CHAPTER VIII

ANGLING

$Hints by an Old Hand.$--When fishing in ponds, lakes, meres, canals, or in waters where there is no stream, the depth should be carefully taken the night before, or when ground-baiting, and marked on the rod, or by measuring the distance from the plummet to the cap of the float with a piece of cotton or string. If the angler prefers the bait to be within touch of the bottom, the better plan is to use a self-cocking float, and always use the finest possible tackle in clear water; but if an ordinary float be employed, and the novice wishes the bait to lie six or eight inches on the bottom (a good plan), the lowest shot should be from 15 in. to 20 in. from the hook. This will neither interfere with the proper cocking of the float nor with the angler striking, for, from the moment the fish seizes the bait to the indication of a bite, the resistance of (at most) two or three small shots is infinitesimal. If the bottom be at all muddy, then the plummet should be as light as possible, or into the ooze it will sink, and when this is known to be the case, the depth may be obtained by the aid of a small pellet of bread and bran. Should it drop off the hook before the depth is obtained, the pellet should be made a little stiffer. A piece of "tea lead" from a tea-chest, or lead wire, similar to that used on the gut in Lea fishing (some use nothing else), may be carefully tied round the bottom of the float, to make it cock without using any shots on the tackle, and painted the same colour as the float, or, failing this, the usual self-cocking float sold at the tackle-shops may be used.

Gentles should be kept in plenty of damp sand for a few days in an earthenware pan, biscuit-tin, or tin pail, in a cellar, or any dark, cool place, when they will be ready for use. The sides of the pan or tin should not be allowed to get wet, or many of the gentles will make their escape. They should be kept in what is termed golden sand. This sand, which should be damp, is almost as fine to the touch as barley-meal, of a deep rich golden colour, and they will live in it for days without turning into the chrysalis state, which they do in a comparatively short time if exposed to the sun--a practice to which many anglers are addicted, and then wonder the gentles change colour. It is a great mistake to use silver sand, as it over-scours and makes them attenuated and hard. I have repeatedly seen them in this state. So much for sand. The finest gentles I ever saw were obtained from the best rump steak and a sheep's head, and kept in coarse bran; but for taking out the black steck or "saddle-back" near the head, and scouring them until perfectly white, give me the sand mentioned above and plenty of it.

The weight floats required may be arranged and tested before they are wound on the winder for final use. This saves the beginner considerable time and trouble at the water-side. If he has a four-line winder, with lines already weighted or shotted for roach, perch, bream, tench, so much the better. A piece of cork about the size and shape of a Tonquin bean attached to the line may sometimes be used with success for fishing-swims, within easy distance from the side, in smooth clear water, near patches of weeds, flags, or candocks, the angler taking great care to keep out of sight, and to be as still as possible. When the bean-like piece of cork goes under or runs, strike gently.

Never use long-shanked hooks (the well-known crystal roach hooks, for instance) for such baits as gentles, cockspur, or small worms, small pellets of paste, wheat and malt. A considerable portion of the shank is certain to become bare in a short time, and so prevent the fish from biting. I have repeatedly seen nearly the whole shank of a crystal hook bare, and the small worm, gentles, and more especially a grain of creed wheat, dangling from the bend as a kidney might from a butcher's hook; and I have an idea that no fish properly constituted would be stupid enough to be caught under such absurd conditions. I may just mention in passing, that when fishing with gentles, the last one put on the hook should have the point to come through the skin of the thick or tail end, and the twirling thin or head end to hang clear of the hook. One gentle on a No. 12 or 13 hook will often do the trick, when they won't look at a bunch of gentles.

Use as small hooks as possible. They will hook a fish, or for the matter of that, get fast into almost anything, much quicker than large hooks: they penetrate sooner, hold very fast, and pierce the lips of such fish as trout, perch, chub, barbel, carp, when a large hook would not. For instance, the other day I hooked a 3 lb. barbel in the centre of the upper lip with a No. 10 sneck-bend, and it was quite a job to extract it. I once saw four splendid chub, all caught with similar hooks; and on several occasions I have caught good perch with roach hooks. If the novice will only remember not to allow slack line when playing a good fish on a small hook, provided the tackle is good and strong, a fish should seldom escape. Beginners often use hooks three times too big for the fish they are after, and it goes without saying, that the smaller the hook the finer the gut should be; for a small hook on thick, coarse gut is not to be thought of. On the other hand, never use a too small hook for too large a pellet of paste, with the hook embedded in the centre, instead of the point just protruding. I have seen an angler fishing under these conditions for chub with cheese paste miss five fish out of six, the damson-like pellet being pulled clean out of the mouth of the chub, without the slightest chance of hooking the fish.

