In the tackle itself, the only change is the brazing on of the small hook, a {vide cut), to the two large ones laterally instead of in the ordinary position. The adjustable back hook, which is intended to pass through the back, under, or behind, the in- sertion of the dorsal fin, b, can easily be moved up and down on the line in the same way that a lip hook is moved on a spinning flight, by pushing the gimp up- wards or downwards through the metal loops, c r, and tightening the coils from the opposite end. The back hook, l>, having been attached, the small lateral hook, a, is now inserted under a small strip of the outer side-skin, so as to keep the double hooks in their proper position close to the side of the bait, as shown in the miniature diagram above ; or else under the insertion of the pectoral fin as described. If the small hook were not brazed on laterally, the large double hooks, d d, would stand further away from the bait and would SNAP LIVE-BAIT TACKLE. 136 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. be proportionately more unsightly and less efficient. The tackle shown is of the proper size for a dace 6^ in. long, a very fair medium size. A very good variation of this tackle, and one excellently well suited to large baits and long casting, is that which has been for many years very generally in use at Slapton Ley. It consists of two large triangles ; the ui)]ier (and larger) one with a metal loop at the end of the shank, through which the gimp passes freely, and the lower one lapped on to the end of the trace in the ordinary way. The mode of baiting is precisely the same as that just described — and elsewhere indicated, with a diagram, by Mr. Jardine — where the insertion of the pectoral fin is the point of attachment for the lowest triangle. The difference — which is merely one of detail, not of princij)lc — is that instead of the triangles consisting of 2. large hooks and i small one, the hooks in each triangle of the Slapton Ley tackle are all of the same size, and the effect of the lip hook, for shortening or lengthening the tackle, is obtained by twisting the gimp several times round the shank of the upper triangle before passing the latter through the back just behind the dorsal fin. \\'ilh this method tin- bait ran easily ])e cast 30, or even 40 yards, when there is a fovourahle wind. 'i'he bait should always hang slighlly head downwards, which prevents its attempting constantly to swim to the surface of the water, antl kee])s it in its pro])er i)osition without in any degree interfering with its l)erfect freedom of motion. The float (half-si/.e) re])rescnte(l, which is the ingenious invention of Mr. R. P.. Marston, editor of the I'isliii;;^ Gazette, has the advantage of being detached in a moment from the line through the slit, so that a larger or smaller float can be substituted I.IVF.-nAIT FLOAT, HAM' SIZK. LIVE-BAITING. 137 without any loss of time on a change of baits ; it has been registered under the title of the ' Fishing Gazette Float.' In order to fish very deep water, the Nottingham or ' tra- velling' float (figured at page 215), made sufficiently large to bear up the weight of the bait and line, may be used. With this tackle there is practically no limit to the depth that can be effectually fished. It will be found a convenience for keeping the reel line from sinking and becoming entangled with the live bait, to ' thread ' three or four pieces of cork about the size of a cherry at a dis- tance of two feet apart. These can be put on with a baiting needle before beginning, and the elasticity of the corks will generally suffice to keep them in their positions. They have the additional advantage in that when the float disappears under the surface they indicate the direction which the fish has taken. The trace below the running line should be divided into two parts — that above the lead, and that below. That above, say 2 ft. or 2^ ft., may be made either of stained gimp or twisted gut, or in fact of either of the materials already mentioned as suitable for spinning traces. The lead itself should be what is known as ' pipe-shape,' and it should be prevented from slipping off the trace by the latter being attached to a hook swivel, the loop of which will prevent the lead slipping over and will be found very convenient for the purpose of changing flights. The arrangement of the lead and swivel is shown in the diagram, the trace being continued upwards (2 ft. or 2\ ft.) from the point marked a, and, for the ' below lead ' portion \\ ft. of gimp with the flight being attached to the hook swivel p.. A lead of the shape shown is neater, and shows less in the water than one of the bullet form, and is therefore preferable. FOR I KAD LIVr,-BAITIN(, AND LOOi SWIVEL. 138 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. Both lead and float, as to its lower part, should be painted with some dark green or weed colour tint ; or, failing this, var- nished with Brunswick black. The upper part of the float shoul^ be painted black, as that colour shows better than any other ; at twenty-five or thirty yards ofl" in roughish water, a white or green topped float is often very difficult to see, and the fisher- man is, so to speak, kept making shots at a target without any hull's eye. The trolling rod used for spinning will also answer perfectly in every respect for live-bait fishing, using one of the shorter tops already mentioned, page 12. In live-bait fishing with this tackle, a fish should be struck the moment a ' run ' is perceived, that is, when the float goes under water or moves away with greater rush and rapidity than the bait itself could be supposed to exert. The stroke should be a sharp one as recommended in spinning, and continued until a violent tearing struggle is felt ; it will frequently hap])en otherwise that whilst the troUer thinks his pike is hooked, the kilter is merely holding on to the bait at his proper pleasure. LIVE-BAITS. The best live-bait, according to my experience, is either a small dace or a very large gudgeon, that is, for clear waters, and except where pike run unusually large. In the latter case, or where waters are much discoloured, bigger bails with brighter scaling will be found more effective, and there are some very successful live-bait fishers in my experience who use nothing but roach. I would impress again, however, upon the reader that wiih every description of pike snap-tackle, whether spinning or live- baiting, the larger the bait, the greater the chances against hooking the fish, and this is a rule to which from necessity no tackle can be exce]it<-d. Four or five ounces is about the maximum weight which ran be ])roi erly used on live-bait snaj)- tackle with any reasonable certainty of hooking a fish. When LIVE-BAITING. 139 larger baits are necessary, and I have known several cases in which fish of half a pound and upwards were commonly used, recourse should be had to the live-bait gorge-tackle. Where pike are over-fed or obstinately shy of the ordinary bait, it would be as well to try them with gold-fish, with which I have succeeded in catching pike under circumstances that gave me considerable faith in them. If gold-fish are not forth- coming, a small carp will also form a variety and be found a killing as well as a long-lived bait. To quote from myself — if it is permissible — 'the principle which is so generally admitted in the case of men and the higher animals, holds good also in that of fish : if you want to attract them and stir their appetites, offer them a novelty — no matter what — but something that they have not been accustomed to. Thus, as a rule, were I fishing a river in which there were no "ground swimmers," I should try a gudgeon ; if there were no surface swimmers, a dace or a bleak ; and so on. ' How, if not upon this principle, is to be explained the indisputable fact that the " spoon," at first so deadly both for pike and trout, is now almost disused on many waters where it was originally most successful? Indeed, so convinced am I that " novelty hath charms " even for the rugged breast of the pike that I have more than once been on the point of rigging up a plated fork instead of a spoon, to try conclusions with ! ' In stew ponds, where pike are kept and regularly fed, not only eels, but also frogs form a most acceptable variation of the dietary. A friend of mine, when living not far from Great Marlow, had in his gardens a stew pond which was kept well stocked with pike by supernumerary captures out of the neigh- bounng Thames. Some of these jack were of easily recog- nisable size and had their own names, to which, indeed, local tradition said that they were in the habit of responding when called. I have often watched Thomas, the tyrant undisputed of this small watery domain, and I have noticed that the observation was mutual. I have watched to see whether the state of domesticity, so to speak, would have any corresponding I40 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISIL effect upon his character, and whether when I threw him a frog and addressed him caressingly as 'Tommy,' the steely cold glance of his motionless eyes would soften, and possibly the corners of his grim mouth relax into a convivial smile. When I threw him the frog, the corners of his mouth did, indeed, relax, but, alas ! it was only for the purpose of enclosing therein the savoury morsel. Was it a judgment upon him for his in- gratitude, that my amphibious offering was very nearly proving his destruction ? . . . ' Charley ' was the next sized pike in the pond, and unperccived by me, was lying under the broad leaves of some water-lilies not two yards in front of the spot where the frog was thrown. The result was that both fish simultaneously rushed forward open-moutlied, and 'Charley' being rather the smaller of the two, fairly darted into the extended jaws of his vis-ct-vis. It appeared at first likely that one or both would be choked, but eventually they managed to separate, with probably no worse effects than some scratches on one side and a few broken teeth on the other. It would seem, however, from the following account, written by Mr. Edward H. Cooper, in the pages of Land and Water, that it is by no means impossible to more or less tame a pike in a stew-pond. A pike who offers his back to be 'stroked with a small stick ' may be considered to have made consider- able progress on the road towards domesticity. When I was residing in Suffolk as a country clerqA'man, says Mr. Cooper, I became acquainted with various peculiarities dis- played in the pike tribe, the relation of wliich, I think, may prove interesting to the readers of Land and Water. Having to use water from a small pond for all domestic pur- poses, I procured a small pike about eight inches long, and as nearly as I could judge about nine months to a year old, certainly not more (but I have found by experience that the size of fish much depends upon the quantity of food they are able to piocure, more so than upon mere age). The purpose for which I got the pike in question, was to keep the pond, which was an artificial one, free from all water delilcrs, as frogs, newts, lizards, and dragon lly larvie. Tiiis he speedily did, and most rapidly increased in bulk. LIVE-BAITING. 141 A bout three months after the fish had been placed in the pond, it was coated over with ice, and remained so most of the winter. Consequently I lost sight of my pike until the return of the following spring, when he made his re-appearance at the surface of the water, veiy much thinner, it is true, but grown certainly four inches. Having cleared the pond of all kinds of beetles and other aquatic food, I had to resort to other means of keeping the fish alive. For this purpose I used to throw into the pond daily three or four frogs, which the pike greedily devoured before they had a chance of escaping. As the summer advanced, the number of frogs were increased to eight or ten a day, all of which were most eagerly taken, as also were large worms, small ones being rejected with scorn, even if they came invitingly close to the jaws of the fish. Regularly every morning Jack would rise to the surface as soon as he saw me approaching the pond, and instantly begin to wag his tail and fins with delight, and apparent joy ; he would then follow me round the pond several times in succession to receive his allowance of frogs, and even allow himself to be quietly stroked down the back with a small stick. This continued until the month of October, when the pike would be about two years old ; unluckily a scarcity of frogs began to make itself apparent in my garden, so having found a ground lizard under a creeping plant, I resolved to try whether or no the pike would eat it. No sooner had I thrown the reptile into the pond, than it was seized and devoured, but with this unfortunate result ; in half an hour after swallowing the land lizard, the pike became uneasy, and commenced to swim backwards and forwards as if in pain, and this continued with increasing vehemence eveiy hour until the following day, when having com- pletely changed his colour to a sickly ashen hue, he turned over and died. Upon getting the pike out of the water, I found that it weighed just upon four pounds : its body was very bloated. I did not, how- ever, examine the contents of its stomach. According to some, there is a special antipathy between the pike and the frog, the latter fixing himself upon the pike's head and endeavouring to eat out its eyes. Dubravius, Bishop of Bohemia, is quoted by Walton as having been witness to one of these experiments in optics. The bishop, he says, that had beheld the battle, called his 1^2 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. fisherman to fetch his nets, and by all means to get the pike, that they might declare what had happened ; and the pike was drawn forth, and both his eyes eaten out ; at which, when they began to wonder, the fisherman wished them to forbear, and assured them he was certain that pikes were often so served. A recent writer, commenting on these alleged practices of the frog, describes how Some four years ago, about the middle of April, while sauntering by the side of a large pond, I espied, not far off", and drifting towards me, a frog, seated on what I at first supposed to be a piece of rail. On a nearer approach I found that, instead of a piece of rail, froggie was composedly squatted on the back part of the head of a 5 lb. or 6 lb. pike. The fish leisurely swimming on the top of the water passed within three yards of the spot where I was standing. I never witnessed a similar circumstance before or since. Further on he says : — As to the eating of the eyes, I am rather sceptical on that point ; but that frogs occasionally locate themselves on the heads of pike there can be no doubt ; but the question is, what takes them there? Can it be that in spring some pike are afflicted with a fungus or parasite on their heads and backs, and that the said parasite is so appetising a morsel for the frog that he braves all dangers in order to obtain the coveted bonne Iwiichc^ and that the pike (at this particular season), out of gratitude, spares the frog's life .^ — a mutual understanding having taken place between them, after the manner of Herodotus' story of the trochilus and the crocodile, wherein he relates that * the crocodile, when he gets out of the water on land, open his jaws, and then the trochilus enters his mouth and swallows the leeches. The crocodile is so well pleased with this service that he never hurts the little bird. The outcome of enquiry into tliis subject institiUcd some time ago by a (lerman paper devoted to fishing suhjctts, appears to Ijc that tlic fro^s which have been noticed on the iicads of pike and, jjcrhaps, other species, did not occupy that 'coign of vantage' f(jr the piupose of obtaini)ig a dinner, hut rather that the explanation of tlic matter is to be found in the LIVE-BAITING. 143 sexual instinct so strongly developed in the frog at certain seasons of the year. My attempts to fascinate my friend's large pike remind me of what once happened to Lady Barrow, at that time better known as the beautiful Miss Croker, who fancied that by the dominant power of the human eye, and doubtless of her own beaux yeux in particular, she would fascinate a grisly old African Hon, ci la Van Amburgh. The experiment appeared to be proceeding successful!}^, when suddenly the object of it sprang up, and with a mighty roar dashed himself furiously against the bars of the cage. The effect was electrical. Most of the spectators took to their heels, while the beautiful operator herself fell back fainting into the arms of one of the party — I believe the Duke of Wellington — who was, of course, accus- tomed to being 'lionised.' The quantity of food a pike will consume in a stew-pond, and his consequent growth rate are points upon which opinions and experiences differ widely, and to procure positive data upon must clearly be a matter of great difficulty. One writer mentions that eight pike, of about five pounds each, consumed nearly 800 gudgeons in three weeks, and that the appetite of one of them was almost insatiable. There is no doubt, however, that this dietary is far below the limit which might be reached. Mr. Stoddart, in his ' Angler's Companion ' (p. 29S), makes a curious calculation of the ravages committed by pike in the Teviot, and also states that in some lochs in Scotland the fish has been known to eat its own weight of baits every day. From frequent opportunities of watching the feeding and management of pike in stews, I should say that a fish of five or six pounds Avould eat, if permitted, at least twice its own weight of fish every week ; wliilst, on the other hand, it can be ahnost starved for a very considerable period without suffering perceptibly ; and in one instance already alluded to, namely, that of the pike in the Zoological Gardens, the increase of ^Yeight has only been i^ lbs. in ten years. This capacity of 144 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. existing under such opposite extremes of diet throws an addi- tional difficulty in the way of drawing, from the growth rate in stews (where only it can be conveniently tested), a correct deduction as regards that in ordinary waters, as we are deprived of the means of gauging the amount of food really required. Of one point, however, I have fully satisfied myself, viz. that during the first year the maximum growth, in open water, does not much exceed half a pound. The grounds for this conclusion are briefly as follows : — Pike spawn in March or April ; in June, when pike-fishing properly commences, I have not unfrequently taken, and seen taken, with the net, small jack of about an ounce, or a little more, in weight ; in September, again, I have, with a minnow, constantly taken them of three or four ounces ; and in January and February specimens of from fire to seven ounces ; whilst I have never, within my memory, caught the smaller sized fish at the later periods, or vice versa, thus pointing closely to the inference that at these seasons there were young jack of these respective sizes, and none others — m other words, that the different sizes represented the different stages of growth. These I beheve to be the fish of about j lb. of the following season. With regard, however, to the growth rate of pike in open waters doctors again differ, and it has been by various authors estimated variously at from i lb. to 5 lbs. a year. My own experience as to pike growth — I am not now speaking of the growth during the first year— leads me to believe that the above wide divergency of opinion is very likely not so far from being justified by facts as might be supposed, and that the growth rate of pike in open waters is susceptible of very great variation, depending upon the nature of the water and other circumstances, but principally upon the amount of food sup- plied to them. The following correspondence took place on this subject in the Field some years ago, and as the experience of the writers is personal and apparently trustworthy, the letters may probably be of interest : LIVE-BAITING. 145 GROWTH OF PIKE. I think it possible that * J. B. H. ' (who asked a question about the growth of pike last week) may be glad of the little infor- mation which I can give (the result of my experience). A few years ago I stocked a piece of water five acres in extent with pike. The piece of water is near Lymington, the property of my brother. I can positively state that there were no pike in the water when I stocked it. I put in some pike, all of them under i lb. each in weight, in the early autumn. Exactly three years afterwards, in the early autumn, I caught two pike in that piece of water, each weighing 12 lbs. I am sorry that I cannot commence calculating the increase of weight from March, after the spawning season. In this piece of water, therefore, the pike increased in weight nearly 4 lbs. a year. The piece of water is well stocked with roach and other small fish, and has a gravelly bottom generally. — Sidney Burrard (The Mount, Isle of Wight, Dec. 10). In June, 1855, Richard Briscoe, Esq., whilst fishing in Melbourne Pool, Derbyshire, caught a pike which weighed 20 lbs. This fact is' interesting as being one step towards solving the question of the progressive growth of pike. The pool was emptied of water and cleaned out, and stocked with pike and other fish on Dec. 16, 1847, so that this pike had grown to that weight in rather more than eight years and five months. This pike was 3 ft. 3 in. long and 18 in. in girth round the shoulders. His head was small in pro- portion, his body in prime condition, beautifully marked, bright and symmetrical in shape, and the fish was evidently in the prime of life. I once saw a pike on August 26, which was in good condition, but a very old fish ; and although it measured 3 in. longer than the one just described, and about the same in girth, it only weighed 16 lbs., or 4 lbs. lighter. This fish had lost some of its teeth, and had the most ferocious shark-like head I ever saw in a pike. It is generally supposed that pike grow more rapidly in Mel- bourne Pool than the Trent. Mr. Kinsey, of Melbourne, put a pike into a well when a few inches long ; food was given to it for several years, but it grew very slowly, and at last reached 3 lbs. It lived fourteen years, and latterly became very tame — so much so as to take food from the hand. If a worm were tied to a string and put II. L 146 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. into the water, it would seize it with great avidity, and rather than loose its hold allow itself to be lifted out of the water. By constant teasing in this manner it became very shy, and upon anyone ap- proaching the well, dived to the bottom and secreted itself. In order to prevent it being annoyed the owner put a haystack over the mouth of the well, so that during one whole summer it lived in total darkness.— John Joseph Briggs (King's Newton, Derby). My experience is not exactly in the form 'J. B. H.' wishes, though possibly what I can state of my own knowledge may be acceptable. I placed in a mill-pond of about two acres, fed by a strong stream, the finny denizens of which consisted entirely of carp, roach, and perch, a small jack (secured with a wire about six inches long). It was a female ; and once in each of the three following years, and about the same period, I caught and weighed her. She increased in each year exactly 4 lbs. I then turned in another, which proved a male. The pair bred for three seasons ; and in walking round the water on any day in summer, I could see the produce of those years (I once witnessed the operation of spawning) basking. The first did not exceed lilb., the second ^ lb., and the third not 3 oz. The little fish would then be two and a half years, one and a half years, and half a year old, or thereabout. I added other larger fish, which I have reason to believe made equally rapid growth as their parent fish, and 1 attribute it solely to a change of water. It is commonly thought that pike take their prey by a stealthy rush. It may generally be thus ; but I have in more than one instance seen a most exciting chase. One especially rises to my mind in this very water. A fish of about 4 lbs. had separated a large roach from the shoal, and followed his prey as persistently, turn for turn, as a greyhound would a hare. The fish were in sight for probably two minutes, in shallow water, and neither seemed to gain or lose an inch. Both were completely exhausted. What the result was I never knew, as eventually they got into deep water, to my great disappointment. Occasionally Master Jack would try to check the course of Miss Silverside, by (I have no better term) sucking in water, and discharging it through the gills. This had momentary effect ; but he ' took nothing by the motion,' as the operation told on his own speed. On another occasion the fish succeeded in taking his prey, commonly the result, I believe. — Glan NAxNT. LIVE-BAITING, 147 I extract the following from the published works of the authors mentioned : — ■ Nobbes says : — One pike of 40 inches might haply be of as many years standing; not that a pike grows just about an inch a year, for that is a thing that is hard to determine ; some grow faster, some slower, accord- ing to the diversity of their water and their feed. River fish are thought to grow much faster than pond fish, except the pond be very large and have a good stream run through it ; for there is nothing helps so much to the feeding of pike as fresh water. Jacks or pickerels grow faster than great ones, and I have observed in a clear and springing brook that a jack spawned in March will take a bait in October following, and will be increased to 18 inches the next March (?), In standing water, as moats and ponds, he grows nothing so fast ; for to try the experiment I have taken one out with a cast-net in May, measured him and marked him on his tail, and about Michaelmas I have taken the same fish, and he hath not increased in length above 2 inches, and very little in breadth. A river fish will grow very fast until he come to be 24 or near 30 inches, then he stands a little more at a stay, and spreads himself in thickness ; after that he will grow a long time, and be much longer growing to his full bigness from 30 inches than he was increasing to that proportion. The following is 'Ephemera's' opinion : — Young pike grow rapidly, and it is said by the end of the first year attain a weight of 2 lbs. I doubt it, and am persuaded that pike do not each add every year a pound to its weight. They may do so for a few years, but the time comes when their growth is stationary (!), size varying according to their good and bad con- dition, which is regulated by food and the seasons of the year. (From Yarrell): — ' Block says the young reach the length of 8 to 10 inches the first year; 12 to 14 inches the second; 18 to 20 inches the third ; and there are proofs on record that from this last size, pike, if well supplied with food, will grow at the rate of 4 lbs. a year for six or seven successive years. Rapid growth requires to be sus- tained by a proportionate quantity of food.' ' Piscator ' (' Practical Angler,' p. 240) has the following : — The pike is a rapid-growing fish, though his increase in bulk 148 riKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. will depend in a great measure on the supply he can obtain. Instances have occurred of their growing at the rate of 4 lbs. a-year for several years, in proof of which Mr. Jesse states that he saw three pikes taken out of a pond in Staffordshire belonging to Sir S. C. Jervoise, two of which weighed 36 lbs. The pond was fished every seven years ; so that supposing store pike of 6 or 7 lbs. were left in, the growth of the pike in question must have been at least to the extent above stated. Still I apprehend that it can only be under very favourable circumstances that such a rapid increase in growth will take place ; and from the result of my own observations in the different waters I have fished, I am inclined to think that an annual increase of about 2 lbs. is nearer the usual average ; and in small hungry waters I am certain the growth is much less, . . . whilst Griffiths states that in its first year it is often 1 1 or 12 inches long ; in the sixth has been known to measure 6 feet, and in the twelfth about 7 or 8 feet, . . . very probably, also, as is known to be the case with tench and carp (and the same is also believed with respect to trout), the progeny are inclined to grow large or small in proportion to the parent stock from which the race is propagated. * The growth of pike,' says Dr. Badham, 'under favourable circumsta.nce3, during the earlier portion of life is occasionally at the rate of 4 lbs. per annum ; after twelve years he diminishes probably to i or 2 lbs., and lessens still more as age advances.' Bowlker says : — The young are supposed to be of very quick growth, the first year it arrives at the length of from 6 to 10 inches ; the second 12 to 15 ; and ibe thiid from 18 to 20 inches. According to Hofland, 'if well supi)lied with food and suitable water, they will increase in weight from 3 to 4 lbs. annually ;' and Stoddart states that he ascertained pretty accu- rately that the average weight of a two-year-old Teviot fish runs from 2 to 5 lbs. (a tolerably wide margin !) The following is an extract from a letter which I received from Dr. Genzik : — In Moravia this year a cousin of mine found in one of his carp ponds where always small pikes are put in, and is fished regularly every three years, a pike in splendid condition of 44 lbs. Austrian. LIVE-BAITING, 149 The pond is always drawn and gets nearly dry for at least ten days before it is again filled and fresh stocked. How many times this jack escaped the nets of the wading men I have no idea ; but the Verwaller (bailiff) of the estate assured me that just eighteen years ago this tank or pond lay quite dry for the whole winter and spring till harvest and they made hay on the dry ground, after- wards it was filled and stocked again. At whatever rate, however, the pike grows, whether rapidly or slowly, the one point beyond dispute is that he does grow, and that to a size which, when he is suffered to attain to his full development, would probably astonish this sceptical age of anglers, who will scarcely believe even in Mr. Alfred Jardine's twenty- and thirty-pounders, although produced in evidence, both cast and stuffed at the Fisheries' Exhibition. So far as this species is concerned, the exhibition of casts of fish by Mr. Jardine and others, few as they were numerically, sounded, I believe, the death knell of taxidermy. In all that constitutes the perfection of simulation or the art of making the unreal appear as the real, casting is immeasur- ably ahead of fish-stuffing. You have, in fact, the exact repre- sentation of the fish, scale for scale, as he appeared fresh out of the water, in full length and unshrunken proportions. With a stuffed fish, on the contrary, neither his length nor his girth is ever really accurate. Fish vertebrae are separated by a sort of gelatinous substance, forming a separation between the several joints, which, after a short time, becomes desiccated or dried up, thus contracting the several bones and shortening not inconsiderably, the total length. A similar shrinking pro- cess, though from somewhat different causes, takes place in the girth. The colouring also in the cast is that of the fish just after his decease — Before decay's effacing fingers Have swept the lines where beauty lingers. And last, not least, the fish-casting is practically inde- structible by time, and does not cause the disagreeable smell produced by the old mummified specimens of the art of the ISO PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. taxidermist, no matter how scientifically tittivated in the ordi- nary manner. Besides Mr. Jardine's ' pike aforesaid, — alone worth going to the Exhibition to see — there was in the same gallery a very beautiful cast of a grayling of about 2 lbs. weight, which was a model of fish-loveliness, and seemed to do everything but swim. I am very sorry that I have for- gotten the names of the artists by whom these casts were made, so that I am not able to associate their names with their exhibits. To return. There is, as I was observmg, a civil sort of disbelief amongst modern writers and their readers as to the accounts of very large pike, although these are handed down to us in many cases by witnesses in every way credible. The prevailing impression appears to be that a weight of 30 lbs., or at the utmost 40 lbs., is about the real maximum of weight •attained by this fish. I could easily refer, however, to many attested examples of pike having been taken in the British Islands up to the weight of 70, 80, or even 90 lbs. ; but a single instance, too well authenticated to admit of doubt, will suffice. I refer to the case of the Kenmure Pike — mentioned also by Daniel in his ' Rural Sports,' and by Dr. Grierson and other authors — the weight of which was 72 lbs. It was taken in Loch Ken, Galloway, a sheet of water belonging to Kenmure Castle, 7vhere the head of the fish is still presen'ed, and may be seen by anyone sufficiently curious or sceptical to desire ocular demon- stration. To the Hon. Mrs. Bellamy Gordon, of Kenmure Castle, my best acknowledgments are due for an interesting account, written on the spot, of this gigantic pike and its capture, as well as for a photograph of the head of the fish, as it now appears, with its proportions. These latter would be scarcely intelligible without the assistance of the photograph ; but, to give a general idea of the size of the fish, I may quote one measurement — * The fish casts exhibited by Mr. Jardine were, I understand, executed by my friend, the late Mr. Frank Buckland, and painted by Rolfe. LIVE-BAITING. 151 that across the back of the head, the width of which was nine inches. Of this pike, Stoddart says that it is the largest known to have been captured in Scotland with the rod and fly. Colonel Thornton, however, in his ' Sporting Tour,' refers to one taken from an insignificant sheet of water on Lochaber, of the extra- ordinary weight of 146 lbs., and in Loch Alvie, which is not far distant, he himself caught one that measured 5 ft. 4 in. in length, and which weighed 48 lbs. This fish Colonel Thornton states he caught with a gorge-hook ; but Hofland has this note on the subject: — 'The gallant Colonel has been celebrated for the use of the long bow, and I have heard it stoutly asserted on the other side of Tweed, that the fish was taken with a Trimmer ! ' Again, as to the measurements, ' Piscator ' (' Prac- tical Angler ') gives the length at 4 ft. i in. from eye to fork, extreme length 4 ft. 9 in., instead of 5 ft. 4 in. as stated by its captor ; and even in the question of the locus in quo, as to which one would suppose that he could not be mistaken, the Colonel's accuracy has been grossly impugned, for Daniel asserts positively that the water in which the fish was captured was not Loch Alvie, but Loch Paterliche ! Well hast thou said, Athene's wisest son, All that we know is — nothing can be known. The attempt to delineate a great fish, or the taking of him, must certainly exercise some mystifying influence upon the piscatorial mind, for we find even Stoddart, generally so ac- curate, when alluding to the celebrated Kenmure pike, going out of his way to describe him as having been taken with the fly, whereas, from the account which I have in my possession, written on the spot by the desire of Mrs. Bellamy Gordon, it is clear that he was captured by the spinning-bait Sir John Hawkins in his notes to the ' Complete Angler ' mentions the case of a pike taken in 1765 in a pool at Lillishall Lime Works, which weighed 170 lbs., and had to be drawn out by several men with a stout rope fastened round the gills. 152 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. In the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the head of a pike is stated to have been preserved, the owner of which turned the scale at 70 lbs. ; but the curator of the museum informs me that this head is not now in the collection. The capture of a pike weighing 96 lbs. in Broadwood Lake, near Killaloe, is chronicled by the author of the 'Angler in Ireland,' by Mr. Robert Blakey, and by 'Ephemera' in his 'Notes to Walton's Angler' (1853). Each of these authors, however, introducing just sufficient variations in the weight of the fish and other accessories as to impart an agreeable air of novelty to his account The first historian of this Irish pike was, so far as I can make out, ' Piscator,' author of the ' Practical Angler,' who gives the additional particulars that ' when carried across the oar by two gentlemen, neither of whom was short, the head and tail actually touched the ground,' so that the length of this pike (putting the men only at 5 ft. 6 in., and allowing nothing for the curve of the fish over the oar) must have been close upon 10 feet. But then perhaps they were Irish feet ? A pike of 90 lbs., however, was stated a year or two ago in the Field to have been actually killed at that time in the Shannon ; and Patrick Hearns of Ballina read in a local paper that ' a monster pike has been found dead on one of the Ballina Lakes. He was driven ashore by the great storm ; he was above 60 lbs.' From Lake Constance we read of one of 130 lbs. : — It may interest some of your readers that on May 22 last a monster pike of 60 kilos (about 130 lbs. English) was caught by net in the Lake of Constance by two fishermen named Adler- meister and Obermann. The fish was bought for 100 fr. by Mr. Stenermeister, of the Wiencrhof Hotel, at Kard, and when cut open a full-grown wild duck was found inside. My information is from the daily St. Gall paper of May 26, which I enclose. — John Knechtlv, 6 Carey Lane, London, E.C., June 4, 1877. In crossing the ocean we sliould naturally expect something ' big ' from our Transatlantic kinsmen, and accordingly in the LIVE-BAITING. 153 * American Angler's Guide ' we find that ' in a pool near New- port a pike was captured weighing 170 lbs.' — not a bad 'take' that, even for a Yankee trolier. Not long ago I received from the late Dr. Genzik of Lintz, who kindly furnished me with much interesting information concerning the Continental pike, some facts in regard to the size attained by these fish in Bavaria, the Tyrol, &c., which may probably be new to many of my readers. He assures me that, in the fish-markets of Vienna, Lintz, and Munich, pike are not unfrequently exposed for sale of 80 lbs. and 90 lbs. weight and upwards,' that at Obernenkirchen he himself saw a pike taken out of a large tank or preserve, which, after being cleaned, weighed 97 lbs. and some ounces ; and that an officer of Tyrolese Rifles informed him that whilst at Bregentz during the autumn of 1862 he was present when a pike was caught weighing upwards of 145 lbs. Dr. Genzik also testifies in a letter written to me some time ago that once when crossing the Gmunden Lake, he himself, in company with Mr. Hepburn, captain of the steamer, saw, not thirty yards from the boat, a pike jump high up into the air three times running; he was 'surely 18 ft. long.' It was close enough for him to see distinctly the ' large ribbons ' on his sides. The age attainable by pike is another debated point, and as I don't anticipate attaining to centenarian honours it is not likely that I shall be personally in a position to corroborate or contradict the statements of the orthodox on the subject. Your pitcher shall break on the musty shelf, And mine by the dazzling stream, as poor Gordon, of bright, but short-lived, Australian fame, 1 The fishermen on the Danube, near Strudel and Wirbel, have legends of pike 15 and 29 feet long, which break through all their nets ; and at Traunkirchen, on the Gmunden Water, there are still living some fishermen, who declare that about twenty years ago, when dragging the lake, they enclosed a pike longer than either of their boats, and that they began, as they expressed it, ' to say their prayers,' thinking the enemy was on their nets ; the pike, however, with one spring, jumped over the nearest boat and escaped. 154 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH writes in one of his spirited ballads. Pennant, whose respect- ability no one will presume to question, refers to a pike of ninety years old. Pliny considered it as the longest lived, and likely to reach the greatest age of any fresh- water fish ; whilst Sir Francis Bacon, agreeing in this view, limits its probable maxi- mum to forty years. Sir Roger L'Estrange has even gone to the length of complaining of this 'pike longevity,' which, as he quaintly observes, *is a pity, he being an absolute tyrant of the fresh water as the salmon is the king thereof.' Dr. Badham chronicles the age of one ' historic pike,' in the College-pond at Cambridge : — Almost every piece of water, says he, maintains some such tra- ditionary patriarch. Not long ago one of these hale old water-foxes was to be seen in a parallelogram college-pond at Cambridge, who still continued to champ the green duckweed with a smack, and to flounder heavily amongst the green water-lilies, on his veteran flank as he used to do in our pupilary days some twenty years back. He has seen out many a generation of bed-makers and ten-year men. The lodge has had many a new caput, and the kitchen many a new cook, since he first swam there ; yet amidst all these culinary changes, no masson has been permitted to lay f.-audulent hands upon him ; his safety is supposed to be identified with the interests of the college ; and thus protected by common consent from hook and every harm, want has from generation to generation been carefully met by his trusty nomenclator, a whistling gyp. A note adds : ' Since putting the above into type, we have learned with regret that burglarious hands have carried off an historic pike from the fellows' pond of the same college. May some ex ossibiis ultor from his ribs, stick in that fellow's throat for his crime ! ' The famous story of the pike with the brass ring round its neck that was put into the Kaiserwag Lake by one of the German emperors, and there lived to the age of 267 years, is probably familiar to us all, as it has been a sta[)le commodity with the book writers and book makers of every generation since the sixteenth century. I think I put the coping stone to the edifice which fact and fiction have conspired to rear on this foundation by producing from the old black-letter LIVE-BAITING. 155 volume of Conrad Gesner, an actual facsimile of the nng. But (I am thankful to say) these things are all written in the ' Book of the Pike,' to which I refer any of my readers who are curious on the subject. That in olden times it was the custom in some countries to put rings into the gills and round the necks of fishes there is no reason to doubt. ^ As late as 16 10 a pike was taken in the Meuse bearing a copper ring, on which was engraved the name of the city of Stavern and the date 1448. Even now the practice is not entirely extinct. Sacred fish are still to be found in different parts of the world. Sir J. Chardin saw, in his travels in the East, fish confined in the court of a mosque, with rings of gold and silver through their muzzles — not for ornament, but, as he was informed, in token of their being consecrated to some Oriental Deity, whose votaries, not content to leave trans- gressors to his resentment, took upon themselves the task of retribution, and killed upon the spot an Armenian Christian, who had ventured to violate the sanctity of the place. This eastern custom is alluded to by Moore in his 'Fire Wor- shippers ' : — ' The Empress of Jehan-Quire used to divert her- self with feeding tame fish in her canals, some of which were, many years afterwards, known by the fillets of gold which she had caused to be put around them.* . . . . . . • , Her birds' new plumage to behold. And the gay gleaming fishes count, She left all filleted with gold. Shooting around their jasper fount. Hznda, in the ' Fire Worshippers. Persia seems always to have been famous for its pike, to judge from the accounts of a Polish chronicler, whose name is unpronouncable if not unspellable. This writer vouches for * Mr. Pickering, the well-known publisher and collector of angling books, adopted as a sort of punning monogram on the title-pages of some of his volumes, a ring with a pike curved round it — ' a pike-ring,' in fact. This is the only pike-ring I know of that can really be brought ' to book. ' 156 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. one, at least, which survived to little short of a century under the protecting aegis of a certain Shah of illustrious memory. Probably it was this same Shah — as piscatorial pursuits and poetry seem to be so often united in the same person — who kept a *tame laureate,' and of whom an amusing story is told. The Shah one day wrote some verses himself and sent for the laureate to criticise them. * Hafiz,' said the monarch, ' is not that poetry ? ' The wretched bard struggled with his emotions, but his art was stronger than his courtiership, and prostrating himself on his face he ejaculated, ' May my soul be the penalty ! but it is bosh ! ' ' He is mad, he is an ass,' cried the Shah. 'Away with him to the stables.' To the stables he was accordingly taken, but after a little while the Shah wrote some more verses, and sent for the laureate to see if his taste had improved. * Dog,' said his master, when the recital was finished ; ' do you call that poetry ! ' 'Allah is wonderful !' exclaimed the miserable bard ; '■ takt me back again to the stables.' To return to the great ring story, Nobbes thus sums up his judgment : — Whether, says he, our faith will give us leave to believe the story of the ring or not, it is not material to our disquisitions, for though we cannot prove him to be so longevous as to reach hun- dreds, it is certain he will live to some scores of years, and one of 40 or 45 inches, which are of the largest size, may possibly count as many years as inches, and some of our own countrymen have known and observed a pike to come within ten years of the distinct age of man, and had lived longer had not fate hastened his death by a violent hand. In natural connection with this part of the subject, the limit of duration of life, occurs that of his coming of age so to sjicak — when does the young pickerel cast off his jackhood and become a pike ? LIVE-BAITING. 157 Walton says, at 2 ft.; Sir J, Hawkins, at 3 lbs.; Mr. Wood, at 2 lbs.; Salter, at 3 lbs. ; Hofiand, at 3 lbs., or when it ex- ceeds 24 in. in length; ' Piscator '(' Practical Angler') says 4 lbs. ; ' Glenfin,' 3 lbs. ; Mr. Blaine, 4 or 5 lbs. ; Carpenter, 3 lbs. ; 'Ephemera,' 4 lbs., in his ' Notes to Walton,' and 3 or 4 lbs. in his ' Handbook on Angling'; whilst Captain Williamson recognises no distinction, but calls them indiscriminately pike and jack. Under these circumstances, and considering that the dis- tinction— unlike that between the salmon and the grilse — is purely arbitrary, it would appear to be desirable that for the future an ' act of uniformity ' be passed ; and as the majority of writers seem to favour the 3 lbs. qualification, that standard might, perhaps, be adopted by general consent as the point at which the young pickerels ' cast off the jack ' and assume the full dignities of pikehood. The pike is far from being the only subject of what a corre- spondent calls ' fish declension.' The following quaintnesses of fish nomenclature are taken from a book published by Randal Home, A.D. about 1688. A Pike. — First a Hurling-pick, then a Pickerel, then a Pike, then a Luce or Lucie. A Perch. — First a Hurling, at a year old a Tranling, second year an Egling, third year a Stitchling ci Ferchiing, and lastly a Perch. A Roach.— Y'\x?,\ a Rud, then a Roachell or Roachet. then a Roach. A Salmon. — First a Shad, then a Sprat, then a Trout cr Salmon, then a Mort, then a Salmon Mcrt; then a Salmon Peal or Samlett or Young Salmon, then a Salmon, then a Scipper Salmon. A Skegger is a little salmon which will never be bigger. A Carpe. — First a Sizling, then a SproU cr Sprall, then a Caibe cr Karbe. A Lampron.—Y'ust a Barle, then a Barling, then a Lamprey cr Lampron. A Gorgeon or Gudgeon. — First a Sand Gressen, then a Grundel or a Grundlin, then a Gourgeon. An Eel. — First a Fansen, then a Grigg or Snigg, then a Scaffling, 158 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. then a little Eel, when it is large then an Eel, and when very large a Conger. A Smelt or Sparling. — First a Sprat, then a small Sparling, then a Sparling. A Miiinow. — First a Shad-bied, then a Sprat, then a Minnow. A Barbel. — First a Barbett, then a Barbaiett, then a Barb or a Barbell. A Loach. — First a Lochett, a young Loche, then a Loache. A Lamprey. — First a Lampron Grigg, then a Lampret, then a Lamprell, then a Lamprey. The fattening of pike in stew ponds has led me on insensibly, step by step, until I perceive how much I have meandered away from the direct path. I find, however, I have not quite done with the original text, so I must 'try back,' or, what would be more appropriate in a fishing essay, * make a cast.* Returning then to the frog-eating propensities of the pike, for he is the very king stork of fable, it is a curious thing that although he will even seize the most unsavoury of morsels, the toad, the inherent nauseousness of the animal saves it, I suppose, from being actually swallowed — its skin, like that of the lizard, containing a white acid secretion which exudes from small glands dispersed all over its body as well as from the two little knobs, in shape like split beans, behind the head, from which, upon pressure, the acid also escapes. To test this I used sometimes when feeding pike with frogs to throw them a toad, as it were accidentally, instead. It has usually been immediately snapped up and as immediately spat up again, — the same toad having thus passed a more than Jonah-like ordeal through the jaws of almost every fish in the pond, and escaped with but little injury after all. Although, however, the pike appears to exercise a discrimina- ting taste in certain cases, there are very few things which, in a state of hunger he will not swallow or, at least, attack. Both land and water rats are frequent victims. Sometimes they are swallowed but more often ejected as in the case of the ♦^oad, whether, as Captain Williamson suggests, owing to 'the resist- ance the rat miikes, which I have witnessed to be very fierce — LIVE-BAITING. 159 and under water too — or whether owing to the hair or scent dis- pleasing them, I know not, but they do not appear to be very partial to the quadruped.' Rats which have once been gripped by a pike rarely appear to recover. They may, not unfrequently, be found dead in the weeds and bearing evident marks of pike's teeth. One very large brown rat which I thus found had the head and fore part of the body crushed almost flat by the pressure to which it had been subjected. The marvel, however, is not that these animals should often die of their injuries, but that they should ever succeed in escaping from the triple chevaux defrise with which the jaws of the pike are armed. An anecdote taken from Mr. Buckland's charming collection of ' Curiosities of Natural History,' illustrates the formidable nature of these teeth, even when at rest. When at Oxford, he says, I had in my rooms the dried head of a very large pike, captured in Holland. It was kept under a book- case. One evening, whilst reading, I was much surprised, and rather alarmed, to see this monstrous head roll out spontaneously from below its resting-place and tumble along the floor ; at the same time piteous cries of distress issuing from it. The head must be bewitched, thought I ; but I must find out the cause. Accordingly I took it up, when, lo and behold ! inside was a poor 'little tame guinea-pig, which was a pet, and allowed to run, with two companions, about the room. With unsuspecting curio~ity, master guinea-pig had crept into the dried expanded jaws of the monster, intending, no doubt, to take up his abode there for the night. In endeavouring to get out again he found himself literally hooked. Being a classical guinea-pig, he might have construed facilis descensus AverrJ, it is an easy thing to get down a jack's mouth, sed revocare gradum^ &;c., but it is a precious hard job to get out again. The scratched prisoner was only at last rescued from its Regulus-like incarceration by Mr. Buckland cutting a passage for him through the fish's gills, and thus enabling him to make his exit a iergo. To the sharpness of the teeth in the mouth of this particular pike I can bear witness, having received unpleasant proof of i6o PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. the fact when carelessly withdrawing my hand from an exa- mination of its contents. Before taking leave of live-baiting with the float it may be mentioned that the best time for the use of the live bait is generally (in rivers) after the water has cleared, or nearly so, after the first winter's flood. This sweeps the fish into the eddies and mouths of dykes, &€. ; spots in which the live bait can be much better worked than in the open river. Indeed, float fishing with the live bait where there is any considerable current is almost useless. In winter the fish lie nearer the bottom than they do in summer, and the bait at this time of year should not swim above the bottom more than one third of the total depth. Never leave the bait too long in one place but keep it moving either by the force of the current or by the aid of the rod and the hand. When it remains quiescent for a long time in the same spot it is most probable that it has hooked a weed. By the way, weeds should always be carefully removed from the bait ; notwithstanding his cosmopolitan voracity, and even his alleged partiality for a pickerel weed, I have never, to my knowledge, succeeded in inducing a pike to take a bait to which I knew that any portion of weed was adhering. Keep the bait also as much as possible in the water and as little as possible out of it. In the former case it is in the way of killing pike and keeping itself alive ; in the latter the position is reversed. To preserve its longevity as much as possible, as well as to prevent the hook breaking through, cast it with a light hand and not too far. Under the general heading of ' Pike Baits ' mention has been made of a recent idea of 'administering stimulants ' to live dace and roach with a view to increasing their longevity and activity. Mr. W. O. Chambers having lately ventilated the subject in the columns o{ ihQ Fishing Gazette, the following account of some practical experiments in carrying the idea into effect appeared in that paper : — UVE-BAITING. i6i BRANDY AND PIKE BAITS. Sir, — If, through the medium of your esteemed Fishing Gazette I may be allowed to thank Mr. W. O. Chambers for his splendid hint as to brandy being administered to bait before being used for pike fishing, I shall feel much obliged to you ; and, thanking Mr. Chambers, beg leave to state, at the same time, how 1 went to work and with what result. I started last Thursday week, about i o'clock, in search of my favourite sport, and reaching the spot where I intended to com- mence business, I took from my bait-can a nice bait, and gave it two or three drops of brandy, which seemed to have a remarkable effect on its nerves, and made it very lively whilst out of the water ; but in this case I had no opportunity of seeing what the after- effects were, for, as soon as I threw it into the water, it was instan- taneously taken by a nice pike of 6i lbs., which I landed successfully. No. 2 bait was also treated with a drop or two of something warm, and was thrown in ; this time I had more chance to see how he worked. By Jove ! sir, he went about like a small steam-engine under water, backwards and forwards, round and round with amaz- ing rapidity for about ten minutes, then under went my float, and I soon landed another nice fish of 5 lbs. No. 3 bait now coming on the scene was treated in like manner to his companions, and worked with even more vigour than No. 2 had done. He was allowed to swim about for about fifteen minutes, and away went my float again ; this fellow, however, I am sorry to say, got me hung up in the roots of a tree, so I lost him (for the present). No. 4 bait came next, and he also had some grog (cold), and was allowed only a few minutes to enjoy himself, and a 3-lb. fish was the result of that bait. No. 5 bait, and the last I had, after taking a parting drink, was soon swimming about well, and seemed to be in a great state of excitement, which proved fatal to him, as he was very soon attacked by a hungry-looking fish, measuring 2 ft. 7 in., and weighing ']\ lbs. ; this fellow gave me some capital sport, and after rather more than half an hour's good play he was lying with the other finny tribe of his own species on the grass. Thus, four pike I caught in about two hours, 7^ lbs., 6| lbs., 5 lbs., and 3 lbs., making a total of 22 lbs., which is rather an extraordinary take in these waters, and I firmly believe the greater part of my suc- cess was due to following Mr. W. O. Chambers' valuable hint in your Gazette^ Oct. 25th — viz., ' Give your bait a little brandy before II. M i62 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. using them.' I wonder if the smell of brandy attracts pike at all. Do you think it possible ? Or do you account for it in consequence of the extra liveliness of the bait through the dose of brandy ? Apologising for taking up your valuable space, — I am, &c., Maldon. A. S. Isaac. Commenting on this communication, Mr. Oldham Cham- bers writes : — The letter from Mr. Isaac fully establishes the views that I hold in relation to the effect noticed by him ; but some latitude must be given to the lively descriptive strain of this gentleman's letter. I disagree in toto with the sweeping assertions made by some of your correspondents as to the cruelty of the experiment in torturing the fish and inciting intoxication. One of your correspondents suggests that the brandy actually scorches or cauterises the delicate fibres of the fish, which, to ray mind, is as fallacious as the preceding statement. I entirely agree that to advocate cruelty would be most reprehensible ; but the administration of a small quantity of brandy, such as that employed in my experiment, could not possibly be the means of promoting inebriation or instigating cruelty. On the contrary', the experiment is perfectly harmless and of the greatest service to fish culture ; and for the information of your readers, perhaps you will allow me to explain the nature of respira- tion amongst fishes, which will furnish an idea of the effect pro- duced by the administration of spirits. For the due performance of respiration in fishes it is essential that the circulation of blood should be carried on with sufficient velocity to allow of the interchange of gases to take place. This is effected by means of the muscles in connection with the pharyngeal passaj^es driving the aerated water through the branchiae. Owing to the position of the heart, the blood is propelled through the re- spiratory apparatus before it proceeds to the system at large. The physiology of respiration in fishes is not dissimilar to other ver- tebrata ; since there must be nerve force to govern the respiratory movements, and control the supply of oxygen to the system, so also must there be a nerve centre, which is situated in the medulla oblongata, or that portion of the encephalon forming the junction between the brain and the spinal cord. When a fish is removed from the water death ensues from asphyxia, caused by carbonic acid poisoning due to the drying up of the membrane covering the gills. Therefore, the administration of brandy to a fish in this con- LIVE-BAITING. 