We will now supplement what our "Old Hand" has told us by other hints.

$Bait and Other Matters.$--We shall not occupy space discussing rods, and such things. Each boy settles these questions for himself, in accordance with the money he can spare, after a talk with the dealer and a contemplation of his wares. Such accessories as landing nets he leaves generally until he is grown up, and manages very well without them. He may, however, provide himself with a clearing ring and line, because he is likely to feel the need for these often. This useful clearing tackle consists of a number of yards of strong cord, to the end of which is fastened a heavy ring of lead or brass. If the hook should get fast in a weed or anything else, this ring is put over the butt of the rod, and allowed to slip down the line to the hook. The rod should be held in the right hand, the top pointing downwards, the clearing-line in the left; the ring falling on the hook from its weight usually clears the hook. If not, the angler should grasp the rod firmly, and draw the line sideways, and break away. In this case, he seldom loses more than a hook; but without the use of a clearing-line he frequently loses his float as well as his hook and line, and sometimes breaks his rod. The brass clearing-rings are best, because they are jointed, and can be used when the angler has a reel on his rod.

An old angler advises that after the young fisherman has made choice of a place to fish, he should first plumb the depth truly, and with as little disturbance to the water as may be. If the water be still throw in small pieces of ground bait; if there is a strong current large pieces. Keep as far from the water as you can, and go slily to work, for even the shaking of the bank will frighten some of these fish. The bait should be dropped into the water quietly. Stand as far from the edge of the water as possible, and never let your shadow fall upon the water. When it is possible hide behind a bush or a tree.

In baiting a hook insert the point of the hook near to the top of the worm's head, and carry it down to within a quarter of an inch of its tail. To do this you must work up the worm with your left thumb and finger, while with your right you are gradually pressing the hook downwards. If too much of the worm hangs loose the fish will seldom take the whole in their mouth, and will not be hooked. To bait a hook well with a worm is necessary to ensure catching a fish when you strike; and it consists in drawing the worm without injuring it quite over and up the shank of the hook, leaving only a small lively part of the tail below. If you bait with half a worm, choose the tail end, and insert the point of the hook into the top part, and bring it down nearly to the end of the tail, leaving only a very small piece of it free. If you bait with two worms on the same hook, draw the first up above the shank, and put the second on in the same manner as directed with one worm, but insert the hook near the tail of the second worm; then draw the first one down on the second over the shank of the hook.

RED WORM.--Found with the brandling but not so common. At their best in tan heaps, but are found also in the banks of ditches and sewers.

MARSH WORMS.--Known also as blue heads. Found in marshes at night, especially after rain. A good bait for gudgeon, trout, perch, bream, and grayling.

TAG TAIL.--Tail has a yellow tint. Found in fields in moist spring weather. Often preferred when the water is muddy, especially for trout.

WATER WORMS.--Found in sedges and at the bottom of dock roots. Turn up the long slimy moss on weirs for them. They are of a clear bluish white, occasionally very light purple, becoming red at the head. Fish eat them voraciously.

ASH GRUB.--Look for these in the bark of trees. They are good for grayling, dace, roach, or chub.

COW DUNG BAIT.--From May to the end of September these may be found under cow dung. They are eaten by roach, chub, grayling, and dace.

GENTLES.--The usual term, used in angling, for maggots. Putrid meat, especially liver, will produce them. They may be obtained from butchers or fell-mongers. Good for most fish.

LOB WORM.--Sometimes called the dew worm, or the wachel. It is the ordinary large garden worm. Dig for them if they are needed at once. If wet straw is strewed upon the ground for a couple of days they will come to the surface. In the evenings they come out, and a quiet search with a lantern in gardens, or church-yards, or on lawns will discover them. They are useful for trout, eels, large perch, barbel, chub, and salmon.

BRANDLING.--Search for these in chaff pits, old heaps of compost, rotten tan, sweepings, manure of all kinds and tanners' bark. Good for trout, grayling, carp, bream, and indeed for almost every fish.

MISCELLANEOUS BAITS.--Cockchafer, black or evening beetle, grasshoppers, moths, May-flies, caddis worms, bees, caterpillars, wasp-grubs, baked for half an hour, paste made of bread or cheese.

GROUND BAIT.--In addition to the bait upon the hook the angler usually strews what is known as ground bait, and so attracts the fish to where he is angling. It is chiefly by the judicious use of ground baits, and by fishing at a proper depth, that one angler is more successful than another, although fishing with the same baits and within a few yards of each other. If a place can be ground baited frequently fish begin to come there regularly for food. Care must be taken not to glut the fish, and the bait upon the hook ought to be more attractive than the bait flung into the stream. The ground bait most in use includes bran mixed with clay, and made into balls of about the size of a pigeon's egg. If the current is strong a stone in the ball may be needed. Another ground bait is made by cutting the crust from a loaf. Then cut the loaf into slices each about two inches thick. Put these slices into a deep vessel of water, and when the bread has been well soaked squeeze it until it is nearly dry. Add bran and knead the whole until the mixture is as stiff as clay. This is well adapted for still waters. Another ground bait is made of barley-meal one part, mashed potatoes three parts, stiff clay two parts, worked thoroughly well together, but better even than this is one composed of stiff clay with as much bran as it will hold without destroying its stickiness. At the water side separate pieces about the size of the egg of a goose, into which stick a few worms and gentles. As these drop from the dissolving clay they are seized on by the fish, who continue to wait in the expectation of more, and are thus ready to take the angler's bait, especially if it is more tempting than the ground bait. Boiled malt, barley, wheat, and such things, mixed with coarse sand to sink them also answer the purpose.

$Trout-fishing.$--In the Easter holidays boys are apt to find it difficult to decide just what to do. Football is nearly over, cricket is hardly in. It is still somewhat early for bird-nesting, except for rooks, and perhaps blackbirds and thrushes.

Just at this juncture the obliging trout come into season, and best of all, are ravenously hungry. Now is the time for the beginner to try his hand with the deceitful fly. Do not be discouraged, even if you have made a dismal failure of it last August. In the summer holidays it requires a practised hand to take trout with fly; but in April on a moorland stream a boy may go out and actually have some success on his first attempt. It will be wiser, certainly, to practise a little first, in your own garden, with all the tackle except the fly.

By "tackle" I don't mean necessarily a glittering rod, fresh from the shop, with a brilliant winch and gaudy fittings. It is well to get all these things if you can afford them, though they should be toned down before using; but want of money need not prevent a boy from trying his hand at trout-fishing. A long willow wand, or even a hazel stick will throw a fly if properly managed; and running tackle is not an absolute necessity, though in every respect advantageous.

The only things that must be bought are the hooks, and these are very cheap, as most boys know.

For this time of year your flies should be March browns and blue uprights, and need not be tied on very fine gut. The outfit that is required then need cost but a few shillings, but if you can spare more get a small fishing-basket, and a fly-book, with a stock of flies. Thus equipped and with good boots you may fish for weeks without needing to visit a shop.

In order to learn how to throw a fly you should persuade a friend to show you the way he does it. This need not be at the river, nor need you tax your friend's time to any great extent. After you have once learnt the knack practice only is required to enable you to throw a fly fairly, though it may be years before you can do so well.

This preliminary trial (during which you will have wound the line round your neck a few times) being over, you can go with some confidence to the stream. Arrived at the bank, don't peer over to see whether there are any trout, because if you do there won't be any--at least, not after you have shown yourself.

If convenient, make for a point some distance down-stream, and work upwards. By this plan you will have a chance of circumventing the trout, even if the water be clear, and not rough. In rough or coloured water these tactics are not necessary, and, in fact, it is as well, because much easier, to fish down-stream under such circumstances.

Let us take first the case of clear water, not very rough. Keep back from the edge and stoop a little, taking advantage of any cover, even the stump of a thistle. Watch for a rise, and, if possible, throw your fly lightly a little above it, and let it float down over the fish. Should the fish be extra silly he may take your fly, and then you must strike, as in bait-fishing, but with less force.

If you are fishing a northern stream, or a Devon or Cornwall brook, you will find it worth while to go on casting even if you see no rises; but on Hampshire, or other slow running rivers, the usual plan is to wait for a rise. But this style of fishing, though practised with some success by the lucky fellows who are in Winchester School, is not altogether suited for the restless nature of a boy.

To return to the fish which has taken your fly. Being a little one (for nothing large would be so silly), he will give you little trouble to land. Take care, though, to guide him down-stream; which, being below him, you can easily do. Lift him out as quietly as you can, and lose no time in getting your flies on the water once more. I say flies, because you will find it best to use two in ordinary fly-fishing.