163 dition serves as a means of preserving vital energy and maintaining the action of the heart for a certain period, but does not re-esta- bhsh respiration directly, as its action would be of little avail, the branchiae being in the state already alluded to. If the fish be aftei-- wards restored to water, the value of brandy as an aqua vitcB is at once apparent. The dormant energy becomes immediately awakened, the stimulant operates on the nerve centre, the water moistens the gill covers, the muscles are brought into play once more, and the organism which before was almost at the point of extinction manifests vital energy which we call ' life.' Henceforth * to drink like a fish,' will be an expression, it is presumed, in especial force amongst pike fishers. Should brandy and water, however, fail in any case to produce the desired revival, there will still be a chance left, viz. try the well-known alcoholic concoction beloved by the frequenters of American bars, called a ' corpse-reviver.' One other suggestion of a less bibulous character. If baits run short or seem likely to do so, it will generally be found better, instead of going on fishing with flabby or half-dead baits, to keep the bright lively baits on the hook as long as they last and when the bait can is exhausted to use up the defunct indi- viduals with spinning or gorge tackle. IIUXING. Before quitting the subject of live-baiting I may, perhaps, refer, though rather as a curiosity than as a practical method of live-baiting, to what is known amongst old writers as ' huxing.' Dame Juliana Berners, of oft-referred to memory, describes it thus : — ' Yf ye lyst to have good sporte thenne tye the corde [of your gorge line] to a gose [goose] flote ; and ye shall see god hulynge [ ? hauling] whether the gose or the pike shall have the better.' Barker also, in his ' Art of Angling,' refers to ' huxing ' in rhyme if not in rhythm. M 2 1 64 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. And that other fine trick, Which our artists call snap with a goose or a duck ; Will kill two for one if you have good luck ; The gentry of Shropshire do merrily smile, To see a goose and a belt the fish to beguile.* On this subject I may, perhaps, quote from the ' Book of the Pike.' I do not know whether the Shropshire gentlemen still include huxing amongst their favourite sports ; but it is not very long since it was practised on a reservoir near Glasgow, and also on the Scotch lakes Monteith and Lochmaben. An amusing account of an incident which happened to a Dumfries- shire farmer in the neighbourhood of the latter, is given by McDiarmid in his ' Sketch Book ; ' it is also quoted by Professor Rennie in the ' Alphabet of Angling ' : — Several years ago, he says, the farmer kept a gander, which not only had a great trick of wandering himself, but also delighted in piloting forth his cackling harem to weary themselves in cir- cumnavigating their native lake, or in straying amid forbidden fields on the opposite shore. Wishing to check this vagrant habit, he one day seized the gander just as he was about to spring into the water, and tying a large fish-hook to his leg, to which was attached a portion of a dead frog, he sufTcrcd him to proceed upon his voyage of discovery. As had been anticipated, this bait soon caught the eye of a pike, which, swallowing the hook, not only arrested the progress of the astonished gander, but forced him to perform half-a-dozen somersaults on the face of the water ! For some time the struggle was most amusing, the fish pulling and the bird screaming with all its might ; the one attempting to fly, and the other endeavouring to swim, from the invisible enemy ; the gander the one moment losing and the next regaining his centre of gravity, and casting between whiles many a rueful look at his snow-while fleet of geese and goslings, who car kled out their sympathy for their afllicted commodore. At length victory declared in favour of the feathered combatant, who, bearing away for the nearest shore, landed on the green grass one of the finest jiikcs ever caught in the castle-loch. This adventure is said to have cured the gander of his propensity for wandering ; but on this point we arc inclined to be a little sceptical. ' Harktr's Art of Ati^lin^. LIVE-BAITING. 165 The same author who refers to the huxing practised on Loch Monteith, also states that huxing, if it may be so called, by means of a kite — not feathered, but papered — was recently carried out with success on Slapton Ley, South Devon. All these eccentric inventions for killing pike, however, bear a suspicious resemblance to the trimmer, or as authors formerly used to call it, ' Floater,' of the legitimacy of which, as a sportsmanlike mode of pike-fishing, opinions have fortunately undergone a considerable change since Robert Salter (iSii) wrote that on 'large pools it afforded stronger exercise and greater variety of amusement than any other part of pool, fishing.' PATERNOSTERING. The only other branch of snap live bait fishing is ' pater- nostering.' The paternoster, the origin of which somewhat peculiar appellation I am unacquainted with, although occasion- ally used, and not without success, to take pike as well as perch — its more legitimate province — has been hitherto hardly considered as forming a branch of pike-fishing. The success, however, with which Mr. Alfred Jardine has lately developed and improved upon both the tackle and the mode of using it, has been such that this book would not be complete without some practical account both of the old and the new methods. The old tackle smiply consisted of a few yards of gut or gimp attached to a bullet (pear-shaped best), and having two single hooks, No. 8 or 9 — either gut or gimp, as the game attacked was either pike or perch — which stood out from half a foot to a foot from the main trace. For pike-fishing the first hook was usually attached to the gut say a foot above the lead, and the second one, where a second was used, from a foot to a foot and a half above that. The hooks are baited by being passed through the two lips of a minnow, gudgeon, or other bait, which is then allowed to sink to the bottom, in the eddies under banks, weirs, and in other likely holds. The line 166 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. is kept always stretched tight between the top of the rod and the lead, which should be generally as nearly as possible right under the rod point. The bite is detected by the feel. When pike-fishing with the paternoster, it is better to let the fish do a certain amount of ' pulling ' on his own account, before any attempt is made by the fisherman to assist the operation. When the tugging becomes severe, let the pater- nosterer play his part in the operation, by at once and strongly raising up the rod, which ought to have the effect of hooking the fish if he has got the bait well into his mouth. In any case striking is practically useless, as the hooks are small and single, and at a short distance do not require much pressure to drive them in over the barb. Moreover, by striking, if the fish is not caught, both baits are at any rate certain to be lost. The form of this paternoster and its mode of construction is so simple and easily described, that diagrams are probably unnecessary. Thus much as to the ordinary method of paternostering. Mr. Jardine's method before referred to, differs in several par- ticulars as regards both construction and method of working, and is of so much interest to trollers, that I am specially glad to have the opportunity of presenting my readers with an •account of his method, written by Mr. Jardine himself, which he has had the kindness to send to me for this purpose. I am glad to see that he has also given his views on some other branches of pike-fishing, which cannot fail to be of interest to all pike-fishers. But I leave him to speak for himself : — MR. JARDINE ON PATERNOSTERING FOR PIKE, ETC. * Although spinning for pike may be considered the most artistic way of fishing, yet I have always found paternostering most suc- cessful. ' My method is to use a 13-foot cane rod not too stiff, with large rings half inch diameter all of the same size, so that in the event of a tangle occurring in the line, it can pass through the rings easily, without checking the tish I may have hooked and am playing. To the LIVE-BAITING. 167 end of the line should be added 4 feet of salmon gut, slightly stained ; and looped on to that 18 or 24 inches (according to depth of water fished) of fine trout gut, with a \ oz. or f oz. plummet for sinker ; should you get " hitched up " and fixed fast to any obstruc- tion, you have only to use sufficient strain to break the fine gut, and all you lose is the plummet. Then at the loops connecting the trout and salmon gut, attach a single paternoster hook of square bend, size No. 10, bound on 12 inches of medium gimp — copper gimp pre- ferred, as it does not show so plainly in the water — and for the bait use a live dace (in preference to a gudgeon) about \\ inches long, hooked carefully through both lips, it living longer than when hooked through the upper lip only. Next draw off 8 or 10 yards of line from the reel and fish all the nearest water, gathering up the line slowly with the fingers into the palm of the left hand in a kind of figure-of-eight (8) coil (a knack easily acquired by practice), slightly lifting and dropping the point of the rod but always keeping a moderately tight line, insinuating the bait into likely corners, eddies, and between weeds, carefully searching all those places usually frequented by pike. Then throw again " off the palm " to other places, increasing the distances and pursuing this method until all the water round has been thoroughly fished. A bite is known by the bait being arrested or shaken, when a yard or two of line should be paid out, three or four seconds allowed for the pike to turn the bait head-first into his mouth, and a firm draw, rather than a strike, given to drive the hook well home ; if the pike runs at once on taking the bait, lift the point of the rod smartly and the fish will be instantly hooked ; if in his rush he takes up all the line in your hand you will have him on the reel, and it is well in playing a fish to get the line as quickly as possible on the reel^ as it prevents the chance of getting your line kinked or in a tangle, ' A fish under 3 lbs. carefully unhook and return to the water uninjured ; in patcrnostering a pike generally gets hooked some- where in the mouth, and is unhurt as he does not swallow the bail ; moreover you get much better sport by paternostering, the fish fighting against restraint only, and not suffering acute pain from having the throat lacerated or the inside torn up, as is the case when using dead or live-bait gorge, both of which are most cruel and unsportsmanlike ways of fishing. ' In spinning for pike, which perhaps nearer approaches the elegance of fly-fishing than any other method, use a rod similar to that for paternostering, a fine plaited Nottingham line waterproofed, 168 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. the trace about 5 feet long, of salmon gut ; a gimp flight of either the " Pennell" or "Thames" pattern, to match the length of bait, which in preference to a gudgeon should be a dace about 4^ inches long, it being brighter and more attractive. A lead of the Fishing Gazette pattern is best, as it can be attached any distance above the flight, suited to the depth of water you are spinning, and there should be two swivels between the lead and the flight, to assist the rotation of the bait. ' Much has been written about a " wobbly " bait being very kill- ing, but experience has convinced me that one which spins straight is more attractive and therefore catches most fish. It may be that the tackle used for a " wobbler," consisting only of a triangle passed through the vent and out of the mouth by a baiting needle, and a sliding lip hook slipped on the gimp to secure the lips of the bait, may answer the purpose very well when pike are mad on the feed, or in the absence of better tackle ; but with such flights as I have mentioned, and baits put on to spin properly, 1 should back them when used by a proficient to do most execution. ' That "spinning" has its charms and advantages must be con- ceded, for, with no sloppy bait-can to carry, but a dozen selected baits instead, packed in bran, tackle case and flask in pocket, fish bag slung round shoulders, rod in hand, gafi" in sling, warmly clad, and well booted, nothing is more enjoyable than to wander beside a " pikey" river, spinning all the likely places, catching fish here and there ; — yet one does not get the largest fish spinning, a 1 5-poundcr being an exception ; to catch the 20- and 30-pounders you must fish the deeps and " lay-byes," with " paternoster " or "snap;" monster pike will not come up to a " spinning bait," from the profundities they inhabit, but, like well-fed lazy aldermen, prefer the dainty morsels to be nicely presented to them. 'When "snap-fishing" with live bait, a lo-foot stiff-built cane rod, with large rings, | in. diameter, all one size should be used and 80 to 100 yards of waterproofed Nottingham S-pIait line on a good-sized winch will not be too much if fishing large rivers or lakes where pike attain considerable size and weight. The "snajis '' most in favour among pike-anglers are those known as " Jarclinc's snap tackle," and consist of two triangles bound on 12 inclics of mode- rately stout gimp, the end one being two large No. 10 hooks and one small No. 1 brazed together, the small hook is placed in the base of the live bail's pectoral fin and keeps the triangle close to its gills ; the upper triangle is bound to the gimp about 2^ inches LIVE-BAITING. 169 higher ; the hooks are equal in size, No. 10, and one of them is put through the base of dorsal fin, thus : — ' The end of trace goes through a pipe lead of i oz. weight and is secured to a small spring swivel on which is attached the baited snap ; a pear-shaped float, sufficiently buoyant to carry the bait and lead, is placed on the line at a height in accordance with the depth of water to be fished. The bait is then gently cast some dozen yards or more to a likely place and allowed to swim about ; line can be paid off the reel, or the bait coaxed into fishy-looking eddies and quiet corners, and when a pike seizes the bait the float disap- pears ; slack line must then be quickly reeled up, the fish struck at once, played, and if possible landed. The advantages of snap-fishing are mani- fold, you seldom miss hooking your prey, and if of fair size they give capital sport, fighting against restraint only, the bait not being swallowed ; after unhooking a small pike, it may be re- turned to the water uninjured. The largest are usually taken snap fishing, and among a host of fine ones I have caught by this method, were 12 pike over 20 lbs. each, one of "^o lbs., one of 36 lbs., and one of yj lbs. ' Ledgcring for pike is a method seldom attempted, but under certain conditions of water and weather usually successful. The tackle consists of a bullet of \\ oz. with a hole drilled through it, the trace passed through and attached to the reel line. A good- sized shot is pinched on to the trace 2^ or 3 ft. above the bait, to prevent the bullet slipping too low down, and a single hook may be used placed through both lips of the dace or, if preferred, a " snap.'' jardine's paticknoster- SNAI'. I70 riKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. * Select a day when the river is clearing after a flood, and try deep quiet water between streams at tails of islands, or eddies where two rivers meet, for in such places dace and other small fish con- gregate to rest themselves in a flood, and there pike are generally then to be found. 'Throw out your baited ledger and keep a tight line; the bait will have 4 or 5 feet in which to pirouette, and after a few minutes may be gently lifted or drawn to another place, and thus all the hole or eddy searched for a pike. You will know when you have a bite, for at such times pike are savagely hungry and fight very hard for their liberty, therefore use strong tackle. 'In January 1875 after a heavy Thames flood and water just clearing, I was fishing at Sonning, and, finding no sport, either paternostering or snap-fishing, I moored my punt just above the deep eddy at the end of " long withy-ait " and tried " ledgering " with dace for bait. My choice of locality and method proved fortunate, and in one hour I caught 6 pike weighing together 46 lbs., the three largest being 9, loi, and 13^ lbs., and they were exhibited at a meeting of the Stanley Anglers Society, at which Mr. \Vm. Senior (" Red Spinner") was present, and who has mentioned the incident in his work " Waterside Sketches." 'A. G. J.\RDINE.' Before quitting the subject of paternosters, I may mention to those who are interested in sea-fishing, that I have found a gut paternoster constructed as described at p. 165, an exceed- ingly killing mode of fishing for whiting, pout, hake, &c. The use of gut in sea-fishing was comparatively rare, and, so far as the public guide books are concerned, I believe, entirely un- known until, having discovered the great advantage of it in practice, I brought it to the notice of the fishing world. A good illustration of the difference in the results to be obtained wlien using a gut paternoster in sea-fishing, in lieu of ordinary coarse string lines, &:c., was given by Mr. Frank Buckland in one of his works, in which he describes the result of a fishing match held in the Solent between myself, armed with a paternoster and jack tackle, on the one side, against himself and old Robinson Crusoe, as he was locally named, one of the best hands at sea-fishing in Portsmouth, on the LIVE-BAITING. 171 other side. The result is thus described by Mr, W, B. Lord, R.A., in one of his charming sketches of seaside fishing : — Some of my readers will remember a most amusing fishing match by Mr. Frank Buckland — fine versus coarse tackle — which appeared in the columns of the Field, the champion knights, Mr. H. Cholmondeley-Pennell, fine gut paternoster, dressed silk line, and jack rod ; Mr. F. Buckland, ordmary coarse tackle and hand line ; Robinson Crusoe, ditto. The result was, as our Yankee friends would say, ' the tallest kind of caution.' The knight of the jack rod and gut line being triumphantly victorious, and beating both his antagonists, together with the united crews of two or three boats anchored near them, out of the hsts ! LIVE GORGE-BAITING. The live gorge-bait cannot be considered quite so sporting a way of fishing as live snap-baiting, inasmuch as when once the fish has pouched the bait his chance of escaping being brought to basket is or ought to be nil. It has in this respect the same disadvantage as trolling with the dead gorge-bait, with the difference that whereas the dead gorge-bait is a method of pike-fishing which may be used when practically none other is available, the live gorge-bait is only available in the same place as the live snap-bait, unless, indeed, in ponds or lakes where, whatever the nature of the sport may be, the angler lays out a bait for pike and wanders off in search of the sport more im- mediately aimed at — a sort of 'leave-the-rod-to-fish-for-itself performance, not very far removed from trimmering. A Nemesis sometimes attends this sort of ' hedging ' arrange- ment ; unless special precautions are taken it does not happen so rarely as once in a century that a large fish carries off alto- gether the derelict rod and that which pertaineth to it. Some- times it is the subject of experiments by a herd of inquisitive cows, and there is a still ulterior contingency, which is too serious to joke about, namely, that persons of indistinct per- ceptions as to meum and tmwi may save the proper owner further anxiety as to the custody of his pet trolling rod. 172 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. 0 A comical variation of this result is told by a gentleman who writes under the signature of the ' Medway Dace.' The narrator and his friend had left three rods and live bait tackles to fish by themselves. On their return after about an hour they made the startling discovery that their rods, lines, and baits had vanished : — ' Surely,' said H , in a voice that greatly reminded me of another occasion, when he came out with me and found he had left the top joint of his favourite rod at home, 'Surely no one has stolen our tackle ! ' ' It looks most uncommonly like it,' I replied. And certainly it did. But our minds were soon put at rest on that point, for close under a tree lay the three rods, carefully placed together. While we were wondering how on earth they came there, and for what reason they had been taken from the pond, a youthful chawbacon, with a face on him like a full moon, approached us and at once explained the mystery. Touching his hat, he said, ' Oive landed three for yc, zur, they're not worry big 'uns tho'. \\'hort licks me is that tliey were all cort in the back I ' . . . Having delivered myself of this caveat or pro- test I am free to admit there is one legitimate use for the live gorge-bait to which I have already alluded, — that is when the baits used arc too large for the ordinary snap-tackle. For the shape of the hooks, which sliould be attached to about \\ feet of fine stained gimp, vide diagram. In this and the method of attaching the live bait consists the only difference, so far as tackle is concerned, between the sua]) and the gorge live bait. Detach the hooks frc>m the swivel, and having attached them to a baiting-needle let the bait lie, or rather be held, flat in the jialm of the left hand with the head ])ointing towartls the right hand. Insert ilie point of the bailing-needle in the shoulder of the bait and i)ass it under r.OKCK I.IVK- li.\I 1 llOOKs. LIVE-BAITING. 173 a broadish strip of the skin (only) from i^ inches to 2\ inches broad, according to the size of the bait, bringing it out in the direction of the tail. Then draw the gimp gently and carefully througli until the shank of the hook is hidden under the sidn. The loop of the gimp is then re-attached to the hook-swivel on the trace and the tackle is complete. In performing this process the bait should be handled with the utmost gentleness, not only to prevent causing any unavoid- able pain, but also with the view to its longevity. The great point in which care would be required is to avoid passing the baiting-needle through the flesh as well as under the skin, and in order to effect this the bait should be held perfectly flat. The disadvantage of this tackle, as in the case of all other gorge-baits, is, of course, that the fish has an opportunity of changing his mind if he thinks proper, and rejecting the bait before swallowing. The hooks on the other hand are less con- spicuous than those used in the snap-tackle, and the flsh are conseq^uently less likely to be scared by them. 174 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. The pike, my joy of all the scaly shoal. And of all fishing instruments— the troll. — Scott. The word ' trolling,' or as it was formerly spelled ' trowling,* from the old English word ' troll,' to move circularly, or in a rollicking kind of way, or perhaps from the French word, * troller,' to lead about, to stroll, has come to have two meanings, one family or generic, and the other specific. Broadly speaking, any one who fishes for pike may be described as a troller, but in its restricted sense it applies to the particular branch of pike- fishing which we are now considering. This use of the dead bait is the only one which can be advantageously employed in pike-fishing, always excepting, of course, spinning. The object effected by them both is, in fact, to impart an appearance of vitality where none, in reality, exists, as it is a fact well known that a pike will not under ordinary circumstances touch a dead bait when quiescent. There need be no hesitation, therefore, in at once discarding as worthless all receipts given by angling writers which involve such a condition. It is doubtful whether they could ever have been of any use. In the nineteenth century they are distinctly useless. The origin of the art has been always attributed to Nobbes, a writer of the seventeenth century, and he has l)een accord- ingly christened 'tlie father of trollers.' The first edition of his book was publislied in 1662, and it contains engravings of gorge-tackle with both single and double hooks not at all un- like, except in its extreme roughness and coarseness, the hooks now employed. In fact, on first seeing them, I was struck by TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 175 the similitude of their barbs to the tail of the dragon which St. George has been represented in the act of transfixing for so many years that one almost wishes the dragon might have a turn now and then for variety. Although, however, according to Nobbes the merit of being the first authoritative exponent of the art of trolling, it is by no means probable that his claim to be the actual inventor could be sustained upon critical examination. This is also the opinion of Mr. Westwood, whose elegant ' Angling Bibhomania ' is so well known and appreciated by all lovers of the gentle art and literature. In a letter addressed to me some years ago he says : — ■ Nobbes was undoubtedly the first English writer that discoursed at large, and in a substantive shape on the art of trolling, but that his sobriquet of ' The Father of Trollers,' asserts in any respect his invention of the modus operandi of the craft in England, is scarcely borne out by evidence. The title means, I take it, what that of 'The Father of Anglers' means in Walton's case — what that of ' The Father of Pike-fishers ' will mean in your own, sir, when posterity agree, nem. con., thus to designate you — namely, that he was the first authoritative professor of the sport. That Nobbes himself puts in no claim to inventor's honours, is shown by his dedication, in which he ascribes all his skill as a troller to the tuition of ' The Right Worshipful James Tryon, Esq., of Bullwick, in Northamptonshire,' and to his brother, while in his address 'To the Ingenious Reader,' he adds, ' I confess I have not had that experience in the Art which many have, that have made it their business for the space of several years, a7td /, bui a late pretender.' It is true that in a preceding passage, he adverts to the silence of former writers on angling, ' I never could see,' quoth he, ' any other (than Walton and Cox) concerning trolling, though, if there be, it may be of an old standing.' Here, however, friend Nobbes overlooks one of his immediate forerunners. Col. Robert Venables, whose 'Experienced Angler' (1662) contains the following passage : — ' The best way of angling is with a trowl for a pike, which is very delightful. . . , Let your line be silk, at least two yards nest the hook, and the rest of strong shoemaker's thread, your hook 1/6 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. double, and strongly armed with wire for above a foot, then with a probe or needle, you must draw the wire in at the fishes mcuth and out at the tail, that so the hook may lie in the mouth of the fish, and both the points on either side ; upon the shank of the hook fasten some lead very smooth, that it go into the fishes mouth and sink her with the lead downward, as though she had been playing on the top of the water, and were returning to the bottom ; your hook once baited, you must tie the tail of the fish close and fast to the wire. , . . All being thus fitted, cast your fish up and down in such places as you know pikes frequent, observing still that he sink some depth before you pull him up again. When the pike cometh you may see the water move, at least, you may feel him, then slack your line, and give him length enough to run away to his hold, whither he will go directly, and there pouch it. . . Let him lie until you see the line move in the water, then with your trowl wind up the line till you think you have it almost straight, then with a smart jerk hook him, and make your pleasure your content.' An allusion to trolling, without a description of the process, is met with in Barkei's 'Art of Angling' (165 1), as thus : — ' One of my name was the best Trouler for a Pike in the realm ; he laid a wager that he would take a Pike of 4 feet long, of fish, within the space of one month, with his Trouling Rod ; so he Trouled three and od dayes, and took many great Pikes, nigh the length, till within the space of three dayes of the time ; then he took one, and won the wager.' And ' Shrewsbury Barker' depicts the trolling-rod of this Paladin but goes no further. Receding again a period of more than sixty years, we call into court Master Leonard Mascall, who, in 1590, presented the world with 'A Booke of Fishing with Hooke and Line, and of all other instruments thereunto belonging,' and his evidence, with pen and pencil, is to this effect : — ' The Pyke is a common dcvourcr of most fish, where he cometh ; for to take him, ye shall doe thus : Take a codling hooke, well armed wyth wyre, then take a small Roch or Gogin, or else a Frogge alive, or a fresh Hearing, and put through your armed wyre with your hooke on the end, and let your hooke rest in the mouth of your bayte, and out at the taylc thereof; and then put your line thereto, and drawc it up and downe the water or poolc, and if he see it, hec will take it in haste, let him go with it awhile, and then strike and holde, and soe tyre him in the water.' TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 177 I have searched no further, for Leonard Mascall's ' Booke of Fishing' is a reproduction of the ' Booke of St. Albans,' and beyond the ' Booke of St. Albans ' falls the night. The rest, if rest there be, is a matter of 'lost Pleiads,' and into that limbo of vanished things that holds the ' KKkvtiko. of Pancrates, the Arcadian, the 'Ao-TToXifurtKa of Seleucus of Emesa, and many other famous scroll of the ancients, may lurk also more than one early English treatise on our sports (the ' old fish-book,' amongst them, whence Walton borrows his ' old rime' ), the recoveiy of which would brighten the eyes and rejoice the heart of every angling bibliomaniac. And this recovery may, after all, become a fait accompli — that passion of the book collector has conjured out of darkness and oblivion so many rare and forgotten treasures, that we need not despair of adding, some day, to our Bibliotheca Piscatoria a ' grand- father of trollers ' to take precedence of Nobbes. Let, however, the honour of the invention in this country be given to who may be best entitled to it, whether Nobbes or some other 'mightie fysher' of old, it would appear that trolling, in some form or the other, was not only understood, but very frequently practised by the ancient Greeks. It is frequently referred to by Oppian who recommended as bait a live labrax if obtainable, or, if not, a dead fish sunk and raised alternately with a weight attached. The following is the trans- lation of Oppian's description of baiting and working this tackle : — .... He holds the Labrax, and beneath his head Adjusts with care the oblong shape of lead, Named, from its form, a Dolphin ; plumbed with this The bait shoots headlong through the blue abyss. The bright decoy a living creature seems. As now on this side, now on that it gleams, Till some dark form across its passage flit, Pouches the wire, and finds the biter's bit. Nothing can be more graphic and at the same time accurate than this description of the gyrations of a gorge-bait as worked f;om the banks of the Thames in the nineteenth century. ' Now on this side, now on that it gleams,' would seem to indicate that the writer was well up in the more recondite u. N 178 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISIT. mysteries of dressing the gorge-bait, such, for instance, as cutting off one of the pectoral fins to increase the glancing effect referred to. Oppian's description of ancient gorge-fishing is borne out by Dr. Badhani's examination of the collection of Pompeian fish-hooks now in the museum at Naples. Some were weighted with lead, shaped into cylindrical lumps, which from a rude resemblance to dolphins, were called delphini. ... In order to prevent the fish biting off the hook a tubular piece of horn sometimes covered the line for the space of a few inches from its junction with the hook. As gimp was unknown to the early followers of the gentle art this was a wise and effectual pre- caution. Homer clearly alluded to it when speaking of plung- ing into the sea, he says, * She sank to the bottom like a leaden weight which placed down upon the wild bull's horn sinks quickly, bearing destruction to the raw devouring fishes.' ' I have in the preceding pages indicated what is in my judgment the legitimate scope and province of gorge-bait, that is, its use in waters which are so overgrown with weeds or en- cumbered with bushes and stumps, as to be impracticable to any other style of fishing. Under these circumstances the gorge-bait fulfils a useful role, and one to which personally I should be disposed to confine it. It has, moreover, the dis- advantage that whatever is hooked by it is bound to be killed — ■ killed, I mean, in the literal not in the i)iscatorial sense— and whether small or large, in condition or out of condition, nothing can ever be returned to the water. I am pleased to think that so potential an authority as the editor of the Fishing Gazette holds the same views. Mr. Marston says : ' We are glad to know the "gorge" system is going out of fashion. A fish hooked in the mouth (as is usual in snap-fishing) fights far better than one whose entrails are being pulled out. You can let a pike under size go without hurting him if he is hooked by * 'II hi floXvPiaiirr] IkiKti, « fivaahy opov(TbavtJi '£pX«Tot u/j.>jaT}/<7i>' in' i^Ovoi nijpa ijitpovaa. — //. xxiv. 80 — Ca. TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 179 snap, but the " gorge " kills all. We prefer spinning for pike from the reel far and away better than any other plan ; but in many waters spinning is out of the question.' Trolling cannot be considered either so exciting or so artistic a method of fishing as spinning, for example, although it has not been without its enthusiastic admirers and its poets also. I stood by a river in the wet, Where the trout and the pickerel met And waters were rushing and rolling ; And I said : ' O Fish, a dainty dish. Is there aught that is worth the trolHng V Scott, writing in 1758, says : — The pike, my joy of all the scaly shoal. And of all fishing instruments— the trowl. My bounding heart against my bosom beats Now while my tongue the glorious strife repeats. Oh ! when he feels my jerking hook, with power And rage he bounces from his weedy bower. He traverses the stream with strong career, With straightened string his maddened course to steer. He springs above the wave at length, o'ercome ; This evening shall he feast my cheerful home. Though, however, no doubt quite as good a ' feast ' in the ' angler's cheerful home ' (when he has got him there), the pike taken by trolhng does not give one the same satisfaction as one taken by spinning. One feels somehow as if he had not had a fair chance. It is like hunting a three-legged fox. More- over, the pain or inconvenience inflicted upon the pike, what- ever they may be, and, speaking ichthyologically, I am not inclined to overrate them, are an additional argument, to say nothing of the subsequent disagreeable operation of disengaging the hooks from the entrails or gullet of the pike. The best method of extracting the hooks, which may be mentioned in this connection, is, having first killed the pike, to make a small slit in the belly at the point where the gorge-hook N 2 i8o PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. is felt, and after disengaging the hook from the swivel to draw the hooks and baits out head foremost through the orifice. Another plan recommended by Mr. Stoddart is, first, to open the gill cover and cutting through the gills themselves allow them to bleed freely. This done draw the gorge-hook upwards tightly and when it is seen cut it out with a knife. This is a beastly business however. It makes the troller have rather the appearance, and, indeed, some of the feelings (or what should be feelings) of a butcher ; besides, the appearance of the fish is spoilt. In qualifying my opinion, as I have done above, as to the amount of pain or suffering actually endured by a pike, and probably by any other fish from the presence of a pair of gorge-hooks embedded, say, in his gullet or entrails, I had before my mind numerous circumstances which have occurred within my own knowledge, and that of others who have left their ex- periences on record, which seem to indicate that there is some- thing radically different in the very nature of ' fish pain ' as com- pared with that which it might be imagined would be suffered by a warm-blooded animal under similar circumstances. \\'iih this subject, however, I have dealt at large in a separate essay already referred to. When considering the best plan of extracting a gorge-hook from the entrails of a pike I have often wondered whether, if the fish were allowed to retain the bait for, say, half an hour, any portion of it would be found still attaching to the gorge- hook ? His digestion has been aptly compared to the combined effects of water and fire,' and after a few hours, according to Mr. Jesse, not even a bone of the swallowed prey can be dis- covered in his stomach. The same thing lias been slated of the sahiion. Dr, Fleming even gives the salmon the/^x in the matter of eating over the pike, but he thinks that the farmer ' feeds witli a pa'ttier mouth, silently and unobserved, and does not gobble wiili arid eyes and crunching jaws like the pike, so that nobody 1 !■" razor's /Ii.^tory of the Sal nun. TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. i8i notices the quantity of food he puts away in a gentlemanlike manner. . . . The one would be a Beau Brummel at table — the other a Dr. Samuel Johnson.' Elsewhere he observes, ' It requires a large fish to be pouched to render torpid his (the pike's) muscular action, or arrest the action of his most strongly and rapidly dissolving gastric juices.' • From instances on record it would appear, however, that the taking by the pike of a fish large enough to produce tor- pidity is by no means so rare as the doctor would seem to sup- pose : 'On Tuesday, Oct 21, 1823,' says Bowlker, 'a pike weighing 50 lbs. was taken out of a lake belonging to the Duke of Newcastle ; its death was supposed to have been occasioned by its endeavouring to swallow a carp, as one was taken out of its throat weighing 14 lbs. ! ' It is mentioned by Mr. Wright, in his 'Fishes and Fishing,' that in 1796 a somewhat similar circumstance occurred in the Serpentine, where a 30-lb. pike was captured alive, but in an exhausted condition, nearly opposite the receiving-house, and having stuck fast in his throat a carp of the weight of nearly 7 lbs. O'Gorman, in his ' Practice of Angling,' relates several curious anecdotes of the ravenous appetite of the pike. One which he caught had in his maw a trout of 4 lbs., whilst another seized and attempted to swallow a 6-lb. fish of the same species, as it was about to be landed. More remarkable still, however, is the following, which he witnessed on Dromore : — A large pike which had been hooked and was nearly exhausted, was sud- denly seized and carried to the bottom. Every effort was made for nearly half-an-hour to bring this second fish to shore, but to no purpose ; at length, however, by making a noise with the oars and pulling hard at the line, the anglers succeeded in dis- engaging the fish first hooked, but on getting it to the surface it was 'torn as if by a large dog,' though really doubtless by another pike ; and as the weight of the fish thus illtreated was 17 lbs., the size of its retainer may be imagined. Mr. Frederick Lupton, of the Cloister, Westminster, sends me the following anecdote : — iS2 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. My friend Mr. White, of North Walsham, Norfolk, one of tl^e finest spinners I ever met with, informed me, that some years ago, he was troHing in a lake belonging to Lord Suffield, where he hooked a pike which weighed, as he afterwards ascertained, \2\ lbs. He had nearly succeeded in landing this fish when he felt a violent check, and immediately understood that it had been seized by another of the same species. Mr. White told a friend, who was fishing near him, of what had occurred, and promised to show the new comer, although he should be unable to capture him. Mr. White contrived to draw both fish within a short distance of the bank, and raised the head of the larger one to the top of the water, when he opened his capacious jaws, released his prey, and sunk down again into the depths of the pool. Of course, Mr. White had no opportunity of discovering the weight of this monster, but he unhesitatingly asserts that it exceeded 30 lbs. A remarkable instance of the pike's rapidity of digestion was communicated to me by Mr. Henry R. Francis, as having occurred some years ago, whilst he was fishing in the neigh- bourhood of Great Marlow. He observed a pike lying in the weeds in an apparently semi-torpid condition, and succeeded, with the aid of a landing-net, in securing it, when a large eel was found to be sticking in its throat, the tail portion of which was half-chewed up, swallowed, and partially digested, whilst the head, still alive and twisting, protruded from the jaws. The same gentleman caught in the Thames a pike weighing 9 lbs. with a moorlien in its gullet, by which it was being suffocated ; and on another occasion Mr. Chalmer caught a fish of 5 lbs. that had a smaller one half-swallowed, but made notwithstanding an effort to take his spinning-bait, and was hooked foul in the attempt ! Very recently a 26-lb. pike was taken at Worksop which had iico moorhens in its stomach when opened. Since the above was written I have been favoured by Captain S. H. Salvin with a curious pendant to one of the anecdotes. Ca|)tain Salvin liad formerly in his possession a tame cor- morant, which had been for many years trained to catch fish for his master by diving — amongst other odd captures made by TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 183 it being that of a waterhen, which it secured and brought to the bank after an exciting chase. Eventually, however, the career of the feathered angler was tragically cut short ; whilst diving one day as usual, he was seized and crushed to death by a jack (weighing only 2\ lbs.) which was itself choked in its endeavours to swallow him. But this is rather putting the cart before the horse ; first catch your hare, or rather, your pike, and that involves first GORGE-BAIT TACKLE. In the matter of gorge tackle, almost alone amongst fish- ing appliances, it would seem that we have retrograded instead of advancing. Nobbes' gorge hook, omitting the dragon tails before alluded to, was distinctly better than the hooks with which until lately trollers were satisfied to dress their tackle. In order to understand the difference and its bearing upon the troller's requirements it should, of course, be understood that the gorge- bait is a dead fish, say gudgeon or dace, through which from head to tail a double hook with a leaded shank is drawn by means of a baiting needle, the two hooks standing out well on each side of the bait's mouth. The upper end of the hook- shank is attached to the trace, and the bait being dropped head first into the stream wherever there is a hole or opening in the weeds, or even where there is none, goes plump to the bottom performing, if properly baited, sundry gyrations and twistings which are likely to attract the notice of any pike on the feed. The pike having seized it, is allowed by the troller to carry it away freely with him wherever he likes, and when and if he swallows it, which he does invariably head first, his capture is certain, because even if they did not stick somewhere in the belly or entrails, the two hooks opening backwards from the bait's mouth cannot possibly be squeezed through the pike's gullet without laying hold somewhere or other. The point of danger in the process is that the pike, when gripping the bait may become conscious of an unusual rigidity or unbendingness 184 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. which may excite his suspicions and tempt him to eject it befo:c the desired consummation is arrived at Here it is that Nobbes' hooks were preferable, at least in principle, to the gorge- hooks of the modern tackle shops. The former were short ; about i^ inch long, and finishing off in a loop at the end of the lead itself at which point they were attached to the trace. The modern hooks, on the contrary, prolonged, so to speak, the lead by a thick twist of brass wire, making the entire ' hook part ' of the business from three to four inches in length which runs right through the fish from one end to the other, keeping it, of course, perfectly rigid. This rigidity not only impairs the elasticity and play of the bait, but as I have said, frequently acts as a warning to the pike to reject rather than to swallow his supposed prey. With a gorge-hook constructed like that of Nobbes, on the contrary, the whole of the tail part of the bait has nothing run- ning through it except a piece of soft gimp by which both the indicated objections are overcome. Amongst other opinions which serve to confirm this view miglit be quoted those of ' Ephemera ' and ' Piscator ' (author of the ' Practical Angler '). Salter says, ' I usually take about half the lead from the shank, as I have found when a jack has struck my bait, he has sometimes left it immediately, in cotise- (jiience of his feeling the lead in the bait's body.' Pie adds : ''Phis may be prevented by leaving that part of the lead only which lies in the throat of the bait * ; from this latter opinion for the reasons given already, I entirely dissent. Such a remedy would be twice as bad as the disease ; and, indeed, to judge by the effect produced by such an unnatural arrangement, I am forced to the conclusion that Mr. Salter could never have practically tried the plan he recommends — which I have. It is a notion not unfrequently entertained that pike swallow their prey literally whole. 'Phis is Blumcnbach's view — which is thus refuted by Mr. Wright : With every respect to Mr. Blumcnbach, I must take leave to state that he is incorrect ; when fibh of prey take a sniull bait, such TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 185 as a minnow, they seize it by the middle of its body ; in turning it to take it down head foremost they in a measure masticate it ; but if the prey be a large gudgeon, or a large roach or dace, it is much mutilated and only partially swallowed, that is, the head and shoulders ; and the pike, perch, or trout's jaws are constantly triturating and masticating the head and shoulders of the fish so preyed upon to a pulp, and following up the same process with the remainder until it passes into the stomach. If this opinion is correct, even in a modified sense, which I have reason to know that it is in the case of the pike, it proves the importance of getting rid to the utmost, if possible of all unnatural stuffing, and internal stiffenings of brass wire. The object of the modern innovation is obvious. It is by assimilating the length of the hook shank, &c., to that of the bait to have a solid piece to which to attach the bait's tail — a very necessary process with this tackle in order to prevent its slipping down, and, so to speak, doubling up when brought into contact with weeds and other obstacles. The point of the wire arming being brought out at the bait's tail, the latter is care- fully whipped on to the trace, or perhaps sewn through with a needle and thread. The process is tedious, however, and to be effectual requires to be done very carefully, whilst I know few things more trying than pottering in an east wind with half- frozen fingers over the complicated miseries of needle and thread, or when perhaps the only precious hour of a short winter's afternoon is gliding away. Moreover, if the hock shank should not be exactly the same length as the bait it results in there either being nothing to lap it to or of leaving a stump of twisted brass wire pro- truding in the spot of all others where it is most certain to be seen. When some years ago I had occasion to practise gorge- bait fishing rather energetically for a time these facts were brought so constantly and inconveniently under my notice that I devoted some attention to considering how the tackle could be improved ; the object being, of course, to get rid of the superfluous wire hook shank, and, starting with hooks 1 86 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. leaded a la Nobbes, to find a simple and effectual method cf fastening the bait's tail. The plan I hit upon fulfils both these conditions and gets rid entirely of needle and thread and its conse- quent irritating delays I reduce the length of the wire shank to a loop at the end of the lead {vide cut), to this attach the link or trace of stained gimp by a hook swivel. I attach the loop of the gimp to the baiting needle and, having first cut the bait's tail off smoothly and neatly close to the flesh, pass the baiting needle through it in the usual way, bringing the end of the trace out as nearly in the centre of the tail as possible. Now pass the baiting needle laterally through the bait's tail, at about a (juarter of an inch from the ex- tremity, drawing che gimp through after it ; and, finally, pass the end of the gimp through the loop thus made at the extremity of the bait and draw tight. A sort of half knot is thus formed which never slips and which can be untied in a moment when a fresh bait is recjuircd. To ex- ])lain a mechanical process verbally is always rather difficult and lengthy, but I can assure my readers that the arrangement itself, when under- stood, is the very simplest ])ossible — such as anv tvro would manage without difficulty at llie first trial — and that simple as it is (and, for that reason only, valuable) it will be found prarticall\- to make the whole difference in the comfort and efficiency of a trolling bait. The woodcut represents the gorge hook (;(>K(.i. HOOKS lead and tackle as described, f)f about the size AND IKACK. •. 1 1 r i • t 1 11 1 suitable tor a largish gudgeon or a small dace — for a larger or a smaller bait the hooks and lead must be proportionately smaller or larger. TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 1S7 In the diagram of the hooks and shank it will be seen that a small part — about half an inch — of the latter is left bare for some little space above the bend. This is the portion of the hook which hes in the tJu-oat of the bait when adjusted, and the object in cutting away the lead is to prevent the unnatural and unsightly looking enlargement of the throat and gills occur- ring with the ordinary hook, and which renders it necessary to tie the gill covers down to prevent their catching or tearing in the weeds. It also avoids the necessity of sewing up the lips of the bait to prevent the hooks slipping or shifting. This is another decided saving of time and trouble, and, moreover, makes the bait last longer by being less strained. The darting and glancing motion which it should have is also increased by the placing of the lead in the proper place — the belly ; and the removal of the unnatural stiffness and rigidity before adverted to, by getting rid of the wire shank, makes a pike much more inclined to pouch it when taken. The precise bend of the hooks themselves, whether single or double, used for gorge fishing is of comparatively little con- sequence, although the neatest is that shown in the engraving. The one essential is that their points should stand sufficiently out from the sides of the bait's head to ensure hooking and yet not so far as to be unsightly or catch in the weeds, the barbs pointing towards the eyes of the bait. The following quotation from an article by Mr. J. Harrington Keene, in the Sporting Mirror, on the subject of gorge baiting may be taken, perhaps, to indicate that my improvements have been generally accepted. Mr. Keene himself, it will be ob- served, has apparently again refined upon my refinements, but I have not been so fortunate as to haveanopportunity of seeing or testing his jointed lead, though it would seem to be a self- evident improvement : Whereas till even within the last thirty years the gor^e hook has been ' armyd wyth wyre,' the latest and most perfect forms are without this aid to rigidity and unnaturalness. Mr. Pcnnel!, in his ' Book of the Pike,' effectually ridiculed the idea and reformed it. iS8 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. As an experimentalist myself I have found that a further improve- iTient of the hook was possible, and by making the lead in jaints I think I have succeeded in perfecting the gorge "^qo^ par excellence. I found that the rigid inflexible lead often deterred the pike from swallowing, owing to its teeth meeting the unyielding centre lead ; and so after many trials I found my device so superior as to warrant me in introducing it to the public. The best trace for gorge-bait fishing is about four feet of fine stained gimp with a hook swivel at the bottom so that the hooks can be readily attached and detached upon a change of size in the baits used. No other swivel is absolutely necessary, but if the bottom of the trolling line is attached to a hook swivel, as recom- mended for all trolling lines, some little additional play may be thereby imparted to the bait. The rod, reel, and line re- commended for spinning are also those most suitable to trolling with the gorge-bait. •WORKING THE GORGE-BAIT. I have dealt with this part of the subject so fully in the 'Book of the Pike' that I here quote it in extenso. Subsequent impressions have not indicated any modification in the modus oterafidi therein laid down. As a further excuse for this and several other extracts from my own previous writings, it may be remarked that the same mechanical facts can hardly be described by the same person without employing, to a consider- able extent, the same words and phrases, and it may be added, without the second edition being the reverse of an improve- ment upon number one. The word 'troll,' meaning to rove about in a circular, rollicking fashion, expresses the sort of movement which should be given to the gorge-bait, and for the ])urpose of ])roducing this it is a common and very good i)lan to cut off a ])ectoral fin on one side, and a ventral fin on the other. A good many trollers also cut off the back and anal fins to prevent their catching in the weeds, but I believe that this is a TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 189 mistake, as the stripping off of all its fins reduces the bait too much to the condition of ' King Log,' and considerably curtails the variety of its gyrations in the water. Moreover, the in- convenience which it is intended to obviate is usually more imaginary than real. The major part of the movements of the bait being produced by itself when sinking head foremost, the principal part of the troller is to keep on raising it, every second or two, to the surface, and generally to take care that its conduct approaches as nearly as circumstances will permit the laws of perpetual motion. Short casts rather than long ones are to be recommended as the bait can thus be made to enter the water in a downward- darting direction, instead of flat on its side, or, perhaps, tail foremost. The rule of fishing 'fine and far off' — a most salu- tary one under most circumstances— has not much significance in this particular kind of fishing, as the gorge bait is usually employed in deep holes, or amongst weeds, from under which the fisherman cannot be seen. I am not usually an advocate for any Medo-Persic laws v/ith regard to fishing up stream or down stream ; but in the branch of the art now under consideration, it is essentially necessary to adopt the former method — that is, to cast somewhat in front of and above you, and work the bait downwards towards you — and for a very simple reason — namely, that the slope of the weeds with the current makes it impossible to work it properly in any other way. This plan has also the merit of bringing the bait into contact with the pike's jaws first instead of his tail. I am aware that in this I am laying down a diametrically opposite principle to that recommended by 'Ephemera,' and a good many other authors. The question, however, is one, not of opinion, but of a physical fact, and as such can be easily tested. I should say, therefore, cast rather up and across stream, keeping the bait as much as possible in the runs and gullies between weed clumps, or at the margin of weed beds in pools, and bringing I90 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. it well home to your boat or your feet before lifting it out of water for a fresh throw. Each time that the bait is left to sink after a 'lift,* a proportionate quantity of the line should be pulled in with the left hand and allowed to coil at the troller's feet ; the action being slower than, but of the same nature ai, that required in spinning. Upon a fish seizing the bait, the first notice which the troller receives of the fact is the stoppage or check of the line, very often hardly to be distinguished from that occasioned by a weed, and followed generally by a few savage little tugs or wrenches, which are produced by the jaws of the pike in his efforts to kill his supposed victim. Sometimes, however, the bait is taken by a heavy fish with a rush and jerk that well-nigh twists the rod out of the troller's hand. A capital description of the taking of the gorge-bait is given by Mr. Stoddart in his ' Angler's Companion ' : — No one that ever felt the first attack of a pike at the gorge-bait can easily forget it. It is not, as might be supposed from the cha- racter of the fish, a bold, eager, voracious grasp ; quite the contrary, it is a slow calculating grip. There is usually nothing about it dashing or at all violent ; no stirring of the fins, no lashing of the tail, no expressed fury or revenge. The whole is mouth work — calm, deliberate, bone-crushing, deadly mouthwork. You think at the moment you hear the action — the clanging action, — of the fish's jaw-bones ; and such jaw-bones, so powerful, so terrific ; you think you hear the compressing, the racking of the victim be- twixt them. The sensation is pleasurable to the angler as an avenger. Who among our gentle craft ever pitied a pike ? I can fancy one lamenting over a salmon, or the star-stoled trout, or the playful minnow ; nay, I have heard of those who, on being bcrelt of a gold fish, actually wept ; but a pike ! itself unpitying, unspar- ing, who would pity ? who spare ? . . . I no sooner felt the well-known intimation, than drawing out line from my reel and slightly slackening what had already passed the top ring of my rod, I stood prepared for further movements on the part of the fish. After a short time he sailed slowly about, contining his excursions to within a yard or two of the spot where he had originally seized the bait. It was evident, as 1 knew from TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 191 experience, that he still held the bait crosswise betwixt his jaws, and had not yet pouched or bolted it. To induce him, however, to do so without delay, I very sHghtly, as is my wont, tightened, or rather jerked, the line towards myself, in order to create the notion that his prey was making resistance and might escape from his grasp. A moment's halt indicated that he had taken the bait, and immediately afterwards, all being disposed of at one gulp, out he rushed, vigorous as any salmon, exhausting in one splendid run nearly the whole contents of my reel, and ending his exertions witli a desperate somersault, which revealed him to my view in all hio size, vigour, and ferocity ; the jaws grimly expanded, the fins erect, and the whole body in a state of uncontrollable excitement. The first step to be taken on perceiving a fish, or a sus- picious 'check,' is to slacken the line, letting out a few yards from the reel if there is none already unwound, and seeing that all is clear for a run. The next point is to ascertain indubitably that it is a fish ; because, although it is perhaps comparatively seldom that a fish is mistaken for a weed for more than a few seconds, it by no means unfrequently happens that a weed or stump is so mistaken for a fish ; and nothing less than a wasted five minutes will convince the agitated troller that such is the case. Most of my readers will probably remember Leech's charm- ing sketch of the old gendeman who has got a ' run ' of this sort, standing, watch in hand, instructing his young companion 'never to hurry a pike, Tom. He has had ten minutes already ; I shall give him another five to make sure ' — whilst his hooks are to be seen palpably stuck fast in a submerged post. This reminds me of another story which is, I daresay, quite as much public property as the above, although I cannot at this moment recollect where I met with it. A pike fisher of the Briggs school is staying at a country house, where the guests, to amuse themselves, cause a huge wooden pike to be manufactured and fixed about mid-water in a likely looking pool. The bait takes, but, naturally, the pike does not. Esox homo soon discovers Esox piscis, and goes 192 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. through every manoeuvre natural under such circumstances to induce him to bite, to the great delight of the watching jokers, who, on his return, cross-question him sharply as to his sport. This goes on for several days— minnows, dace, gudgeon have all been tried and in vain. One of the party suggests that possibly 'a frog might.' . . . Ha ! Esox homo has taken the idea, and is off like a flash ! An hour — two — he returns : 'You have him I No? impossible ! Well, certainly, I thought a frog ' * Not a bit, my dear sir, no use, no use whatever, I assure you ; tried him with it for two hours, wouldn't touch it, wouldn't touch it, my dear sir ; but — he ran at vie several times ! ' A second version of the story states that (driven to despair), the troUer, as a last resource, hoisted the contumacious pike out with a wire snare ; and a third that when he visited the scene of his failure a few weeks after, he found a large painted ])ike stuck upon a pole, and that he thouglit he had seen it befo7-e. To return : when the nature of the retainer which your bait has received is doubtful, a little judicious tightening or a few slight pulls of the line will generally elicit signs of vitality should a pike be at the other end of it. If ' no sign ' is made, the demonstrations may be gradually increased until the point is satisfactorily settled one way or other. Should the seizer — being unmistakeably a fish — remain passive or moving quietly about within a small compass for more than three or four minutes after taking, a slight jerk (or 'stirring,' as Nobbcs has it) may be given at his mouth, which, if dexterously adminis- tered, will probably have an effect the reverse of that produced upon a horse who has taken 'a bit in his teeth,' and is hesitating whether to bolt or not. Sufficient time should always be allowed to a pike to gorge the bait — iwo. or even ten minutes if necessary — the fact of his having ' pouched ' will )iiost commonly be indicated by his movin\^ off to'iVatds his favourite haunt immediately after-watds. If he then remains quiet without moving away again, the line TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 193 should be gradually tightened (not struck, although Nobbes says a 'gentle stroak will do him no harm'), and the fish landed. It will, of course, not very unfrequently happen that a pike takes a bait in or close to his favourite gite when no moving off (or ' on,' as the police have it) can be expected. In this case the troller must be guided by circumstances and his own judgment. Should a number of small bubbles rise from the spot where, from the direction of the hne, it is evident that the pike is lying, it is, according to Captain Williamson, a certain sign that he has not yet pouched. As a rule, however, it is a mistake to suppose that bubbles are occasioned by fish ; and when they are so caused. Captain Williamson considers that they may be regarded as a symptom that the fish will not bite, being already satiated, and the bubbles arising from the digestive process. ' The bubblers,' he says, ' will always refuse the bait. Wounded fishes, especially jacks, evince their pain in this manner, as they do also their disquietude when unable to swallow their prey.' I must confess it appears to me more probable, and it is more in accordance with my experience, that the bubbles in this case arise either from the uneasiness of the fish at being unable to get 7-id of the bait already pouched — and the hooks of which have begun perhaps to be felt — or from the tickling of the line in the throat and jaws. The Trent has always had the credit of producing good trollers. One of them, author of ' Practical Observations on Angling on the River Trent,' propounds a theory on the subject of trolling, which, as I do not remember to have met with it elsewhere, I shall quote for the benefit of those who may be inclined to verify the fact. After the pike, he says, has had your bait five minutes, take up your rod, and draw your Hne in gently till you see him (which he will permit though he has not gorged). If you find the bait across his mouth give him more line, but if he has gorged govern him with a gentle hand. n. o 194 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. Nobbes considers that when a pike moves up stream after being struck it is a sign of a large fish, and vice versa. Should the troUer find that a considerable proportion of fish refuse to pouch after taking, it is a clear sign that they are not on the feed in earnest — in fact, are only dilly-dallying with the bait for amusement. For when they are in earnest, there is no mistake about the matter. Your pike is the true cosmopolitan in his feeding — fish, flesh, and fowl are alike acceptable to him ; animal, vege- table, and mineral — his charity embraces them all. Watches, rings, spoons, plummets, and other articles have been frequently taken from the pike's maw ; and several authors have asserted that it also feeds upon the pickerel-weed, a common species of water plant. I have often known pike to run at and seize the lead of a spinning trace ; and on one occasion, at Newlock-on- Thames, Mr. Francis caught a fish which had thus attempted to swallow his lead, and which was entangled and held fast by the gimp lapping round behind the gill. The opinion entertained by our ancestors of the pike's dis- crimination of taste, may be gathered from the following receipt for a savoury mess for him, given in an old and, I believe, rare book, 'The Jewel House of Art and Nature, &c.,' by Sir Hugh riat, of Lincoln's Inn, Knight, temp. 1653 : — Fill a sheep's gut with small unslaked limestones, and tie tlie same well at both ends that no water get therein, and if any pike devour it (as they are ravening fish, and very likely to do) she dieth in a short time ; you may fasten it to a string if you please, and so let it float upon the water. Also the liver of every fish is a good bait to catch any fish of the same kind. Nothing, in short, that he can by any means get into his stomach, which has been described as being hclwecn that of an ostrich and a shark, comes amiss to the ]'ik.e, and even imperial man has on more than on one occasiun narrowly escaped being laid under contribution to his larder. The best authenticated instance of attempted luavsIaiii^^Jitcr en the part of the pike is one wliich occurred, within a TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 195 comparatively recent date. The particulars are given by Mr. Wright : — In the Reading Mercury a statement appeared that a lad aged fifteen, named Longhurst, had gone into Inglemere Pond, near Ascot Heath, to bathe, and that when he had walked in to the depth of about 4 feet, a large hsh, supposed to be a pike, suddenly rose to the surface and seized his hand and wrist. Finding himself resisted however, he abandoned it, but still followed, and caught hold of the other hand, which he bit severely. The lad, clenching the hand which had been first bitten, struck his assailant a heavy blow on the head, when the fish swam away. W. Barr Brown, Esq., surgeon, dressed seven wounds, two of which were very deep and which bled profusely. I wrote to this gentleman, who very politely obtained, and sent this day, September 18, 1857, the whole account, in writing, from the young man's father (Mr. George Longhurst, of Sunning Hill), which I give as I received it : — PARTICULARS OF AN ENCOUNTER WITH A FISH IN THE MONTH OF JUNE, 1 85 6. One of my sons, aged fifteen, went with three other boys to bathe in Inglemere Pond, near Ascot racecourse. He walked gently into the water to about the depth of 4 feet, when he spread out his hands to attempt to swim ; instantly a large fish came up and took his hand into his mouth as far up as the wrist, but, finding he could not swallow it, relinquished his hold, and the boy, turning round, prepared for a hasty retreat out of the pond ; his companions who saw it, also scrambled out of the pond as fast as possible. My son had scarcely turned himself round when the fish came up behind and immediately seized his other hand crosswise, inflict- ing some very deep wounds on the back of it ; the boy raised his first-bitten and still bleeding arm, and struck the monster a hard blow on the head, when the fish disappeared. The other boys assisted him to dress, bound up his hand with their handkerchiefs and brought him home. We took him down to Mr. Brown, surgeon, who dressed seven wounds in one hand ; and so great was the pain the next day, that the lad fainted twice ; the little finger was bitten through the nail, and it was more than six weeks before it was well. The nail came off, and the scar remains to this day. o 2 196 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. A few days after this occurrence, one of the woodmen was walking by the side of the pond, when he saw something white floating. A man who was passing on horseback rode in, and found it to be a large pike in a dying state ; he twisted his whip round it and brought it to shore. Myself and my son were immediately sent for to look at it, when the boy at once recognised his antago- nist. The fish appeared to have been a long time in the agonies of death, and the body was very lean, and curved like a bow. It measured 41 inches, and died the next day, and, I believe, was taken to the Castle at Windsor. 'There can be no doubt,' Mr. Wriglit adds, 'that this fish was in a state of complete starvation. ... If well fed, it is probable it might have weighed from 30 to 40 lbs.' The same gentleman also mentions that he was himself on one occasion a witness, with Lord Milsington and many other persons, to a somewhat similar occurrence, when, during the netting of the Bourne Brook, Chertsey, one of the waders was bitten in the leg by a pike which he had attempted to kick to shore. This fish, which was afterwards killed, weighed 17 lbs. I am indebted for the following to Dr. Gen/.ik : In 1829 I was bathing in the swimmmg school at Vienna with some fellow students, when one of them — afterwards Dr. Gouge, who died a celebrated physician some years ago— suddenly screamed out and sank. We all plunged in immediately to his rescue, and succeeded in bringing him to the surface, and finally in getting him up on to the boarding of the bath, when a pike was found sticking fast to his right heel, which would not loose its hold, but was killed and eaten by us all in company the same evening. It weighed 32 lbs. Gouge suffered for months from the bite. This recalls the story of the pike which was said to have attacked the foot of a Polish damsel — a performance the more ungallant, as the ladies of Poland are celebrated for their pretty ankles. Bc7itLy''s MisirlhiJiy for July 185 1, gives an account of the assaults of jtikc upon the legs of men wading ; and I had myself the privilege of being severely bitten alxjve the knee by a fine Thames fish, which sprang off the ground after it TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 197 was supposed to be dead, and seized me by the thigh, where it hung, sinking its teeth deeply into a stick which was used to force open its jaws. More examples might easily be adduced ; but the above are sufificient to prove that in rare instances, and when under the influence of either extreme anger or hunger, a large pike will not hesitate to attack the lords of creation. Such being the case, it is hardly necessary to say that it is by no means uncommon for animals, often of large size, to be similarly assaulted, and, in the case of the smaller species, devoured by this fish. Accounts are on record of otters, dogs, mules, oxen, and even horses, being attacked. Poultry are constantly destroyed by the pike — ' the dwellers in the " eely- place," ' as Hood punningly says, ' having come to pick-a-^///y : ' sometimes the heads of swans, diving for food, encounter instead the ever open jaws of the fish, and both are killed. The instincts of the pike being thus shown to be not only piscivorous and ornivorous, but also homo-nivorous, we may turn with a certain sense of poetical justice to the subjective side of the picture — that, I mean, in which instead of eating he is regarded from the point of view of being eaten. Indeed, ichthyopJiagously considered, the pike is by no means an un- interesting fish to the epicure, when properly cooked ; whilst, from its substantial size and nutritive qualities, it frequently forms a very useful addition to the housewife's bill of fare. A fish of from 5 to 10 lbs. is generally to be preferred for the table, for as Walton quaintly remarks, ' old and very great pikes have in them more of state than goodness, the smaller or middle- sized fishes being by the most and choicest palates observed to be the best meat,' a dictum which Nobbes endorses, and adds, ' One about 2 feet or 26 inches is most grateful to the palate, and a male fish of that size is generally fat and delicious.' As to the gustatory qualities of the pike, however, it is fair to say that opinions considerably differ, and the old adage ' that what's one man's meat is another man's poison,' loses none of its truth as applied to the question in dispute. Pro- 198 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. hably, indeed, as in other matters of eating and drinking, there is a good deal of fashion mixed up \Yith the Hkes and disHkes of 'pike-meat,' which appear to have prevailed at different periods. We have already quoted the couplet of Ausonius, in which the ancient gourmand condemns him to ' smoke mi('st the smoky tavern's coarsest food,' and brands him as a fish which no gentleman would offer to his friend— an opinion shared apparently by a more modern poet, who, in his 'Bell of the Shannon,' after stating that There is not her like, adds All other lasses She just surpasses As wine molasses. Or salmon pike. Vaniere, however, in his 'Prxdium Rusticum,' exactly re- verses the dictum : Lo ! the rich pike, to entertam your i;ucst, Smokes on the board, and decks a royal feast. . . . An assertion which is perfectly in consonance with the facts of the case as it pointedly figures in the Cartes de d'lner of most of the grand and royal banquets of former times— as, for in- stance, the feast at the enthronisation of George Nevil, Arch- bishop of York, in 1466 ; the feast given to Richard II. by the celebrated William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester in 1394. 'As for the Teviot pike,' says Stoddart, 'I consider thcni at all times preferable to the general run of salmon captured in that stream.' Even with the worst of pike, however, soiiicthinL,^ may be done by good cookery, and, /c'/- contra., bad cookery will spoil even the celebrated Staffordshire jack, 'golden-bellied and black-spotted,' and, according to authorities, the very ' king of ])ikes.' I can honestly reroinmend the following receipt for filleting j)ike, given me by Mrs. Robertson, the landlady of the TROLLING V/ITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 199 Bat and Ball inn, Braemore. The sauce, it will be seen, plays the part of Hamlet : Cut the fillets, and after covering them with plenty of eggs and bread-crumbs, fry them over a brisk fire till thoroughly browned. Then pour over them a gravy made thus : After removing the fillets, lay the bone and trimmings in a stewpan with two shalots and a small bunch of parsley, stew them for one hour, and strain the liquor, which add to the following sauce. Put two ounces of butter over the fire ; when melted, add the above liquor, and also one tablespoonful of flour, one tea- spoonful of soy, one dessertspoonful of anchovy, one of Worcester- shire sauce, and a little salt. This is the best way that I know of for cooking pike up to 4 lbs. weight or so ; above that I am inclined to think that stuffing and baking with a rich sauce is better. The beauty of filleting is that if well and carefully done, the whole or nearly the whole of the bones are got out by the cook, avoiding a loss of time and the chance of being choked. Pike plainly filleted and cooked, according to the first part of Mrs, Robertson's receipt, even without the sauce, forms an excellent dish, but — as, indeed, in all fish cookery — it must be served ' straight off the fire,' as the experienced chef oi the Cafe de Paris at 2\Ionaco once expressed it to me. Another good way of treating large pike is to boil them and let them get cold, when the llesh, or rather fish, will break easily up into flakes which, when fried with a little fresh butter, plenty of pepper and salt (added continually whilst frying, N.B.) and dredged over with flour or oatmeal, will be found to make a capital dish. The French pike, according to Bellonius, are long and thin in the belly, and those of Italy particularly given to corpulence in the same region. In fact, the whole question of goodness or badness of the pike is contained in these words : ' The food makes the fish.' Where there is good and cleanly feed, and ])lenty of it, there will be well-grown and edible pike : v>-hcre there is none, they will be of the frog ' froggy.' 2C0 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. The best way to cut up, or as it used to be called ' splate * ' a pike, is to make a longitudinal cut down the back from head to tail, when the meat can be readily turned back on each side from the ribs (by far the best cut), without carrying with it more than a small proportion of bones. These, especially the small forked ones near the tail end of the fish, are exceedingly troublesome, and, if any one of them hajipens to stick in the throat, dangerous. Evidently our ancestors made ' no bones ' of these little trifles ; as, according to Mr. Dickens, the follow- ing was the first course of a Saturday's dinner in the time of Henry VIII. : — 'First, leich brayne. Item, frommity pottage. Item, whole ling. Item, great jowls of salt sammon. Item, great ruds. Item, great salt eels. Item, great salt sturgeon jowls. Item, great pike. Item, great jowls of fresh sammon. Item, great turbots.' This was the first course of a fish diimer enjoined by law as a fast for the 'good of their souls and bodies.' "^ That they could manage a second course after it, was a gastronomic feat not to be equalled in these degenerate days. Some of our monarchs, indeed, seem to have had an especial affection for pike, as we find from Beckwith's enlarged edition of ' Blount's Tenures,' ' that in one instance a certain stew or fish-pond without the eastern gate of Stafford, was held by Ralph de Waymer of our Sovereign Lord tlie King, on condi- tion that when he pleased to fish therein "he sliould have all the pikes and the breams," the other fish coming to the hooks, including eels, belonging to Ralph and his heirs for ever.' Many fishermen, including Stoddart, consider that a pike is much better eating, especially for boiling, after it has been 'crimped' — a process which, however, cannot be conveniently applied to specimens of less than 4 or 5 lbs. weight. ' Crimp- ing,' says Sir Humphrey Davy, ' by preserving the irritability of the fibre from being gradually exhausted, seems to ])reserve it so hard and crisp that it breaks under the teeth, and a fresh fish not crimped is generally tough.' I iinnediately ajier Jiaviii^ killed the fish by a sufficient number ' ^c^ii Art oj Angling. * Houichold Words, vol. iii. TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 2oi of blows on the back of the head, make a series of deep trans- ver?e cuts across the sides, penetrating nearly to the backbone, and at about an inch or two apart. Then cut the gills under- neath the throat, and taking the fish by the tail, hold it in the stream or in a cool spring for three or four minutes to let it bleed, which completes the process of crimping. If the fish is very large, as much as twenty minutes' immersion may be necessary. Crimping, as described above, greatly improves the quality of the fish for the table when boiled ; but it requires to be done the moment the fish becomes insensible, and before the stiffen- ing of the muscles takes place. The usual method employed in crimping sea-fish is to strike them on the head as soon as caught, which, it is said, protracts the term of their contractibility, and the muscles which retain the property longest are those about the head. The transverse divisions of the muscular fibre must take place, to be of any utility, whilst they have the contractile power of remaining life. See A. Carlisle's observations on the ' Crimping of Fish,' and Mr. Wright's ' Anatomy of Fish.' Fishmongers often tell their customers that fish improve by keeping for longer or shorter periods. This is the reverse of the fact. Almost all authorities, who have no interest in proving one side or the other, agree that fish cannot be eaten too fresh. By carefully packing in ice, fish may be presented at table in passable condition some days after killing, but those who have tasted the pike or the salmon fresh caught, on the banks of the Severn or Medway, will not easily be reconciled to the difference. Mr. Wright has a remark on this subject a propos of salmon, but which applies equally to the pike : — The fat of salmon between the flakes, he says, is mixed with much albumen and gelatine which very speedily decomposes, and no mode of cooking will prevent its injurious effects on a delicate human constitution. I am confirmed in this opinion by every scientific man widi whom I have conversed, or who has ever written on the subject. 202 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. Again, pike should be gutted as soon as killed ; some of the most wholesome fish feed on the most noisome garbage, weeds, insects, &c., many of which are absolutely poisonous to man. If the fish is kept long with such undigested food in its stomach, the whole body becomes shortly impregnated and more or less unfit for food. This has been long well known in the East and West Indies, where such poisonous fish as the tetradon, yellow-bill sprat, &c. abound, but yet are eaten with safety by adopting this precaution {vide Linnasus, &c.). Accord- ing to Sir Emerson Tennent, the sardine, a native of Ceylon, has also the reputation of being poisonous at certain periods of the year, during which it is forbidden by law to be eaten. Probably rapid gutting would prove an antidote in this case, as in other instances of fish poisons alluded to. It is a curious circumstance that, although the roe of the pike is so peculiarly unwholesome, according to the authority of several respectable authors, the fish itself is, in the opinion of other writers, best for the table just before the spawning season, and when the milt and eggs are in the greatest state of develojjmcnt. 'The pike,' says 'Piscator'(' Practical Angler'), 'like grayling, is a strictly winter fish, being in best condition from October to February, and, unlike the trout, is always in best order when full of roe.' Yarrell also says that the Laplanders consider the fish in best condition in spawning time ; and Sioddart mentions that by many English epicures they are considered ' in the finest edible condition when full of roe.' I cannot say for my own ]\art that I ever remember testing the theory, which, for obvious reasons, would he a most unfortunate one if it were to he generally received. The only time when the ex]icriment could be properly tried would be when it was determined toexterminate the breed of pike in some particular water. Xohhes says that a ' pike and a buck are in season together,' that is, in July and August, but the two following months are, in the estimation of most ichthyologists, almost equally good, and in my opinion tlie best month of all for a river pike is November. Of the green- TROLLING WITH DEAD GORGE-BAIT. 203 fleshed pikes referred to by Yarrell and some other authors, T cannot say that I have ever met with a specimen ; if such exist, they probably owe their reputation as a dainty rather to the fact of their rarity than to any intrinsic superiority over pike with flesh of the ordinary colour. The best pike for the table are almost always found cheek by jowl with trout. Wansford Broadwater (in the famous Driffield stream), the Teviot, Bala Lake, Loch Tummel, Marlow Pool, the Dorsetshire Frome, &c., bear witness notably to this fact. To show the condition into which pike may be brought by high feeding it is asserted that a quart of fat has been known to be taken out of the stomach of one about a yard long ; and in the days when fat pike were a favourite dish with fat monks, it was jocosely proverbial that the former was as ' costly and long a feeding ' as an ox 1 Of all pike-food eels are the most nutritious and rapidly fattening. When in high season the general colour of the fish is green spotted with bright yellow, whilst the gills are of a vivid red ; when out of season, the green changes to a greyer tint, and the yellow spots become pale. The ' points ' of a well-conditioned pike should be small head, broad shoulders, and deep flanks. The pike spawns about March and April, according to the climate, forwardness of the Spring, and other local circum- stances,— the young females of three or four years old taking the lead, and the dowagers following. For this purpose they quit the open waters in pairs, and retire into the fens, ditches or shallows, where they deposit their spawn amongst the leaves of aquatic plants ; and during this period the male may often be observed following the female about from place to place, and attending upon her with much apparent solicitude. As many as 80,000 eggs have been counted in one fish. When the spawning process is complete the fish return again into the rivers, and are then for some weeks in a state of partial stupefaction, and unfit for food. In rivers they begin to be in condition again about June, and are in their best season in November, but in still waters the recuperative process is 204 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. much slower. On the Thames, within the City jurisdiction, which extends up to Staines, pike-fisliing is illegal between March i and May 31. Principal C/iaroctcrisfics of the Common Pike. — Body elon- gated, nearly uniform in depth from head to commence- ment of back fin, then becoming narrower ; body covered with small scales, lateral line indistinct. Length of head compared to total length of head, body and tail as i to 4. Back and anal fins placed very far back, nearly opposite each other. From point of nose to origin of pectoral fin, and thence to origin of ventral fin, and thence to commencement of anal fins are three nearly equal distances. Pectoral and ventral fins small, rays of anal fins elongated. Tail somewhat forked. Shape of head, lone, flattened and wide ; gape extensive. Lower jaws longest, with numerous small teeth round the front. The sides with five or six very large and sharp teeth on each side. Upper jaw somewhat duck-billed. Teeth on vomer small ; on the palatine bones larger and longer, particularly on the iimer edges : none on su])erior maxillary bones. Head covered with mucous orifices placed in pairs. Checks and upper parts of gill-covers covered with scales. Colour of head and uj)])er part of back dusky olive-brown, growing lighter and mottled with green and yellow on sides, passing into silvery white on belly, pectoral and ventral fins pale brown ; bark, anal, and tail fins darker brown, mottled with white, yellow, and dark green. COARSE FISH AND FLOAT FISHING GENERAL! V. TACKLE. HOOKS. In every description of float-fishing, as in trolling and fly- fishing, though in a somewhat lesser degree, the hook plays the part of Hamlet, and although having already dealt with this subject m extenso in Vol. I. pp. 4-33, and in the present Vol. pp. 74-7 in reference to trolling hooks, I do not purpose now to go into what may be called the rationale of hook making as applicable to float-fishing especially, the arguments in one case practically hold good in another. What is the best hook ? The hook that kills best with the artificial fly will evidently, so far as killing powers go, catch the most fish with the worm or gentle. The only points in which some slight modification of the practical application of the principles alluded to may be necessary in the case of float- fishing are the length of the shanks and turned and needle- eyed hooks. The latter present few of the advantages which the fly-fisher, having regard to his special art, may recognise in them, and the former — that is the length of the shank — is one entirely of convenience, depending upon the nature of the bait used, and the necessity of concealing the whole of the shank, as compared with the importance of missing the smallest number of bites. It is almost a self-evident proposition that a long-shanked hook of the same size and shaped bend will have greater penetrating power than a hook with a shorter shank. 2o6 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE EISH. u u U poo 00 a 1 z 3 4 s FIG. I. — 'I'KNNKi.L SNKCK-hKNU In order to arrive at this conclusion without any complicated process of reasoning out the mechanical argument it is only necessary to apply a sort of rediictio ad a/>si/rdum, and consider what would be the actual power of a hook if the shank were reduced to the same length as the point. Evidently it would possess no penetrating power whatever. Extend the same principle to a hook with a shank slightly longer than the point, and you have a proportionate increase of hooking power, double it again, you get another increase and so on. For reasons already stated I believe that my bend of hook, shown in the annexed plate, fig. i, will be found far the most killing for all sorts of bot- tom fishing. The length of shank has been especially calculated for tying artifi- cial flies and so far as hook- ing powers «o is, perhaps, about tlie perfect length. In roach fishing, however, especially when jiaste is the bait used, a somewhat shorter shank is probal)ly advisable. 15ut let there be no mistake, the convenience in more readily covering the shank with the bait is only obtained at the exjiense of an equivalent amount of hooking, that is killing, ])ower. I'\)r all sorts of worm-fishing where the .shank of the hook can lie readily concealed the use of the full length of shank is strongly recommended. The simplest way to shorten the shanks of any of these hooks is with a small pair of ])lii.'rs or in an inii)iomptu vice formed at the joint of a jxiir of scissors. In heavy fisliing, where hooks larger than tliose shown in the engraving are usetl, my old bend of hooks — diagrams of which, as also of the ortlinary round bend hooks, are ajijiended — mayl)e emjiloyed. It will be seen from the ])Iate, t'ig. 2, that the two bends of hooks are mmibered in different ways. My own are numbered from i, whidi is probably the smallest size that will often be required in float-fishing, up to 10, the largest, suitable for barbelling and other excei)tionally heavy work. FL OA T FISHING— TA CKLE. 2C7 Whenever sizes of hooks are given in the following pages it is these numbers that are referred to. FIG. 2. — • PENNELL OLD BEND, ANU ' KOUND BEND.' The ' sliced-hook ' (lide cut) might be found advantageous for some sorts of fishing, such as barbelling with the lob-worm tail or fishing with the natural grasshopper, or shrimp bait, where it is desirable to prevent the bait slipping down the hook shank. I think it might be used with advantage also in almost all sorts of sea fishing with bait. GUT. Such observations as I am able to offer on the subject of gut and hair, having reference to fig. 3.— 'sliced" tlie choice of methods of staining, knotting, &c., will be found at pp. 33-47 Vol. I. I do not, therefore, attempt to recapitulate them here. As regards the REEL AND RUXXIN"G-LINE, the same remark applies, and I would merely say here that, setting aside such special departments as ledgering for barbel. 2o8 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. where an extra strong heavy line is required, and Nottingham fishing, the disciples of which pride themselves on a wonder- fully light line of undressed silk, the best sort of running-line that I am acquainted with for every purpose is one of the finest possible dressed silk of the thickness of ordinary stout sewing thread, which is both perfect in manipulation and of great strength. I have one of these lines before me now that has gone through a fair amount of work during the past season, both with float, fly, and worm-fishing for trout, for which latter purpose it is especially suitable, and I find that one yard of the end which has had all the wear is still capable of lifting a dead weight of 6 lbs. The price is 2S. 6d. for 20 yards, or 12s. dd. for 100 yards, it is manufactured and sold by Watson and Sons, 308 High Holborn, London, under the designation of * Braided Waterproof Lines, No. H.' G, the next size larger, is 3^. per score yards, and so on down to A, which is a strong salmon line. Either E or D would be suited to ledgering for barbel or other heavy work. With this line also, and a rod with stiff rings I can easily throw a light tackle and float 15 or 20 yards, and very likely more, but it will not, of course, 'float' so well as undressed line. I have never yet tried how far I could throw it, but I have repeatedly thrown it the distance in question. This facility of casting is a very important part of a float-fisher's ecjuipment, as it enables him to command any part of a pond or river which it is practically likely he may require to reach. The Nottingham line used with, and esiiecially suitable to the Nottingham tackle, is equally suitable to almost every kind of float fishing (excejit jack fishing). It is made of pure un- dressed silk and combines great strength with the utmost light- ness and fineness, being about, in fact, tlie thickness of tiie dressed line above described. Extreme lii;htncss is desirable to give it flotation, where, as in the Nottingham style, long casts are made or the float travels a long way down stream, and there is sometimes as much as thirty or forty yards of line in the water at the same time. It must also be free from kinking FLOAT FISHING— TACKLE. 209 proclivities and run very easily or it will not pass through the rod rings with sufficient freedom. A line of this kind was supplied to me by Mr. Baily, the well-known Nottingham troller, and it fulfils admirably all these conditions. It is composed of six or eight of the finest possible strands of silk plaited somewhat in a square shape. A hundred yards of it weigh exactly three-eighths of an ounce, and yet, notwithstanding this extreme fineness, I find it will lift a dead weight of between six and seven pounds, which is far beyond the strain it is ever hkely to be subjected to. In fact, for all kinds of bottom-fishing this will be found a truly excellent line, but care must be taken to get the real thing. Still, for some sorts of fishing the advantage will probably be thought in practice to rest with the dressed silk line which I have already recommended, but there are many others, I am free to admit, in which the undressed silk from its greater lightness and floating qualities would have the votes in its favour, and in securing a float-fisher's outfit it would be well to have a running line of each sort. The price of the Nottingham hne is 5^. per 100 yards of the plaited quality described ; the twisted description being 2s. td. per 100 yards. Whenever a reel is necessary, and I confess I seldom care about fishing of any kind without one, any ordinary check reel, such as can be obtained at every tackle shop, and not too large, will answer the purpose, observing that it is desirable the 'check' should be as light as possible, as if it is too heavy it will not allow a small fish to carry out the line with sufficient ease. RODS. What observations on rods, in addition to those previously given, may be desirable in this division of my subject will be probably more conveniently distributed under the headings to which they more especially pertain. 'Combination rods' have been frequently invented which, by a transposition of tops, butts, and middle joints can be made to fulfil almost any )-61e — u. p 2IO PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. both in fly, float-fishing, and trolhng — more or less satisfactorily. Of these combination rods, one of the most ingenious that I have met with is the so-called Miiltum in parvo rod made by Mr. James Ogden, of Cheltenham. I cannot say, however, that my experience hitherto leads me to have any great faith in rods which combine such a great variety of characters. The convenience of carrying is certainly a point in their favour. In regard to ferrules, splicings, &c., I may observe that the joint fastening which is best for the fly rod and the jack rod is best also for every other sort of rod, and that anybody who henceforward buys a rod with the old joint and reel fastenings deserves to have what he certainly will get, an imperfect and defective weapon. The reel fastening already recommended for trolling and fly-rods is simply perfection, and, therefore, difiicult as it is to prophesy what future discoveries may not bring forth, in this case, at least, we may assume to have approached finality. When an invention fulfils every demand which the most exigeant can imagine, there is little left for future inventors to experiment upon. Before quitting the subject of rods, let me recommend that for every description, whether trolling, fly-fishing, or float-fishing, the rings should be stiff, upright rings, although for the last- named object — float-fishing — the rings may be very much smaller than those required for trolling. Such rings made of steel need be no heavier than the ordinary flapping brass rings, commonly sold at the tackle shops, which are subject to in- numerable drawbacks — the first being the habit of sticking at some point or other of the rod and so preventing tlie free l)assage of the line, tlie second is their coming off altogether, leaving a 'gliastly gap ' in which the line loo[)s itself. CREELS. As the bank fislicr has generally some impedimenta to stow away, and being more or less stationary, prefers settin.u down his basket to carrying it constantly on his shoulder, he would probably prefer the ordinary wicker-work creel to the water- FLOAT FISHING-TACKLE. 211 proof bag of the trout-fisher, which, however, when empty weighs next to nothing. It is bad enough to have to carry an empty panier when it is a light one, but when it is a heavy one it is more than human nature can stand. Some of the best and most recent improve- ments in the matter of fish-carriers, whether bag or basket, will be found figured in Vol I. pp. 93-7. LANDING NETS. A gaff is rarely of any use in float-fishing, as the fish caught seldom run of sufficient size to make its application necessary or, indeed, possible. A landing net with a fairly long handle will, however, be found an indispensable adjunct where the fish run anything over half-a-pound, and even under that weight, especially in the case of fish that are not ' leather-mouthed,' the presence of a landing net will frequently prevent loss. The handiest net for all sorts of fishing that I know of is that already described and here repeated to save the trouble of reference. The mode of fixing the arms of the net combines the utmost simplicity with efficiency and strength ; the two arms can be separated in a moment, when they lie flat together and roll up in the net like a walking-stick. The net itself should always be made of oiled silk, both for durability and also to prevent the hooks catching, as they are apt to do, in the fibres of ordinary string or twine nets. A net of the measurements given is the most suitable for trout fishing with the fly, where the fish do not run very large. It would be found large enough for landing any fish up to li lbs. or probably 2 lbs. with a little management. For barbelling and chub or bream fishing it would be advisable to have one at least fifteen or sixteen inches between the points. In order to make a net of this size carry well, however, the supporting shoulder cord will have to be proportionately lengthened and the butt of the handle leaded, to prevent, in the first place, the net touching under the arm of the fisherman, and, secondly, over- V 2 212 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. balancing itself and falling out of the carrier altogether. The necessity of this would doubtless be diminished, if not nearly obviated, by the suggested alteration in the net handle that I ^ FIG. I. — LANUING-NIiT KXTKNDI H. FIG. 2. — LAMJI.NG-NET CLOSi'.n. FLOAT FISHING— TACKLE. 21,3 have already made, namely, that the catch-rim against which the suspender is supported should be put right up at the top of the ferrule, at C, in fact, instead of at D {vide diagram 2), thus adding materially to the balance as well as to the general con- venience of the whole thing. It would then, I believe, be an absolutely perfect net The net is the production of Messrs. Hardy Bros., Alnwick, and the handle and carrier that of Mrs. Williams, of Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. I have merely performed the part of mortar in uniting the two bricks of the edifice. But, no doubt, after this book is published, at least these two tackle- makers will make the whole net complete as shown. In landing a fish, the net should be kept as much out of sight as possible until the moment of using it, when it should be rapidly, but steadily, passed under the fish from below and behind; the movement of getting the fish into the net being, therefore, a lifting and ' sweeping ' movement, so to speak. FLOATS, SHOT, AND SUNDRIES. FLOATS. Floats are amongst the items in fishermen's equipment which have also, I think, been carried as near the point of perfection as possible. Floats of the most fascinating shapes, of every size, colour, and combination of cork and quill, can be obtained in the tackle shops. For the sake of convenience, I have had half-a-dozen of the most useful shapes engraved. No. I is made of cork with a porcupine quill running through the middle. It has the merit of being one of the strongest possible forms of float, sightly, and at the same time a ' good steady carrier,' in fact, the float fisher will find that made of diff"erent shapes and sizes, there is no float which can be more satisfactorily used in the greatest number of circum- stances. And this observation applies as well to pond as to river fishing. ;i4 PIKE AXD OTHER COARSE FISH. No. 2 is made entirely of tapered quill. It is beautiful as a work of art, and with ivory tips exer- cises a derided fascination upon the minds of many roach fishers, by whom, indeed, it is most fre- (juently ]\itronised. No. 3 is a variation of No. I, the central shaft of it being again of porcupine quill, and the enlarged portion of cork. This is a float esi)ecially suited to perch-fishing in lakes and ponds, and ' Should you rove for a perch witli a pink or minnow,' will carry the latter very satisfactorily. No. 4 is a very small- sized plain i)orcupine quill, and can be used of the size shown in the drawing with advantage where the very finest fishing is neces- sary, as the line recpiires to be only very lightly shotted to cock the lloat, and at the slightest l)ite it is taken under water, being also s(j small and unattractive in colour as to disturl) tlie water verv lillle. lor river FL OA T FISHING— TA CKLE. 215 fishing, however, where there is any current to speak of. No. 4 will be found practically useless, as the slightest touch, whether from weed or gravel, or even the sweep of the a current itself will suffice to carry it under. For ordinary float fishing the four descriptions indicated will be found all that the most fastidious can require. Of float No. i it would be desirable to keep three sizes, one larger and one smaller than the pattern. Where it is necessary to fish deep in a strong stream, it is also necessary to have a good many shot on the line to carry the bait with sulifi- cient rapidity to the bottom, and to prevent the stream unduly ' bagging ' the line. For this purpose it is, of course, also necessary to have a float of corresponding carrying powers, and I think that even a fourth size of No. i, a still larger size than those already mentioned — making altogether four sizes of No. i — ought to be kept by the float fisher in case of emergency. Nos. 2 and 3 are also made both smaller and larger, but on the whole, I think the two sizes represented will be found most con- venient. So much for ordinary floats ; I now come to the extraordinary floats. No. 5 is a smaller size of the Nottingham or travelling float — that is, the float used in what is known as the ' Nottingham style ' of float fishing. Its peculiarities, it will be noticed, consist first in the fact that it is bow-shaped instead of straight, and that the bottom loop is at right angles with, instead of perpendicular to, the shaft, and that, in lieu of the ordinary quill or gutta-percha cap, there ^°' '^' is a small projecting brass loop through which the line can run with perfect freedom. The float, therefore, travels up and down the line, and at the point where it is intended it should rest, that is, as the expression is, at the right ' depth,' 2l6 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. a small piece of gut or line is knotted in the running line above the float, with the result that, of course, when the line is running downwards through the rings to this point, the float remains stationary. It is thus that the Nottingham fisher is enabled to make such long casts. As the line is drawn back out of the water, the float naturally slips down the line until it is stopped by the shot, and in this position forms an additional weight at the point where weight is most essential to enable a long cast to be made with ease. Having drawn in his line up to the 'stick- ing' point, i.e. the transverse piece of gut or quill — which may be the length of his rod or even more above the float — he makes his cast to ten or twenty, or, perhaps, even twenty-five yards, as the case may be, and giving line freely, the shot carry the bait down to the bottom of the river or jiond to the de|)th which has been already carefully plummed, leaving the float as usual on the surface. 'I'his is, however^ only one of the two great advantages of this kind of float. The second is the fact that in striking the fish from whatever distances, especially long ones, the stroke has not to overcome the vis i7ierti(Z of the float before it can reach the mouth of the fish. This is a point of great importance, and one without which fishing in the Nottingham style, that is, covering long' reaches of water at great distances from the fisher- man, could not be successfully carried out. No. 6, the last float in the list, is probably still more entitled to be called extraordinary. It is called the 'elertric-float,' and is supjxjsed to be luminous at the toj), so that in night fishing it is always readily peTce])til)le. -I don't assert that the float nctually fulfils these con- ditions, but they are the sjK'cialtics claimed for it. What the object of the circular iiou h rcnuid the upper ]iart of the cork may be, e.\cei)t to hold the little indiarubber ring now shown NO. 6. N.R.- FLOAT FISHING-TACKLE. 217 about half-an-inch above it, I am unable to explain, and if it is intended to hold it, I can furnish no explanation of why the ring should be placed at such an unusual part of the float, unless it be to make, so to speak, a higher stand for the lamp. Given, however, the fact that one can see the float in the dark, the next point that arises is whether the fish can see the bait, or if they can, are likely to bite at it at that part of the twenty-four hours. I must confess again to not having tried the experiment practically, and, therefore, in summing-up these few remarks on the ' electric-float,' all I can say is that if it is not ' true ' it is at any rate ' new.' Besides the floats shown in the engravings, there is still another very useful kind of float which I had overlooked. It is made the lower part of porcupine and the upper of goose or swan quill. In consequence of the amount of air contained in the upper portion it is an excellent carrier of its si '.e, and, therefore, worthy of an honourable place in the float-fisher's table of precedence. Another float, which, if not extraordinary, can certainly hardly be called ordinary, has recently been invented by Mr. Gillet, the well-known tackle-maker of Fetter Lane. It is a float which cocks itself^ and is called ' Gillet's self-cocking float.' It is strongly recommended by Mr. Greville Fennell in his 'Book of the Roach.' After stating his fruitless efforts to cir- cumvent the roach of certain ponds, he says : — We then bethought us to imitate as nearly as possible the action of the slow descending particles of loose ground-bait thrown in to allure the fish and instead of using a shotted line, which sank rapidly, and consequently unnaturally reaches the bottom long before the ground-bait, we removed all the shot, and placing suf- ficient in the quill, we found we had achieved a success, as it permitted the bait to sink by its own gravity. The effect was immediate and decided. . . . This method is wonderfully destruc- tive to dace when the house-fly is used. This float is weighted so as to swim the proper depth as weighted by the Hne, hook, and bait, ' when ' says the gentle- 2i8 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. man who describes it, * it may be regulated to detect the finest bite.' This writer also says that he has been very successful with it in mill tails amongst the dace, baited with a single gentle or red-worm, when with the ordinary shotted float he could not succeed in catching them. The self-cocking ap- paratus consists of a drop or two of quicksilver enclosed in the end of the transparent tapered quill. The object of this is to dispense with the SHOT OR LEAD WIRE, which latter, intended not only to cock the float, but also to carry the bait to the bottom, are best used large rather than numerous and, with the exception of the lowest one, distributed, in pond fishing, as far away from the bait as possible. In river fishing it is necessary to get the bait quickly to the bottom and to keep the current from lifting it off" again. Consequently it becomes necessary to get the shot somewhat closer together on the lower part of the line. The shot should be heavy enough to submerge the float up to the, as I may call it, high water mark, generally about three-quarters of the way up, but in many cases the float swims better and bites can be more readily per- ceived when the float is sunk rather over the mark in question. Some float-fishers instead of using split shot, with the annoy- ance of having to bite them on with your teeth when they have to be attached, and cut them out with your penknife at the risk of the line when they have to be detached, use a soft leaden wire, the invention, I believe, and, at any rate, manufacture of the Manchester Cotton Spinning Co., 51 Corporation Street, Manchester, which can be coiled with great facility round the line with the fingers and uncoiled again as soon as it is wished to alter the 'swim of the float,' or the float itself. An illustra- tion of the wire coiled on gut line is annexed.' 1 The actual leaden wire, of which samples have been furni'^hed to me by the rompany, is about as thick as the finest twine. It is sold by them in h:iiiks or knots of 15 yards, price one shilling the hank. The Manchester Company has FLOAT FISHING— TACKLE. 219 This fine wire is, however, more suitable for fine tackle and very light fishing than for floats requiring to be heavily leaded. The piece of lead coil represented is about equal to two No. 4 shot, and would cock a porcupine quill float about half as long again as No. 4. For very light tackle it has • however, I think, several advantages, one of which | is that there is no danger of nipping the line, as is the case with shot which have been squeezed tightly on. All that is necessary to coil the wire is to lay a pin parallel with the gut, twisting the wire round both ; and then, after withdrawing the pin tightening the coils as much as requisite by twisting them with the finger and thumb. To return : after the float naturally comes THE PLUMMET, LEAD-WIRE FOR WEIGHT- ING FLOAT- LINES. which is essential to ascertain the depth of the water and the distance from the bottom (or on the bottom, as the case may be) at which it is desired that the bait should travel. The best of the old-fashioned plummets is simply a sheet of soft lead wound round the line above the hook in the position shown in the engraving (fig. i). An im- provement upon it was, however, exhibited last year by Mr. Thomas Hines, of Norwich. The action of it will be under- also sent me samples of a very fine soft copper wire for lapping over pike tackle, finishing off top ring fastenings, &c., and other analogous purposes. 'I hey have been for many years manufacturing a superfine ' thrown silk,' as contrasted with ' floss ' silk, on the one hand and sewing silk on the other, for whipping hooks, flies, &c. An immense comfort will be found in tackle-making, from the use of this silk, which, though exceedingly fine is strong enough to admit of consider- able strain without breaking. The finest and purest silk of all, however, is that used by the gold twist makers of Little Britain, London, in their manufacture of gold lace for buttons, uniforms, &c. For 'waxing' this and other kinds of silk, a very small piece of cobblers' wax about as big as a No. i shot and rolled between the finger and thumb will be found a great convenience. When used in larger lumps it is difficult, especially in cold weather, to ke.-p it at the necessary temperature. 220 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. stood by a glance at the illustrative diagram (fig. 2). The thumb being pressed upon the point /', the loop, a., is pushed upwards by a spring, the hook passed through in the jiosition shown, and kept afterwards m its i)lace by the downward action of the liberated spring. A ROD REST. A dcsideratuvi which will add greatly to the comfort both of the bank and punt fisher, has been lately patented by Messrs. C. L. Matthews dv: Co., No. ia Wynyatt Street, St. John Street Road, London, E.G., under the name of the 'Adjustable Fishing Rod Holder.' This invention, of which diagrams are ai)])ended, is obtainable from Messrs. Matthews, wholesale and retail. 'Jhe rod holder in blark iron costs \s. Gd. ; the boat cli]), the same ; or better finished and nickel plated twice as much. Fig. i shows the nxl holder as it would a])pear when stuck upright in the bank. I'ig. 2, the same stuck in a ])eri)eii(ii( ular I)ank. I'ig. 3, the boat clip, by which it can be fixed to the side of the punt. Fig. 4 shows the adjustment of the boat clip with the rod holders in position. The inventor claims the following advantages amongst others for his rod holder : — FLOAT FISHING— TACKLE. 221 1. The rod can be fixed so that the butt end comes to the edge of the water, thus bringing the full length of the rod into use. 2. The rod holder can be adjusted so as to fish when the water is bank high or some feet below. 3. The rod holder can be stuck into the sheer face of a high bank (fig. 2), and the point of the rod depressed as near the water as desired. FIG. 3. FIG. I. AN ADJUSTABLE KOD-REST. 4. The rod is so held that instantly a bite is seen one can strike as freely as though it had been held in the hand all the time. 5. The rod holder can be adjusted to any angle without taking it out of the ground. 6. In boat fishing, the same advantages attend the use of the rod holder as when fishing from the bank. All anglers know how awkward it is to have the rod lying across the boat. 222 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. J. When using the rod holder, there is no danger of losing the rod ; it cannot roll or tip from the boat or bank, no fish can run off with it, and the pressure of- wind only makes it hold tighter. 8. The rod holder holds equally well long or short, thick or thin, light or heavy rods ; in fact, it is so adapted that the greater the strain the greater the security. 9. The rod holder when not in use will close up in such a small compass that it may easily be carried in the bag, basket, or pocket, its weight being but a few ounces. Float Caps. — The best float caps are quill, as unless the outside silk lapping gives way they are practically indestructible. Not so gutta i^ercha caps, which after keeping a certain time lose all the quali- ties of elasticity and almost of cohesion. I have before me a box of gutta percha caps which have been some years in stock and they break to j)ieces merely on being taken hold of by the fingers. Tackle Var^iis/i. — The appearance as well as the durability of all fishing tackle is enhanced by the addition of a coat of varnish over the silk lap])ing. A receipt for the best varnish for this purpose with which I am ac(iuainted is given at page 17. Tackle Vice. — .\ vice whicli can be attaclicd to the table and containing a hook for loop-tying and other incidental ])urposes will be foimd a luxury to those who make their own tac klc. /■isliin^i:; J^licrs. — Mr. R. 1!. Marston has invented a most excellent combi- nation of the above. It is so useful and complete that I a])iiend a diagram of it. It ( oinains : — i>t, a strong pair of pliers. iisniN<; I'l.n.Ks. FL OA T FISHING— TA CKLE. 223 2nd, shot splitter. 3rd, wire or hook cutter. 4th, by an ingenious contrivance in the centre of the joint between the two arms, a cutter for extra thick wire. 5th, screw-driver. 6th, a sort of gimlet for boring broken joints out of ferrules. The pliers can be obtained of Messrs. Barron and Wilson, King William Street, Strand. ' THE fisherman's KNIFE.' For all sorts of float- as well as fly-fishing, a pocket-knife with a ' disgorger ' blade that can be carried anywhere, and opened readily from any position, is a great, I might almost say, indispensable convenience. 224 PJKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. The * Fisherman's Knife,' as it has been christened, figured in the engraving, a descendant of my other knife rechristened the ' Troller's Knife,' contains all the outdoor requisites in a thoroughly compact form. It is manufactured and sold by Messrs. Watson and Sons, 308 High Holborn, London, at the very modest price of Gs. dd. A very convenient general tackle-box is sold by Messrs. Chevalier, Bowness and Bowness, of 230 Strand. This box, which is made in japanned tin, is designed to carry a complete stock of tackle, as well for the fly-fisher as the troller, &a' ' Depth, II inches; length, 14 inches; width, 10 inches. In the lid are com- paitments, containing traces, casts, &c. Two trays for artificial baits ; one tray for salmon flies, and one tray with four partitions for trout flies. There is a large s.pace underneath the bottom tray for reels, lines, and tackle generally. The price of the tackle box is three guincoi. 225 BAITS. WORMS AND HOW TO BAIT WITH THEM. I wish you all joy of the worm. — Antony and Cleopatra, I HAVE usually found that the best worm for all sorts of fishing, excepting ledgering for barbel, or bream fishing wherq the fish run large, is the brandling or dunghill worm, found in manure heaps. The manure, however, that produces these worms in perfection should not be too old nor too new, but in & sort of half-and-half condition, which, although the process can never be an agreeable one, takes away part of the extreme nastiness of collecting them. Moreover, when the right spot is discovered, they are generally found in great abundance. Pro- bably the pungent smell, derived, I suppose, from its unsavoury habitat, as well as its enticing red colour, are the causes of the superior attractiveness of the brandling. Before being used it should, however, for the double purpose of increasing its bright-, ness and its toughness, be thoroughly well ' scoured ; ' and to effect this, the simplest and best way that I am acquainted with is to place it in well damped moss for two or three days before use. At the riverside worms may be carried either in a box or small bag, the latter probably the most convenient, as it admits of more moss to keep the worms fresh and lively, and can be attached to the button-hole. A dead or disfigured worm should be at once discarded and the hook rebaited. Mr. Alfred Mackrill gives the following recipe for keeping v/orms after they have been caught. His establishment, it will be observed, is on such an extensive scale, that it might well 11.- Q 226 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FJSH. be dignified by the title of the * Wormery ; ' this, of course, gives additional weight to his recommendations : I have, he says, six tubs in the garden about 2 feet each in diameter and about 4 feet deep. These I sink into the ground 15 inches, and then fill them up with garden mould about 20 inches, and as I collect the worms I place them on the top of the mould in tub No. I until I have 2,500, and then the other tubs until full. The worms will live in tubs so arranged for months ; no trouble need be taken. The worms will work down into the mould. A cover must be placed on the top of each tub to keep the birds and rain out, the cover to be slightly raised for ventilation. I look at the tubs once a week, and if I find any dead ones at the top I im- mediately remove them. The worms can only be taken on a warm, damp, moonless night, and on these favourable evenings I catch my supply. During the close season I manage to get nearly 20,000 lobs, and have plenty during the hot summer months when worming is out of the question. Now, for the blood-worms and brandlings. These I have to breed. The blood- worm will be found in rotten, decayed leaves in abundance. The brandling I breed in the following mixture : stable dung, garden mould, vegetable matter of all kinds, the refuse of the kitchen, watered continually with the cook's pot liquor. A heap of this made up 12 feet square and 2 feet deep will supply millions of worms. Now comes the most important part — the preparation of the worm for the hook. I take two flower-pots large enough to hold two quarts of water, well plug the hole at bottom with a cork, fill them threc-iiarts full with fresh moss washed very clean ; the moss must be wet, but not very wet. Pick out the brightest and pinkest-looking worms — say, one hundred — place them carefully on the top of the moss, cover the pot over to prevent the worms crawling out, place the pot in a shady corner, leave it for twenty-four hours, then take your other pot and place the worms very carefully one by one in that ; rcprat this for six days, taking care that the moss is fresh and well washed each time. At the end of the sixth day you will have a worm clean, transparent, and full of life. The worm will then be ready for your bait-box, which should be nearly full of fresh moss, well washed, and be wet, but not too wet. The worms for the ground-bait I clean in moss for two days only ; you want tlie fisli to select, and if you have the choice morsel on your hook there is every probability that on the hook BAITS, 227 will be taken. The brandling and blood-worms for ground-bait, I simply take as many as I want out of a stock pot. They will be found in a compact mass at the bottom, and do not require cleaning for ground-bait. Place these in clean washed moss in a small box, and all is ready. A bag of boiled rice (2 lbs.) and the same quantity of soaked bread completes the ground-bait, with a bag of bran to mix with the whole. Never throw a dead worm in with your ground-bait ; one stinking worm will drive all the fish out of your swim. Fish are a very great deal more particular than many anglers are aware of. I close my remarks with the following : One may be a very skilful angler, but, as old George I-Ione says, if the fish won't bite, ' nobody can ketch 'em.' If you want the fish to bite study the bait. When the brandling cannot be obtained, of other small worms the reddest are the best. For barbelling, bream, and chub, the tail end of a lob- worm, the largest species of worm that we have, appears for some reason — probably because it is larger — to be a better bait. The lob-worm may be constantly obtained in the same spots as the brandling, as also in kitchen gardens, and generally in any moderately damp heavy soil. Another favourite ' He ' for this worm is under an old log, or anything that by pressing on the soil keeps it more or less constantly humid. The easiest way, however, to gather lob-worms, especially when any large number are required, as for ground-baiting for barbel, &c., is to collect them with a lantern at night, on low-lying dampish lawns and the grass edges of gravel paths. At this time they come out of their holes, and may, in a favourable situation, literally be scraped up with the fingers by dozens, so that I have repeatedly filled a quart pot with them in the space of half an hour. When there is not much dew, or the hour is not very late, the worms only come partially out of their holes, keeping their tails in, apparently to facilitate an immediate retreat, and in this case some dexterity is required to cut off the retreat successfully, and to avoid breaking the worm in doing so. Various prescriptions have been given for making the lob- v/orms come out of their holes in an unnatural manner and Q 2 228 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. in the daytime. The following recipe was given me by a gentleman of my acquaintance last year in Scotland. Though I have not tried it, I have no doubt his prescription is good. * Mix a little mustard in warm water and with a jug pour it into the worm holes along the sides of the gravel walks or carriage drives, and the worms come bolting out like rabbits.' A decoction of walnut leaf water poured on the ground, has been recommended as a prescription for bringing them to the surface, nolens volenSy for the last two hundred years, or at any rate since the time of Chetham, who, in the second edition of his 'Angler's Vade Mecum ' {femp. 16S9) says: *In great droughts pound walnut leaves, and put the juice thereof mixed with a little water into their (the worms') holes, and it drives them out of the ground.' Another author, * R. H.,' in the 'Angler's Sure Guide' (1706), quoted by Mr. Alexander D. Camjibcll, treats on the Subject at still greater length : There are divers other ways of getting these worms, as by bruising green hemp, or walnut-tree leaves, or the green husks, the blades of leeks or onions, and laying them to soak, or boiling them in water, and after they have been soaked twelve or fourteen hours, or boiled an hour or two, pour the water on the ground in places where you see many worm castings, or into the worm holes; or by mixing soot and water, or salt and water, and throwing it on such places, (S:c. But I use none of these last ways, but only in case of necessity, because it hurts the worms, and makes them sick and many of thcni to die. I have much pleasure in placing any or all of these recipes at the disposal of the National Fish Culture -Association, whose energetic secretary lately advertised, I see, for ' tenders ' for a worm contract, for tlie benefit of the fish in the South Kensing- ton Atpiarium. In bailing with a whole lob-worm, dij) tlie fiiiL^'cr and thumb of the left hand in dry sand, then take the worm between the two and insert tlie point of the hook either exactly at the ])oint of the head or just below it as desired, threading it, as it were, BAITS. 229 down the centre, until at least two-thirds of the worm has been run upon the hook and line. When the finger of the right hand can no longer touch the hook shank, the head of the worm must be pulled upwards with the two first fingers and thumb of the right hand, at the same time that with the left the threading process at the point of the hook is continued. Another plan, which is easier than the above, is to enter the hook point at the head as described, and after passing it through as much as the shank of the hook will cover, bring the point out again and run the worm clean up on the gut two or three inches above the hook, then again insert the hook point at the orifice from which the gut is drawn out. Repeat the threading process towards the tail of the worm until again the shank of the hook completely disappears, when the gut being drawn tight the bait is completed. In usmg the lob-worm tail only, the worm must be broken about the middle, longer or shorter according to circumstances, and the hook inserted at the point of the breakage, the worm being then run up the hook until the shank is somewhat more than covered, and only the end of the tail remains at liberty. For baiting with a whole brandling or other small worm with a single hook, the same plan as that employed for the whole lob-worm should be followed, with the difference that the hook-point must be inserted at or a little above the ' knot ' — the worm in this case being of course unbroken — and that it is better to leave a gap between the spot where the point of the hook is first brought out and that where it is re-entered in the worm. Baiting thus the hook does not require to be run in quite so far, as, when the line is pulled tight and the upper part of the worm drawn down, the exposed por- two-hook tion of the hook- shank will be covered by the upper portion of the worm. Where my two-hook tackle is used (z'ide cut) all this dis- agreeable part of the business is dispensed with. Z30 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. GENTLES AND PASTE. It has been stated by a roach fisherman of experience that the gentles or maggots — the larvae of the blue-bottle — obtained from fish offal are finer, and appear to be preferred as bait to those obtained from the liver of the sheep or bullock. Those who are very * nice ' about such matters can easily satisfy them- selves of the accuracy of the assertion by a trial. Fiat experi- meniiim in corpore vili I Whatever be the source from which gentles are obtained, they should be placed in moist sand to scour and toughen, and get rid of a pinky-brown discoloured patch which they have when first taken out of the offal. In this way they will keep fresh and in good order for several days. In the winter months, if it is desired to keep them for any considerable period, the plan commonly recommended is to put them into a large-mouthed bottle, such as a pickle jar, about two-thirds full of earth, the bottle being corked up and placed in a cellar or other cool situation. The best way of baiting with gentles I generally find is to completely cover the shank of the hook with the first gentle run on longitudinally, then to put on transversely one, two, or three more according to the size of the hook, and the last one again longitudinally so as to cover the barb and point. Carrion gentles, as they are called, are much smaller and proportionally nastier than liver gentles ; they can be used, however, when the latter cannot be obtained, but the purpose to which they are most commonly put is that of ground-baiting. In all gentle-fishing it will be found a great convenience to have a bait-box, something in shape like a miniature water can, with a tray at the mouth into which the gentles arc 'poured ' instantly when required for baiting, and from which they at once fall back again into the can when done with. The can itself is attached to the button hole by a string. Most authors mention paste. I find that the best paste is made from the crumb of a new loaf worked as follows : Place BAITS. 231 the lump of crumb in a loosish ' bag ' formed out of a pocket- handkerchief, draw the hand down the handkerchief until the bread-crumb is lightly pressed upon. Hold the bread, thus enclosed, in the water for a few seconds, then take it out and by twisting the handkerchief tightly squeeze out the superfluous water, — squeeze out, in fact, all the water that can be got out ; then take out the sort of pudding which remains and work it a few times between the palms of the hands, which should be clean. This will form a reserve from which small portions can be taken from time to time to be manipulated into the desired consistency as required for use. When putting a piece of paste on the hook roll it up between the finger and thumb until it is of a spherical shape, then bury the hook deeply in it and give it a slight squeeze between the finger and thumb ; ' the sum tottle of the whole,' as Hume used to say, being that the point and bend of the hook are entirely covered and all but a very little bit of the shank. Some roach fishers prefer to cover the whole of the hook, shank and all, with a pear-shaped piece of paste. This, how- ever, requires some skill, takes somewhat more time, and makes the bait larger. All sorts of unguents and essences have been at one time or another recommended to be mixed with paste for the purpose of giving it a hatd-gout All arts, all shapes, the wily angler tries. To cloak his fraud, and tempt his finny prize : Their sight, their smell, he carefully explores. And blends the druggists' and the chymists' stores ; Devising still, with fancy ever new, Pastes, oils, and unguents, of each scent and hue. And in Jones's ' Oppian,' thus : A paste in luscious wine the captor steeps Mixed with the balmy tears that Myrrha weeps, Around the trap diffusive fragrance rolls. And calls with certain charms the finny shoals ; They crowd the arch, and soon each joyful swain Finds nor his labour nor his care in vain. 232 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. Others'again recommend the working up with it of a certain quantity of cotton wool to make it adhere longer to the hook. Honey is another addition which is often strongly advocated. I cannot say, however, that I have personally found any necessity for or advantage in these various refinements, and I am disposed to think that a good clean white bread paste made in the way that I have described will generally take, when fish are taking at all, at least as well as any other variation. A sort of composite bait which has been recommended on really good authority is made by putting a gentle on the point of the hook and covering the rest of the shank with paste. Mr. Davies, the accomplished author of a charming book on * Fishing in the Norfolk Broads,' states that in his experience a paste and gentle bait thus concocted has been known to kill where no success attended the use of paste alone. Cheese paste — i.e. oidinary cheese worked up into a paste — is also a bait which has been recommended as deadly for carp and barbel. That it is so for chub — used with a float in the ' Nottingham style,' under boughs, &c., and in pellets about the size of a cherry — 1 can confidently assert, but I have not tried it myself for any other fish. The cheese I have used has also been always compaiatively new, whereas to select a cheese that 'stinks' is the advice of experts. There is, in fact, no end to the nostrums with which writers on fishing would complicate our bait-bo.x. They almost all, however, depend, as pointed out in an amusing article by *G. F,' ])ublished in the ' Fisherman's Magazine,' some years ago, upon tittivating the olfactory fisn nerves, and this again dei)cnds upon fish being possessed of the sense of smell, which may be assumed by analogy, but I don't think has ever been demonstrated ichthyo- logically. Admitting, however, that in fish as in man, the nose may be ' the sentinel of the stomach,' it is hard to believe that it could receive with pleasure such a compound as the following, recommended by M. Charras to Louis XIV., King of France, as an infallible ' anointment for fish bait : BAITS. 233 Take of man's fat and cat's fat, of each half an ounce ; mummy, finely powdered, three drams ; cumium seed, finely powdered, one dram ; distilled oil of aniseed and spike, of each six drops ; civet, two grains \ and campline, four grains : make an ointment accord- ing to art. "When you angle with this, anoint 8 inches of line next the hook. Keep it in a pewter box, made something- taper ; and when you use it, never angle with less than two or three hairs next the hook ; because if you angle with one hair it will not stick so well to the line. Another of this author's prescriptions is gum ivy, also re- commended by Izaak Walton. ' It is of a yellowish-red colour and with a strong scent and a sharp taste.' Or take this as ' the best unguent compounded for trout in muddy water and gudgeon in a clean stream : ' ■ Take assafoetida, 3 drams; campline, I dram; Venice turpen- tine, I dram ; put altogether with some drops of the chymical oils of lavender and chamomile, of each an equal quantity. That a trout should be induced to partake of this precious compound in muddy water and gudgeon in clean water must surely be intended, as ' G. R' suggests, to illustrate the disparity between the intellects of the two species. As a final effort of imagination it has actually been recommended to 'take the bones or skulls of a dead man at the opening of a grave and beat them into powder, putting this powder into the moss where you keep your worms, but others like the grave earth as well ; ' and ' man's fat ' is not only insisted upon, but we are directed to apply to any ' surgeon ' for it. ' Cat's fat ' and ' that fat from a heron's leg ' is likewise advocated. It has been pointed out that both the latter animals are partial to fish, and that although a cat has a proverbial aversion to wetting her feet she becomes a second otter when she has once taken to fish-poaching ways. But, as the writer I have been quoting from humorously remarks : Man is not always fond of fishing, and the fat of a fellow who is no ossophagist might tend to drive the fish away rather than to «34 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. induce their presence, and if such be the case, we fear there will become a great demand for the adipose of an angler, and he who, in dying, carries so tempting a bait may be followed to his last resting-place by the brethren of the rod in a humour rather of joy than sorrow ! This is certainly a grave view to take of the question, and naturally brings us to an end. GREAVES. Greaves, although strongly recommended by many authors, is to my mind a very unattractive, as well as inconvenient, sort of bait, so much so, in fact, that I ' hardly ever,' I might really say never, employ it. That fish whose character I have defended to the utmost from the aspersion of coarseness, shall not only be willing to swallow tallow in its normal and sufficiently nasty state, but should actually batten upon the fatty refuse of the unsavoury product, is a matter which viewed in its proper light ought to cause regret to the enthusiastic roach and barbel fisher. Here is the receipt, however, for the preparation of the greaves, 'such as they are :' The greaves, after being broken up with a hammer, should be gently boiled for about half an hour, long enough before they are wanted for use to admit of their getting cold and hard. The whitest pieces are the best, and these can be most conveniently disposed of to hide the hook by being cut into broadish strips or slices ; but, as before observed, the whole thing as a process is unattractive and as a bait beastly ! It is refreshing to turn to— •pith' axd 'bullock's brains,' Which shine, at least, by contrast As I have observed in the * Modern Practical Angler,' this bait is a modern discovery, but it is the most deadly of all baits for chub fishing in winter. The ' pith ' is used as the bait on the hook, and the l)rains for the ground-bait ; and I shall therefore describe them both together. They are prepared thus : Having obtained from a butcher some brains from a freshly BAITS. 235 killed bullock, cow, or sheep, first thoroughly clean and mash them in cold water, and then boil them for fifteen minutes, changing the water once during the process. When cold they are ready for use. The ' pith ' is the spinal marrow of a bullock or cow, and should also be obtained quite fresh. The pith requires to be boiled for about three minutes to prepare it for use. The brains and marrow from one bullock will be sufficient for an ordinary day's fishing. In order to make the brains sink readily, and also in order to separate the particles, or make them fine, some fishing authorities recommend that the brains should be chewed by the angler as he uses them. This process, however, though effectual, is not relished by most persons, and the best substitute is to squeeze the brains in the hand whilst under water. The brains should be thrown in from time to time, in pieces about the size of a walnut, a few yards (according to stream and depth) above the spot which is covered by the bait. The pith when used for chub or barbel should be cut up as required into pieces about the size of a large hazel nut, and baited on a No. 9 or 10 hook. (See plate, p. 207.) The author of ' Spinning and Float-fishing in the Notting- ham Style ' is in favour of boiling the brains, but against boiling the pith. He says : * It is, in my idea, the winter bait par excellence for chub : I allude to pith and brains. The pith is the spinal cord of a bullock ; your butcher will draw you a piece out when you want to use it. The brains are used for ground-bait, and they must be washed perfectly clean and well scalded, or else boiled for a few minutes in a bag. They can then be cut up very small with a knife and thrown in. Don't, however, be extravagant in this matter ; a very few pieces are quite sufficient. The pith itself when you first see it looks a very dirty and disagreeable affair ; the pieces are about as thick as your forefinger, and I have had them a foot long. The skin must be slit from end to end with a pair of fine-pointed scissors, carefully pulled off, and thrown away, being useless. The pith must then be washed two or three times in clean water till it is perfectly clear from blood and all other impurities, and as white as card. Some anglers recommend that it should be scalded, 236 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. boiled, &c. ; but I say don't be deluded into doing anything of the sort, for I have tried it, and boiling ever so little makes it very soft, and it won't stop on the hook at all. I say do nothing more to it than I have recommended above. After it is washed and clean it is ready for use, and for this bait a No. 4 hook is the best. Cut off a piece of pith about the size of a hazel nut and put the hook through and through it several times till you have worked' the pith up the shank ; it will then stop on the hook very well. When you have a bite with this bait play your fish very carefully, for I have found that two out of three of the fish so caught have only been hooked by the skin at the side of the mouth. This is a clinking bait to use in the depth of winter, when the snow lies deep on the ground, and when the thermometer indicates a few degrees below freezing point. Indeed, I think it is useless to try it unless there is a little frost.' OTHER BAITS. The white lari^a of the wasp, or wasp grub, which is found in the comb in a mummified (might I say com-atose ?) state, is often a successful bait for roach, dace, chub, bream, &c. It is, however, difficult, from its delicate nature, to keep it very satisfactorily on the hook, and for this purpose some authors have recommended that it should be slightly baked before use, whilst others have considered that in order to ' snatch a grace beyond the reach of art ' the head of the parbaked grub should be dipped in some red stain, or bullock's blood, if I remember the actual prescription rightly. Wasp grubs are plentiful during the summer and early autumn months, and the only difficulty is how to become possessed of them without inviting attentions of a personal character from the bereaved progenitors. Having suffered many things, many times, myself in the process I will give a reci])e for obtaining them, which is both simple and perfect. Having marked, during the day, the position of the wasp's nest — a levc'i ground being preferable from choice — make up a sort of large squib of powdered sulpluir and gunpowder in equal parts, thoroughly mixed uj) in a pestle with sufficient water to give it the consistency of thick paste. Roll the mixture up to the thick- BAITS. ^37 ness of a pencil and about six inches long in two or three folds of paper, which had better be tied or twisted at the end to prevent the contents escaping. At any time after nine or ten o'clock at night the whole of the adult wasps will be in their hole, and being provided with a fresh-cut sod in one hand the operator approaches the hole, and having carefully reconnoitred the orifice, lights his squib, and, as soon as it begins to fizz, pushes it down into the hole as far as he can and immediately covers it over with the sod — which he had better stand or, at least, trample upon. In five minutes every wasp in the nest will be dead or so stupefied as to be practically so, and the nest, which is usually from \ foot to i^ feet below the surface, and more or less in the shape of a plum pudding, can then be dug out entire with per- fect safety, and the parts of the comb selected which contain the greatest number of grubs. So certain and expeditious is this process that I have taken three or four after dinner, dug them all up, taken what I wanted and filled in the holes in little over half an hour. If wasps unduly swarm in the neighbourhood, which I have often known to be the case, they can, by following out the above directions, be easily reduced in numbers, if not almost entirely exterminated. Grasshoppers, both sunk and floating, form an excellent bait for chub. I used to employ them successfully under some of the steep clay marl banks about Medmenham. In this case I managed somehow to make the bait sink, but at this moment I cannot exactly recollect the modus operandi adopted ; my impression is that it was with a large shot nipped on to the tip of the hook shank, two or more grasshoppers, according to size, being stuck on below. Caddis Bait. — The caddis-worm — the larva of species of the FhryganidcB, well known to the fly-fisher— is found in great abundance in some streams, and in others it is comparatively rare. In the streams where it is abundant, it probably forms a staple article of fish diet, and tends materially to keeping up a fine breed of trout. There are a great many varieties of caddis- 238 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. worm, from those inhabiting a plain straw-like case of from \ inch to \ inch in length to those whose domiciles are patched together with small pieces of stone, sticks, and other debris. In order to be used as a bait, it is necessary that the caddis-worm should be induced to quit his habitation, and this is a matter of some delicacy and difificulty — one reason, perhaps, why the caddis-bait is not more commonly in use. Meal Worms are often a capital bait for roach, dace, and many other fish. They are to be found amongst the refuse sweepings of the flour mills and are best preserved by being kept in a tin box with some of the meal in which they are bred. Mr. R. B. Marston recommends them to be used as a winter chub bait in combination with two wasp grubs, the meal worm being between the wasp grubs with the hook simply passed through the centre — laterally, not longitudinally. Both wasp grubs and meal worms are usually kept in stock for sale by Mr. C. Bradley, of 62 Jacob Street, Bradford, which are stated to be thoroughly ' well cured,' although how the process of curing is performed I know not Stewed Wheat is often to be commended as a bait under circumstances where paste and gentles might naturally be used. Mr. E. Tildesley, Secretary, Bordesley Waltonians, gives the following as the best recipe for its preparation : * Put the wheat in a stew jar and just cover it with cold water ; then place it on the oven side of the grate till it gets hot, when you will find the wheat begin to swell and absorb all the water ; you will then keep adding water from time to time to keep the wheat covered for the space of six or seven hours, but on no account allow the water to more than simmer. By the end of that time the wheat will be swollen to its full size ; tlie skin will be soft and all the flour retained. ' In baiting the hook merely press it in from the broken side right to the husk, and the chances are in favour of your hooking every roach, bream, chub, or dace that bites.' BAITS, 239 GROUND-BAITING. The object of ground-baiting is, of course, to collect the fish, either spread over a large area or roving about in shoals, to the spot at which it is intended to fish for them ; and, having col- lected them, to keep them there as long as possible. For this purpose it is not uncommon to bait, as it is termed, a pond or a river ' swim ' the day previous^ and even sometimes several days previous, to the actual fishing. The only danger is that the fish should be surfeited with food — or rather the special sort of food which it is proposed to tempt them with — before the intended feeding time arrives. In order partly to counteract this possibility, and partly also to induce them to prefer the bait on the hook to the ground bait, it is very usual to employ a coarser quality either of the same or a different bait for the purpose. For instance, if gentles are used in ground-baiting it is generally the carrion gentles already mentioned that are used — liver gentles, which are larger and probably more gusta- tory, being reserved for the hook. In paste-fishing again, espe- cially in ponds, it is also a very good plan to throw in from time to tune a few small pellets of paste round the float. The ground-bait actually used generally consists of bran and soaked bread mixed up together. In river-fishing, of course, this ground-bait would not answer as the stream would carry it away at once and with it probably even those fish which might other- wise have come to the fisherman's hook. When this ground- bait, therefore, is used in rivers it is very commonly mixed with a little clay, or else some flour meal or other more adhesive ingredient is added to give it consistency, and the ground-bait having been worked up into a bah a stone is pushed into the middle of it to carry it quickly to the bottom. Lob-worms also make a good, perhaps the best, ground-bait for bream and barbek The best way to use them is to enclose a handful or two in a large clay ball, taking care that a good many heads and tails stick out — foKr enconrager les autres. In baiting a Thames 'swim' for barbel as much as two or three 240 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. quarts, or more, of solid worms are employed — often for several days consecutively — for this purpose. The stream gradually washes away the clay balls and releases their contents. Some good fishermen recommend that the worms for this purpose should be broken into two or three pieces ; I cannot say that I think the expedient one of any real advantage, whilst the preparatory process is disagreeable to say the least of it. In ponds, where small whole worms form one of the best ground baits for bream, perch, carp and tench, they do not, of course, require to be mixed with clay or any other substance. Greaves, or ' scratchings,' are often employed in very much the same way as lob-worms, being mixed up with a certain proportion of clay to carry them to, and keep them at the bottom. When carrion gentles are used and have to be kept any time beforehand, they should be mixed with moist sand, as in the mass, 'undiluted,' they are apt to 'scald,' as the expression is, that is they become hot so that a large proportion die. In combination either with bran and bread or with greaves, or all three, they form one of the best ground baits all the year round for dace, roach, and bleak, and are also very fairly good bait for bream or barbel. In ponds or still waters I know no better ground bait without any admixture whatever. It is not always, however, that carrion gentles can be procured, and under these circumstances bran and bread mixed (soaked, of course), squeezed into balls with the hand, and flung in round the float or where it is intended to fish, form the best substitute. The tendency of fish to become satiated indicates a fact well worth remembering, namely, that in river ' swims ' it is generally better to fish rather below than actually over or above the ground-bait, because by so doing, there is a greater chance of the unsatiated fish, which are working up stream to the ground-bait, coming into contact witii the bait on the hook. Brnvers Grains, or malt, that is the grain from which the beer has been made, is often recommended for jjurposes of BAITS. 2dx ground-baiting ; but it is not a bait with which I can say I have ever had much success. Boiled Rice is probably the best ground-bait for minnows, bran for bleak, and gentles for roach and dace. By only bearing this in mind much trouble will be saved in procuring supplies of live bait with the casting-net. A stillish curve or eddy of the river about two feev deep will be found the best description of water for the application of this principle of baiting and for using the casting-net effectually. As a ' ground-bait ' for perch, my friend, Mr. Jesse, informed me some years ago that a tolerably clear glass vessel filled with minnows, and with a wire covering over it, sunk to the bottom of a pond or river, proves a most enticing, and, of course, long- lasting ground-bait for fish. I can imagine that the exaspera- tion of fruitlessly rubbing their noses against the bottle will make them go considerably for the real minnow when offered to them. Worse than Tantalus was their annoy To clip Elysium and to lack their joy. Somebody else has lately written that a botde of bright coloured flowers has a singularly seductive effect upon the fish- appetite, or curiosity, whichever it may be. Enthusiasts with more leisure than 1 have may perhaps be inclined to try the ex- periment. The bottle must, of course, be anchored in some way, and for the purpose might, perhaps, as well be filled with water, which would keep the flowers alive for a time at any rate. To sum up : as a general rule — to which, of course, the above are exceptions — the rationale of ground-baiting is that the bait used on the ground should be of the same description as, but of inferior quality to that used on the hook. Another hmt. After ground-baiting for the next day, or a subsequent campaign, plumb the exact depth and have the tackle all ready arranged so that it may not be necessary to disturb the water when the fishing actually commences. No fish are likely to swallow the plummet and many may probably be scared by it. II. R 243 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH, THE PERCH. {Perca fluviatilis.) Not a nibble has ruffled my cork, It is vain in this river to search, then ; I may wait till it's night Without any bite, And at roost time have never a perch then ! — HoOD. The common perch is, to quote an old writer, both 'good fyshe- ing and good eating,' and has an especial claim on the notice of the tyro as owing to his combined pluck and greediness he very frequently falls the first victim to their bow and spear. In fact, in many cases he requires hardly any art whatever to catch him, and, being a pond as well as a river fish, and spread pretty generally over the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, offers special facilities for being found. This distribution, however, although, as observed, very general, is by no means equal. In ^Vales, for example, the perch is almost rare and confined princi- pally to stagnant waters. In Ireland it is more widely diffused but still somewhat unequally, and in Scotland, whilst very com- mon south of the Firth of Forth, it becomes comi^aratively scarce to the north of it, and ceases entirely amongst the Sutherland and Ross-shire waters, or where observed is supposed to owe its introduction to very recent times. Of the British perch, so far as my experience extends, the Thames produces the best in the matter of quality ; Windermere and Slapton Ley, the greatest show as to quantity ; and the Kennet, from Ilungcrford to Reading, the finest specimens for general size and weight. In this latter river, near Kettering, Mr. Francis Hughes and myself took on one occasion several dozen perch, averaging more than a full pound weight each, and the largest fish considerably exceeded two i)ounds. A few large PERCH-FISHING. 243 ones are to be found in the Hampshire Avon, where I once caught one weighing nearly 2| lbs. The numbers of perch existing in Windermere and Slapton Ley, Devonshire, are almost incredible ; but their size is insignificant, rarely passing a few inches, and more commonly being still less. Even in the Thames, after the first flood has swept them into the eddies and mill tails, I have caught them literally as fast as I could drop in a paternoster. I remember once when fishing behind Temple JMills above Marlow, with Mr. Henry R. Francis and the late Tom Rosewell, we caught upwards of twelve dozen in this way, besides some jack, in a few hours on a late autumn or winter afternoon, and my remembrance is that we only stopped catching them for want of bait. The perch of the Thames, which is also noticeable for its fine colouring, probably owes its superior gastronomic attrac- tions to the great purity of the stream above the locks, as well as to the wide range in the choice of food, spawning-ground, &c., which it affords ; but in whatever waters the fish breeds, it is seldom other than palatable as well as wholesome, and it is on this account a frequent item in the invalid's dietary. Izaak Walton, indeed, mentions a German proverb which would give it a very high place as a comestible, — ' More wholesome than a pearch o' Rhine,' — and quotes a learned authority to the effect that it possesses a small stone in the head thought to be very ' medicineable,' and which was at one time an ingredient in our Pharmacopoeia. The perch lives long out of water (resembling in that respect the carp and tench species), and if carried with care, and occa- sionally moistened, will in cold weather exist for several hours in this condition, not unfrequently undergoing a journey of thirty or forty miles without serious injury. Yarrell says that perch are constantly exhibited in the markets of Catholic coun- tries, where they are a popular article of ' fast ' diet ; and on these occasions, when not sold, they are taken back to the ponds from which they came, to be reproduced at another opportunity. 244 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. The best mode of ' transferring ' perch, as well as carp and tench, which possess the same amphibious qualities in common, is to place them loosely among wet sedgy grass, in a coarse wicker basket, through the interstices of which the air can cir- culate freely. By this means specimens may be conveyed by fast train from London to Inverness, or for any similar journey, without injury, as Mr. Stoddart states, to their vital functions. The only precautions necessary to be observed are that they must not be too closely packed, that is, not too many between the same layers of wet grass, and that fresh water should be sprinkled over them every now and then to keep the consignment cool. As minnows are one of the most common and killing, perhaps the most killing, perch bait, it may be well to refer here to the instructions for carrying live baits given at pages 42-7, all of which are fully applicable to minnows. A dozen or two may, however, be carried in a common soda water bottle for several hours by frequently changing the water ; the bottle should not be more than three parts full. When the minnows begin to exhibit symptoms of distress, which is known by their rising to the surface of the water, it is a sign that a fresh supply is needful. In an emergency they may, however, be partially restored, without changing the water, by simply extracting the cork and shaking the contents of the botllc so that the water may be re-acrated. Another plan mentioned by Mr. Stoddart, who was an adept in minnow fishing for trout, was to carry them loosely wrapped up in well-wetted grass or moss in the corner of the fishing basket, by which expedient, the vitality more or less, and the conscfjuent freshness of the minnows may be pre- served throughout an entire day ; and the same treatment will be found successful when applied to loach and sticklebacks. I am not jnepared to say that tliey will be as lively at the end of the day as when first jiut into the moss, but if care is taken to carry out the instructions given and sprinkle the moss or grass frequently, tliey will, at any rate, preserve a ceilain amount of vitality and freshness, which will fit them admirably for spinning. PERCH-FISHING. 245 But to return : such is the extraordinary hardiness and lon- gevity of the perch, according to authorities, that there is one of the perch genus, Perca sca?idens or Climbing Perch, a native of several parts of the East, which not only travels over land, but actually ascends trees in pursuit of the crustaceans iipon which it feeds, having been taken at an altitude of many feet from the ground. The structure of this fish peculiarly fits it for the exercise of this remarkable instinct. Its gill covers are armed with a number of spines, by which, used as hands, it appears to sus- pend itself. Making its tail a lever, and standing, as it were, on the little spines of its anal fin, it endeavours to push itself upward through the interstices of the bark by the expansion of its body, closing at the same time its gill covers that they may not impede its progress ; then, reaching a higher point, it opens them aLain. Thus, and by bending the spiny rays of its dorsal fins to right and left and fixing them in the bark, it continues its journey upwards. These 'travelling fish ' are all more or less expressly equipped by nature for the purpose. Whilst alluding to the late Mr. Stoddart,not only as a mighty fisher of trout, but also of salmon, it is pleasant to find that notwithstanding his almost unrivalled opportunities of satiating his tastes in this direction, he yet kept a warm corner of his heart for the humbler pursuits of float fishing and especially perch fishing by pond and lake. There is a diversion, after its kind, he says, in watching for the dip of one's float, near the edge of a lake or pool, in which you have reason to know that perch are tolerably plentiful, and of a size, in the long run, worth capturing ; diversion, suflicient at least ; which will content and ever excite thousands among the Waltonian order of anglers ; nay, to work upon the fancy, now and then, of the experienced slaughterer of trout and salmon. I admit, for my own part, under these circumstances, that I take special pleasure in a few hours' perch fishing. The variety itself is most acceptable ; and many a time would I gladly exchange, on that score alone, a promising forenoon's sport on Tweed or Teviot for a quiet fling in Yetholm or Fasten Loch, two well-known preserves 246 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. situated at the foot of the Cheviots, the nearer of them beincj within an hour's drive of Kelso. Indeed, notwithstanding the clamour a.cjainst bait-fishing raised in certain quarters, I feel inclined to hold the opinion that diversity in one's sport gives a sustaining relish to every individual branch of it ; and that an occasional indulgence, by way, as it were, of interlude, in the tamer and ruder, adds to the enjoyment of the more exciting and refined department. I have frequently also, amongst rod fishers of my acquaintance, adepts in trout and salmon slaying, noticed, that however much at starting they may affect, in the way of comparison, to despise the amusement of perch-fishing, they will quickly enter into the spirit of it, as a diversion, when the game is fairly set a-going, and evince by their keenness that, in the sudden dive of the float and the leisurely sailing out of the line, under conduct, now and then, of a two-pound fish, they experience a high measure of satisfaction. Personally also I may say that I have satiated my soul with salmon slaughter (having once taken fifteen spring fish with the 3y between breakfast and dinner), yet the prospect of a good day's float-fishing of any kind is always charming to me. There is no doubt, as Mr. Stoddart truly says, a fascination of its own in float-fishing, and of this the great majority of anglers number- ing hundreds of thousands, scattered over the country, each and all ' brethren of the quill,' afford convincing proof. Many of these men have perhaps never had an opportunity of seeing a salmon or trout caught in their lives, but the ' enthusiastic patience,' to misapply the Queen's English, with which they stand for hour after hour watching the top of their tiny quill for the chance of a l)itc is simply splendid, and I am afraid I must in honesty add, to myself, incomprehensible. ' "Ad e'er a bite, Jim?' 'No, I only cum here yesterday morning,' is a some- what exaggerated, but not inapt expression of this long suffering and inexhaustible patience. The clergy are great float-fishers as well as fly-fishers ; fish- ing being one of the few sports which are now considered seemly in a parson, and some of the best performers in this way that I have ever come across have been 'sky-pilots,' as a nautical friend of mine calls them. PERCH-FISHING. 247 A story is told in a newspaper lately that a clergyman on his way to church on Sunday came upon two of his parishioners, lads, by the side of a pond, fishing. The good man, though himself a devotee of the gentle art, felt it due to his cloth to rebuke the 'Sabbath breakers.' 'Boys,' said he, sternly, ' do you know what day this is ? Have you not been taught that it is a sin to ' At this point down went one of the floats with a jerk. ' Pull him up, pull him up,' shouted the parson, ' you young fool ! Don't you see that you have got a bite?' The excitement of the * quivering quill ' communicates itself apparently by a sort of magnetic attraction to the fisherman's four-footed companion. Dogs have been known to become so carried away by their feelings in watching the capture of a big fish that they have at last plunged headlong into the river with a sort of idea, it may be presumed, of being ' in at the death.' A water spaniel belonging to the miller at Braemore, on the Avon, whose feats have also been chronicled by Mr. Buckland, was a wonderful performer and has been known to bring out a 2-lb. roach in his teeth. This unexpected interruption must have been very interesting, though, if frequently repeated, slightly unconducive to sport. Some of the perch, however, which I have taken below Braemore Mill would prove a very awkward subject for the miller's water spaniel if he happened to get the spines in his mouth the wrong way upwards. The Avon perch are not numerous, but what there are are splendid, both as to colour and size, and some I have taken still lov/er down the Avon in Lord Normanton's w^ater have averaged 4 lbs. a brace right through. The size to which perch will attain is somewhat doubtful. The largest specimen that I ever remember to have met with was preserved in a small inn in Perthshire. It was very im- perfectly stuffed, and had no doubt shrunk considerably in the operation ; but the label stated that it weighed 7 lbs. when 248 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. caught, and from its appearance it certainly could not have weighed less than five or six. Perch of 2 and 3 lbs. arc by no means uncommon, and specimens of even 4 lbs. arc probably less rare than may be supposed. Such fish have been taken in Pen Ponds, Richmond Park ; and Pennant records the capture of a perch in the Serpentine which weighed 8 lbs., and Stoddart, in his * Angler's Rambles,' one of 4 lbs. by Dr. Scott, in the Castle Loch, in 1858. Donovan speaks of a perch of 5 lbs., caught in Bala Lake. 'Ephemera' (the late Edward Fitzgibbon) mentions having seen a specimen which weighed 4 or 5 lbs. One of 6 lbs. was taken by Mr. Hunt, of Bi/ades, Staffordshire, from the Birmingham Canal ; and two fish of 8 lbs. each are stated to have been caught, the one in the Wiltshire Avon, and the other in Dagenham Reach, Essex. All the above, however, are capped by dear old Izaak, who says that he knew of one being taken by a friend, which measured two feet in length ; and in the ' Sure Angler's Guide ' he saw also the figure of a perch drawn in pencil on the door of a house near Oxford, which was twenty-nine inches long, and he was informed that it was the outline of a living fish. It is not probable, however, that we know accurately what is the maximum weight attainable by the perch under favourable circumstances, even in British waters ; and they probably reach a much greater weight in Scandinavia and other northern countries. The Danube breeds enormous perch ; and Schaffer assures us that in the church of Lulea, Lapland, the head of one is preserved which is nearly a foot long, giving the entire length of the fish at sometliing about 3i feet. The annexed table of the comparative weights and measures of perch, which, with several otlier similar scales, was kindly furnished me by Mr. Cliarles Wright, of the Strand, may possibly be useful to the angler when unprovided with the means of weighing his fish. It will, Mr. Wright assures me, be found generally accurate when the fish are in season. PERCH-FlSHING. 249 Length. Weight. Leiigth. Weiglit. inches lbs. ozs. iiicbes lbs. ozs 9 12 IS 3 5.V 10 I3V 19 3 I5i II 14 £ 20 4 9^ 12 I 0 21 5 5i 13 I 4l 22 6 2.^ 14 I 9i 23 7 o.i 15 I 14V 24 8 OL 16 2 5i 25 8 i5i^ 17 2 131- Next to the pike the perch may certainly claim precedence as the most dashing and fearless of all our sporting fish ; often like the former fish following a bait up to the very surface of the water, or side of the boat, when he presents a really splendid appearance, the jaws open, the spines erect, and the whole creature instinct with energy and fire. On these occasions he frequently remains for several instants bristling like a porcupine, as if threatening reprisals on those who have presumed to balk him of his prey, retiring at length in sullen wrath with his face still turned towards his assailants. I have seen, indeed, a whole string of perch following the bait one after another like so many shadows, and when they are really on the feed in this way it would not be an impossible feat to take every fish in the shoal ; in fact, I believe that I have literally done so on several occasions, and I remember once a visit to the Avon, above Christchurch, where the perch lie mostly in holes easily fishable, after which I should not have much cared to fish the same water again for a year or two ! These perch averaged from one to two pounds, and I once made a magnificent basket, the weight of which I do not exactly remember, but I think it must have been over 30 lbs., which I sent up as a present to the Piscatorial Society. They had, however, changed their headquarters, and, I believe, did not receive my consignment — rather unlucky for me, as it was the only occasion when I ever attempted to ' exhibit.' 250 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. Since I can remember anytliing I always remember reading in angling books that the perch was a * bold biter.* This bold biting combined with his voracious appetite, constitutes, no doubt, from an angler's point of view, his principal charm. From the point of view of the minnow and other small fry whose misfortune it is to inhabit the same locale it presents itself no doubt in a different point of view. To find half a dozen good sized minnows in the stomach of the perch is nothing out of the common, and failing these he takes kindly to insects, frogs, caterpillars, worms, and grubs of all sorts. The extent to which the perch will gorge himself with his favourite food may be illustrated by a fact which has come under the observation of many fishermen. When he has pouched so many minnows that his stomach positively refuses to contain any more he will endeavour to bite and, if possible, masticate others and under these circumstances I have repeatedly hooked and captured a perch by a minnow with the tails of the previous victims, which he had already swallowed and was unable to pouch, protruding from his gullet. When thus gorged he often ejects a portion of his prey on being landed. A very singular, though I believe, not unparalleled instance of the voracity of the perch occurred to me when fishing in Win- dermere. In removing the hook from the jaws of the fish, one eye was accidentally displaced and remained adhering to it. Knowing the reparative capabilities of piscine organisation, I returned the maimed perch, which was too small for my basket, to the lake and, being somewhat scant of minnows, threw the line in again with the eye attached as bait, — there being no other of any description on the hook. The float disappeared almost instantly ; and on landing the new comer, it turned out to be the fish I had the moment before thrown in, and which had thus been actually caught I)y his 07vn eye. This incident proves, I tliiiik, conclusively, that the structure of cold blooded animals enables them to endure very severe injuries and wounds without experiencing material incon- venience ; a fact which may tend to remove any qualms of PERCH-FISHING. 2 5 1 conscience felt by anglers on the score of the sufferings sup- posed to be inflicted on their captives. This incident appears on the face of it so very much like one of the flights of fancy of Baron Munchausen, that were it not that it took place in the presence of not less than half-a-dozen witnesses I should have hesitated to mention it. Singularly enough, one-eyed perch actually exist, are, I mean, bred with this deformity in several British waters. Mr. Stoddart, in his ' Angler's Rambles,' mentions that he himself caught a large number of perch having only one eye in Dunse Castle loch. ' On one of the four or five occasions,' says I\Ir. Stoddart, ' on which I fished here, I took out three dozen of perch exactly one half of which wanted an eye. How to account for such a contingency in so large a proportion remains to me a puzzle. The Rev. W. Crouder, of Dunse, was along with me at the same time and met with a similar experience. On a subsequent occasion in the same pond among four or five scores of perch taken I could only discover a single one-eyed specimen.' With most of us, in fiction as well as in fact, one-eyed perch figure. We must all remember in Lord Lytton's charming romance ' My Novel,' how the half-starved Dr. Riccabocca fished daily for his one-eyed perch, although the novelist does not, if I remember rightly, crown his perseverance with eventual success. An account of some totally blind perch and how they become so is given by Thomas Hurtley, in his description of the natural curiosities in the environs of Malham, near Craven, Yorkshire. The perch of Malham water, it appears, after a certain age become blind. A hard yellow film covers the whole surface of the eye, when the fish gradually acquires a black hue, yet these perch frequently attain the weight of 5 lbs., and are only to be taken with a net that sweeps the bottom, where they feed on loaches, miller's thumbs, &:c. Perch seem to be specially favoured in the matter of de- formities, and Sir John Richardson has given us an interesting 252 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. account of some of them : ' A deformed variety of perch,' he says, 'with the back greatly elevated, the tail distorted, and bearing the local name of Rudahorse, was noticed by Linnaeus at Fahlun, in Sweden ; and similar monstrosities occur at Elgsjon in Ostrogothia, and in other lakes in the north of Europe. De- formed perch are also found in Glyn Raithlyn, in Merioneth- shire. Such a fish is figured in the volume of Daniel's ' Rural Sports,' devoted to fishing and shooting, p. 247. Perch almost entirely white inhabit the waters of particular soils ; and I am indebted to the kindness of G. S. Foljambe, Esq., of Osberton, for specimens of a variety of perch from Ravenfield Park ponds, near Rotherham, in Yorkshire, the seat of Thomas Walker, Esq., which, when received in London, were of a uniform slate grey colour with a silvery tint ; and this peculiarity of colour is re- tained when the living fish are transferred from the park ponds to other waters. It would be easy to multiply such instances, indeed I my- self took on one occasion several specimens of deformed perch in some ponds near New Brighton, Cheshire ; and elsewhere they do not appear to be very uncommon. To other fish of his own size the perch is a formidable foe, although, unlike the pike, whose gape stretches almost as that of a boa constrictor, his mouth is incapable of taking in anything much above bait size or of being used as a weapon of offence. In this particular, however, he has a unique advantage in regard to the s[)ines with which his back fin is armed, as well as in the sharp lung points of his gill covers. How far the spines of the perch protect him from the assaults of the pike is not quite certain. In many fishings both in England and Scotland, small perch are considered the favourite baits of the pike, which does not seem to be at all deterred by their spiky appearance. Moreover, as the pike always swallows his prey head foremost, whilst the spines of the jjcrch are capable only of i)rojecting backwards — shutting down like the props of an umbrella, \\\io\\ pressure from in front— it would not ajipear that they could impede the operation of PERCH-FISHING. 253 swallowing, but that, on the contrary, they would naturally rather assist it than otherwise — in the same way that the ' beard ' of an ear of barley assists it in forcing a way up one's coat- sleeve. The effect of these back-action chevaux-de-frise is curiously illustrated by a circumstance of not unfrequent occurrence m Sweden, and elsewhere, where pike and perch inhabit the same lakes. The perch swallow the trimmer baits, and then pike in their turn gorge the hooked perch. In this case, although the pike is seldom or never actually hooked, yet, on the fisherman's drawing in his line, the perch sets so fast in his throat that he is unable to get rid of it, and both are taken. That the spines of the perch are very formidable weapons, of which they readily make use, is proved by an instance recently in a stock-pond near Weybridge, where one of these fish, of about half-a-pound, attacked a pike of the same w-eight, the result being that after a prolonged contest, carried on by both combatants with great fury, the pike wms apparently either killed or stunned, and lay motionless on the bottom, belly uppermost. The Rev. Henry Francis, my informant, an en- thusiastic naturalist as well as a most careful observer, was of opinion that perch themselves certainly do not object to these spines, so far as swallowing is concerned, and in a vivarium he has often observed them take with avidity smaller members both of their own and the ruffe species. Here is rather a tall American story on this subject, which I lately read in the New York Spirit of the Times : — ■ Who will believe the statement ? and yet we know it to be true. A two pound perch caught a bull-head in his mouth, in the Connecticut River, near Hartford, and the bull-head used his prongs to so good advantage that the black-fish could neither eat him, nor get away from him • and after a day or two the black-fish was found by the master of a sloop in that neighbourhood, entirely dead, with the bull-head or cat-fish sticking across his mouth — the bull-head being not only alive, but full of enei^gy, and ready for another adventure. 254 PlI^E AND OTHER COARSE FISH. The common stickleback, also a spine-armed fish, is in its turn constantly swallowed both by pike and perch ; used for bait for perch where minnows cannot be got, it is best, how- ever, to cut the spines off, and specimens of the brightest colour or red-throated are the most attractive. Although greedily taken by the larger perch and small pike, it is probable, notwithstanding, that the results of stickleback-swallowing, especially in cases of small pickerel and young perch, not unfrequently prove fatal to the latter. The sort of relation- ship existing between the two families is thus amusingly described by Dr. Badham, i propos of the pike : — By old pikes, he says, sticklebacks are held in yet greater abomination than perch, and not without good reason, seeing the havoc they commit amongst young and unwary pickerels. It is only by personal suffering, that fish any more than men, ever buy wisdom ; growing pikes no sooner begin to feel the cravings of hunger, and to find that they have large mouths, well furnished with teeth on purpose to cater for it, than they proceed to make a preliminary essay upon the smallest fish within reach ; these are commonly the gasierostci, or sticklebacks, who, observing the gaping foe advance against them, prepare for the encounter by brisding up their spines in instinctive readiness to stick in his throat, instead, as he supposes, of going smoothly down into his stomach. This induces a dreadful choking disease, which we venture to call ' sticklebackitis,' by means whereof many a pro- mising young jack is cut off /« cunabulis. 'Piscator' alludes to this circumstance, and adds that as long as they are alive they keep their prickles standing 'erect,' * for,' says he, 'if little, they are desperate and game to the last.' If the pike is the tyrant of the water, the stickleback is certainly its knight-errant. Now, with sheathed weapons and glittering in green and purple, he tenderly woos the object of his devotion, or armed cap-a-pie, patrols a watchful sentinel before her nuptial bower. Now, he fiercely disputes with rival claimants the possession of a favourite nook, or bristling with spines, charges through the liquid plains in search of other PERCH-FISHING. 255 sticklebacks as pugnacious as, and more penetrable than himself. Even in confinement the movements of sticklebacks are described by those who have watched them as being most warlike. When a few are first turned in, they swim about in a shoal, apparently exploring their new habitation. Suddenly one will take possession of a particular corner of the tub, or, as it will sometimes happen, of the bottom, and will instantly commence an attack on his companions ; and if either of them ventures to oppose his sway, a regular and furious battle ensues. The two combatants swim round and round each other with the greatest rapidity, biting and endeavouring to pierce each other with their spines, which on these occasions are pro- jected. Contests of this sort frequently last several minutes before either will give way ; and when one does submit, description can hardly exaggerate the vindictive fury of the conqueror, who, in the most persevering and unrelenting way, chases his rival from one part of the tub to another, until fairly exhausted with fatigue. The stickleback also uses his spines with such fatal effect, that one has been known during a battle absolutely to rip his opponent right open, so that he sank to the bottom and died. Three or four parts of the tub are occasionally taken possession of by as many little tyrants, who guard their terri- tories with strict vigilance ; and the slightest invasion invariably brings on a battle. During these internecine combats, the colours of both belligerents frequently undergo a marked and extraordinary change, those of the victor becoming a deep crimson on the belly and green on the back, and the vanquished losing both his brilliancy and spirit together. These, it should be observed, are the habits of the male fish alone ; the females are quite pacific — appear fat, as if full of roe — and never assume the brilliant colours of the male, by whom they are unmolested. In a former essay on the ' Outlines of Ichthyolog)',' I alluded 256 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. to the remarkable clearness of fish sight. How exceedingly acute is this sense in the perch, an illustration, for the oppor- tunity of witnessing which I am indebted to Mr. Bartlett, the eminent superintendent of the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, may be mentioned : — In the large aquarium, which will be familiar to many of my readers, were placed two plate glass tanks, one containing a pike, and the other half-a-dozen perch. These fish took no notice of our entrance ; and in order to show how supine they were to everything around, Mr. Bartlett directed the keeper to walk several times past their tanks, as if about to feed them. He did so, but failed to evoke the smallest symptom of interest or recognition. Mr. Bartlett then ordered him to walk atvay from them towards the cupboard where the net with which the baits were caught was kept, desiring me to observe the effect. The keeper accordingly crossed the room (about thirty feet wide) in the direction indicated, when instantly the stolid de- meanour of the fish — both pike and perch — gave way to the most intense excitement. They rushed to and fro across their enclosures, straining their noses against the glass, erecting their fins, and exhibiting every token of agitation ; and when the keeper, having taken the net, proceeded with it towards the bait-tank, the whole shoal fastened their eyes ujjon him, follow- ing every movement, and constantly veering round, as if under magnetic attraction, towards whichever part of the room he turned. I should mention that this occurred in the afternoon, the usual time of feeding being in the morning ; but by Mr. Bartlctt"s direction, the feeding had on this occasion been postponed until my visit. It is, therefore, evident that these fish knew where the net was kept, — that the keeper was going to fetch it, — and that his doing so was a necessary preliminary to their being fed. These perch had been five, and the pike ten years in the Zoological Gardens, having increased in weight during that time a quarter of a pound and a pound and a half, respectively. As may be gathered from the foregoing incident, perch are PERCH-FISHING. 257 by no means difficult to tame ; Mr. Jesse succeeded, after a few days only, in inducing them to feed from his hand. Bloch mentions having watched them deposit their ova in a vessel kept in his own room ; and I am informed that the perch of the Zoological Gardens, already referred to, increase their numbers by an annual shoal of young fry, which are hatched and reared under the eyes of hundreds of visitors. A comical anecdote, turning upon this faculty of ready acclimatisation, is related by the author of ' Fishes and Fishing.' A country gentleman was anxious to induce a London friend to visit him, and knowing the latter to be a very keen angler, bethought him of adding the temptation of a ' day's fishing in his private water' to the usual attractions of a suburban villa. The bait took. A day was fixed ; and, punctual to his appoint- ment, arrived the sportsman, with the usual assortment of rods, reels, lines, &c. He was all impatient to be at his work ; but his host persuaded him first to partake of luncheon ; after which he introduced him to ' his water,' which proved to be an ornamental basin, in width about equal to the length of one of the rods the visitor had brought with him. The chagrin and disappointment of the latter may be imagined \ but upon the assurance that there really were fish in the pond, he put his tackle together and adjusted a bait. It had hardly touched the water before he hooked and landed a fine perch ; another and another followed, and by the time his friend came to summon him to dinner he had thirty-five fish ni his basket. ' Well,' said the kind-hearted host; 'I am glad you have had such sport ; I caused three dozen to be put in the day before yesterday,' ' Indeed,' replied the angler ; ' then I will come back and catch the thirty- sixth after dinner.' The spawning season of the perch is at the end of April or the beginning of May, and in a specimen of half-a-pound weight no less than 280,000 ova have been found. The ova are deposited in strings, which hang about amongst the weeds and rocks, and when seen through the sunlight, present the II. s 258 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. appearance of glittering festoons of pearls. Perch spawn, at any rate when deposited in confinement, vivifies in Irom seven to seventeen days. This is the statement of James Tennant, keeper at the Zoological Gardens aquarium. It was maintained by the ancients that the perch was self- productive ; an opinion confirmed by Carolini and Valenciennes. In recent times the point has, however, been satisfactorily set at rest by the researches of M. Duffossc, extending over no less than 368 specimens of Pcrcidcc. ile not only proved them to be normally unisexual, but observed them depositing their ova, and at the same time casting their milt. Notwithstanding, there- fore, Mr. Darwin's dictum against the structure of any animal being such as to insure self-fertilisation, it would seem that in this case there is every reasonable ground for supposing it to be so. Though attaining their greatest perfection in clear, sharp streams, perch thrive well on clayey or sandy bottoms, pre- ferring generally a water of a moderate depth and current, and frequenting holes, mill-dams, hollow banks, and in summer, the undercurrents of weirs. In winter their favourite haunts are backwaters and eddies ; and at this time of the year they feed best about the middle of the day, more particularly if bright and warm. They usually go in large shoals, and in Lough Corrib and other places that I am acquainted with, it is customary to try and discover the position of the shoals in the lough before attempting to begin fishing. When the perch cease biting it is assumed that they have moved on to other grounds, and great efforts are made to keep on their track. There is a small species of the perch family, and in ap- pearance very much resembling it, called the riilTe or ])opc, which is very apt to be taken occasionally by the angler when in pursuit of other fish, and especially after raking for gudgeon. The distinctive mark between the perch and the ruffe consists in the back fin, wlii( h in the perch is in two clearly sei)aratetl portions, and in the ruffe is joined into one. The ruffe also, though resembling the perch in most of its characteristics diffeis from it, in tiiat it apjjarently thrives only in running wateis, PERCH-FISHING. 259 at any rate I have never to my knowledge taken them in waters which are absolutely stagnant, though I once caught one under rather droll circumstances in a tributary of the Mole near Leatherhead, which long-continued drought had changed into a succession of small isolated pools. When taking a 'constitutional ' with some friends, a ruffe was perceived at the bottom of one of these pondlets, and something led to a discussion as to his ' catchableness.' The upshot was a small wager on my side that I would catch him there and then, though without rod, line, hook, or bait. The first was easily procured from a neighbouring hazel-bush ; the second I manufactured out of the beard of my ' bettee ; ' the hook we extemporised with a pin borrowed from a passer-by ; and the bait, a worm, was not long in being unearthed from under a fallen log. In less than five minutes from the time of making the bet, the diminutive specimen of acerhia was lying on the bank — a victim to misplaced confidence and an empty larder. The red worm is the most attractive bait for the ruffe. It is of no value to the sportsman, and seldom caught in sufficient quantities to be a matter of interest for the table. In length it rarely exceeds 4 or 5 inches ; sj^awning about April, and depositing its eggs at the margin of the water amongst flags and rushes to which they adhere. PERCH FISHING WITH THE PATERNOSTER, The most killing bait for perch all the year round is, as I have stated, a live minnow, and of the several methods of fishing by which it can be used, the best is the paternosier ; the other two being minnow-fishing with the float, and spinning. The construction of the paternoster has been described at page 165. It is available under almost all circumstances when there is any chance of perch fishing being successfully pursued. It is most strictly however in its 'element' in deep holes, and under steep banks, in back-waters, eddies, and similar river s 2 26o PIKE AXD OTHER COARSE FISH. reaches, not too much acted upon by the current ; also under such very rapid streams as mill tails, weir pools, and the like. The best time for fishing in the large, deep eddies or back waters is from October to January, as into these, especially after a flood, the perch are swept by the current. Such spots abound on the Thames and most large rivers, and I have mentioned already instances in which, with another rod to assist, I killed with the paternoster in such a backwater on the Thames some twelve dozen perch in a few hours. For summer paternostering, on the contrary, weirs and rapids and rushes of water under which the perch congregate to scour and brace themselves after sjiawning will be found the best localities. I used the word under advisedly, because the chance of em- ploying the minnow and paternoster effectually in such positions is the dropping it through the rush of surface water and getting the minnows into the comparatively quiet undercurrents or back tows. It is not uncommon on the Thames, when using the paternoster, especially in winter, to add a third hook dressed on gimp and baited with gudgeon or small dace for the chance of coming across a jack, and this will be found a very good i)lan to adoi)t in water;'; where the latter fish are known to be abundant. It remains to describe the modus operandi of paternoster- ing. 'i'he rod should be a longish one and moderately pliant, (say such a spinning rod as is described at page lo, with the longest top) and the tackle arranged according to the instruc- tions given as above, and baited with two minnows or small gudgeon, the leaded line should be dropped under the point of the rod or gently swung out into the spot it is desired to fish, and the lead allowed to rest on the bottom. The line between the lead and the point of the rod should alwavs be kept 'taut,' in order that the bite, which is perceived only by the touch, may be more readily detected and the pro!)al)i]ity of hooking increased. When a bite is perceived the bait sh.ould not be pulled up immediately ; on the contrary, it is better to dro[j the point of the rod slightly so as to slacken the liue a very little, PERCH-FISHING. 261 and prevent the biter being prematurely pricked. After two or three prehminary twitches or nibbles a decided downward tug or pull will generally be experienced, and this is the moment for the fisherman to pull in return, which should not be done suddenly or in any degree striking-wise, but by a firm and steady upward movement of the rod. Should the bite be struck in the ordinary sense of the word, the effect is certain to be the loss of both baits as well as diminished probabilities of landing the perch. The chances of hooking the fish are increased in proportion to the shortness of the line that can be employed, in other words, the smallness of the space between the point of the rod and the lead ; indeed, I always prefer, especially in swift water, where possible, to fish with the baits right under the rod point. It is not recommended to leave the bait too long in the same place. After it has been, say half a minute or so, stationary without any signs of a fish, it is better to shift the position somewhat, which can often be most conveniently done with the least disturbance of the fish or distress of the baits by shifting the lead from one place to another without taking it out of the water. As in all other fishing the finer the tackle used the better, and it is recommended that at least two yards of carefully selected stained gut should be placed between the reel line and the lead. Some paternosterers advocate gimp as the material of the trace, and carry their theory out in practice, but surely gut, which is fit for heavy trout fishing, is strong enough to land a less game fish which very rarely exceeds \\ or 2 lbs. in weight. The bait hooks should be so attached to the central link as to stand out as nearly as possible at right angles, to produce which result one of the simplest as well as most effective expedients is to attach the gut of the hook by an ordinary double half-hitch round the central link of the trace, taking care that the hook end of the gut is laid upivards wlien the knot is tied, and that t!ie latter should be kept from slipping out of its position on a downward pull by one of the gut knots of the trace. Tlie 262 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. lighter the lead that can be used having regard to the depth, current, and other circumstances, the better, and pear-shaped leads are preferable to bullets as they disturb the water less and are not so liable to catch in stones and stumps. The paternoster is a ver)' useful adjunct to all sorts of punt fishing, in places where pike and perch are pretty numerous. It may not only add to the creel, but, especially in roach or gudgeon fishing, its hoc genus, improve the chances of a good take of fish by ridding the immediate neighbourhood in an effectual manner of any pike or perch that may be roving about. MIXXOW FISHING WITH THE FLOAT, or roving, is simply substituting a live minnow hooked through the ui)per lip for the worm or other ordinary bait. A hook one size smaller than that recommended for ]\iternostering, say No. 7, is the best size, and with a fine gut line, No. 3 float, and an ordinary bottom rod that is not too limp, the angler will be well equipi:)ed for ' roving.' If roving is resorted to in rivers it must be only in eddies and backwaters where there is practically no current, or none to speak of, but it is best adapted for pond or lake fishing, as on Windermere for eNami)le, and other similar stretches of water, though even here I should myself give the iTcfcrenre to the paternoster until convinced by actual failure that it was unsuitable. In striking with this sort of tackle the fisherii\nn should not be in too great a hurry. It is better to wail until the float disai)pears coniijletcly or sails leisurely and steadily away. S////fi/;ix. — It soiiietimes happens both in lakes and rivers, that capital sport niav he had with perch by using the si)inning bait, whether natural or artificial. As regards the latter anv of the small artitn ia! baits which are used in spinning for troi:t may be adoi)ted with mk cess, and I have known a small spoon bait, in size between a sixpence antl a shilling, to be exceed- ingly deadly when allowed tr) sink to the bottom of the water and drawn quickly n.p agai)) towards the surface. This sort of PERCH-FISHING. 263 sink and draw will, in fact, often be found a most killing method of spinning for perch under all circumstances. With regard to the natural bait, although I have often caught large perch with the gudgeon, and sometimes even with small dace, when pike-spinnmg, the best bait will be found to be a good- sized minnow ; and of methods of flights for spinning it, one -MIKNOW-SPINNTNG FI.ICHT FOR PERCH. -pf:rch minnow-spinning flight baited. or other of those described under the head of trout-fishing, in the first volume. If it is intended to make long casts with the minnow bait, or to trail it behind a boat, a lead and swivel, such as described for pike-spinning, page 83, must be added between the minnow and the running line, to prevent kinking. In the last two cases the bait should not be spun too rapidly, as the perch has not got the same dash and clan in pursuit of 264 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. his prey that the pike has, and if the bait is moving fast through the water, he is not unhkely to fail in his attempts to seize it. This tackle, of which for the sake of convenience I repeat the diagram, is equally applicable to a very small gudgeon, loach, or large stickleback. Perhaps, as I have repeated the diagram, it may be convenient to repeat also the directions for baiting it : — Fig. I is the flight of hooks, with a leaden sinker run on to the trace, but, of course, in baiting the minnow this has in the first instance to be slipped off altogether, by detaching the flight from the rest of the trace. Having attached a baiting-needle to the loop of the strand of gut on which the flight is tied, pass it in at the vent of the bait and out at its mouth. The baiting-needle is now taken off, and the leaden cap slipped over the gut into the position indi- cated in fig. I, and pushed down the bait's throat until it occupies the position shown in fig. 2. The whole bait is then pressed, or pushed, downwards on to the triangle sufficiently to curve it, by a bending of the back, in the manner represented in the diagram (fig. 2). The 'nicks' or slices on the bottom part of the lead are made with a penknife for the purpose of keeping the lead in its place in the bait's throat and belly, but many spinners prefer it smooth, and it slips more easily down the bait's throat when 'un- nickcd.' The trace consists of two or three yards of moderately fine salmon-gut, with a good sprinkling of swivels at convenient intervals (N.B. double swivels best) and attached to a very light dressed silk plaited running line. The following is another good perch minnow-spiiining tackle in streams, where the mode of employing it is by 'in and out,' or, more correctly, 'sink and raise' casts. In order to bait it, all that is necessary is to push the lead (fig. i) down through the minnow's mouth into the belly, pass the lip-hook through both lips of the bait to close its mouth, and then insert one hook of the first triangle just below the back fin, so as, by aid of the lead inside, to crook the body of the ba't as shown in fig. 2. PERCH-FISHING. 265 Where larger baits are used, a miniature edition of cither of the spinning flights already recommended for pike-fishing will be found the most suitable. As a rule, however, spinning or perch across the ordinary current or channel of a river as U PERCH-SPIXNING FLIGHT. you would for pike does not succeed. There must be special natural features, such as deeps, eddies, back waters, and so forth, to give some probable indication of where the perch are most likely to congregate. WITH THE WORM. In rivers, ponds, and in lakes also, the worm is a universal and favourite perch bait, and is, of course, always obtainable, 266 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. whereas live minnows often are not The tackle described for float-fishing with the live minnow, with a No. 6 hook, or ' 5 ' where the fish run small, and either No. i or No. 3 float is also best suited to worm fishing, and the best worms are brandlings, scoured as previously described at page 225. There is no need to go into the details as to the ' where ' of perch-fishing with the worm, inasmuch as it is applicable to all sorts and conditions of waters, running or stagnant, where the fish are to be found. In striking with the worm, as with the live minnow, it is better not to be in too great a hurr}% but to let him fairly swallow the bait or run away with it, as when once he takes it into his mouth he is not, like the roach and dace, in the habit of quitting it again without some considerable provoca- tion. It is well, however, not to leave the bite too long before striking, as, if allowed, the perch will frequently gorge or swallow it entirely, which occasions a loss of time and an unpleasant operation in extracting the hook. The best general rule is to let the float be carried well under or away before striking. The stroke should be a gentle one, consisting of a sort of cross between a twitch and a jerk, and approximating as much to tlie pull as either. In rivers and streams the Nottingham style of fishing with the worm for perch will often be found the most killing, and in this rase the bait should not actually touch or dribble along the bottom. I cannot help fancying that the two-hook worm tackle recommended for trout-fishing would be found very suitable for ordinary pond and river fishing with the worm, whether for perch, tench, carp, or other fish. This is the result al^o of ilie few experiments I have had an opp.ortunity of trying, bv con- trasting the two nutliods at llic same time and ])Iarc. I should be glad if any of my readers, ■witli more available leisure tlian I now have, would give tlic two-hook system a trial. Its advantages arc, of course, tliat the worm is ])rcsented to the fish alive, and in a natural, instead of dead or half-dead and in an unnatural position, and tliat tlie fislierman strikes immediately, PERCH-FISHING. 267 thus avoiding the chance, such as it is, of the bait being quitted by the fish after closer examination. I think in any fishing where it is especially desirable, as in the case of pond fishing for carp and tench, that the bait should actually lie on the bottom, that a great advantage ought to rest with the two -hook tackle, with which the worm would be able not only to present a life-like appearance to the fish, but actually to crawl about. Perch, being gregarious, where one fish is brought to bank others frequently follow, and it is of the utmost moment, from the point of view of the basket, to make play while the suu shines, that is whilst the shoal remains within reach. In this respect, also, the two-hook tackle would possess a marked advantage, as it can be baited in half the time, or less, and, as observed, requires no interval before striking. These shoals can frequently be perceived with the naked eye even in deepish lakes, when the water is calm and the eye can be brought close to the surface of the water ; indeed, I have known oil put upon the water with the object of producing an artificial calm. Another plan is to look through a square lidless box with the bottom of plain window glass, the latter being immersed a few inches in the water. As success or failure frequently depends upon being able to 'spot' the wandering perch shoals, the above hints, which may at first sight appear fanciful, are worth remembering. I have some- times thought of trying a telescope or opera-glass with the object end under water. In Windermere I have often followed about these shoals from place to place — catching them all the time as fast as I could pull in the line — and I have noticed the shoals not un- frequently to consist of many hundreds. The Windermere perch, however, as a rule run very small; on Lough Corrih, on the contrary, where smaller shoals are to be met with, the fish often run from i lb. to \\ lbs. or even occasionally to upwards of 2 lbs. Here, however, in consequence of the great depth of the water, it is sometimes better both to observe them and catch them at the surface than at the bottom, and 2CS riKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. for this purpose a gaudy red fly dressed on a No. 9 or No. 10 hook or a spinning minnow is the most effective bait. The fly may be either trailed or cast. The former plan oflering the best chance until the shoal is discovered and the latter after- wards. The time for fly-fishing for perch is in bright hot weather and a dead calm, when all other fishing is at a standstill. In this way fly-fishing or spinning for perch may often come in very opportunely on an otherwise blank day, the weather suitable for perch being, as a rule, totally impracticable for either salmon or trout. Principal characteristics of the Perch. — The whole lenc^th of the fish, — head, body, and tail-fin — being considered as one, the length of the head alone, to the point of the gill-cover, is about 3.J : depth of body at the deepest point as nearly as possible equal to length of head ; nape of neck, and shoulder, rising very abruptly, giving a general appearance of the fish being rather ' hog-backed : ' belly-line less convex. Fleshy portion of tail very slender. Tail-fin rather small. Two back-fins, the first supported by strong pointed bony rays fourteen in number ; the second back-fin having sixteen soft rays, and commencing very nearly over the anal-fin : the com- mencement of the first dorsal, pectoral, and ventral fins, very nearly in a line, slanting slightly backwards towards the belly ; and the pectoral-fin commencing a very little more forward than the point of gill-cover. Colour : muzzle dark brownish green ; iridcs, cheeks, and gill-covers, a greenish bronze ; pectoral-fins nearly yellow of a lightish tint ; pectoral anal and tail fins, brilliant scarlet ; second back-fin greenish, with a slight tint of scarlet or orange. Back dark olive green, becoming nearly brown in large specimens ; sides golden yellow marked with dark transverse bars of a greenish colour : belly from muzzle to tail quite white. Scales in lateral line about sixty-six. Lateral line convex. 269 CARP^ AND TENCH? Each yellow carp in scales bedropp'd with gold. Pope's Windsor Forest. I prithee come dance me a reel, carp, I prithee come dance me a reel, — I thank you, my lord, I've no taste for your board. You'd much better play to the eel. The Cun7iing Carp and the Contented Knight. In the ' Whole Art of Fishing,' we are informed that ' a carp is a stately and very subtle fish called the Fresh-water Fox and Queen of Rivers/ and Randal Holme in his remarkable work, the ' Academie of Armory,' tells us that in Heraldry, ' the carp is the emblem of hospitality and denotes food and nourish- ment from the bearer to those in need.' By this same Randal Holme we are told how every sort of fish are named after their age and growth, and we learn that a carp is first a 'seizling,' then a 'sproll or sprale,' before it arrives at the full majesty of carphood. When arrived at its maturity it must be confessed by all who have given much attention to carp catch- ing, that its intellect matures at least in an equal ratio with its body, indeed, I used to call my carp fishing expeditions ' carp bubbles,' to convey my feeling of the entirely illusory nature of die quest as appreciated by many and singular failures. The well known Horatian motto, 'Carpe diem,' might, it has been suggested, without doing great violence to the original, be rendered ' Catch your carp to-day,' — that is if you can, — ' for the cunning customer may not be inclined to give you a chance on the morrow.' ^ Its suspicious vigilance even ^ Cyprinns carpio. 2 Tiftca vulgaris. ' Notes on the Carp by Wm. Pinkerton, F. S.A. , m F/sh/ng Gossip, edited by H. Cholmondeley-renncll. Adam and Cluis. Pjlack. 270 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. m eluding the fatal sweep of the seine net has been described by Vaniere, in his ' Prediuvi Riistuum,^ thus translated : — Of all the fish that swim the watery mead, Not one in cunnin;^ can the carp exceed. Sometimes, when nets enclose the stream, she flics To hollow rocks, and there in secret lies ; Sometimes the surface of the water skims. And springing o'er the net undaunted swims ; Now motionless she lies beneath the flood, Holds by a weed, or deep into the mud Plunges her head, for fear against her will The nets should drag her and elude her skill ; Nay, not content with this, she oft will dive Beneath the net, and not alone contrive Means for her own escape ; but pity take On all her hapless brethren of the lake ; For rising, with her back she lifts the snares, And frees the captive with officious cares ; The little fry in safety swim away, And disappoint the nets of their expected prey. The fact of the carp dodging the net has been so repeatedly borne testimony to, that, although not by any means inclined to he ^.i^ol>e-moi/c/ie with regard to fish anecdotes and superstitions, I think it may be fairly accepted as substantially true. Indeed, the carp ought to be the cleverest as they possess the largest brain in proportion of any fresh-water fish, and the bones of the head are remarkable for their exquisite polish and symmetry. 1-iction, if not fact, has, however, failed to credit the carp with the uncircumveniible sagacity which is the theme of so many angling writers. In a curious old book, ^ Dialogi/s Cna/itra/n Moralizatus^ published in 1480, it is recorded tiiat at a red fish festival the carp and the grayling quarrelled on a point of precedence. ' I bask in the favour of the great and powerful,' said the carp, ' even man condescends to lake care of me, and make ponds for my special use and protection.' 'Uut,' retorted the grayling, 'look at my elegant form and glittering scales, I CARP AND TENCH. 271 am much handsomer than you are.' The other fishes com- mencing to side with the contending parties, a scene of general strife seemed imminent, when the wily old trout restored peace to the company by saying — ' Why should we all be disturbed by this ridiculous quarrel ? Let the disputants go to Judge Dolphin, he is a wise and just fish, and will soon decide the question.' Accordingly the carp and the grayling went to the dolphin, and having laid the case before him, he said : ' My children, you place me in a very awkward position. I am bound to do you justice, but how can I, never having seen either of you before? While you have been residing in fresh-waters, I have all my life been rolling about in the restless waves of the ocean. Consequently I cannot give a conscien- tious opinion as to which is the best fish, without I first taste you.' So the dolphin incontinently snapped up the carp and the grayling, and swallowing them down his gullet, said : — No one ought himself to commend, Above all others, lest he offend. It is curious, however, that although carp are exceedingly difficult to take with the rod and line, being altogether the most shy and difficult of capture of any species with which I am acquainted, they are, when in stew ponds and in confine- ment, one of the easiest of all to tame. They will come regu- larly to their meals, according to some authors, at the ringing of a bell or at the sound of their keeper's voice. In Vol. IX. page 396, of the Censiira Literaria there is an amusing ballad, from which the quotation at the head of this article is taken, commemorating the crafty character of the carp. It was written, according to the late Mr. WiUiam Pin- kerton, by the Chief Justice Abbott, of Denton, in Kent, the seat of the late well-known literary antiquary. Sir Egerton Brydges, who is celebrated in it as the Knight of the Lake. Sir Egerton, though the House of Lords refused his claim, always alleged himself to be, per legem term, Baron Chandos, of Sudley, and a lineal descendant of the hero of romance, Sir Launcelot du Lac. The musical Lord of Pemburv's board, 272 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. mentioned in \htjeu tfesprit, cannot be now identified. As the song is completely buried from the notice of the general public, in the only place in which it appears in print, no apology can be required for introducing it to the reader : THE CUNNING CARP AND THE CONTENTED KNIGHT. To the tunc of ' St. George ami the Dragon! Within the wood a virgin ash Had twenty summers seen ; The elves and fairies marked it oft As they tripped on the green I But the woodman cut it with his axe, He cruelly fell'd it down, A rod to make for the Knight of the Lake, A knight of no renown. Turn and taper round, turner, Turn and taper round. For my line is of the grey palfrey's tail, And it is slender and sound. St. George he was for England, St. Denis he was for France, St. Patrick taught the Irishmen To tune the merry harp. At the bottom of this slimy pool There lurks a crafty carp, Were he at the bottom of my line, How merrily he would dance. In the Pacific Ocean There dwelt a mighty whale. And o'er the waves from London Town, There went a noble sail. With hooks and crooks, and ropes and boats, 'Twas furnished in and out, Boat-steerers and bold harpooncrs. With sailors brave and stout ; The dart flew true and the monster slew, The seamen blessed the day. All from his fin a bone so thin, At the top of my rod doih play. St. Ccor.;c, (!vc. CARP AND TENCH. 273 Moulded and mixed in the magic mass. The sun is below the hill, O'er the dark water flits the bat, Hoarse sounds the murmuring rill. Slowly bends the willow's bough, To the beetle's sullen tune. And grim and red is the angry head Of the archer in the moon. Softly, softly, spread the spell, Softly spread it around. But name not the magic mixture To mortal that breathes on ground. St. George, &;c. The squire has tapped at the bower window, The day is one hour old. Thine armour assume, the work of the loom. To defend thee from the cold. The knight arose and donned his clothes, For one hour old was the day, His armour he took, his rod and his hook, And his line of the palfrey grey. He has brushed the dew from off the lawn, He has taken the depth by the rule ; Here is gentle to eat, come partake of the meat, Sly tenant of the pooh St. George, &c. The carp peeped out from his reedy bed, And forth he slyly crept, But he liked not the look, for he saw the black hook, So he turned his tail and slept. There is a flower grows in the field, Some call it a marigold-a. And that which one fish would not take. Another surely would-a ! And the knight had read in the books of the dead, So the knight would not repine. For they that cannot get carp, sir. Upon tench may very well dine. St. George, &c. T 774 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. He has brushed the dew from the lawn again, He hath taken the depth by the rule : Here is boiled bean and pea, come breakfast with me. Sly tenant of the pool. The carp peeped forth from his reedy bed. The carp peeped forth in time, But he liked not the smell, so he cried fare ye well, And he stuck his nose in the slime. But the knight had read in the books of the dead, And the knight did not repine. For they that cannot get carp, sir, Upon tench may very well dine. St. George, &c. Then up spoke the Lord of Penbury's board, Well skilled in musical lore. And he swore by himself, though cunning the elf, He would charm him and draw him ashore. The middle of day he chose for the play, And he fiddled as in went the line ; But the carp kept his head in the reedy bed, He chose not to dance nor to dine. I prithee come dance me a reel, carp, I prithee come dance me a reel, — 1 thank you, my lord, I've no taste for your board, You'd much better play to the eeL St. George he was for England, St. Denis he was for France, St. Patrick taught the Irishman To tunc the merry harp. At the bottom of this slimy pool. There hirks a crafty carp. \Vcre he at the bottom of my line, How merrily he would dance. ^Ir. Bradley, a great observer of fish, relates an instance of carp taincncss : — 'At Rotterdam, in a garden belonging to M. Eden, I had the ])leasure,' he says, *of seeing some carj) fed, which were keitt in a moat of considerable extent. The occasion of my sceir.g these creatures was cliicfly to satisfy me tliat they were capable of hearing. The gentleman having CARP AND TENCH. 275 filled his pocket with spinach seed, conducted me to the side of the moat. We remained quiet for some time, the better to convince me that the fish would not come till he called them. At length he called in his usual way and immediately the fish gathered from all parts of the moat in such numbers that there was hardly room for them to lie by one another.' The same sort of thing may be noticed in the waters of some public gardens near Rotterdam. In these ponds the carp are also in the habit of following visitors about, in expectation of food ; and one immense fellow, with a side as broad as a flitch of bacon, and an appetite that seemed insatiable, actually pursued us for nearly a hundred yards along the side of the bank until our stock of bread being exliaustcd, we were fain to try experiments with some paper pellets, when he sailed off in magnificent disgust. The fish must have weighed at least 15 lbs. It is not to be supposed, however, from these instances, that carp are the only fish which are capable of being tamed, or are sensible to the influence of external sounds. At Sir J. Bow- yer's, near Uxbridge, Mr. Bradley tells us, there is, or was, a pond full of tame pike, which could be called together at plea- sure. Mr. Salter was acquainted with a person who for several years kept, in a waterbutt, a perch, which came to the surface for its food whenever the owner tapped on the side of the butt. According to zElian, the chad was lured to its destruction by the sound of castanets. Professor Renni states that in Ger- many this fish is still taken by nets hung with rows of little bells arranged so as to chime in harmony ; and, without going back to the story of Amphion and the Dolphins, or the old Scottish harper, who, according to the ballad, ' harped a fish out of the salt water,' we may find hundreds of well-authenti- cated anecdotes pointing to the conclusion that fish have a very considerable perception of external sounds. It is only fair to add that a number of striking experiments have been tried of late years upon the trout, which would appear to lead to an exactly opposite conclusion. Possibly the explanation may be X 2 276 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. that some species of fish hear better than others, or that in some the sense of hearing is entirely undeveloped. Tench, as well as carp, are a favourite stew pond fish, and the late Mr. Grantley Berkeley, who kept a number in a pond leading out of the Avon, near Ringwood, commended them highly for their edible, as well as for their eating qualities. I was so unlucky as not to be able to accept Mr. Berkeley's invitation to make a practical essay of one of these fatted tench at his hospitable table. But swimming about in the water they looked most majestic, much more golden-hued than the pond and river tench I have usually seen, and I can well imagine that, as he told me, when scientifically cooked they made a really excellent addition to the cuisine. How kindly both carp and tench take to their food when in confinement was noticed also by the late Vix. Edward Jesse, who mentions of some carp and tench that were kept by him, that * they were soon reconciled to their situa- tion, and ate boiled potatoes in considerable quantities ; and the former seemed to have lost their original shyness, eating in my presence without any scruple.' My experience agrees with Mr. Jesse's. I kept for more than a year in a vivarium three sturdy little fellows that would readily take anything I threw them, and almost out of my fingers. One of them afforded a good exanii)le of the 'hard dying' qualities of the species. He was 'killed' in the usual manner, and consigned with others to the cook, in whose care, however, after some hours, he began to show signs of revival. A kind-hearted damsel compassionately transferred him to the vivarium, where he afterwards throve, sliovving no effects of his narrow escape save a scar on the back of tlie head. The carp is stiU more remarkable than the tench for its 'hard dying ' (jualitiLS as well as its jiowcr of sustaining life for a long time out of water. I have more than once taken a basket of carp a considerable journey in the broiling heat of a July or August day with no more moisture than could be ob- tained from a damp cloth, and yet they have been alive, and CARP AND TENCH. 277 even lively at the end of it. The idiosyncracy is so well-known and acted upon that in Holland it is no uncommon practice to fatten carp for the table by hanging them in a cellar in a net full of moss kept damp, and feeding them, like great babies, on bread and milk poked into their mouths with a spoon. The capacity of enduring this sort of amphibious existence is no doubt due to the construction of the fish's breathing ap- paratus, which is peculiar. The supports of the gill covers are bony ; whilst in the perch they are formed partly of bone and partly of cartilage, and in the bream, barbel, and pike wholly of cartilage. The consequence is that instead of becoming stuck together when deprived of the moisture of the water, these gill covers, which represent the lungs of the fish, can be separated by the action of the muscles so as to absorb the oxygen from the air — in other words to breathe. In the carp also the gill-openings, which in the salmon and trout are equal in extent to the length of the gill-arches, are partially closed by a membrane, thus enabling them to retain moiiture. The secretary of the National Fish Culture Association lately tried the experiment of endeavouring to revive with brandy some carp which had been left eight hours out of water. Of this experiment the Daily Telegraph publishes an amusing account. The actual facts, as may be found stated in the Fish Culture yoicrnal, are these. Two Prussian carp were taken out of a tank of the South Kensington Aquarium and put into two separate dry cans, and one of the fish, to distinguish it from the other as a carp of temperate habits, was decorated with a piece of blue ribbon. They were left in their wretchedness until they were to all appear- ance quite dead, the teetotal fish succumbing half an hour after the other. To make sure of decease the corpses were left alone for four hours, after which they were both restored to their proper element, it was then obvious that the floating things were as thoroughly defunct as need be. The Secretary, being satisfied of this, then took out the fish without the ribbon — the Licensed Victualler we will call it — and gave it a dose of brandy with a feather, and put it back into the water. The effect was amazing, ?78 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. for the carp in a very few minutes pulled itself together, and though a trifle groggy in its movcmcnls at first, began to swim about. Meanwhile the other — which for distinction's sake we may call the Teetotaller — continued dead, and, the experiment being considered complete, it was taken out of the water and thrown away. A dead carp, even though it may have died of excessive abstinence, is not worth much, at any rate not as a carp. About four hours later, however, it occurred to the Secretary that perhaps it was all piide on the part of the Teetotaller that made it go on being dead ; that it would not commit itself to anything that might seem to countenance the tippling of its companion ; that, in fact, it persisted in keeping its eyes shut to the important fatis transpiring before it out of sheer obstinacy of principle. With this in his mind, the Secretary took up the representative of temperance and — we shudder as we write it — poured some brandy down its throat. There was no feather used this time. He simply opened the Teetotaller's mouth and let the spirits run down. The fish was then restored to the water for the second time, and for five minutes refused to confess that the brandy had done it any good. It floated helplessly on its side. All of a sudden, however, it thought better of it — a live toper is, after all, something better than a dead teetotaller— and wagged its tail. The motion was very feeble, a mere apology of a wag —a waggle ; but, still, it was a beginning. Then it moved a fin, and then it gaped, and finally, turning itself right side uppermost, proceeded to swim. Both fish are now alive and well. I have seen it stated, though I cannot say that I have met with an instance within my own knowledge, — that upon the drying up or exhaustion of a pond, the carp that were in it will bury themselves deep below the surface of the mud, and re-appear like the celebrated mud-fish of Ceylon in undiminished num- bers upon the first return of the water. An instance of this was recently staled in a contemporary to have happened in the case of a dried up pond at l-illy, near Norwich, and I accord- ingly wrote to the Rev. Edward Gillet (the gentleman upon whose authority the circumstance was narrated) to ask him to be so good as to infijrin me of the real f:acts of tlie case. The following is his reply : CARP AND TENCH. ' 279 Sir,--I have great pleasure in answering your enquiries about the carp in the pond. Let me begin by correcting an error into which the writer of the paragraph in the Field has fallen. The pond is in the parish of Great Ormesby, otherwise Ormesby St. Margaret, and not two miles distant from Filly. There were seven carp, weighing (by estimation) from a \ lb. to 6 ozs. each. They were found on emptying out the pond. The pond containing about 32 rods — rather less than a |- of an acre^only contained about 4 rods of water — the rest was mud, and had been nearly dry, at least six weeks, on the surface, so that ducks could walk on it, when the mud was taken out, all except the upper part of about a foot in depth was somewhat liquid, the upper foot had consistence enough to retain its shape. About 450 cubic yards were taken out of the pond. The holes in which the fish were — three in number — 4 fish in one hole, 2 in another, and i in another, were not exactly circular, but an irregular oval shape, about 4 in. by 3 in. ; they varied in depth from xS in. to 2 ft. 3 in. There was water in each hole and I have no doubt from the effect of the spring, there would have been water for months to come. It leaves the question offish becoming torpid in mud exactly where it was. All that surprises me is that the gas from the mud did not kill the fish. I shall be most happy to answer any enquiries about this case. I am, &c., Edw. Gillet. Vicarage, Runham, Filly, Norwich, Nov. 30, 1S64. The splendid colour of the scales of the carp when in high season has been graphically described in the quotation heading this article as ' bedropped with gold,' and probably, as Mr. Pinkerton suggests, that may have been one of the causes which led to the carp (alone amongst all fresh water fish) attain- ing to mythical honours. The story which is given by Vaniere describes how Saturn flying from Jupiter, came to a wide lake. With Carpus, the master of it, he made a compact for a free ferry across, but tempted by the love of lucre he would have made a prisoner of his passenger had not the god perceived his treachery in his face and turned the traitor and his crew into fish, which, however, still follow after sailing ships in hope of ' golden fragments : ' — 2So PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. The carp which in the Italian seas was bred, With shining scraps of yellow gold is fed ; Though changed his form, his avarice remains, And in his breast the love of lucre reigns. Of the groups composing the carp family generally, some are to be found in greater or less abundance throughout almost all the warm and temperate parts of the globe, India and China producing the greatest variety, and Germany the greatest number of particular species under notice. Austria and Prussia especially abound with carp, which form a staple commodity of traffic ; and in such request are fresh water fish as articles of food in parts of these countries, that according to Yarrell, an acre of water will let for as high a rent as an acre of land. The carp is an inhabitant also of most of the rivers and lakes of Russia and Eastern Siberia : and Valencinus states that it thrives and reaches to an extraordinary size in the Caspian. The common carp is so well known to most fishermen and others as hardly to require description. It exists, either in ponds or rivers, in tolerably equal distribution throughout the whole of the counties of England, and in some of those of Ireland and Scotland, where, however, the water api)ears less suited to it Although the carp is not unfrcquently found in rivers, yet stagnant water appears to be its natural element, and in ponds it breeds fiistest and reaches its greatest size. Large carp are occasionally taken in the Thames ; and in some of its tribu- taries the fish is also found in tolerable abundance, and of heavy weii.lit : of tlicse, the Wey in Surrey contains pro- bably the finest siiccinicns, though I believe they are rarely caught. Of all fish, tlie carp family generally are, perhaps, the least carnivorous ; and, indeed, tlieir teeth, which are placed in the throat, are entirely unsuited for purposes of seizing or retaining prey. Their food consists of soft vegetable substances, insects, and occasionally of worms or grubs. Mud is often found in CARP AND TENCH. 281 their stomachs, having been swallowed, it may be, on account of the minute worms or other animal matters it contains. The crowns, or upper surfaces, of the teeth of carp are furrowed, and altogether present a very similar appearance to those of ruminating animals. These teeth masticate the food by working against a gristly plate in the roof of the throat, in front of which will be found the soft fleshy mass, commonly known as * carp's tongue ; ' the real tongue, however, is placed as usual between the limbs of the mandible, and is small and inconspicuous. Besides the singularity already noticed in the interior sup- ports or gill leaves of the carp, which enables it to survive lengthened exposure, the air bladder is also remarkable for its size, and is double, being divided by a short narrow neck or necks into two or more chambers. We have at least three varieties of the carp family, besides Cyprinus carpio, more or less acclimatised in this country. The Crucian, or German carp {Cyprinus carassius), the Prussian, or gibel carp {Cyprinus gibelio), and the gold carp — the common gold and silver fish of the aquaria {Cyprinns auratus). The last three are probably introduced species into this country, and are hardly sufficiently common or widely distributed to form important items in our list of sporting fish. The shape both of the Prussian and Crucian carp differs materially from that of the common carp, being, in fact, broader and flatter and altogether more ' bream-like ' in appearance. In colour, also, they are both of a much paler gold, especially at the sides. The Crucian carp again differs from the Prussian carp in the shape of its head, the head of the Prussian carp being much rounder and more 'chub-like,' and the depth of the body, though still exceeding that of the carp, being less remarkable. Indeed, the Prussian carp bears externally considerable re- semblance to the gold fish, whilst the Crucian carp more distinctly reminds one of the bream. The Crucian carp is the rarer spe- cies of the two, and has never, according to Yarrell, been taken except in the Thames between Hammersmith and Windsor. I 282 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. believe, however, that it exists in some ponds in Surrey, and that I have repeatedly caught it in a small piece of water on Putney Heath, locally called ' Elgin's Pond.' Having no specimen of the fish preserved, I would not state this as a positive fact, but to the best of my memory, the fish I caught, which were either Crucian or Prussian, resembled more the former than the latter. They never much exceed a pound in weight. The Prussian carp is found in several counties in England and probably exists in many others where it has not hitherto been noticed. In their habitats and generally in their food, spawning times, &c, the Prussian and Crucian carp resemble the common carp. They are not bold biters, and though, per- haps, not quite so difficult to catch as Cyprinus carpio, seldom afford any great sport to the angler. The best bait for them is a small well-scoured red-worm. The common carp, which is extraordinarily prolific, inso- much that 600,000 eggs have been counted by Bloch in a single specimen weighing 9 lbs., spawns generally towards the end of May or beginning of June according to the temperature of the water and the nature of the season. It is supposed to continue spawning occasionally for four or five months, the eggs being deposited upon weeds amongst which the female is followed by several males, thus securing the impregnation of a very large proportion of the eggs. It is in season for the table from October to April. Although the carp is in its habitats more strictly a pond than a river fish, it is not unfrequently found in running streams, though, under these circumstances, it probably never reaches the same size as in ponds and stagnant waters. The largest carp recorded as being taken in England does not appear to have exceeded 22 lbs. It was taken in 1836 in tlie county of .Surrey, famed of old for its large carp, and was exhibited by the hue Mr. Yarrell at a meeting of the Zoological Society. This carj) was netted in a piece of water called the Mere, at Penn's Hill, and in length was 30 in., having a girth at the commencement of the dorsal fin of 24 in. This carp CARP AND TENCH. 283 belonged to the well-known naturalist, Mr. Edward Jesse, and Mr. Yarrell observed ' that he could find no record of any carp so large having been before taken in this country.' A brace weighing 38 lbs. was sent by Mr. Ladbroke, from his park at Gatton, Surrey, to Lord Egremont, as challenge- specimens to compare with the carp of Sussex. A carp is mentioned as having been taken from a piece of water at Stourhead in 1793, which was 30 inches long, upwards of 22 inches in girth, and weighed 18 lbs. At Weston Hall, Staf- fordshire, the seat of the Earl of Bradford, is preserved the paint- ing of another which weighed 19 j lbs,; and in the large lake in Wimbledon Park, I took on one occasion with a landing-net, a specimen weighing upwards of 19 lbs. These are a few large fish that happen to have been chronicled from English waters ; but I am convinced that many much larger ones have been taken. Comparative Lengths and Weights of Ca^-p, Length. Weight. Length. Weight. inches lbs. ozs. inches lbs. ozs. 9 73 /4 20 5 5^ 10 II 21 6 2f II I4| 22 7 i^ 12 I 2i 23 8 A 13 I 81- 24 9 3>h 14 I i4i 25 10 6| 15 2 4 26 II II 16 2 11^ 27 13 2 17 3 4| 28 14 10 18 3 147 29 15 4 19 4 9 30 16 0 The growth rate of carp has been approximately computed at 3 lbs. during the first six years, and 6 lbs. before the tenth year. They grow much faster, however, in warm climates, and also probably in stews when well fed. The following is recom- mended as a recipe for fattening them : — ' Barley meal, half a gallon ; chalk, in powder, i^ lbs. (very clean) ; clay, a sufficient quantity to make a stiff paste. Place this in the stew or pond, 284 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. in a net (of not too small meshes) suspended about a foot from the bottom. When all is sucked away but the clay, put fresh in the net or nets.' This recipe is said to have been used by the old monks ; but the chronicler adds, * Now, how the carp are to suck away the barley meal and chalk leaving the clay behind, appears difficult to understand.' This seems a pertinent question. Probably wheaten or other flour would be a better ingredient A hundred — a hundred and fifty — even two hundred have been stated as the number of years attained by the carp under the most favourable circumstances. Supposing, however, that this should be an exaggeration, there is no doubt that many of the fish which were introduced into the ponds at Versailles, &c., in the reign of Louis XIV. (say 1690), are cither still living, or were so a very short time before the Revolution of 1830. Dr. Smith, in his 'Tour to the Continent,' mentions them, and observes that they had grown white through age, a fact partially confirmed by my friend, Mr. R. W. Stuart, who recently visited and fed the historic carp. Mr. Stuart noticed that although not entirely white, so far as his observation extended, many of these fish had a large white spot or scar on the top of their heads — a sort of equivalent to baldness in the human subject, he considered it. A reviewer in the Athencenm of August 8, 1S63, gives the following comical account of the Fontainbleu carp : — Visitors to Fontainbleu will doubtless remember the lake ad- jdining the palace and its large carp population, numbering many of the most ancient of the family in Europe. To those who have never been at Fontainbleu, we may state that the lake swarms vith these fish, of all a.c^^es and sizes, and that it is the custom of visitors to feed them with bread ; but as ordinary bread would dis- appear in a moment amongst the hungry shoal, a plan has been devised to give the visitors more amusement by using balls of bread, about the size of a man's fist, baked to biscuit-like hard- ness. On casting one of these balls into the lake, it is immediately surrounded by scores of carp, hungry youngsters for the most CARP AND TENCH. 285 part, who being apparently aware that they cannot possibly devour the food in hard and unbroken condition, proceed with wonderful unanimity to push it with their snouts to the nearest part of the stone wall confining the lake. Against this they continue butting it violently, until at length the repeated blows, and the softening effect of the water, cause the ball to break ; when, just at the moment that it is in a fit state to be eaten, some half dozen enor- mous carp, white with age, who have been watching the proceedings with evident interest, shoulder away the young workers, who retire with great precipitation, while the tyrants of the lake gobble or rather suck in the pabulum which has cost the small carp so much trouble to render fit for their eating. It is the old story of might against right, and as we have often witnessed what we have described, we have no doubt that old carp are as wily as ancient foxes. This gentleman, it will be observed, confirms Dr. Smith's statement as to carp becoming gradually white from old age ; and it is a curious fact that great age and exclusion from the light produce apparently the same effects both on fish and other animals — the skin or scales undergoing a sort of bleach- ing process, either from a gradual drying up of the invigorating juices of the body, or from want of the sun's rays. In the case of fish and reptiles whitened by exclusion from the light, it is an almost universal rule that the eyes are so much undeveloped as to produce total blindness. The fish taken in the Mammoth Caves of Kentucky are blind, and of a white colourless hue, as also is a species of crawfish found in the same subterranean waters. The Proteus angiimus, inhabiting the caves of lllyria, exhibits the same peculiarities. This singular creature, which is apparently a link between the reptile and the fish, presents in every respect the appearance of a blind pinky- white eel, with four very thin eft-like legs near the head and tail. When swimming, these legs fold back against the sides, and they appear to answer no purpose except that of balancing the animal when at rest on the ground. The specimen which I examined was about a foot long, and was brought by a gentle- man from the cave of Adelsberg, near Trieste. Its lungs or 2S6 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. gills were double, one pair being on the inside and one on the outside of the neck ; but I could not discover that it ever came to the surface of the water to breathe ; it appeared to sleep constantly ; and its motion in swimming, when disturbed, was exactly like that of an eel. It was always necessary to keep it covered up, as upon lengthened exposure to light its life and its colour ebbed away together. It is probable that during the winter months carp retire almost wholly into the mud, or under roots, hollows, and weeds, and at this time they are hardly ever to be taken with a bait In the summer they frequently lie sucking in the weeds, in a sort of lazy state, each ' suck ' making a very distinct and unmistakable noise. It very much resembles the sound made by a pig, to which animal, indeed, a big carp has always appeared to me to bear a striking likeness, both in face and character. When not sucking or basking, the carp usually swims about in shoals near the surface of the water, returning to the bottom to feed. 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 Byflect, which was not bigger than an ordinary sized ball- room. The biygest of these carp did not, however, exceed 2 lbs. 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 dcjith accurately ; and arrange the distance CARP AND TENCH. 287 between the float and the shot, so that the latter may exactly rest on the bottom, weighing down the point of the float to about * half-cock,' and letting the gut below the shot and the bait lie on the ground. Fix the rod in the bank and keep perfectly quiet. When a bite is perceived, do not strike until the float begins to move away. It constantly happens, however, that the carp will not be taken either by this or any other mode of fishing with which I am acquainted ; but if he is to be caught at all it is thus. The baits are, worms (first), gentles, greaves, grains and various sorts of pastes, of which latter, however, I believe, the plain white bread crumb paste is the best, as well as the most easily made. Professor Owen, who had a good deal of carp fishing experience in Virginia Water, gave me the results of his practice which concur in a great measure with my own, except that he fished with his bait paste made of soft herring roe worked up with bread crumbs and wool, a favourable substi- tute sometimes for the brandling. Of all the curious as well as unsavoury morsels which have been advocated at one time or another, as baits for carp I think coagulated sheep's or bullock's blood is about the most nauseous, yet it is not many weeks ago since this was gravely recom- mended by a writer in a sporting contemporary. I was, he says, a resident at Frankfort-on-the-Maine in which river the carp, in the vicinity of the city, were plentiful. After trying many baits in vain, I bethought me of one I had seen used in Paris by the Lutetian cockneys, and found it successful. I got from the slaughterhouse — then situated in the Dom Platz— a tin canister full of blood ; whether of sheep, oxen, or goats, or all inter- mingled, I cannot say. With this coagulated gore I was able, after some practice, to bait my hook. The baiting was, of course, very frequent. The hook had to be let down very gently, and the bait would melt off after a few minutes' immersion. Every bite which did not result in a catch also necessitated re-baiting. But I caught a good many carp. I presume that in a river which flows pretty rapidly, as does the Maine, these fish do not, as a rule, attain to such a size as those in ponds. With me they used to run 288 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. from I lb. to 4 lbs., but generally between 2 and 3 lbs., which seemed to be the average weight of those caught in nets in the same localities. I daresay you have often seen anglers using blood as bait on the quays in Paris. I was a youngster when I fished with it, and do not think I should care to try it now. It is not pleasant to handle, and is apt, in summer, to become smelly on the least provocation. But in those days, wherever there was water I was bound to fish, and I shirked no nastiness short, perhaps, of holding in my mouth worrums for bait. Any of the before-mentioned baits — either simply or mixed with clay, or bran, or both, according to the nature of the pond or current — will form a good ground bait, which should be thrown in overnight on the spot where it is intended to fish, A few gentles or bits of chewed bread, occasionally added when fishing, are generally advantageous. A propos of ground baiting for tench, Mr. R. House, writing lately to the Fishi?tg Gazette, mentions the following facts under the head of 'Necessity of Judicious Ground Baiting' : — Sir, — You are quite right about tench taking paste or boiled potatoes (provided they have been fed with them beforehand) ; but the feeding is the secret ! For instance, a few years ago, a friend asked me to fish his trout preserve, where he had scarcely ever before allowed any one to fish. I tried with my spinner, and in two hours had eleven trout, none under 2 lbs.; but he told me there was one that never would take minnow or worm — he was lying at the back of the premises where the garbage was thrown. I asked the cook what she gave him ; she said she often threw him out bread. I cut a piece of bread, and threw it in, and he took it in a minute — near 6 lbs. I also know of a case at Newbury, where a splendid trout fed, and no one could entice him to take their bait ; but at the last, the cook said that whatever was thrown out — cabbage or potatoes — he took it. My friend took a small potato, boiled, and with a large hook nailed him — li lbs. — I am, &:c. It is curious that tliis ground baiting should have been practised more than sixteen hundred years ago ; it is described by Oppian, who says tliat the paste was made with scented CARP AND TENCH. 289 cheese and flour, which was divided into little pellets and scattered in by the fishermen to attract the fish. A quondam writer in the Field gives under the signature of ' Eothen ' his experience in Indian carp-catching : This fish is known in the Deccan, he says, as the komlah. It exists in great numbers in most of the rivers, and attains a con- siderable weight, from 10 lbs. to 40 lbs. They are often fed by pilgrims near the steps leading down from temples to the water- side, and in such places they become very tame and bold, almost tumbling against the legs of natives performing their ablutions in the river. If handfuls of dried earth nuts in the pod are thrown in, they will scramble for them with the utmost eagerness, rolling over each other like porpoises, great fellows, with broad backs, averaging 25 lbs., a sight to see, I can assure you ! But, flourish a rod for five minutes, and they will be ofi" with a rush ; not a fin will be seen near the place again for at least half-an-hour. No ! they have a marvellous discrimination between friends and foes ; and why it should be so I never could understand, because it is only at rare intervals that they are fished for, by some wandering civilian or officer from the distant cantonment. Under these circumstances the only feasible plan of circum- venting them that I could discover, was to trail my rod to the water's edge and lay it down on the ground. I baited the hook with a good-sized lump of plain paste, and then, holding this ready, I threw in several handfuls of boiled rice, mixed with the dal. The water would soon be in a boil with the fish greedily feeding at the bottom, and then was the time to drop in the baited hook, which in the general scramble was sure to be bolted, or, at any rate, laid hold of. In the meantime, I had darted back and picked up the rod, and if I was lucky enough to make a successful strike— not by any means an ea.sy thing under the circumstances — there would be a 'whirl' and an So yards run before there would be any display of the butt. These fish were wonderfully powerful and active, and as the river there was broad and deep, it was necessary to have at least 50 yards of line. I was put up to this dodge by a military friend who had been very successful. The largest fish of his capturing that I saw, weighed 36 lbs., and it was truly a noble fellow, short, but exceedingly broad and deep at the shoulder. The scales are silvery, not yellow, and remarkably large — one would quite cover 11. U 290 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. the palm of a man's hand. I wish I had brought some home for display in the /'/V/r/ window. Since I left India, I met an officer who is a mighty sportsman in every branch, and he told me that he had fished with great success in tlie \^\y same river, but in another manner. In the evening he would watch for the rise of a single fish, and then, by an underhand cast, he would drop his hook, baited with a bean of green grain, just within the curl of water, when it was generally snapped at. Of course, if the first cast failed there was no use in making a second ; and, indeed, I think few men but himself could have made an underhand cast with the requisite nicety and precision. However, my friend threw with such success, that in seventeen days he killed 70 fish weighing I,20olbs. A singular expedient for catching carp is suggested by Mr, Fitzgibbon in his ' Notes to Walton ' :^ A correspondent, he says, not long since wrote to me for advice. He had a pond in which were many large carp ; and although he had ancrled for them in due season from Februar)' to October during seven years, he had not succeeded in capturing tliem. I advised him to line with hurdles the bank of the pond at the spots where he meant to fish — to ground-bait those sj)0ts with red worms, gentles, and especially with sweet paste, for three or four days — to then take his rod, and, supporting it on a bifurcated prop (cut off the branch of a tree) inserted in the bank behind tlie hurdles, to place on his line a hook broken off at the bend, that is without barb or sharp point, — to bait this harmless hook witli sweet paste, and to sink it nearly to the bottom of the already ground baited water. The carp will soon take this bait ; and finding they can do so with im])iinily, they will become bolder hourly. Rcpl.icing the bait every lime it is nibbled off, and con- tinuing to do so for llnce or four days, commence then angling in earnest : with the same rod and line, but with a barl:)cd hook baited exactly as before, come behind the hurdle, and, with very light float, angle cautiously. My correspondent acted on my advice, and succeeded in catching as many of the Luge carp as he wanted. 'I'his is doul)tless a very ingenious ])lan ; ])iit, with all due deference to Mr. I'il/gihhon, I think that most fishcrnien might feci somewhat disinclined to sil fur ' three or four davs ' crou<;hed CARP AND TENCH. 291 behind a hurdle, without the possibility of catching anything — unless, indeed, it were a stroke of rheumatism. ' Ephemera,' however, had evidently conceived a very pro- found veneration for the craftiness of carp, especially old ones : — Neither I, nor any one else, he says, can tell you how to catch satisfactorily with the angle the paterfamilias of the carp : he is so sly, and nibbles in such a namby-pamby way, that he strips the hook of its bait mouse-like. The angler that can catch large carp, Captain Williamson says, * must possess several qualifications extremely valuable to the angler, and bids fair, by general practice, to be, according to the old saying, able to teach his master.' All I can tell you is, that you must fish for the carp proper with as fine a tackle as you use for the roach, and at the same time it must be stronger, for carp grow to salmon size. The baits are worms, larvae, grains, pastes, green gentles, and green peas, A sweet paste is perhaps the best. ... A Huntingdonshire corre- spondent once wrote to me that he had a pond well stored with very large carp, and that after seven years' patience with line, rod and hook, he could not catch one of them. He asked my advice — I told him to try a net ! Mr. F. "Miller, in a recent article in the Fishing Gazette, gives the following account of a method of catching carp which he had pursued successfully : — A few weeks since I was favoured with permission to fish a private pond well stocked with large carp. The owner of it thought it a waste of precious angler's time to attempt to hoax so capricious a feeder, and so cunning a biter, the more so as many adepts at the art had been previously disappointed. The day of my adventure was rough, though warm. The wind at times was almost sufficiently strong to blow a man out of his hat ; but towards evening it lulled, and the carp began to move, jumping clear of the water in their well-known vigorous, if not graceful, manner. I was fishing in about 4 feet of water, with two rods resting on pegs, as for bream. I had ground- baited with soaked bran and ordinary gentles, and had placed on each hook two or three wasp grubs. These I always find appreciated by the crafty Cyprinus carpio. To complete the sweet-toothed dainty, I took a small box =92 PIKE AND OrilER COARSE FISH. of honey, and, without touching the bait with my fingers, thrust it into the box, and coated it with the manipulated nectar. I waited and watched with the superabundant, or rathei superhuman, patience necessary on such occasions, and liad ahnost concluded that my patron's prognostications were about to be fulfilled, wlien my upper or left-hand float, lying flat on the water, began to glide along the surface in a very suggestive and gratifying manner. I struck, not ' ile,' as the Yankee would say, but a game fish, which rushed upward and onward as if eager to cut my acquaintance. I had hardly felt the grip of my first fish when float No. 2 lying at length on the right, began to move in the opposite direction to the struggling captive, which already questioned my right of deprivation. *A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,' and a fish on the hook is worth two in the water. I resolved at once to let my second bold epicure take his hook and his chance. The rod was firm, the line was good, and some 60 yards of it formed a miniature cable between the fish and the shore. My quarry was evidently steeled to the encounter, and soon disappeared round a bend m the bank. * Frailty, thy name is woman !' My first-hooked carp pursued the uneven tenour of his way, and showed signs of exhaustion. I looked down at my companion reel and saw that but a few yards remained of the rapidly-running line. I had given it the previous day to a fair enthusiast to place on the winch, and the idea that jierhaps it had not been properly fastened, and the fear of losing it altogether, aroused me to a sense of danger and a change of action. Seizing the line with the right hand, while holding my bending rod with my left, I placed it between my teeth, and held on with a nodding grip of desperation whilst I successfully grassed my first-hooked and now defeated opponent. I then brought his roaming companion nearer home and in a few minutes he joined his mate on terra fi/iiia. One weighed nearly, and the other juot over 6 lbs. An editorinl postscript to the above will be read with interest, as giving some recent e.\i)eriences uf a tliurouglily practical fisherman: — We also possess a piece of water which holds some carp — perfect patriarchs, some of them. In the hot weather they roam about near the surface, and in the spawning season roll about in the weeds like pigs. We lia\e fished the water almost every week CARP AND TENCH. 293 foi two summers, and have taken numbers of bream between two and six pounds, and many tench, roach, and rudd ; bat we have never got hold of a carp. And yet we have used the finest tackle, drawn gut and hair, tried every kind of sweet paste, worms, gentles, potatoes, blackberries (bream like blackberries), figs, bananas, a bit of crumb of bread just under or on the surface ; in fact, there is not a bait recommended for carp fishing we have not tried, both with float and with ledger. Others who have fished the same w-ater have had no better success with these carp. In other waters not so much fished we have taken them with small red worms and paste. We confess we have never tried for them ' from daybreak to five o'clock,' which is said by some to be the magic time, but have often wondered that when fishing late — from sunset to mid- night— for eels, the carp have never touched the baits, though tench have, long after dark. Of course, we have tried ground- baits of all kinds. Potatoes mashed up with bread and pollard we have found bring the bream on best, and we should be obliged if any of our readers can suggest some plan which they find suc- cessful under similar circumstances. I was once witness to a very curious occurrence, w^here a carp — naturally such a timid and dainty feeder — took in suc- cession two hooks baited with worms, on two different lines, and was itself taken simultaneously by both, one hook being fastened on each side of its mouth : the youths to whom the singular accident happened were brothers. The distance between their two rods and baits at the time the fish took the latter could not have been less than several yards, and the floats disappeared almost at the same moment, both anglers striking together and the carp being lifted out between them. With regard to the tench the methods of capture pursued in the case of the carp are also the best that I can recommend, but though, like the carp, good bags of tench may be occasionally made under exceptional circumstances, it is hardly sufficiently certain sport to offer any great inducement from the angler's point of view. Indeed, I never made but one real basket ot tench, so to speak, in my life and that was in a stagnant pond belonging to my friend, Colonel Brooksbank, of Middleton Hall on the Wolds, Yorkshire, which had been recently stocked 294 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. with them. The largest of these tench did not exceed, how- ever, one pound in weight, and as soon as the sun had fairly risen they stopped biting. Indeed, whatever the chance may be of catching either carp or tench, it is in the very early morn- ing hours that it is ttsually to be found, and after about 7 or half-past arrives, the carp and tench fisherman may as well put up his rods and go home to breakfast. Carp and tench very commonly inhabit the same waters, both stagnant and running, and should be fished for in pre- cisely the same manner. Although these fish are frequently found in rivers, as before observed, they are very seldom caught there, and when they are, in my experience it is usually when they are not being fished for. Indeed, fishing for either of these species is at the best very uncertain work, and, in the case of rivers, generally wholly unprofitable. In weight the tench does not equal its congener, seldom exceeding 5 or 6 lbs., although occasionally heavier specimens have been taken. The largest on record weighed somewhat over 11 lbs., and was taken from a clay-hole which had been scooped out for brick-making. This sort of pit often abounds with tench and a basketful has been known to be taken out of one not wider than a boy could jump over, and where the weeds were so thick as to be almost solid. In fact, like the carp, the tench appears to prefer foul and weedy to clear waters. Daniel, in his ' Rural Sports,' gives an account of the capture of the tench weighing 1 1 lbs. above referred to : — A piece of water which had been ordered to be filled up, and into which wood and rubbish had been thrown for years, was directed to be clcined out. Labourers wcreaccordinj^Iy employed ; and, almost choked up by weeds and mud, so little water remained that no person expected to sec any fish, except a few eels ; yet nearly two hundred iMace of tench of all sizes, and as many perch were found. After tlie pond was thought to be quite free, under iome roots there seemed to be some animal who was conjectured to be an otter; the place was surrounded, and on openini; an entrance amon;,'st the roots a tench was found of most singular form, having literally assumed the shape of the hole in which he CARP AND TENCH. 295 had, of course, for many years been confined. His length from eye to caudal fork was 23 inches, his circumference, almost to the tail, was 27 inches, his weight li lbs. 9^ ozs.; the colour was also singular, his belly being that of a charr, or vermilion. This extra- ordinary fish, after having been inspected by many gentlemen, was carefully put into a pond, and at the time this account was written twelve months afterwards, was alive and well. It is surprising in what unpromising looking holes and corners tench will live and apparently thrive. It is really the most tenacious of life of any fresh water fish except the eel. I have known one of them live for a whole day with the gimp of a double jack hook passed under the skin from gill to tail, the fish being meanwhile cast about from place to place on the water, and suspended in a most unnatural position. In fact, such is the perfection of the organs of the species, that they have been proved by experiment to be able to breathe when the quantity of oxygen is reduced to the 5,000th part of the bulk of the water — river water ordinarily containing about one part of oxygen in a hundred. For the tench has always been claimed the royal gift of heal- ing by touch ; and he has been supposed to possess, in the slime with which he is thickly covered, a natural balsam for the cure of himself and others. He has been called by old writers the ' physician of fish,' who assert that, as a consequence, the pike, unsparing of every- thing else that swims, has yet in him that 'grace of courtesy' that he will not molest his benefactor. Some experiments, in- deed, which I myself tried appear to lend colour to the fact of the pike's refusing to attack the tench, whatever may be the cause of his self-restraint. I procured some small tench, and fished with them as live baits for a whole day in some excellent pike water, but without getting a touch. In the evening I put on a small carp, and had a run almost immediately. I also tried some pike in a stock pond with the same tench, but they would not take them ; and though left in a pond all night — one on a hook, and one 296 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. attached to a fine thread — both baits were alive in the morning, some pike teeth marks, however, being visible upon the hooked fish. These facts I mention, however, for what tliey may be worth, without expressing any opinion as to the truth or otherwise of the theories before alluded to. The notion is at least a poetical one, and as such in this utilitarian age deserves to be encouraged. We are all getting so confoundedly prosaic and matter of fact that the introduction of a little idealism can but be an improvement. It would be quite refreshing to encounter a few angling troubadours on Marlow Bridge, or fishermcn-serenaders, in gondolas d la Venice, outside Pope's Villa at Twickenham. Anyhow, the hypothetical relationship between pike and tench has been related in verse as well as in prose : — The pike, fell tyrant of the liquid plain. With ravenous waste devours his fellow train : Yet, howsoe'er by raging famine pined. The tench he spares — a medicinal kind ; For when by wounds distrcst or sore disease, Pie courts the salutary fish for ease, Close to his scales the kind pliysician glides And sweats a healing balsam from his sides. So much for the poetical explanation. A more prosaic one is given by IJinglcy, who suggests that, as the tench is so fond of mud as to be constantly at the bottom of the water, where the pike < aimot find him, the self-denial of the latter may be attributed to more natural causes. However, as I said before, whether true or false, I am for the more jioetical solution of the 7'c\\-afa qiiicstio. The flesh of the tencli is white and firm and not unnutritious, though, like the eel, it would ap[K'ar to be ])alatable in a pre- cisely inverse ratio to tli-,' cleanliness of its abode, improving in gustatory attractions as it approaches more ricarly in colour and diet the composition of its habitual mud. Thus, ' tench CARP AND TENCH. 297 were taken out of Munden Hall Fleet, Essex, which was so thick with weeds that the flue-nets could hardly be sunk through them, and where the mud was intolerably foetid and had dyed the fish of its own hue, which was that of ink ; yet no tench could be better grown, or of a sweeter flavour.' . . . *In a clear pond at Leigh's Priory a quantity of tench were caught of about 3 lbs. weight each, of a colour the most golden and beautiful ; but when dressed and brought to table they smelt and tasted so rankly that no one would eat them.' By washing the slime off the fish with warm water before cooking the muddy taste is said to be removed. Walton says the tench ' eat pleasantly ' and form a desirable addition to the cuisine, — also the dictum of the late Mr. Grantley Berkeley, whose experience of tench in stew ponds I have already referred to. Indeed, it is stated that in extensive tracts of water near Yarmouth tench are still bred in large quantities as a marketable commodity, being fattened, until fit for the table, upon a mixture of greaves and meal. Characteristics of the Common Carp. — Body covered with large scales, in about twelve rows between ventrals and back fin ; a single very long back fin. Lips fleshy. Mouth small, and without teeth. Throat-teeth in three rows on each side, the inner row composed of three with broad flat crowns which are furrowed, somewhat resembling those of ruminating ani- mals. Two barbels or beards at each corner of the mouth. First back-fin, ray, short and bony ; the second also bony, notched on the posterior surface, as likewise the first ray of the anal fin. Tail deeply forked. Colouring, generally, golden olive-brown, head darkest ; belly, yellowish-white ; fins, dark brown. Scales covered with a thick mucus or epidermis. Vertebra 36. Finrays : D. 22; P. 17; V. 9 ; A. 8 ; C. 19. Characteristics of the Common Tench. — Length of head compared to total length of body, excluding tail, as 2 to 7. Head rather large and blunt. Mouth small, toothless, with a small barbel at each corner. Throat-teeth in a single row on 298 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. each side, 4 on the right side and 5 on the left. Scales very small. Back and anal fins destitute of bony rays. Ventral fins in the male very large, and concave on the inside, reaching far enough to cover the vent ; in the females smaller and less powerful : the males and females may be distinguished by the size of these fins. Pectoral fins large and rounded. Tail, in young fish, concave, afterwards straight, and in old fish convex. General colour, greenish ohve and golden; fins, darker; lips, flesh-colour. Finrays : D. 11; P. 17; V. 10; A. 10; C. 19. 299 BARBEL'^ AND BREAM} Barbel and bream, though not so intimately associated as carp and tench, are yet linked together by many common ties in the domain of angling ; one of their principal similar cha- racteristics being that they are usually fished for, at any rate so far as rivers are concerned, in the same place, with the same tackle, and the same baits. The barbel, however, so far as my experience goes, is never found in anything but running water. The bream, on the contrary, thrives best in large open lakes and in slow rivers alternating with broads or lagoon-like reaches. Although from an angler's point of view infinitely less wary and difficult to capture than the carp, the barbel, both in its natural state and in confinement, is the shyest and most untame- able of all our fish, except perhaps the roach, exhibiting a degree of reserve and intolerance of observation rarely met with. In the spring, however, when the fish seek the gravelly shallows to spawn, they become very lively, and at this season may frequently be seen tumbling and rolling about, with their bodies half out of the water, like a shoal of porpoises. Amongst some specimens kept in a vivarium, it was observed that, when they fancied no one was looking, they would plunge and rub them- selves against the brickwork, and otherwise show considerable signs of playfulness. Barbel are numerous in many parts of the world, but their natural habitat appears to be the warmer parts of Europe, and it is stated by Cuvier that in localities favourable to them they will grow ID feet long. They are plentiful in the Danube, the 1 Barbus "nuharls. 2 Abramis braiita. 300 PIKE AXD OTHER COARSE EISH. Elbe, and the Wcser ; in almost all the rivers flowing into the Black Sea ; and in the Volga, where they attain the weight of 40 and 50 lbs. On the banks of this river the natives make a kind of fish glue or isingla'^s of the bladder, boiling the roe and feeding their geese and poultry with it. The fish themselves are sold at Astrakan at about 9/. the thousand. The flesh of the fish, to be guilty of what sounds like a bull, very much resembles that of the sturgeon, to which also, in shape, it bears a strong resemblance. As is well known the flesh of the sturgeon is very solid and almost meat-like, stand- ing, in fact, apparendy about half-way between fish and flesh. I used, when living in the neighbourhood of the Thames, often to see a dish of barbel on the sideboard at breakfast time, and very good it was. I have not the recipe for the cooking, but I know that the principal secret lies in its being baked in an open dish with some cloves and perhaps other spices. When cold, the liquid it was baked in became a stiff jelly, which shows immistakably the, so to speak, meaty, and probably nourishing qualities of the fish. Tlie barbel is a native of many parts of England, and is exclusively a river fish. It abounds particularly in the Trent and the Thames, in the latter being so numerous that in the neighbourhood of Walton and Weybridge as much as 280 lbs. weight are said to have been taken by a single rod in one day. The name of Piarbcl is derived from the barbs, or beards, at the corners of the mouth, which are given to tlie fish to assist it in feeling its way about in deep and, consequently, more or less dark waters, and probably also for the purpose of enabling it to detect the nature of tlie substances with which it comes in contact. Of the species provided with these barbs, viz., the carji, tench, gudgeon, loach, and burbot, all find their food ])rincipally or wholly on tlie bottom ; and generally the fact of the fish being 'bearded ' aflords a correct index to its habits. Thus the barbel fre(iuents the deepest parts of pools and weirs, — for example, Temple Pool, just on the right hand of the lock above Marlow, and New Lock, on the Harleyford side BARBEL AND BREAM. 301 of Hurley Weir, between Marlow and Medmenham, are two of the best swims for heavy barbel that I know of, and both are so deep that even with a heavy ledger-lead the difficulty is to get the bait to the bottom or keep it down when it has been got there. In this latter pool there are, I am sure, some barbel of leviathan dimensions, and I was once hooked in one which I played for three-quarters of an hour without ever seeing the tip of his tail. The same thing happened at the same place to a well-known Thames fisherman, except that in this case, I believe, the time fruitlessly spent in the struggle approached nearly to an hour and a quarter. In fact, the moment the barbel is hooked he goes straight down to, or rather, perhaps more correctly speaking, 'clings' close to the bottom, burrowing head downwards with all his force ; and this particular method of fighting makes him, when hooked, an obstinate and sluggish rather than a lively fish. His food consists principally of slugs, worms, grubs, and perhaps occasionally of small fish : and in order to procure these he turns up the gravel and loose stones with his nose in very much the same manner that a pig furrows a field with its snout. The baits for the fish are lob-worms (whole or the tail end), gentles, greaves, cheese, caddis-worms, and many others ; but of these the first two are, in my opinion, much the best. Three styles of fishing are employed in barbel-fishing, or • barbelling,' as it is called on the Thames, one of which is peculiar to the barbel. These are ordinary float-fishing, Nottingham fishing, and leger fishing, which is the speciality of the art, and was, until late years, almost wholly confined to the Thames and its habitues. A good chapter on the subject of Nottingham fishing for barbel will be found in Baily's 'Angler's Instructor,' p. 43. The mode of Nottingham fishing, so far as the float ard tackle are concerned, has been already described at p. 215. In adapting it to barbel a light bamboo rod with small stiff rings, so as to let the Hne run freely, and a thoroughly strong (though by no means coarse) gut line are the principal addenda. For 302 PIKE AXD OTHEK COARSE FISH. Nottingham fishing with the lob-worm, or tail of a lob-worm, which is generally preferred, a No. 9 hook will be found about the best size, and when the bait used is gentles a No. 5 or 6. The bait should just be carried by the current dribbling along the bottom. A No. 9 hook is about the best size when greaves or scratching is the bait. Strike the moment the float disappears. In ordinary float fishing for barbel— which, on the Thames, at least, where I have ])rincipally seen it practised, is constantly combined with roach fishing — a somewhat smaller hook and even finer tackle may be employed with advantage. In deep water a No. i float of larger size than that represented in the engraving is as good a pattern as any that can be used. The stroke in this case also should be, if possible, contemporaneous with the disappearance of the float. The speciality, however, of barbel ing, by which also heavy bream, chubb, and perch are not unfrecjuenily taken, is what is commonly known on the Thames as 'legering.' In this case no float whatever is employed, and the bite is detected by the hand, it being generally advisable to wait until the nibbling becomes a more decided tugging before the stroke. A leger-lead of im|)roved form, shown at the late Fisheries Exhibition, is represented in the woodcut. The object of the flattened shape of the lead is to enable it to rest steadily on the bottom, and the 'rounded angles' prevent it being so likely to get fast in stones or other obstructions. The object is that the line should run freely througli the lc;ul on l)cing pulled by a fish, without wliic h, iMi'KDM.i) of (ourse, it would be necessary for the fish to ( arry off the lead l)o(nly m order that a bite might be felt. The tackle for producing this result is of the simplest. At the end of two links of fine salmon gut attach a Xo. 9 or 10 hook and fasten the two links of gut to a yard of fine gimp, attarhjn^ also a shot at the junction of the two to prevent the lead slipping down on to the hooks. The BARBEL AND BREAM. 303 gimp is run through the lead and then attached to the reel line. Some fishermen, less particular, attach the reel line itself to the gut bottom, and others again carry refinement to a greater pitch and * interject ' a yard or two of salmon gut between the upper end of the gimp and the running line. The last named is the most complete because the finest form of leger tackle, and the other the most rudimentary. Either a whole or half a lob-worm may be used according to taste in this mode of fishing, some fishermen preferring one and some the other. The mode of baiting in both these cases has been already described at p. 229. For the method of getting and keeping lob- worms see also p. 225. It is very essential when barbeling always to ground bait, at least some hours previously, the spot at which it is intended to fish. For this purpose bran, clay, and boiled greaves, worked up together into balls about the size of a small cocoa-nut, form a good mixture : gentles or chopped worms may be added with advantage, but clay and any of these before mentioned materials will answer the purpose. Another excellent ground bait, already described, and to which the Thames fishermen are very partial is made by putting handfuls of whole lob-worms into hollow clay balls, some of the heads and tails of the worm being left sticking through the sides. In choosing baits for the hook, worms without knots in them should have the preference. The last observation holds good with regard to every description of worms and worm fishing. For bream fishing in rivers, the Nottingham style of fishing — with baits as described for barbel — is undoubtedly the best. Gentles and sometimes paste are also good baits for bream ; the latter is principally, however, confined to stagnant waters. As regards ordinary float fishing, it may be said, speaking generally, that all ground bait and tackle suitable for roach fishing, but somewhat stronger and with a size larger hook, will be found suitable for bream fishing. In its distribution, the carp bream is an inhabitant of all 304 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. the central districts of Europe, as well as those northward of St. Petersburg, Finland, and Scandinavia. Some of the lakes of Ireland also produce it in large quantities. In England it is found in many countries, appearing to thrive best in large open sheets of water, and in slow rivers, where the stream occasionally widens out into broads or deeps. Of the rivers near the metropolis which breed this fish, perhaps the Mole and the Medway are tlie most noted. They are also very numerous in the Thames at Weybridge, just below its junction with the Wey, and in the latter river, higher up towards VVisley, are occasionally caught of very large size. I recently examined a specimen weighing upwards of 5 lbs. taken thence ; the scales of this fish were rough and almost file-like, from a small whitish tubercle which is a periodical production common to the species, as well as to several others of the carp family, at the spawning time. Baily mentions one of 17 lbs., taken in the Trent, but 7 or 8 lbs. appears to be the highest average really attained by the bream, at any rate in Great Britain. Bream are gregarious, and their food consists of worms, slugs, aquatic insects, and vegetable substances. Two varieties of the bream species are found in this country : one the Pomeranian ' bream, an exceedingly rare fish, being known in very few waters, and the other the white bream, or bream-flat,'^ which is comi)aratively common. Indeed, the carp-bream and brt-am-flat are frequently found in the same waters, and in habits and food are nearly identical. The white bream is known to exist in Cambridgeshire, Nottinghamsliire, Norfolk, and Dumfriesshire. I have taken it frequently in the River Wey, in Surrey, and it is probably locally recognised in many otlier counties. It is also common on the Continent and in Scandinavia. It is best fished for with roach tackle and a red worm or gentle, and has this singular habit — by which it may be constantly rccoiiniscd, even betbre it has been seen— of rising instead of descending with the bait ; in consequence of * Abramis Dii^oiha^i^ii. ' Abramis Dlicca, BARBEL AND BREAM. 305 which the float, in lieu of being drawn under water, is laid flat upon the surface. The fish takes a bait readily, but often spits it out again, from being too indolent to swallow it. The Swedish fishermen call it Aetare, or the glutton. In the Bavarian dialect, the term blicke is applied to fishes that have a silvery glitter in the water, whence the specific name blicca, given to it on account of the brightness of its colour as compared with the carp- bream. The points of difference between the bream- flat and the carp-bream are : (i) its colour, which is almost silvery instead of yellow ; (2) its size, which rarely exceeds i lb., whilst that of the carp-bream frequently reaches 7 or 8 lbs. ; and (3) its teeth (throat-teeth), which are in two rows on each side, numbering two and five respectively, those of the carp-bream being placed in only one row on each side, numbering five. This last point of difference is so obvious and easily verified that no mistake can possibly occur. The only waters inhabited, so far as I am aware, by the Pomeranian bream are the Logan River, near Belfast, a pond at Bottisham in Cambridgeshire, some water near Wolver- hampton, and the preserves at Dagenham Reach, Essex, well known to London anglers. It may be readily distinguished both from the white and carp-bream by the number of throat- teeth on each side, which are in two rows numbering five and three respectively, instead of, as in the former, in two rows of five and two, and, as in the latter, in a single row of five. It is also distinguished by the greater thickness of its body, which is equal to half its depth, whilst in the other two the same measurement is only equal to one-third of the depth. The anal fin is shorter and has a smaller number of rays than that of the bream-flat, which, again, presents a similar proportion as contrasted with the carp-bream. The bream spawns in May, and the barbel in May or June ; the latter depositing its ova, which, in large fish, sometimes number 7,000 or 8,000, in the gravelly or shingly beds of the stream, where they are immedi-itely covered by the parent II. X. / / 3o6 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. fishes. These eggs are vivified, in warm weather, between the ninth and fifteenth day. The spawners, so soon as they have recovered a little strength, make their way into the swiftest stream they can find, such as rivers, mill-tails, &c., to scour and brace themselves, beginning to get into condition again in a few weeks, and being in the best season for the angler until September and October, when the frosty nights drive them from the streams and shallows into deeper waters. Here they will be found until the spring ; and in these quiet deeps and eddies they are to be caught, if anywhere, during the winter months. At this period, howevtr, especially if the weather is very cold, it is of comparatively little use to fish for them, as they lie in a sort of semi-torpid condition and refuse to move. So inanimate are they, that the fishermen not unfrequently provide themselves with hoop-land- ing nets, which they place near the barbel, and with a pole literally push them in. Shoals sometimes collect under the shelter, of a sunken punt or other tidal obstruction, lying one over the other as closely as they can pack, and when thus congregated, they are often taken by being ' hooked foul.' The principal Characteristics of the Barbel are : — Mouth, toothless ; throat teeth in three rows on each side, the rows numbering two, three, and five respectively. Body, elongated. Length of head compared with total length of fish as i to 5. Depth of body less than length of head. Head, elongated, wedge-shaped ; upper half of jaw much the longer. Upper lip, circular and fleshy. One pair of barbels at the front of the nose, and a single one at the end of upper lip on each side. Third ray of back fin largest and strongest, toothed on its hinder surface. Tail deeply forked at the end. Colour : general hue of up])t.r i)art of the head and body, greenish- brown, becoming yclIowish-green on sides ; clieeks, gill-covers, golden-bronze ; belly and throat, silver-white ; back fin, olive- brown ; margins of tail, pectoral, ventral, and anal fins, pale red, or fleshy-pink, gradually diminishing in tone nearly to base BARBEL AND BREAM. 307 of tins ; scales, browny-bronze at base, at tips silvery-whitish ; irides, golden-bronze. Principal Characteristics of the Common Bream. — Throat teeth cylindrical, with smooth crowns adapted for bruising, placed in single rows, five teeth on each side. Mouth small, toothless, without barbels. Scales placed in curves on the fore part of the back, a naked place behind the ventrals. Length of head to body as i to 3. Head small, nape of neck de- pressed. Body deep and flat ; very convex above and below, scales comparatively small. Scales of lateral line varying in number from 52 to 58. Tail long, and deeply forked at the end. Colour : generally yellowish white, becoming yellowish brown by age. Cheeks and gill-covers, silvery white ; fins light-coloured ; pectoral and ventral tinged with red ; back, anal, and tail fins with brown. 3c8 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. DACE^ AND CHUB.'' I HAVE bracketed these two fish together, first, because they are, amongst coarse fish, the only two that can properly be said to be of interest to the fly-fisher, not being also a float-fisher, and secondly, with a view of pointing out the characteristics by which they may be most readily distinguished the one from the other. When the chub is not full-grown, its resemblance to its closely allied species, the dace, is so strong that I have known experienced fishermen, and even naturalists at fault in deter- mining positively whether the fish which they had caught was a large dace or a small chub ; and I well remember on one occasion finding an enthusiastic young ichthyologist sitting the picture of despair on the bank of the Wey, with Yarrell's 'British Fishes' in one hand, and in the other a diminutive specimen of the genus Leuciscus, which he was vainly attempting to identify by a critical comparison of its proportions, fin rays, scales, &c, with those given in the pages of that scientific, but occasionally somewhat perplexing volume. By bearing the following rules in mind, however, no fisherman need ever be in doubt as to whether the fish he has in his basket is a chub or a dace : (i) The anal fin of the dace is pale greenish 7c>hite, with occasionally a very slight tinge of red — />/ the chub, this fin is of a brilliant pink colour. (2) The hinder margin of the anal fin is, in the dace, concai'e — in the chub co7ivex. In adult specmiens the size of the chub is, of course, a sufficient distinction without referring to particular marks. The whole fish, moreover, rapidly assumes a bronzed or golden appearance, in place of the silvery tinting which the dace retains in its original brilliancy to the last. Between dace and chub, and any other fish of the same ' Leuciscus vuli^aris. 2 J cue i sens ce/ hiatus. DACE AND CHUB. 309 genus, no comparison can well arise, as all these latter (with one only exception — the minnow) are what might be termed in one sense ^af-Jis/i, i.e. narrow across the back and compressed at the sides — whilst the former are plump and generally round- shaped^ so to speak, as to the body. The dace is the type fish of the genus Zeuciscus, which con- tains, in addition to the chub, the roach, the rudd, the bleak, and the minnow, and from its game qualities when hooked is well worthy of the fisherman's notice. It is a bright, graceful fish, glancing about in the clear quiet streams with which the southern counties of England especially abound, and which are often barren of trout or salmon. Moreover, it is in full season in October, November, December, and January, when trout and salmon are spawning or preparing for the process, and thus a red-letter day's sport is often to be obtained, which would otherwise have had to be left blank in the angler's diary. As a live bait for pike, also, it is especially worthy of notice, its scaling being brilliant so as to be easily seen in thick water, and its entire appearance glittering and attractive. The dace rises freely at the artificial fly, and I have gene- rally found that a small red or black ' gnat ' will kill as well as anything. Some good dace fishermen assert that the fly be- comes more irresistible by the addition of a small gentle on the point of the hook, especially when the fish are rising 'shy.' I strongly recommend the Turned-down Eyed hooks — manufactured under my name, by Messrs, Harrison and Bartleet, of Redditch — for chub- and dace-flies as well as trout-flies. The engravings represent the hooks both turned- up eyed and turned-down eyed ; ^ but it is the turned-down eyes that I use myself, and the advantages of which I think I can hardly too strongly advocate. These hooks are specially constructed for attachment to the casting hne by the 'jam knot,' which I introduced to the public 1 My bend of hooks are made as well ' eyed," as without eyes for lapping on to gut on the old system ; and both can be obtained from Messrs. Farlow, 191 Strand, London. 3IO PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. in the columns of the Fis/ihig Gazette. A\ho was the actual inventor I am unaware. Diagrams of the knot (here repeated ■JAM knot' attaciin:i:nt iok tirneo-evki) hooks. for the convenience of the reader), and instructions for tying it, are appended. Fig. i shows the fly (enlarged), and the 'jam ' knot in act of being tied — ' first position '; fig. 2 is the EYED HOOKS. LI Li y ij y UU oUvJvJvJ 17 16 IS 11 13 12 11 10 0 8 7 • l'i:-N.Nt.LL-L)MU: of English roach-fishers will assure you that the pleasures of the country are of more account to them than gross weight. And rural England, — even the cockney portion of the Thames — is, rail- ways and factories notwithstanding, a lovely thing indeed, from the June days when roach-fishing commences, onwards to the end of the season. A little angling, with a good deal of the sweet sights and sounds which it brings, is a boon to tens of thousands who ought to be ever grateful to the roach, which is their excuse and opportunity. Some descriptions of angling, as many of us know too well, are very costly in comparison with the results. Roach-fishing, II. z 338 riKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. however, is the most inexpensive. The gentlemen who habi- tually patronise fishing from the Thames punt will probably dissent from this view, and with not a little reasoa But I regard them as the luxurious individuals of the tribe who are content to pay for other things than mere fishing. The ordi- nary roach-fisher requires but little tackle, and that of the cheapest character. The rod is the most serious item, though a few shillings will procure a really serviceable implement. Should he use a winch, the simplest form will suffice. Neither check nor multiplier is wanted. His line may be carried in an envelope. The float, shots, footline, and hooks are bought for a few pence. Another point to consider is the small amount of labour involved in roach fishing. A day's conscientious fly- fishing or spinning is downright hard work for strong shoulders. The roach-fisher literally takes it easy, sitting upon his basket, box, or chair, or if needs be upon the bankside, cheered by the thought that if the working of his method becomes mono- tonous in the absence of sport — a not unusual experience of the class— it at least does not call for heavy active labour. And it may further be mentioned, that the roach-fisher is always animated by hope of a double-barrelled kind — hope as to direct success with the particular fish he has in view, and hope as to glorious accidents that may at any moment bring him into combat with trout, perch, chub, barbel, dace, bream, or, now and then, pike. In rivers where all these are to be found it is true our fine art friend as often as not is a victim to his prin- ciples, first of which is a tight line. I have seen a two-pound trout, and a four-pound bream beautifully killed by a tight line and long Carolina cane roach rod, but smashing up is a much more common termination of these unecjual struggles. Still, there are such uncertainties to add a charm to roach-fishing, and a very pretty mixed basket sometimes varies the rule of the game. The habits of the roach to a large extent determine the methods of its capture, and no man will obtain a degree en- titling him to take brevet rank who is not familiar with them. ROACH-FISHING AS A FINE ART. 339 A learned tome which I once read treated of the bram power ol fresh-water fishes, and placed the carps, or CyprinidcB, lowest on the list. As the roach is not the quickest witted 01 the family we may, therefore, to some extent agree with the old- fashioned writers who dubbed it the water-sheep. Yet nut so very sheepish after all, if by the expression is meant silliness. The perch and pike, when thoroughly on the feed, commit the most astonishing stupidities. In their primitive state, before they have been much worried by the angler, roach are, no doubt, easily taken in, and even done for, but once let them become indoctrinated into the enemy's plan, as they soon will be, and it is very difficult indeed to restore them to that feeling of innocent confidence which was their original state. You may worry a shoal of perch to-day, or ravage a flock of bream to-morrow ; may thin out the dace merrily foraging in a running stream, and may yet come again, before a long interval has passed, and find them in a liberal frame of mind. Not so with roach. With them it is generally a clear case of ' once bit, twice shy.' At rare times, however, the shyest may be surprised, and these occasions are what the artist has to find out by careful study and accumulating personal experience. Much of the contempt which salmon- and trout-fishers entertain towards what we have got to speak of as coarse fish arises from early experience of their simplicity. Most of us, I suppose, as youngsters — most of us, that is to say, who have begun the descent from the summit of the life journey — either caught roach, or witnessed their capture, in quantities. Before we were allowed to handle a gun or break into other sporting domains, we had free run of some pond or stream from which, morn and eve, we were seldom sent empty away. I have often compared notes with angling brethren upon this matter. Very interesting is it to do so at luncheon-time on a bad day upon a well-fished water. With all the improvements in the way of appliances, with all the cunning born of years of practice, you meet under the clump of elms and confess your disappoint- ment. At such time some one is almost certain to casually z 2 340 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. remark that as a boy, with the rudest of tackle, he scarcely ever failed to do something, and occasionally something tre- mendous. Those days are now gone, except in remote country districts, never to return. All manner of things have happened since then. Our entire water system has been altered by drainage. The good j^laces have been swept out by poachers, or fished to death by hordes of anglers. The grand spirit of improvement of which we hear so much has played mischief with both land and water sport in many respects, while the multiplication of anglers a thousandfold, simultaneously with the increase of facilities for travelling, is of itself enough to account for the difference between then and now. Truly there was little art in those early 'takes.' I can re- call with vivid memory the primitive two-jointed rod made by a rustic wheelwright, the line of fine whipcord never attached to winch, the hooks coarsely whipped to two or three strands of horsehair, the clumsy bit of lead employed for sinker, the common floa% half wood and half quill, and withal, the gallant strings of roach by such primitive equipments taken. Yet there must have been somewhat of skill necessary, for I have recol- lection of studying the haunts of the fish, and being generally certain where to find them. Very soon I knew that the first clause in the agreement must be to keep out of sight and keep c|uict, doing everything by stealth, and never overdoing any- thing. These precautions come as it were by instinct to the sporting nature, and they never come at all to others who are not of the mould, let them be as full of book theory as they choose. There were certain, primary methods thus acciuired wliich I after- wards found in the angling books, and which must always hold good in roach-fishing, comprising in a fashion as they do the superstructure upon which all must be raised. The best time for roach-fishing, to wit, is early morning and late afttrnoon and evening. A\"iiite ])aste made with clean hands from yester- day's bread, and worked up to a consistency that asks no cotton-wool to keep it upon the hook, is a bait that will take a quantity of beating. The angler nuist keej) his shadow from ROACH-FISHING AS A FINE ART. 341 falling upon the water; drop his bait gently in, the float sliding down to its position, without splash or ripple ; never permit the line to dangle on the surface ; make sure of his strikes in the firm belief that pricked or lost fish alarm the shoal ; and play the hooked roach until it may be landed without commotion on the top. These were among: t the leading doctrines of a boyish creed, and leading doctrines they remain. Creeping through the dewy grass as soon after daylight as possible, experiments were commenced at an alder bush overhanging the little river. A bit of paste, pea size, would be dropped into the water. This, all the while crouching out of sight, I would anxiously watch. Deeper and deeper sank the little pellet in regular disappearance. What I watched for was a sharp twitch of the white object, followed by its instantaneous disappearance, for this indicated not only that the roach were there, but that they were on the feed. If the decoy bait was snapped up quickly, the float would be adjusted to keep the hook in mid- water. Three-quarters deep was the best condition of affairs, and if there was no twitching of the preliminary paste I generally resigned myself to a poor bag, and was seldom dis- appointed. When the mill people began work at six o'clock, as indicated by a drowsy waterwheel monotone two furlongs up, business commenced in real earnest, and it would be a very unsuccessful morning that did not give me a couple of dozen roach averaging a quarter of a pound each. The moral of this personal reminiscence is this : Had I afterwards aban- doned the practice of roach-fishing, I should probably have gone through the world under the impression that the roach teas a silly sheep to be had for asking by anybody. Having looked at that picture, let me invite the reader to look on this. Here is a reach of water meandering at speed of say two miles an hour through a meadow. We know it to be full of large roach. Any ordinary cast of the net shall bring up a bushel of great fellows, between three-quarters of a pound and a pound. Yet, of six or eight anglers who have 342 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. the right of fishery, not more than two can boast of anything like success, and their method is entitled to be designated the fine art of roach-fishing. The fact is that these fish are edu- cated, and rendered habitually suspicious and shy. Once or twice, perhaps, in the course of the summer they lose caution, and bite ravenously at the baits which they have steadily refused for the rest of the season, yielding, as it seems, to a caprice which cannot be explained. Otherwise, they must be circumvented by sheer skill on the part of the angler, a skill that may almost be said at times to partake of the nature of inspiration, so impossible is it of acquirement by many imi- tators. Knowledge of the habits of the roach, of the peculiari- ties of the particular river fished, and of the food incidental thereto, is a primary essential as I have already indicated, but to this must be added a masterly use of the finest tackle, an infinite patience, and a readiness to bring into the service in- numerable wiles that shall meet the changing circumstances of the hour. 'He's a born roach-fisher' is a saying you sometimes hear ; and I am not at all sure that, with some experts, it is not a perfectly warrantable expression. To such a man innumerable touches of skill come by intuition. But I have generally noticed that these 'past masters' in the craft of roach-fishing, the fine artists, do not arrive at their stage of excellence by any royal road. They have devoted themselves to the study and practice of roach-fishing. All the angling propensities they have are concx-ntrated upon that one humble branch of the art which Walton, with roach-fishing in his mind, no doubt, spoke of as the contemplative man's recreation. I am acciuaintcd with men, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, somebodies and nobodies, who have a passionate attachment to the pursuit. The higher kinds of rod-and-line work have no joys for them. You may battle with your salmon m a rushing Si)ey pool, craftily take a Test three-pounder with floating dun on coo hook, and be an adept with spinning apparatus for all they heed or care : give them their camp-stool and roach rod over ROACH-FISHING AS A FINE ART. 343 the dark water that moves slowly above a clear bed, and they ask no more. The best roach fishermen I have ever met have possessed strong concentrated tastes of this nature. It is not necessary in this chapter to enter at length into the thousand and one instructions which have been written for the roach-fisher's guidance. One man has this plan and another that. Fishers of every grade sometimes agree to differ, and some do not ' agree,' but differ all the same, and none more perhaps than the knights of the roach. The field of dispute is limited, to be sure ; nevertheless, I have known fierce contro- versies rage respecting a bit of paste, jealousies aroused by advocacy of a maggot of too mature an age, and friendships endangered through a split shot. Many of the theories enter- tained on the question are good for nothing — mere fancies that satisfy nobody, least of all their authors. Therefore I shall say nothing as to the respective merits of Thames style, Lea style, or Trent style, though, if I did pronounce an opinion, I should not place the Lea artists second. It has been the custom, because one or two angling writers years ago, with a pardon- able partiality for their own beloved river, pronounced the Thames anglers cock of the walk, to give them the premier place. For myself I should, taking experts from the three rivers, be inclined to bid them toe the line, and shake hands on absolutely equal terms. There are anglers from each who have elevated roach-fishing to a fine art. The commonly accepted principles governing the sport may be perhaps most conveniently indicated in an imaginary visit to a river. The stream which I select has been already suggested on a previous page as being full of big shy roach. It actually exists, and there are doubtless some readers who will recognise it. It will serve our purpose as well as any other, as a peg whereon to hang a string of hints. Here then we have a meadow with river frontage of about 300 yards. At the upper end the water enters from a canal passing at one right angle, with a tributary brook arriving from another. On the meadow side the stream is too swift for steady roach-fishing ; across. 344 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. the bed has silted up, forming a pronounced shallow. Right away down to the end of a meadow, where a weir and tumbling bay radically alter the character of the river, the depth is an even four feet in the middle, with but slight difference towards shore. As it is the keeper's business to see that certain swims are cleared out, the fisherman is saved the trouble of prospecting up and down with his plummet in search of a favourable place. Upon the general character of swims I shall have something to say presently, my object at present being to indicate the tackle used, and the way in which it is handled. Mr. A. is a consummate roach-fisher ; so is Mr. B. ; and we have them both approaching the water. Both begin by throw- ing in ground bait, A. a ball as large as an orange, pitched into the centre, B. several balls of walnut size pitched here and there. Both of course cast their material well above the station upon which the scat will be. Notice the hushed style of their procedure. They move as if in a sick room ; by force of habit, they stand back into the meadow and put together their rods. Cauti(jusly stooping, they app.oach to plumb the depth, creating a minimum of disturbance in lowering the lead to the bottom. Upon this operation A. and B. evidently hold different opinions, for the former adjusts his float so that the bait shall dot and carry one upon the bottom as it travels, while the latter gives a fair two inches of free space. Had they not known that the fish were there or thereabouts, they would have done wisely to cast in their ground l)ait two or three hours before they began, and in the case of still water, where the stuff should be scattered in loose handfuls, and not in balls, ground-l)aiting ovcrniglit would have been attended to. But the roach i)eing somewhere in the neighbourhood will soon espy the bran ])articles float- ing down, and will head uj) to see whether bulk and sample corresijond. Our friends A. and B. have divers tastes as to rods, you will also observe. A. uses a 20-foot cane rod, finely balanced, and though delicately tapered, ri^id in the strike. This is the prime necessity of a roach-rod, and an essential often missed ROACH-FISHING AS A FINE ART. 345 by the maker. You sometimes see a rod that seems to be faultless ; but at the strike, which is everything in roach-fishing, the top, without being actually whippy, vibrates so that the line is for an instant beaten down, instead of tightened with a pretty sound like that of a harpstring. That instant is fatal. B. has a shorter rod, but it is of cane, with the ordinary top of approved action. Cross-question these men, and they will tell you that they had much trouble in procuring rods with the particular action they required. Though the joints may to the eye be precisely the same, there are variations of temper per- ceptible only to the artist. Once obtained, the correct thing should therefore be treasured. B. however uses running tackle, a fine Nottingham line on a plain ebonite winch. He does this because there is always the chaice of a large chub, and he would adopt the tight line, which A. regards as an article of faith never to be departed from, if there was wind to bag out the slack through the rings. Then, though the two floats are shotted down to a third of an inch, the floats are not alike. A. has a porcupine, and B. one of those quill combinations which admit of the insertion of shots for the purposes of cocking. He has three shots only therefore on the footline below the float, placed at intervals of six inches. A., who believes in hugging the ground, has six or eight shots evenly distributed at two-inch intervals. He has reason on his side, I think, in explaining that the whole arrangement is kept straighter and closer to its work by this method. Most anglers pay too little attention to shotting, massing their shots together, and leaving a glistening dint or conspicuous gash after the application of pliers or teeth. Then as to hooks, A. affects a stoutish wire and moderately short shank, insisting that every part of the hook should be covered ; B. a thin wire with long shank. But the hooks were small (No. 12 Pennell pattern and No. 13 Carlisle) respectively. A. fishes on without increasing his ground bait, and uses paste. B. throws in a nut-sized morsel occasionally ahead of his float before renewing the swim, and baits with two gentles, getting, as a matter of fact, dace, 346 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. medium-sized roach, and being run out eventually with a chub, which he would scarcely have killed without a reel line. A. meanwhile, by dint of patience and a frugal use of ground- bait, gets after a while amongst the three-quarter pound roach, and keeps among them for an hour or two. He misses with some strikes, mistaking a drag on the bottom for a bite, though this is no more than he expects, and his rule is to strike at the slightest movement of his float. Should it seem to pause ever so faintly in its steady swim, the top of the rod, always about a foot from the water, strums upwards as if by an involuntary movement, and a fish is hooked. Should it slant slightly, the same result ensues. To the unaccustomed eye there has been no bite, but it has been plain enough to the artist, as the issue indeed is to the roach. B. truly enough urges that he is saved endless exertion in the course of a day by keeping his bait clear from the bottom, and as, thanks to his dace and chub, he can show at the finish as heavy a bag as his friend, there is not much to be said. As they leave the meadow they discuss the vexed question of gut versus hair. A. uses hair, to procure which as he requires it is the trouble if not the object of his life. B. declares that, what with the nuisance of getting it, and the treachery of the knots, the game is not worth the candle. For these reasons I always use fine gut, or in very clear water the less desirable, because uncer- tain and rapidly destructible, drawn gut. Yet I must confess that A., who is the best roach-fisher on the water, and all the really crack men I have seen — the men who are roach-fishers pure and simple, making it a study, and retaining it to the end of their days as a passion — swear by chestnut hair and tight lines. I never heard of a Lea champion who would admit the superiority of gut over hair. Of the various explanations advanced in favour of hair, which is the bulkier strand, the one which in my opinion is most cogent is the power it has of repelling those globules of water which hang around the finest gut. The baits for roach are legion. Simple paste, and well- ROACH-FISHING AS A FINE ART. 347 scoured gentles are the stock lures that will never go out of fashion, with small red worms for winter, caddis for early sum- mer, wasp grub for late summer and autumn. My friend, Mr. Marston showed me a device which should be worth trying for paste-fishing — two of the smallest hooks brazed together, and one eye. No whipping on of gut is required, and a pellet of paste no bigger than a pea envelopes the whole. There is no rule by which the proper bait to use can be regulated. One hour the roach will take one thing, the next another. To-day they will bite at any of the familiar baits — paste plain or coloured, rice, wheat green or boiled, malt, pearl barley, silk- weed, gentles, worms, caddis, meal worms, ant eggs, grubs miscellaneous, and insects. To-morrow they will touch never a one. A * new sensation ' in the way of roach-bait was announced a couple of years ago. It was the fleshy part of tlie banana. I gave it a trial with fair results ; the experiment re- peated subsequently and in the same water, and under similar conditions failed. Still there is one advantage in banana bait which cannot be claimed for worms, gentles or grubs; you may eat it if the fish do not. As to ground bait, generally too profusely used, the most important point is to have it thoroughly mixed. The careless- ness characterising its compoundment is proverbial ; hence the best roach-fishers do not think of entrusting the business to other hands than their own. If bran and bread be used — and there is none much better — not a particle of the latter should remain unwelded to the bran. The whole secret is in the blend, and in the freshness of the material. Mr. Pennell, in asking me to write this chapter, sent me a few notes upon what he terms ' fly-thrown bait ' for roach and rudd, which he thought I might incorporate in it. I think I shall do better by letting him speak for himself. He says : — For attracting both roach and rudd, and especially the latter, in ponds, I have sometimes found the following plan to succeed better than any of the ordinary modes of float-fishing, and, indeed, I have not unfrequently made a basket by this means in places where the 348 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH, rudd were looked upon as very shy and ' uncircumventible.' This happened last autumn in a piece of still water belonging to my friend, Mr. Wykeham Martin of Leeds Castle, who, if he took up fishing with the same energy and success that he has shooting, would, no doubt, soon become the best fisherman as he is admittedly the best shot in Kent. There were plenty of rudd in the pond, for they could be seen swimming and basking, (it was a bright hot day,) on the surface. To the every-day temptation of gentles, and paste, offered them in the orthodox way, that is, with a float and shotted line, the fish appeared to be quite insensible. It seemed therefore that as they would not be induced to come to the bait, the only chance was to take the bait to them. ' If the mountain won't come to Mahomet, &c.' The first difficulty was to get the 'ground-bait,' so to speak, to become a 'floating bait.' This was accomplished by tying half a quartern loaf to a string long enough and a stone heavy enough to anchor it at the bottom of the pond in a favourable position, about ten yards from the bank. By the time the rod and line were adjusted, my piice de rt'sistance had attracted a considerable number of intending diners, who were quite prepared to receive kindly any fresh plats that might be offered them. The tackle, however, had, of course, to be suited to the novel sort of 'ground' or rather 'floating' bait, and this is what it was : — a single-handed fly-rod with a light silk runnmg line, and a cast of the very finest trout gut with a No. 2 hook of my pattern at the end ; no shot ; and no float, properly so called, but instead a piece of cork the size of a large pea about one and a half feet alcove the hook. With this tackle, — which I cast, of course, overliand, as in fly fishing, — I was able to drop the bait within a radius of a few inches or feet of the centre of attraction, and had soon two or three dozen fine rudd in the basket. Anotlicr method is to dispense with the cork altogether and simply let the 'fly-bait' sink gradually, trusting to some motion of the line to indicate a bite, or, failing tiiat, striking gently after al)out a minute, according to the depth of the water. Both these l)lans I have found very killing. The first I published some twenty years ago ; and at Slapton Ley— the happy hunting grounds of the rudd-fisher — I find it is now very generally in use, as well as tiie ' fly-thrown bait ' without any cork ' indicator.' !n this manner, and using tiie floating 'ground bait,' Signor Abaurre, my wife, and nnsrlf, caught during the present month (Oct. 1 885) 178 rudd, the hugcst weighing l^ lbs. ROACH-FISHING AS A FINE ART. 349 The fly-thrown bait (without, of course, any bread-floating addition) is a very good method — the best I know — of catching bleak in rivers ; though even in this case it is better to choose a spot where the current is not very strong ; and wetted — not soaked — bran thrown in occasionally, will keep the bleak on the feed and indicate their whereabouts. Roach-fishing as a fine art must, as Mr. Pennell's notes re- mind me, be taken to include rudd and dace. The rudd, in my estimation is a handsomer fish than the roach as gold is handsomer than silver. And so far as my experience goes he is a bolder biter, when he is in the humour. By which I mean that he is oftener in the humour. On several occasions, in lakes where both rudd and roach occurred, I have taken three rudd to one roach, and in rivers also it has been my experience to find the rudd yielding first blood, and to yield longest. The rudd is also a freer taker of the artificial fly. Roach will take the fly when cleaning after spawning, and when therefore they ought not to be taken, and at any time when you can get them on the shallows. On a summer evening after a hot day, if you can find them lying upon the surface, with a small black or red ant, or a gentle whipped out with a fly rod, you should get sport. Some years ago in a trout stream from which it was desired to clear out the coarse fish I killed over 20 lbs. ot roach, from four ounces to half-a-pound, with a March brown. Although it was in the middle of June, they would take no other fly. The fish were amongst the weeds close to the further bank where the stream ran slowly, and I did not rise from my knee until my basket was full. They were taken with a long line down stream, the fly pitched upon the opposite bank and allowed to drop into the water. If the fly was not taken at once the whole shoal seemed to follow it out until one of them snapped at it boldly. The first fish I hooked and lost put a period to the proceedings. Rudd, however, will take small flies freely in July and August, and upon the Norfolk Broads I have had excellent fun with them in the evenings. .. The Dace is the most enterprising member, not only of the 350 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. genus Leudscus, but of the family Cyprinidce. I always class him with the fly-taking fishes, though he is more strictly speaking a bottom feeder. Many an hour's delightful relaxation do I owe that merry little fish, with dry fly and wet fly, up stream and down stream. In bottom fishing he may be proceeded for as with roach, though gentles and worms suit his palate better than paste. He is good enough to roam about so that he may be found in swift water, shallow water, deep water and slow water alike. He herds amongst the barbel, as every barbel fisher discovers j he rises amongst the trout. I have taken him with a lob- worm and with a May fly, and when, as has frequently happened, he attained the dimensions of half a pound, he has rejoiced my heart, as the so-called coarse fishes seldom do. In the year 1883 I ^'^^^ ^ great take in a private water on the Lea to which a friend kindly invited me. On a gravelly shallow at the tail of a mill pool both dace and roach lay in numbers, and the roach on that occasion took the fly — it was the Thames dace fly called I believe the Petersfield fancy, a polyglot hackle shod with a shred of white leather — as readily as the dace. I have lived for many years in hope of catching a pound dace. Once I thought I had him, but as it required a penny piece (a very dilapidated specimen) to plump down the scale, I per- petrated the error of not having him stuffed. It is not likely I shall ever get nearer the mark. The largest roach I have taken was a shade under 2 lbs., but I may here put on record, as the weight of roach is a subject of frequent dispute, that in the summer of 1884 a specimen was brought to the Field office, guaranteed by a well-known London taxidermist to be 3^ lbs. And from its size it was in all probability quite as much. Finally and to conclude. Many dodges, only learned by observation and experience, are essential to roach fishing of the most artistic kind. You may take roach by tight line or running tackle ; in clear water and in thick ; by float or fly, gut or hair; legering on a clear bottom with the tails of lob-worms, or loving and sinking with a maggot or house fly, but — let me ROACH-FISHING AS A FINE ART. 351 repeat — no angler can call himself a roach-fisher who does not fish with the finest and neatest tackle, keeping quiet and out of sight the while ; who is not ready from niorning to night to possess his soul In patience, and — who never admits that he is beaten. ' Redspinner ' (W. Senior). 352 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. There can be no doubt that the Norfolk rivers with their adjacent Broads present a greater extent of fishing ground for coarse fish than any other district in England, and the average sport enjoyed on them far exceeds that obtainable on other waters. Putting the Broads, properly so called, on one side, there are at least eighty miles of free fishing water, the takes in which are not counted by the pound or by number, but by the stone. Yet it is a curious fact that while sport of such a character is enjoyed by the native angler and by those visitors who have learned the ways of the natives, strangers coming down, how- ever skilful anglers they may be, have but indifferent s})ort. This is due chielly to ignorance of the best places under different conditions of wind, weather, and tide, and to the non-observance of certain well-defined methods of fishing, which the depth of water and strength of current render necessary. In all these miles of free fishing the rivers present to the eye much the same characteristics —broad, placid streams with marshy banks and uniform currents — so that to one unach tea,' off" the marshes, and this drives the fish into the lower and deeper waters, or into the Broads. A few years ago Oulton Broad became crammed with fish, owing to a flood on the Waveney, and the sport obtained for a few weeks was something extraordinary. Thus the angler has got to follow the fish according to the exigencies of tides and floods, being guided by the rcjiorts from the fishing-stations. There is no difficulty as to this, for so many anglers are daily out in all parts that the news as to where the fish are rapidly spreads. Although the number of anglers is tenfold greater than a generation back, yet the average takes of fish are not much less than formerly, and whilst, owing to the extensive drainage of marshes and silting up of broads, the feeding and breeding grounds of the fish have largely decreased, the abolition of net- NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 355 ting and suppression of poaching have apparently struck the balance. The River Yare is free to the public from Norwich down- wards. Just below the city, at Trowse Hythe, and Thorpe, good sport is often obtainable, particularly among the bream ; also with pike, when salt tides have driven them up the river. The first fishing-station of importance is Surlingham Ferry (six miles from Norwich by the river), in the neighbourhood of which are many good roach swims ; but the deep-water places are limited, unless you moor in the channel, which is to be deprecated, both on account of the hindrance to the navigation, and the personal danger to oneself of being run down by one of the large sailing barges called wherries. Two miles further brings us to Brundall, where there is a railway station. This is a favourite resort of anglers, and owing to the extremely sinuous course of the river it is always easy to get a good ' lee ' wherever the wind blows from. The meaning of a * lee ' is that care is always taken to moor where the water is sheltered from the wind by the bank. This shelter is most desirable, as the river has an average width of fifty yards, and a strong wind blowing down or across a reach gets up a good sea on the leeward shore. For some distance below Brundall there are many shoals, and boats look as if they were moored in the middle of the river, but they are in reality only on the edge of the channel. Buckenham Ferry, ten miles from Norwich, is the next ren- dezvous where there is a railway station. From here to Cantley, three miles further, the influence of the tide becomes strongly felt, and there is good deep water in many places close to the banks. From Cantley to Reedham the current becomes stronger and the water deeper, so that lines have to be heavily shotted for float-fishing, and legering for bream is the most productive way of fishing for the large ones. Reedham, which is seventeen miles from Norwich, and ten miles from the sea, may be said to be the limit of angling on the Yare. From Reedham a straight canal three miles long makes a short cut to the river Waveney at Haddiscoe, its lowest angling A A 2 356 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. point, ten miles from the sea. Here, as the tidal current is strong, legering is more suitable than float-fishing. Somerleyton, two miles further up the river, is noted for its large bream. A few miles further is a wide dyke or canal leading on to Oulton Broad, and both in the dyke and on the broad there is good fishing for bream, roach, and pike. From Oulton Dyke the Waveney up to Beccles is a splendid river, broad, deep, and clear. This river used to be noted for its perch, but perch do not seem to be so plentiful in the Broad district as they formerly were. All the rivers converge and run into the sea through Yarmouth Haven, and proceeding up the Bure, locally called the North River, we find a tide so strong that there is not much fishing for some miles up. In fact the first easily accessible fishing-station is at Acle, twelve miles up the river, where good catches of bream are often made. Above Acle good fish- ing may be got in almost every reach. At the mouth of the Thurne is a good spot for pike, and the Thurne River, which flows from Hickling Broad, Horsey Mere, and Somerton Broad, is a nice clear stream containing plenty of pike, and has a fishing length of about six miles. Proceeding further up the Thurne, past St Benedict's Abbey, we come to the river Ant, a tortuous and canal-like stream, leading through Barton Broad to Stalliam and North Walsham. Continuing up the Bure, and passing South Walsham and Ranworth Broads, the fishing on which is private, we come to a favourite fishing-station. Horning Ferry ; and from here up to Wroxham, some nine miles, is good pike ground. The water is shallower and less affected by the tide, also much clearer. Many Broads are connected with this portion of the river by short dykes, and these Broads serve as spawning-grounds and nurseries for the fish, and keep the river constantly replenished. Such is a brief sketch of the extent of these happy hunting grounds for anglers for coarse fish. For greater details the reader is referred to a handbook and chart published by Jarrold and Sons, of Xuiwieh. NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 357 The fish frequenting these waters are chiefly pike, bream, and roach. Perch are found here and there of large size, and are caught whilst spinning for pike, also by paternostering in some of the reaches below Wroxham. There is no close season in Norfolk, and when perch are spawning they resort in large numbers to certain well-known spots, where, sad to say, the Norfolk angler goes after them. An old tree partly fallen into the river, which was until recently a prominent object just below Wroxham Bridge, had always a crowd of perch around it at spawning time, and the catches there made would be notable ones to chronicle had they not been so unsportsmanlike. On some of the Broads, particularly on Oulton, you may get among the perch ; but it is not a branch of fishing which has any dis- tinctive peculiarities in Norfolk. Of the three fish just mentioned the pike deserves first place. In private waters in Norfolk (generally known as ' Jordan ' in answer to too curious enquirers) the pike is not only present in great numbers, but of great weight, and a dozen fish from ten to twenty pounds is not an uncommon take, while many larger catches are recorded. In the broads and rivers the pike are numerous, but not exceptionally large, a seventeen- pound pike in a broad and a ten-pound fish in a river being considered good. The largest fish taken recently in the open river was one caught at Cantiey weighing twenty-four pounds. Fish larger than this are well known to exist in several places, notably two in the neighbourhood of Horning Ferry, I tried hard the other day for one which was always to be seen in a hole in a dyke about thirty yards long, ten wide, and twenty feet deep. It is known to be at least thirty pounds in weight, and I tried it with every imaginable bait up to a two-pound jack, and for a whole day, without success. Another thirty-pound fish affects a shallow bay in a small broad, where he is often seen with a five-pound bream in his mouth. There is such a plenitude of bait that the big ones do not apparently trouble themselves to seek the angler's. I am inclined to think the large fish are not by any means so 358 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. plentiful as they were. The owners and hirers of private broads are too much addicted to the use of the trimmer, and several scores of th'^se poaching abominations floating over a shallow broad are capable of much mischief, one or more being certain to be seen by ever)' feeding fish. When the weeds are down the shallowness of the water affords no especial hiding or lurking place, and a fish runs through many temptations ere arriving at the weight of ten pounds. In the rivers pike are numerous enough, and are almost always fished for by ' trailing ' the spinning bait. This is else- where looked upon as unsportsmanlike, but there is excuse for it in Norfolk rivers if anywhere. Fishing from the banks is, generally speaking, out of the question, owing to their marshy and weedy character. A boat is indispensable, and as you cannot tell where the fish are within a mile or two, it seems most sensible to row in search of them, and this is the mode usually practised. The boat is rowed at a very slow pace — the slower the better, so long as the bait spins effectively — along the edge of the deep water or the weeds, according to the season. Thus, in the winter the fish come in the shallow water along the reeds at midday, and retire to the deeper water as the afternoon advances to a degree depending upon the temperature of the day. The clearer the water is the better, at all events in the reaches affected by the tide. If it is at all ' grey ' or thick the i)ike will not feed. ' Clear ' is of course a comparative term, as, except on the upper waters of the Waveney, it never reaches the crystal clearness of less muddy streams. Local assistance is most desirable even in trailing, as the depth of the water varies so much without any surface indication ; and the length of line, depth of the bait, and speed, as well as the dis- tance from the sliore, should vary accordingly. The bait used is usually an artificial one, and of artificial baits the time- honoured spoon is the favourite. When the pike are on the feed a sin;^le rod may get from six to a score fish running from three to ten j^ounds by traihng, while with any other method of fishing he would not get one. NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 359 Even in the winter-time the pike ' draw out ' of the river into quiet and secluded dykes, and in these places more sports- manlike methods are followed. Just below Norwich there is a good-sized private dyke which is fished regularly about once a week. A dozen fish may be taken out in a short time, but after a few days' rest these places are supplied from the river, and the dyke is again worth fishing. On the North River, also, and its tributaries there are many spots, such as the confluence of the Thurne with the Bure, where there are always pike, and where you may fish all day with live-bait with as much profit as rowing about from place to place trailing. Pike-fishing on the Broads is carried on differently. Live- baiting is most in vogue, and it is considered essential to take the bait from a different water to that in which you fish. Every endeavour is made to get dace, but these are not so easily procurable as roach. As two or three fishermen go together a goodly number of bait are necessar}', and two and three score are taken, the price of the bait being one shilling a score, and they are procurable at many places in Norwich, where men make a regular trade of catching them. The rods and lines used are according to individual taste, but the reels are almost always Nottingham wood-reels, chosen rather because they wind up quickly than because casting is often done from the reel. If provided with a check to be applied when necessary it is not found that any difficulty arises from ' over- running.' The usual plan is to moor about fifty yards from the reeds and cast towards them, and as each person has two rods a pretty good extent of water is covered all round. Heavy baits are used, and very long casts are made. After a cast with one rod the other line is drawn slowly in and recast, and so on alternately. If the spot is unproductive, another is chosen, and so on, working round the broad near to the reeds. Pike in these waters seem to rove about when on the feed, going con- siderable distances, and it frequently ha]ipens that the boat is never moved from one spot, the pike themselves coming within 36o riKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. range of the lines. The long casts are destructive to the baits ; but this is not of much consequence, as baits are cheap. There is nothing distinctive in the tackle used. On waters where pike are plentiful those under five pounds are returned to the water, and of the others perhaps only a dozen are retained, it not being considered good form to take a tumbril-load away, as has been done before now from private waters when the fish were on tlie feed. When fish have to be returned snap- hooks are of course essential, but on waters where such restric- tions are not observed live-bait gorge-hooks are much used. For one thing it is not easy to strike hard with forty yards of line out, and the 'bag' of the line possibly under the weeds; and for another reason, the fish are more securely hooked. When a man has two rods he will perhaps have a gorge-hook on one and a snap on the other, and then as likely as not forget which is which. In Broad fishing it depends upon the sort of day whether the fish are in the weedy shallows or in the deeper and more open water, and actual trial of both is the only guide. Person- ally I have been most generally successful in shallow water, often fishing with less than a foot between the bait and the fioat in order to clear the weeds. A rough day is considered the best, as on a fine still day the boat is visible so far in the shallow water, and any vibration is more easily perceived by the ])ike. The live-baiting is varied by spinning, standing up in the boat and casting in the orthodox fashion. I have known a spoon thus used to take several fish out of water which had before been assiduously but unsuccessfully fished over with live bait. There is nothing distinctive about the spinning tackle or flight, Norfolk anglers following the lead of others in this respect. I have never seen any one trolling with the dead gorge- bait ; for these waters it has no advantage over live-bailing or spinning. January and February are accounted the best months, as the weeds are down and the pike have an unimpeded view of NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 361 the bait from a considerable distance. Many ardent pike-fishers never think of going out until after Christmas. I have only once seen the artificial fly used in fishing for pike in Norfolk ; but from what I then saw, and my own experience on north country tarns, I think that a suitable fly would be very killing. It would be essential to have a fly that would float, and then the very broad stretches where the weeds are within two or three inches of the top, with interspaces where the pike lie, could be fished more easily than by live-baiting or by fishing. My idea is to float the fly by means of a cork body, but yet have sufifi- cient lead weight in it to enable one to cast in the ordinary spinning manner, not as in fly-fishing. I feel confident that a fluffy, gorgeously attired fly, with a good deal of white and gold tinsel showing, would attract the attention of many a pike sur- feited with roach and dace. In the north of England I used to be very successful with goldfish as bait. A warm water pond attached to a manu- factory was well stocked with goldfish, w^hich could be caught freely with paste, and which made the best of live bait. If one could only obtain them in Norfolk they would ensure success. The great thing is to show the pike something new. Where bait are so plentiful the fish can seldom be really hungry, but their appetites may be tickled by a novelty. A proof of this is that whenever I have used the eel-tail bait it has beaten all others — that is, in clear water. It is hardly brilliant enough to attract attention in discoloured water. On Norfolk waters it is quite unknown as a bait, but it is undoubtedly a killing one. Leaving the fascinating topic of pike-fishing, we come to what is distinctively known in Norfolk as angling — that is, fishing for bottom-feeding fish. It is a common notion among the old fishermen resident amidst the Broads that, while the pike and the eels may belong to the owner of the soil, ' angling ' is free to all on any navigable water. This possibly arose from the fact that riparian owners thought the eels and pike of value, butconsidered roach and bream as worthless. When drag netting was allowed certain persons used to dispose of the tons of roach and bream 362 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. so caught for the purposes of food among the poorer classes, the waste fish being thrown on the fields for manure or sold to the crab- fishers on the coast for bait. With the abolition of drag- netting the fish ceased to be a marketable commodity. The great majority of anglers do not know what to do with the fish they catch when the sport of catching them is over. Too often they are thrown away and left to rot on the banks. More scrupulous anglers give them to the poor in their parish, but I cannot honestly say that the poor relish the gift. I con- fess to having taken somewhat of a prejudice against roach and bream fishing because of the inutility of the catch. No doubt, however, it has the same excuse for existence as fox-hunting — that is, it is a healthy exercise which affords a relief from seden- tary occupations. Both bream and roach inhabit Norfolk rivers in extra- ordinary numbers. Notwithstanding that every reach has its boatload of fishermen, and that as you sail by every one seems to be pulling in a fish, there does not appear to be any diminu- tion in the quantity, nor does there appear to be any increased shyness on the part of the fish. Every season more anglers have been out, yet the average of the takes has been higher than formerly. Some idea of the abundance of the fish may be gathered by a visit to one of the shallower Broads at 'rouding' time — that is, when the fish are spawning in tlie spring. At that time the bream crowd into the Broads from the rivers in immense numbers. Surlingham and Rockland Broads, for cxami)le, are for a few days literally seething with the fish, which are so busily engaged that they take no notice of your boat as you force your way among them. Huge fellows of five or six pounds in weight root about in water which is hardly deep enough to keep them ui)right. As soon as tliey have spawned they (juickly return to the river or to the deeper water, and their place is then taken by the roach ; the latter, however, affect the dykes and are found along the grassy margins. In Rockland dyke I have taken them out with my liands, and with a landing net one nn'ght, if so inclined, speedily fill the boat. NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 363 There appear to be three varieties of bream here : the true bronze-coloured bream, or carp bream, which is most sought after, and grows to a large size (I have seen one eleven pounds), the ' bream flat,' a white, dirty httle beast which shows no fight ; and a hybrid fish, supposed to be a cross between a bream and a roach. As up to a certain point the preparations for bream and roach fishing are the same, it will be convenient to give one description of them, and separate descriptions of the subsequent proceedings. The most noticeable part of the outfit of the Norfolk angler is the huge ' frail,' or flexible basket which is intended to hold his catch. He has also a hoop net, which is intended to hang over the side of the boat in the water, and is to contain the fish and keep them fresh while the fishing is going on. Into this they are dropped one by one without any merciful knock on the head, and there in a struggling mass they suffer slow suffocation until the time comes for the catch to be counted and weighed. He has a bundle of rods and a large tackle-case, his shabbiest clothing and warmest coats, for he has to sit still for many hours. His boat is rough in appear- ance, but it is steady and safe, and extremely inexpensive to hire — a shilling or eighteenpence a day being the riverside charge. In the boat are two strong mooring- poles about seven- teen feet long. The first thing is to fix upon a suitable ' lee,' the meaning of which has already been explained. Then one of the mooring-poles is thrust mto the mud, and one end of the boat tied to it. The boat is then brought parallel with the bank, and the other mooring-pole is fixed and the boat at- tached. It thus lies parallel with the stream, and from ten to thirty feet from the bank, according to the depth of the water. Care must be taken not to get in the fairway of the wherries. This precaution is so frequently neglected, and fishermen are becoming so numerous that they form a serious obstruction to the navigation. Now and then a boat is run into, and it is only by good luck that no fatal accident has yet happened. The wherries are sailing barges of thirty to seventy tons burthen. 364 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. They are frequently navigated by only one man, and although the watermen are invariably skilful, and considerate towards fisher- men, yet it is requisite for them to have the fairway kept open. They cannot turn and twist their craft about, but must keep their course ; and it is incumbent upon anglers to keep out of their way. This is very easily done. The golden rule is never to moor off a ' scant ' point. A wherry must, with a head wind, go as close hauled as she can ; and if she is turning into a reach which is ahead one, or ' scant ' for her, she will go as close as she is able to the corner or point, so as to shoot as far as possible into the scant reach without tacking. Yet it constantly happens that just off that point a boat is moored. Avoid the points and you will neither hamper the wherries nor run any risk yourself. The mocring-poles go very readily into the mud, but are very difficult to draw out again, the ' putty ' being extremely tenacious. Therefore, do not send them in too vigorously. When well moored, the next thing is to plumb the depth, which is done very carefully in the usual manner. An apron is spread over the knees, a towel or cloth is at hand to wipe off the fishy slime from your fingers, and, rod and tackle being ready, the business begins. As the water is deep the swims are short and the cast frecjuent. There are usually two anglers in a boat — sometimes three— and they therefore have to cast in unison, or lines would get entangled. If your pursuit be chiefly after roach, then the following local observations will be of use : — As to choice of locality but little trustworthy chta can be given. No precise rule, or at all events no discoverable rule, governs the movements of the roach at different periods of the year. Generally speaking, it may be said that during the summer they are found througliout the entire length of the rivers where the water is fairly fresh and not too brackish ; but the finest fish and the greatest nuniljcr are found between Coldham Hall and Cantley on the Yare, wliere the water is slightly brackish, I-arge numbers are also found in the dyke leading from Oulton Broad to the Waveney. In the cold weather they retire to the NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 365 deeper waters, and are sometimes found in quantities in the deep water known as Thorpe Broad, which is at the junction of the old river and new cut just below Norwich ; and they gather in deep spots on the Bure and other rivers, where they may be angled for with success. The best period of the year in which to fish for roach here is from July to October ; but good catches are often had throughout the winter in fairly mild weather, and I have even seen enthusiastic anglers fishing over the edge of the ice. In the summer months the mornings and evenings are the best times, and as a rule but few fish are caught during the middle of the day. This is especially the case in bright warm weather, but on dull days the roach will often bite fairly throughout the day. The morning up to 11.30, and from three to six or seven in the evening, are undoubtedly the best hours in the summer, while the middle of the day is best in the winter. The best fish are found during the summer in the deepest water, in the Yare they should not be fished for at a less depth than nine or ten feet, and on the Bure in the deepest spots that can be found. In March and April they prefer shallower waters. The direction of the tide does not of itself appear to affect them, except that they always work against it — swimming any- how at the slack, and when it has changed swimming head to the stream. In some swims the angler gets all his fish on the flood-tide, and in other swims on the ebb ; but this probably results from certain local formations of the river-bed which change the set of the currents and eddies. Ground-baiting for roach beforehand is never practised on the rivers, although it occasionally is on the Broads. The varying currents prevent it being of use in the rivers. Tlie angler therefore trusts to keep the fish close to him by a con- tinuous ground-baiting during his fishing. For this purpose the best ground-bait is composed of bran, bread and boiled wheat made up into firm balls about the size of an orange. One of these is thrown in occasionally, and, with the addition 366 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. of a few grains of boiled wheat scattered about, will usually suffice to keep a good quantity of fish about the boat. Another ground-bait is barley meal and flour, using a stiff paste made of the same mixture to bait the hook with. Cast the ground- bait in close to the boat, as it is sure to roll down the slope further into the stream. The distance up or down depends of course upon the strength of the tide. During the summer the most killing hook-baits are well boiled wheat and pure bread worked cleanly into a stiff paste, either left white or coloured red. In such clear waters as the Wavcney and the upper waters of the Bure white i)aste is the best, but on the Yare the red always kills the best fish. In the autumn use gentles, and later on brandlings and gentles, or, better still, small red ' blood * worms. Many other baits are used with occasional great suc- cess, but the above are by far the most generally serviceable. The rod in general use is a light stiff cane — one from fifteen to eighteen feet in length, though for running tackle a shorter rod will do. Running tackle is, however, seldom used, except on very shallow streams, where it is necessary to fish at a dis- tance from the boat. It is a moot point whether running tackle has any advantage over the tight line, a little longer than the rod, which it is the usual practice to have. Some experienced anglers aver that for such deep strong waters as those between Coldham Hall and Reedham running tackle is decidedly to be preferred, while for the slower waters of the Bure and the upper reaches of the Yare it has no advantages worth naming. It therefore appears to be a matter of choice which should be used. The line which is fancied is a light plaited silk, with six feet of moderately stout gut and three feet of fine-drawn stained gut attached to it. A light, well-shotted line of this kind has many advantages, especially on a windy day. The float is a quill one, varying in size according to the depth of water, strength of tide, and wind. For deep swift waters a large pelican or swan quill is used ; for slower and shallower waters tlie finest porcupine quill. The plan which has been in vogue with the Norwich school of anglers for many years past is to NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 367 attach the float to the Hne by the lower end only. It is claimed that this is decidedly the best, and that it admits of much greater neatness and accuracy in striking a fish than when the float is attached by the upper end as well as the lower. No. 9 hooks are used when the fish are of fair size, at other times Nos. TO and 12. The hooks known as 'crystal' hooks are con- sidered excellent for roach-fishing. In the deep swift waters the line is heavily shotted, the float being of a corresponding size. About twenty medium-sized shot may be placed in a space of about a foot, the bottom one not nearer than about three feet from the hook, with just one shot on the length next to the hook. This arrangement ensures the bait being carried swiftly to the bottom and being kept steady, very important items in roach-fishing. It is somewhat difficult to detect the first symptoms of a bite when the water is at all rough. When good roach are on the feed the float is first affected by a slight tremulous movement, and almost immediately settles down, generally in a slanting direction ; the moment to strike is just as the settling down commences — at ' half the first dip,' as an old angler once said to me. It requires a large amount of practice and some keen observation before an angler becomes expert in this, and it is in this that visitors generally fail, especially if the water is rough. A friend of mine was one day pulling in roach as fast as he could bait his hook — and goodly roach, too — while a stranger in a boat close by had not caught one. At last the stranger asked leave to moor his boat to my friend's and fish his swim with him. This was acceded to, but the stranger still could not catch a fish. Yet he had plenty of bites, but in the rough water he could not discern them. Sudden perky bites indicate small fish, and these are often the most difficult to catch. In float-fishing for roach the bait should be just touching the bottom. A good plan adopted by some is to fish with two hooks, the lower one dragging on the bottom and the upper one three or four inches clear of it. This is an advantage in a fast stream, as it retards the onward 368 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. motion of the float ; the bait is more easily taken and the swims are not passed so rapidly. When the wind is strong and the water very rough it is diflicult to fish, or even to detect a bite. This is very tantalising, and not unfrequently happens through a shift in the wind when you are in a capital swim. The remedy for this is to put on a nice light leger with three hooks, and with which excellent sport may sometimes be had when it would be impossible to fish in any other way. Turning to the bream, which is after all the mainstay of the Norfolk angler, we find it uncertain in its movements. In the summer and autumn it affects the deeper and stronger waters of the lower reaches— on the Yare it is then principally found between Langley Dyke and Reedham — and in the winter and spring it prefers the shallower waters of the upper reaches, and is often found in good quantity in the vicinity of Thorpe Broad, and about Carrow and Trowse Hyihe, immediately below the city of Norwich, On the Bure the bream appear to congregate in the Broads, and make their appearance about the end of May in the river. The best months to fish for them are July, August, and September, and in warm weather the best time is morning and evening. Commence with the first streak of dawn if you wish to have good sport, and you can then afford to go to sleep during the day. A friend assures me that he has had capital sjjurt by moonli^^ht. The deepest waters and quietest eddies are as a rule the best, but large quantities of fine bream are caught in the Bure at VVroxham in not more than four feet and a half of water. Of course the bait must just touch the bottom as it floats down stream. The fish bite best from about half an hour before high water to half an hour after, and flood- tide is preferred to the ebb. They are also supposed to bite belter during the wane of ilie moon. For ground-bait use boiled maize, barley, or wiieat ; bailey meal made into balls, chopped worms, and boiled rice, 'i'he latter and grains are found very attractive on the Bure. If tiierc is a fair oi)]:)ortunity of doing so, and the stream is not too strong, ])laccs are baited overnight, and this is very successful un the Broads. The hook should be NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 369 No. 7 or 8, and lobworms and brandlings are the best bait, although red paste is found killing on the Bure. A brandling with a gentle placed on the point of the hook will sometimes be taken readily when no other bait would be touched. In the deep, swift waters at Cantley, Reedham, and Somerleyton leger fishing is the only method which can be practised with success. The best bait is the tail of a lobworm, and three or four rods may be used from one boat at the same time. The rod should be a stiff and strong one, with a good top joint, and a salmon-gut foot-line is often used when among the big ones. In float-fishing fur bream it is necessary that the bait should drag the bottom, therefore the bulk of the shot should be placed nearer the hook. The float must be long and powerful, according to the water. As the bream bites more slowly and certainly than the roach, it is immaterial how the float is fastened to the line, and many prefer attaching it at the top and bottom in the usual way. A bream-bite affects the float with a slight bobbing motion for a few seconds, then moving it off and sliding it down slantingly. Strike as he runs off with the bait, or the float is about to dis- appear and you are sure of him. In legering it is not advis- able to strike too quickly. Be sure to have the ' entlett ' or weight heavy enough, as upon that depends much of your suc- cess. In all other respects the remarks respecting roach-fishing are applicable to bream, but bream are rarely taken in any quantity when the water is very clear. Both bream and roach are affected by wind and weather. A south-west or north-west wind is the most favourable, particu- larly when the water is ' grey,' or thick. Capital sport has been had with a moderate east wind, but a strong wind from that quarter is fatal to sucf^ess. Rain increases the chance of sport, but too thick water stops it. In sliallow water it is advisable to keep as quiet as possible in the boat. In deep water loud talking or laughter does not appear to frighten the fish, but knocking, or any disturbance which communicates a vibration to the water, is decidedly objectionable and causes a great interruption to the fishing, n. B B 370 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. For this reason it is a good plan to wear indiarubber-soled shoes or slippers in the boat. Meeting three well-known anglers I asked them to give me particulars of their best catches of bream and roach. No. i said : ' I have done very little roach-fishing, but my best catch was 5 stone lo pounds. My greatest catch of bream was 132 bream, weighing 212 pounds; but I have had several catches since of 112 to 140 pounds.' No. 2 said : ' As to roach, my own experience runs up to five stone by two rods between 10 and 4. Of bream I have caught with a friend six stone between 4 and 7 a.m.; but I know of three friends who once caught twenty-three stone on one of the Broads.' No. 3 said of roach: 'I have had some very fine catches, principally in the Yare. On one occasion at Buckenham with a friend, we caught six stone between 2.30 and 7 p.m. ; another time upwards of five stone in the same space of time, and numerous catches of from two to four stone in an after- noon's fishing. Also more than a bushel by measure one afternoon with a friend in Oulton Dyke. As to bream, I have caught, in company with a friend, seventeen stone in one day on Wroxham Broad, and with only one rod each. I have heard of many catches from time to time of from four to twelve stone.* (Stone=i4 pounds.) The above experiences may be taken as typical among the native anglers; but the great majority of visitors are not by any means so successful. On my asking No. 3 angler why this was so, he replied, ' Tlirough ignorance of the general requirements of tackle suitable for fishing in our waters ; also of the modus operandi, one of the chief points being a want of knowledge of the right dciJth at which to fish. For instance, I have on several occasions found strangers fishing on the Yare in twelve or fourteen feet of water with their baits only four or five feet below the surface.' Of other coarse fish inhabiting the rivers and Broads the rudd is the gamest, and is found in some of the Broads in great NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 371 numbers and of large size. The dace is increasing in numbers but as yet is not sufificiently numerous to be specially fished for. Tench are numerous and large in certain localities, but are rarely taken with bait. The same may be said of carp. Eels abound, and the silver-bellied species are caught in immense numbers in fixed 'eel sets,' while descending to the sea in autumn. Chub are, I believe, unknown in the Broad district, the staple fish of which are bream, roach, and pike. The pleasantest mode of access to the various fishing- stations is undoubtedly by boat, that is by having a craft which you can make your floating home for as long as it pleases you. Craft of various sizes and rigs are easily to be obtained. Thus at Wroxham Mr. Loynes has a number of una-rigged boats, each having an excellent tent to fit over the open boat and transform it into a roomy cabin impervious to rain. He has also larger boats of the same rig up to ten tons, having a proper wooden cabin and fitted with many ingenious contrivances to economise space and add to one's comfort. Mr. Loynes' prices for the hire of these boats are reasonable, and a pleasant and economical holiday can be spent by his aid. River yachts of the ordinary type, cutter or sloop rigged, may also be hired, but as owners are constantly changing, it is of little use giving names. At the present time BuUen of Oulton always has yachts on hire, and the Secretary of the Yare Sailing Club, Norwich, usually keeps a register of craft to let An advertisement in the local papers would always bring answers. Lately a number of the ordinary sailing wherries have been converted into pleasure craft, and most comfortable and roomy house-boats they make, and for a luxurious fishing excursion nothing could be more suitable. The hirer could fish early and take a sail for a few hours in the middle of the day. He could moor at his fishing ground, rise at five and fish until ten, have his second breakfast (his first should be taken immediately on rising), sail until two, lunch ; and loiter, read, or fish until dusk ; enjoy his dinner or supper, whichever he may choose to call it, and go early to bed. The hire of a wherry varies frum six to eight guineas a week ; H H 2 372 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. this includes the wages of the men but not their board, which you have to provide. The accommodation consists of a saloon, bedroom, and lavatory, with fore and aft cabins for the men. The saloon, of course, becomes a bedroom at night. The small yachts have simply a cabin, and forepeak for the man, and the larger ones have a lavatory in addition. Their hire varies from four to six guineas a week, including man. If, however, the angler does not care for a floating home, but prefers to take his ease at his inn, there are several good places where he can do so. It will be convenient to follow the lines of railway in our enumeration of these. The lines to Yarmouth and Lowestoft skirt the Yare and Waveney in a very convenient manner. Starting from Norwich and alighting at Brundall Station, you find within a stone's throw lodgings, boats, bait, and yachts at Flowers' boating station. This is not, how- ever, an inn, as it is not licensed. Coldham Hall Inn is half a mile lower down the river, and proceeding a mile further across country you cut off the loop of river which encloses Surlingham Broad and find yourself at Surlingham Ferry Inn. At both the last-named inns fair accommodation may be had. The next railway station is Buckenham, and the inn at Buckcn- ham Ferry is generally the most favoured by anglers on the Yare. The next station is Cantley, and the ' Red House ' is a ronifortable inn enough and is much frequented by anglers. Iklow Rccdham the inn accommodation is limited, and from here to Oulton there is no place where accommodation can be relied u[)on, although cpiarters may be had at the Bell Inn, St. Olaves, near Iladdiscoe Station, from which place Fritton Decoy, a lari^e lake lying between Yai mouth and Lowestoft, may be fished. At Oulton tliere are two good inns, tlie chief being the Wherry Hotel, kejit by Mason, and the other tlie Commodore. The following tariff of charges at the 'Wherry Hotel will serve as a guide to the general cost of inn accommotlation in the district : Bedroom and silliiig-rooui with s[)a('ious balcony overlooking the Jiroad, 2/. per week ; a more retired siliingroom with NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 373 equally good bedroom, 30^. per week ; a single bedroom and use of the public sitting-rooms, 145-. per week. Breakfast, from IS. 6d. to 2s. ; plain dinner, with joint and pastry, 2s. 6d. Fish and poultry extra. Boats, 2s. per day. Full bait, 15-. Man, 4s. The season lasts from June to the end of October. Out of the season the terms are somewhat easier. On the Bure there are two good inns at Acle, — the King's Head, and Queen's ; but the best fishing station, especially for pike, is at Horning Ferry. At the Ferry Hotel, Mr, Thompson, the landlord, is a thorough sportsman. The nearest station is Wroxham, four miles away, and Thompson will meet the train with a conveyance upon being written to beforehand. At Wroxham there is the King's Head, kept by Jimpson, and lodgings are obtainable in the neighbourhood. On the Thurne there are two small inns, the Falgate and the Waterman's Arms at Potter Heigham ; and at Stalham, which commands Barton Broad and the river Ant, are two good inns, the Swan and the ]\Iaid's Head. Potter Heigham and Stalham are stations on the North Norfolk Railway, which runs from Yarmouth across to North Walsham, on the Norwich, Wroxham and Cromer line. Ormesby and Martham stations on the same railway command Ormesby Broad, where the Eel's Foot is the inn. I am desired to suggest a route for a fortnight's fishing, but this is a suggestion most difficult to comply with. As I have already explained, the whereabouts of the fish depends much upon the tides, weather, and time of year. Supposing, how- ever, one had a fortnight at one's disposal, I should recommend that a third of it be spent on the Bure, say at Horning Ferry ; a third at Oulton Broad, with an excursion to Somerleyton ; and a third on the Yare, say at Buckenham or Cantley. . . . But if the angler selects any place I have alluded to as a fishing station, the name of which may take his fancy, he will do quite as well as if he followed any set route. There is absolutely no choice, and if he determines the order of his going by the simple process of tossing up he will find the selection as satis- factory as he could wish. It often happens that an angler 374 PJl^E AND OTHER COARSE FISH. going down to a well-known locality on the Yare or Bure for a day's bream- fishing, finds that these fish are not to be had at the place expected, but that roach, rudd, &c., are there in goodly quantity, whilst, on the other hand, anglers for roach will sometimes be surprised with a fine catch of bream. In- stances of this kind are more frequent on the Yare between Buckenham Ferry and Hardley Cross, and on the Bure and broads below Wroxham. It is, therefore, advisable when fishing for bream in these localities, to be prepared with some suitable tackle and bait for roach, and vice versa. I append a list of what are considered to be the requisites for a day's fishing on the Yare, or lower reaches of the Bure, arranged with a due provision for such accidents as will occa- sionally upset the equanimity of even the most gentle disciple of the gentle art, and which, if unprovided for, will sometimes seriously diminish the sport and pleasure of a very promising day. Tadle &-r. Rods (2). Lines on reels or attached to gut ready for use. Floats, 2 or 3, quill. Gut, shotted ready for use. and a few lengths each of stout, medium, and fine-drawn, stained of a li:;ht brown colour. Hooks, about a dozen of each, Nos. 7, S, 0, and 10. Smaller sizes on fine-drawn gut. Shot, an ounce or so of medium and small-sized. Plummets (2). Landing net and stick. Disgorger. Pliers, small steel. Store net to hang outside boat for putting fish in. Shore line, about a dozen yards of good strong line witn u small anchor or an iron i)in, witli an eye, about 18 inclics long, attached. Indispensable in the lower reaches of the Yare and lUire in windy weather, and without which it would often I^e impossible to moor the boat. NORFOLK BROAD AND RIVER FISHING. 375 Baits 6^r. Ground bait (see Roach and Bream). Worms, brandling, with a few lobs. Gentles, in tin (very secure) with bran or meal. Paste, red, well worked and evenly coloured. „ white, „ Wheat, well-boiled, for baiting hook and occasional ground bait. Bread for making fresh paste, &c. Red lead for colouring. Not forgetting, if the weather threatens rain, a good-sized umbrella or a waterproof coat. A creel, of course, is very handy for carrying such small articles as reels, winders, floats, &c., and for hooks and gut I know of nothing better than a fair-sized fly book, whilst for ground bait and bringing home fish, a good-sized frail basket with a strap or two to pass round it is about the most useful. The quantity of bait required for a day's fishing by a single person may be reckoned up as follows : — Wheat, about 2 lbs. ; this when well-boiled will make about 4 pints. ^^'orms 1 as many of each as may be had for a few pence, say Gentles / 6^. worms and 3^. gentles. Ground bait, about 20 balls, each the size of a large orange. Paste, red and white, each ball about the size of a small orange. G. Christopher Davies, 376 riKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. THE CULTIVATION OF ' COARSE FISIV WITH A FEW NOTES ON ACCLIMATISATION. [I am indebted to the courtesy of the Marquis of Exeter, and of INIr. R. B. Marston, editor of the Fisliing Gazette for the following highly interesting and practical notes on the cultivation and acclimatisation of coarse fish ' — notably of the Black Bass, — subjects in regard to which too little attention has been hitherto shown by the owners of ponds, lakes, canals, and other waters, unsuited to Salmon or Trout. It is probable that many of such waters, if properly stocked and judiciously farmed, might prove a success from a market or commercial point of view ; but in any case, as Mr. Marston truly points out in the essay which here follows, to do something for the healthy and wholesome recreation of the toiling thousands of our mills and factories should be in itself an object well worthy of the philanthropist and statesman. — H. C.-P.] Some anglers affect to look down upon coarse fish and the sjjort they afford. I confess I prefer fly-fishing for salmon, trout, and grayling, but that is not always obtainable, and then I am content with the next best fishing to be had, whether it be for pike, barbel, jKrch, chub, or roach, &c. An amazing increase in the number of anglers has taken place within the last few years. 'J'his increase has been large ' Lord Exeter's very .suc■^l•^■^f^;l cxpcriinciUs at Burghley House eiiihiace ^r.lmunidu: as well as Coarbc tish. THE CULTIVATION OF COARSE FISH. Z77 among salmon, trout, and grayling fishers ; it has been far greater among those who, not having the means or opportunity of fishing for the Sabnonidce, give their attention to our other freshwater species. A few years ago the angling clubs of London and the provinces could be counted by the dozen, now they number many hundreds with many thousands of members. But, while anglers have been increasing in this wonderful man- ner, the fish have been most certainly decreasing. The cry from the clubs is : How can we get fish ? Something must be done for these thousands upon thou- sands of anglers, for without fish their recreation is gone, and that they should be encouraged will be admitted by every one who gives the matter a moment's reflection. The larger portion of the coarse-fish anglers are working men and youths, me- chanics, artizans, miners— toilers in our mills and factories in the great centres of industry — men to whom every inducement should be held out to attract them into fresh air and scenes in their spare time. How, then, is the decrease in those fish, in the capture of which they take such delight, to be stopped ? and how can the thousands of miles of water which might yield them sport be replenished ? That these questions need answering at all proves that, in this country at least, very little has been done in the direction of cultivation of coarse fish, though, as a matter of fact, in the case of most of them it presents far less difficulty and expense than is attendant on the breeding of the Salinonidcc. The first thing to be recognised is that, consequent on the great difference in the modes of spawning of the Sahnonidcz and coarse fish, a widely different method must be adopted. Salmon, trout, and grayling eggs are non-adhesive, and each egg can thus be manipulated separately — they take months to hatch out. The eggs of the coarse fish are adhesive, making their manipulation extremely difficult — so much so, that while ninety-five per cent, of salmon and trout eggs can be hatched out, those who have attempted to treat coarse fish eggs in the same way have rarely succeeded in rearing even five per cent. 378 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. The eggs of the coarse fish hatch out in a very short time, a week or ten days being the average time required. If, then, we had to look to what is called artificial breeding to enable us to increase our coarse fish, the prospect would not be an encouraging one. But, fortunately perhaps, artificial breeding is not necessary in the case of coarse fish ; all we need do is to give nature a certain amount of aid, and she will do the rest for us. We must place the parent fish in suitable places for spawning, and then protect the eggs until the fry hatch out. It is not only difficult, however, to manipulate the eggs in troughs and trays, but the difficulty of rearing the young fry is even greater still. They are hatched out as perfect fish, almost at once requiring extraneous food, and ihey are so extremely small that to feed them is a difficult matter. They appear to require that as soon as they leave the egg they should be able to seek their own sustenance on the almost invisible animalculae present in their native waters.* The diagram represents what is known in Sweden as Limd's hatching-box. It was invented more than a hundred years ago by a Mr. Lund, of Linkoping. The Swedish insjicctor kindly furnished me with information about this box, which is in general use in Sweden. He says : — ' Replying to your letter of the 25th of February, 18S2, in which you request me to give you some particulars respecting Lund's hatching-box for the proi)a- gation of summer-spawning fish, I herewith hasten to give you all the information I can. Lund's apparatus is remarkable on account of its being, for aught I know, the first attempt in Europe to promote the propagation of the above-meniioned ' The umbilical sac, on the contents of which the trout alevin exists for six weeks, lasts the alevin of the coars',- fish but a day or two, and unless tlie young fish are fed they will liie ; hence tlie diflkulty of rearint; them in confincniont. Mr. Kelson, of Oxford, last year made the valuable discovery that the aniiiial- cultc bred in water containing d-'cayed vegetable matter (like that in which cut flowers have been kept some tiuiei are eagerly devoiiied by the young fry. I think it is dillkult to over-rale the value of this discovery to the breeder of Coarse fiah.— R. B. M. THE CULTIVATION OF COARSE FISH. 379 fish with human assistance. As you rightly suppose, the box is to be placed in shallow water near the bank, so that the water does not flow over it. Lund has not given any dimen- sions for his box, which may be of any size. The sides are hmged, so that they can be let down, and they are perforated with numerous small holes, so that the water can circulate through. The inside should be charred by fire to preserve LUND S IIATCHING-BOX. it. The bottom of the box and the sides are lined with fir branches. As you will see from the sketch I send you, the box should stand on blocks, so as to be raised a little from the bed of the water. With some modifications — for instance, it is not necessary to have the sides hinged — Lund's box has been adopted here in Sweden with success, and, in my opinion, for the hatching of perch, it is the most practical that has yet been invented. In a box of this kind, six feet square, and with sides two feet high, we place fifty female and from twenty to thirty male fish. These fish must be placed in the hatching-box as 38o PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. near their spawning time as possible, and are taken out again as soon as the spawning is finished. The fish deposit the spawn on the branches. It is of great importance that the sides be well perforated, to ensure free circulation of the water. We use these boxes chiefly for perch, but they can also be used, with some modifications, for other fish.* It is an easy matter to transport spawn which has been obtained in this way to almost any distance, as it adheres to the boughs ; so that you can either let the fry develop in the box, and then go free in the water you desire to stock, or you can carry the fertilised spawn to some place, perhaps a hundred miles away, and then place it in a similar box in the water you desire to stock. In a week or ten days' time the fry will hatch out in countless numbers, and must then be liberated and allowed to begin their fight for life alone. In the Swedish ex- hibit in the Fisheries Exhibition, some models of Lund's box were displayed. These models were exhibited in the Berlin International Fisheries Exhibition, and are thus referred to, in the German Official Report on that Exhibition, by Dr. Haack, director of the great fish-breeding establishment at Huningue. In dealing with the Swedish exhibit he says : — ' In the Swedish exhibit there were two insignificant-looking models, which were quite overlooked by the majority of visitors, but which were of the very greatest interest to every thinking pisci- culturist These models, in spite of their simplicity and insig- nificance, show us the way we, in future, most simply, easily, and inexpensively may carry on the propagation of our summer- spawning fish to any extent.' He then describes the manner in which the box is used, and refers to its advantages as follows : — ' .\% will be evident to every one, the eggs which have been deposited and impregnated in the box develop in a perfectly natural manner . . . air, liglit, and sun are able to exert their infiuences on the eggs in exactly the same way as if they had been deposited on water-plants in the open water in the ordinary way. Wind and waves can in like manner exert their benefi- cial influence on the eggs, which at the same time are protected THE CULTIVATION OF COARSE FISH. 381 from the violence of the storm, from which cause alone millions of eggs are frequently destroyed in the open water. The sides of the box and the branches effectually prevent their destruction.' Further, the numberless enemies of the &gg are shut out, for by placing a piece of wire netting over the top, the ravages of swans, ducks, and wild fowl — those great destroyers of spawn — are provided against. When I described Lund's box to a meeting of anglers at the Society of Arts Room in 18S2, its manifest advantages for coarse fish culture were fully appreciated, and a society was formed with the object of renting waters and stocking them with fish, to experiment with Lund's box. Six boxes were made and used, and I think I may say that in spite of some errors inseparable from a first experiment of this kind, they proved fairly successful. Spawn in large quantities was deposited in some of the boxes, and large quantities of fry were afterwards observed in and around them. The only difficulty experienced was in obtaining the parent fish. From what I have seen of its practical working, I am perfectly assured that, provided you can get an adequate stock of parent fish, the Lund box is a most admirable contrivance for obtaining any quantity of fry. When obtaining your parent fish you will find that by far the larger proportion of them are females, in fact you will often experience difficulty in getting any male fish ; remember, too, that the males are, as a rule, much smaller than the females, and that, therefore, even the smallest, say even of three inches length, should not be rejected. These boxes have since been most successfully tried on the Thames, the Trent, and the Lea ; and on the Kennet Mr. Frank Gosden, pisciculturist to the Duke of Wellington, now breeds millions of perch fry every year to serve as food for his young trout. The dimensions given by the Swedish Fisheries Inspector are too large, it is better to have them about half the width. It is also a good plan to have a door in the side to let out the parent fish after they have spawned. 382 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. THE BREEDING-HURDLE. Another, and in some respects even more simple contrivance for breeding these fish, is the breeding-hurdle. It consists of an ordinary hurdle, on which branches have been intertwined ; it is sunk in a pond, lake, or stream, in any shallow undisturbed spot, and the fish find it a convenient place on which to cast their spawn, which can then be taken out and transferred to other waters, or left to hatch out. It is chiefly advantageous where natural spawning places are deficient, and is used to a considerable extent in France and Sweden. rOND CULTIVATION. Where some primary expense is not a matter of considera- tion, the pond system, which is carried on to such an enormous extent on the Continent, is the best and most satisfactory of all. It is the intention of the National Fish Culture Association to establish a coarse fish farm in connection with their fish culture establishment at South Kensington, for the purpose of hatching and rearing fry of all kinds in large quantities, for distribution to angling clubs and private individuals requiring these fish.' The ponds, and the amount of water passing through them, should of course be adapted to the nature of the fish to be reared in them, and only one kind of fish, or fisli similar in their habits, should be bred in a pond. As an instance of what may be accomplished with coarse fish in this way, I may mention that last spring Hcrr Max von dem Borne, the well- known German pisciculturist, ])laced about five hundred carp (spawners and milters) in one of his ponds, and in the autumn, ' The Association has taken tlic Dilaford Fishery on the Cohie, near West Drayton, and under the energetic sup rvisidii of the sicretary, Mr. W. (Jldliam C'haiuLcrs, a perfect S)slem of pt-nda is being made. — R. B. M. THE CULTIVATION OF COARSE FISH. 383 when he drew the water off before a large company he had invited to witness the result, more than eighty thousand fine young carp were found. I have referred to the difiSculty experienced in obtaining parent fish for breeding purposes ; there are hundreds of streams and other waters in this country which contain coarse fish, which are considered by the proprietors of these waters as, I was going to say, vermin ; at any rate, they do all they can to get rid of them, to make room for their trout and gray- ling. The National Fish Culture Association would find this a most profitable field to work. I am perfectly certain that the proprietors of trout and grayling fisheries would be only too glad to give the society all the coarse fish they could catch in their waters, and the very finest pike, perch, chub, roach, &c., are those which are bred in a trout stream. The expense of netting and fish -carriers would not be great. I am led to make this suggestion because, when on a trout-fishing excursion, I have often thought how welcome these shoals of despised coarse fish would be if transported to some of the depleted waters around London and other large towns. Having described the methods in which coarse fish culture may be carried on, I will now give a brief general account of the natural conditions under which some of these fish breed — to give a complete list would occupy too much space. In coarse fish culture the more closely we follow the conditions laid down by nature, the more likely are we to meet with success. Being fully aware of the scantiness of our knowledge respecting the breeding of many of our coarse fish, I wish to disclaim any pretension to complete accuracy in what I state respecting this matter. I have got my information, such as it is, partly from personal observation, and partly from foreign works which refer to the subject. 384 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. SPAWNING TIMES OF COARSE FISH. Nature of places they choose^ and time it requires the young to hatch out. The Pike spawns in February and March ; the eggs, which are small, hatch in from fourteen to twenty- one days, and are deposited on mud, rushes, sedges, and other water i)lants in shallow quiet bays and ditches. As in the case of perch, the female fish are usually more numerous and larger than the males. The Perch spawns from March to May ; the eggs, which hang together in bands like rows of beads on a coral necklace, are very small at first, but gradually swell, and the young fish escape in from ten to twenty days according to the tempera- ture of the water. The eggs are deposited on water plants and submerged boughs, and are then fertilised by the milt of the male fish. The Loach spawns from May to July ; the eggs, which are deposited on gravel in running water, hatch out in about eight days.' The Carp spawns in May and June ; the eggs are deposited on water plants, and hatched out in from fourteen to twenty days. There are three kinds of carp : the common carp (of which ichthyologists find three distinct species in England), covered with large scales ; the mirror carp, which has one row of very large scales along the back, and another along the side, tlie rest (jf its body being covered with a leather-like skin free from scales ; and the leather carp in which scales are entirely absent. Spt-ciinens of the two last-named fish, which are not common in l->ngland, can be seen in the aiiuarium ot the National Fisli Culture Association at South Kensington. The food of the carp consists chiefly of llie larvie of water insects, worms, sprouts of water plants, and decaying vegetable ' One German writer stat'S tint the eggs are deposited on water plants, ami on tlat Ehallows. THE CULTIVATION OF COARSE FISH. 385 matter. Kitchen refuse forms very fattening food for carp. To rear carp with the greatest success the parent fish should be placed in a suitable pond in which there are no other fish ; after spawning the parent fish should be netted out, and in the autumn, under suitable conditions, there will be an immense crop of young carp from two to three inches in length. The carp is a powerful fish affording great sport to the angler, and its cultivation might be most profitably carried on in England, as the Jews will always give a high price for live carp. In fact, before the advent of Protestantism in England fish stews for the natural propagation of carp and other fish were very common. It is the custom in Germany to drain a pond every third year or so, let it dry, and plant oats in the ground ; a heavy crop is the result, and the water being turned in again, the fish thrive wonderfully. The Tench is another powerful and handsome pond fish which would well repay cultivation. It prefers stagnant and weedy waters. Like the carp and eel it buries itself in the mud in the cold months. Its food consists of larvae, water plants, and worms. Like carp and all other muddy-flavoured fish, it eats well, and loses the muddy flavour if kept for a time in clear running water. It. spawns from May to July on water plants, and the young fish hatch out in a week or ten days. The golden tench can also be easily bred in ponds. The Gudgeon^ Mitinow, and Bullhead spawn from May to July, selecting very shallow streams, and depositing their eggs on the gravel and stones. These fish all form admirable food for SalinonidcB, and can be easily cultivated in any small clear stream. The male bullhead makes a sort of nest in the sand under stones, and, like the stickleback, drives away every intruder. The Roach, Rudd, and Bream spawn in May or early in June on water weeds ; the eggs hatch out in a week or ten days. The Chub spawns at the end of April or beginning of May, on shallow sandy or gravelly places, and the eggs hatch out in a very short time. 11. c c 386 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. The Ba rdel spa.wns in May and June on stones and gravel, in a sharp stream from one to three or more feet deep ; the eggs hatch out in a week or ten days. The Z)(u:e spawns in March or tlie beginning of April, also in sharp shallow streams. The J^o/>e or I^tfji, so esteemed as a table fish on the Conti- nent, spawns in March and April, when it seeks the mouths of small streams to deposit its spawn on weeds and rushes. IVo/e. — It must be remembered that fish spawn earlier in mild open seasons than they do in cold seasons ; in fact, a late cold spring will keep the fish back for weeks, or even in some cases for months. ACCLIMATISATION OF FOREIGN FISHES. We get such fine sea fish delivered at such a cheap rate, even in our most inland districts, that it is not likely it will ever pay to cultivate coarse fish for the market to any great extent — although the Jews would always take a certain amount. But this work considers fish chiefly from an angler's point of view, and the question is, what foreign coarse fish are worth introducing ? There are only two that I should care to see introduced, viz., the pike-perch and the black bass, and they should on/y be tried in such -waters as will not support trout or graylini:;, or jvJicre it is undesirable to keep jip a stock of our own coarse fish. The black bass — thanks chiefly to tlic great interest taken in it by the Marquis of Exeter— may be said to be acclimatised here already. There are many thousands of them now in the fine sheet of water called White-water, near l]urgh- ley House, .Stamford, Lord Exeter's country scat. In 1878 and 1S79, Mr. Silk, the able pisciculturist to the Marquis, brought over from the United States nearly one thousand young bass ; and he informs me that the fish have spawned the last two or three seasons. Mr. Silk has since on two occasions been sent to the States to oI)tain a further supi)ly of these fish, and they have been distributed among some half-dozen gcnlle- FISH ACCLIMATISATION. 387 men who had subscribed towards the expenses of getting them over. Having for some years past strongly advocated the intro- duction of this fine game and food fish into suitable English waters, I was, in common with others interested in this fish, extremely sorry to see, from the reports in the papers, that Mr. Goode, the United States Commissioner, had 'warned English anglers against the black bass.' 1 felt convinced that Mr. Goode did not intend to warn us against the introduction of this fish into any of our waters, but only such as were suit- able for Sah/iontdce. Knowing that an expression of opinion on this matter from so high an authority would have very great weight in this country, I wrote to Mr. Goode to ask him if he intended his remarks to apply to the introduction of the fish generally. His reply was exactly what I expected it would be ; and I have very great pleasure in giving it, because it will do far more to remove any prejudice against the introduction of the black bass into suitable English waters than anything I can say. Mr. Goode says : — Dear Mr. Marston, — I am much annoyed — with myself chiefly, for I ought to have expressed myself more explicitly — that my remarks upon the black bass were so misinterpreted. I was speaking solely in reference to planting black bass in salmon streams, and in comment upon Sir James Gibson Maitland's paper upon the culture of Sabnonidcs. The entire drift of my remarks was to the effect that the black bass is a iish with which public fish-culture had nothing to do, being purely an anglers fish, and not one which professional fishermen can take in large quantities for the supply of the public markets. As an angler's fish I believe the black bass to be superior in every respect to any fish you have in Great Britain outside the salmon family, and I believe that its introduction into streams where pike, perch, roach, and bream are now the principal occupants, can do no possible harm, and would probably be a benefit to all anglers. It is also well suited for large ponds and small lakes, where there is an abundant supply of 'coaise fish,' which a school of theni will soon convert into fish by no means ' coarse.' If you will kindly refer to my ' Game Fishes of the United States,' p. 12, you will find that my views as to the value of the black bass in my own country are already on record, c c 2 388 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. and I can see no reason why this fish should not be equally valuable in Great Britain. I quote from my own essay as follows : — ' Fish culturists have made many efforts to hatch the eggs of the black bass, but have never succeeded. . . . This failure is the less to be regretted since young bass may easily be transported from place to place in barrels of cool water, and when once intro- duced they soon multiply, if protected, to any desired number The first experiment in their transportation seems to have been that of Mr. S. T. Tisdale, of East Wareham, Massachusetts, who, in 1850, carried twenty-seven Large-mouths from Saratoga Lake, N.Y., to Agawam, Mass. The custom of stocking streams soon became popular, and, through private enterprise and the labour of State commissioners, nearly every available body of water in New England and the United States has been filled with these fish, and in 1877 they were successfully carried to the Pacific coast. This movement has not met with universal approval, for by the ill-advised enthusiasm of some of its advocates a number of trout and bream ha\ e been destroyed, and complaints are heard that the fisheries of certain rivers have been injured. The general results, however, have been very beneficial. The black bass will never become the food of the millions, as may be judged from the fact that New York market receives probably less than 60,000 lbs. annually ; yet lumdreds of waters are now stocked with them in sufficient num- bers to afford pleasant sport and considerable quantities of excel- lent food. "Valued as the brook-trout is for its game qualities,'' writes Mr. Haliock, "widely d>3tributed as it is, and much extolled in song as it has been, the black bass has a wider range, and being common to both cold and warm waters, and to northern and southern climes, seems destined to become the leading game fish of .America, and to take the place of the wild brook-trout, which vanishes like the aborigines before civilisation and settlements. ' ' I shall be very glad, then, if you will quote this letter as fully as your space will allow, in justice to the black bass and its advocates, as well as to myself. I am, yours truly, G. Bkowx Goodf., Coiiinu'ssii'iicr. As an enthtisiastic ani^ler for all kinds of fisli, I sliould he the last to advocate llie introduction of a fish which woulvl spoil our sport. The black bass will take any kind of bait FISH ACCLIMATISATION. 3S9 freely, affords superb sport, and thrives best in just those waters which are not suited to trout and sahiion, viz., ponds, lakes, and slow, deep streams. I have taken this fish both with fly and worm, and I am convinced that weight for weight it has as much fight in it as any fish. If you use a fly, it should be a gaudy one, and the best plan is to sink it under water an inch or two, and draw it along. As regards the pike-perch, I confess I have some doubtr,, he is rather too voracious ; still he cannot be worse than the pike in this respect, and he is certainly a more ' game ' fish, and better eating. The question of acclimatisation of foreign Salmonidce is doubtless touched upon in the chapter on that subject, but I am firmly of the opinion that no foreign waters can give us better fish of this kind than our own. The American Salvio foniinalis, or brook-trout, has been introduced freely into this country, but it has proved an utter failure, except when kept in confinement in ponds supplied by streams, and deep cold lakes. It is not a trout at all, but a true char. Placed in our rivers it will not breed, it rarely rises to the fly, and it gradually dis- appears— in fact, it is in no sense equal to our own Sahiio fario, or common trout, than which I do not believe there is a better trout in the world. R. B. ]\Iarston. [In the above verdict it is probable that most fishermen and owners of angling waters will concur ; and having thus been introduced by Mr. Marston to the Black Bass as the one foreign species which, under certain conditions, it is highly desirable we should attempt to acclimatise, I am glad to be able to supplement the information by the following notes on the practical cultivation of the fish, which have been most obligingly placed at my disposal for the present volume by the Marquis of Exeter, President of the National Fish Culture Association. — H. C.-P.] 390 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. THE REARING OF BLACK BASS AND OTHER PISCICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS AT BURCHI.EY HOUSE. I have compiled the following notes on the rearing of Black Ikiss and my other experiments in pisciculture at Burghley, in com])liance with a request made to me by Mr. Cholmondeley- I'ennell, who thought that the experience obtained of practical fis'a hatching and rearing during the last twenty years might be (jf interest to fishermen and fishery owners. Should they be so, I shall be pleased. I would premise, however, that my observations are offered rather as rough notes jotted down from time to time than as a finished or elaborate essay. .Some twelve or fourteen years ago, Frank Buckland, with wliom I had been on terms of friendship for many years, came down to pay me a visit at Burghley, and he brought with him about two hundred trout ova in a pickle-bottle. The bottle containing the ova was hung to a tap over a sink in the Andromeda Hall on the west side of the house, and the water was allowed to trickle into it for about a month or five weeks, when the young trout began to hatch out. The water, though very pure, is exceedingly hard and cold, but the young fisii appeared to do very fairly well. This was my fu-st sucressfiil effort at pisciculture, previous attempts having all resulted in failures. Of course many of the fish hatched in the i)ickle-bottle died, but some were strong enough to resist all evils arising from my ignorance and mismanagement, and grew into healthy yearling FISH ACCLIMATISATION. 391 trout which were turned into a small pond in the park, where they lived for many years. After this I set up a small breeding establishment, consisting of slate-boxes arranged in staircase form, one above the other, with water laid on to run through them from top to bottom, over a bed of gravel. Buckland had introduced me to a Swiss-German Professor (De Vouga) who lived at Neufchatel, and he for several years supplied me with large quantities of ova from his piscicultural estabhshment in Switzerland, and these I hatched and brought up in considerable numbers, turning the fish, as they grew strong enough to take care of themselves, into ponds in Burghley Park, and into a small lake a mile and a half from the house, named Whitewater. All these trout (principally Salmo ferox) were hatched on the old system upon gravel, which I found to be very troublesome, and having discovered on trial that the ova hatched as well on the bare slate of the hatching-boxes, and required less cleansing and attention, the gravel was discarded altogether. My valet Deane (now Steward of the Conservative Club), whom I had taught how to attend to the fish-cultural establishment during my absence from home, suggested trying perforated zinc trays for holding the ova, so that they could be readily moved when the boxes required cleaning or the ova to be transferred to other water-runs in the conservatory where I hatched my fish. These trays I found to answer admirably, and the following year hatched some sixty or eighty thousand ova sent me from America by Sir Edward Thornton, who kindly obtained them from the United States Government Fish Cultural Establish- ment. I here insert a letter to Mr. Frank Buckland, from Land and Water, 1874, with Deane's observations and notes on the treatment of trout ova ; also a letter from Deane answering some enquiries I had made to him the other day. Fish Breeding at Burghley House, i874- Dear Buckland, — You will be glad to hear that I have just received a good remittance of ova from Mr. Robert Roosvclt, New 392 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. York, through the kindness of Sir Edward Thornton. The ova have arrived in first-rate order, and are safely deposited in my breeding-boxes. Four boxes contain the ova of the Corcgontis albiis (white-fish), four of Salino ainelhystus (salmon-trout), and four of Salino fonti^talzs. The ova of the white-fish seem to travel the least well of the three kinds, as there are many dead amongst them, while the other two sorts have arrived in perfect order. I could have some ' Black Bass' sent over but am afraid of them, as Mr. Roosvelt says that ' the Black Bass {Grysh's m'gricajis) is a fighting American, and will swallow every British fish in your lakes. It is our champion fish, and it can whip all creation of the fish race.' After this description, I think that you will advise me to have nothing to do with such a devil, if I want to get up trout and Sahno foiitinalis in my ponds. The fish hatched from eggs sent me by Sir Edward Thornton last year are doing very well, and are growing rapidly. They are principally salmon, white and big lake trout, with a few white-fish. I hatched a good number of the latter, but, unfortunately, lost most of them, through their escaping down the waste-pipe of the lower large tank. I had a guard of perforated zinc : but the little white-fish seem to work themselves through everything, and they got away, despite all my care and that of my servant, who is a very good hand at fish-hatching. The trout appear to grow rapidly ; I have taken out several over one and two pounds weight this summer, while shifting my fish from one pond to another ; and one trout was nearly three pounds in weight. These fish had only been hatched a year, or a year and a half at most.^ Amongst them, 1 took out about one dozen very pretty fish, as bright as salmon, but different in form. They are broader than salmon, flatter in the sides, and the head is of a dif- ferent form from either the above-mentioned fish or the trout. The scales were like salmon scales but rather coarser. I am sorry now that 1 did not take fuller particulars of the fish before turning them into tlie ponds, and I cannot get at them now. Kot having seen a full-grown American white-fish, I am unable to say if tliese fish are the same ; but not having had any white-fish spawn sent me the year before last, 1 do not think that my friends can be the Coregonus albus. Anyhow they are very handsome fish, and they came in the ova from tlie other side of the Atlantic, and were hatched in my boxes here. I have no new discoveries to tell you of, but soon hope to find i This must be an error, and iiiubt incaii two or three years. FISH ACCLIMATISATION. 393 that the instructions you gave me in fish-hatching a few years ago will result in my having a large part of the lake at Burghley full of fine trout of various species. I have lately dammed off the part above the bridge, and after taking a crop of oats and seeds off, am now gravelling the bottom, after clearing out the mud. Enclosed I send you the observations made by my valet (Deane), while attending to the hatching of the ova sent me from various parts.^ The ova from Switzerland generally turn out well ; but the sender should be more careful about the packing of the ova, which are often sent in too crowded a state. Truly yours, Exeter. ' Burghley House. December JfiN 1 v^/-^ N iOm-12.'3»<33Sfl) DM" -J£A 39 Pennell Of Fishing. .2 ^ ^fr^m SK 439 P38f V.2 ^ 'i |,,„'ii?,?°'i™f'^"'E2IONAL LIBRARY FACILIT A 001 172 978 /^ M:i:-- .91