The upper fly, or "bob," as it is called, should be two feet or more from the tail, and should only have about three inches of gut attached to it, so that it may stick out nearly at right angles with the line. It should be fastened to a knot in the gut, so that it may not slip up and down.

There are several ways of fastening it on, but they cannot be fully explained without diagrams, and a boy of any ingenuity can easily find out for himself.

The plan most commonly adopted, that of looping it on, though it is not so neat as a knot, has the advantage of permitting the fly to be changed easily--a great point when the trout are fickle.

Having landed your first trout, do not try again in the same place, but work gradually upwards, trying every likely pool and eddy; but not casting more than two or three times in one place. If you succeed in getting two or three little trout on your first attempt in clear water you may think yourself lucky.

In April 'tis likely enough you may find the water coloured and high. If it is in flood, or approaching to it, of course the worm or minnow should be used; but of these anon.

We will suppose the stream to be but little above its usual level, and of that rich brownish colour so dear to the heart of the angler. Doubtless a worm or a minnow might still succeed; but a fly will give abundant sport, and that without requiring a high degree of skill.

Your mode of procedure need not now be so cautious as before described; and, in fact, you will find down-stream fishing often best in a coloured water. Throw, then, a long line right across the stream, near the edge of which you can safely show yourself, and work your flies across and towards you, striking smartly at any rise. You will often miss, for in down-stream fishing a strike tends to pull the fly out of the fish's mouth, besides which the trout, on touching the surface, having his head towards you, is apt to get a sight of your rod, and to rise "short."

If the weather and water are both favourable for down-stream fishing, you will have lots of rises, and some of the fish at least will fasten, so that you have a chance of getting a dozen or so on a good day, even before you have acquired any great skill.

The best fly for thick water I have found to be the soldier palmer, a red fly with gold twist, but it will not always succeed. A March brown, or a blue upright, or blue palmer with silver twist, may also be useful. Remember that the thicker the water the larger and more gaudy the fly may be.

We have to consider the chance of the water being too thick for fly. Then either minnow or worm will answer, the former in moderately thick water, and the latter in an absolute flood, unless the water is like pea soup. The minnow is used on a short line, with a longish rod. It requires considerable skill, and cannot be practised with safety in strange water by the beginner, or the minnow will constantly be getting lost by fouling snags. As minnows are expensive, this is a bad sort of sport for a boy with limited pocket-money.

It is a favourite, however, with the professional angler in the north, and _he_ doesn't lose his minnows. It is a treat to see one of these gentry spin a rough run with his minnow, and take two or three good trout where an amateur would do nothing but lose tackle.

The best way to learn to spin a minnow is to watch an old hand do it; but if the stream you fish is free from snags you might find it worth while to try to learn without such teaching. If so, be careful to keep the tip of the rod near the water, and, using a short line, to spin your minnow near the surface. If you get a run don't snatch your minnow away, but keep it steadily on. Very likely the trout may bite short, but there is always a good chance that one of the revolving hooks may catch his jaw. If you do hook a fish get him out quickly, for your tackle being stout (as it must be for minnow-fishing) will bear the strain of anything short of a snatch.

To turn to worm-fishing. It is, of course, comparatively easy to get a few fish with a worm, but it takes a practised hand to take a basketful, even from thick water. A couple of shot will generally be enough, and they should be about a foot from the hook, which should be large, unless you use the Stewart tackle, which consists of two or three small hooks. A small marsh worm is considered best, but a brandling or a red worm will answer; or in a flood the tail half of a lob worm. The worm should be kept rolling along the bottom of fairly swift water, where the soil is gravelly; and a little time should be given when you feel a bite. In this way not only are large trout often taken in a flood, but sea trout, grilse, and sometimes salmon. A delicate hand is the chief requisite; but much judgment is also required in deciding which pools to fish, and when to shift your ground, according to the rising or falling of the water.

There is a sort of worm-fishing which is very different from the kind just described. The tackle used is much finer, and the method altogether different. For as it is practised in the clearest water and in the hottest weather, it is necessary to take great care not to be seen, and to avoid the slightest possible disturbance of the water. A very small red worm is used on one or two tiny hooks, and the boy who can take good trout in this way is as much a skilled angler as any fly-fisher can claim to be.

$Fishing for Roach.$--Most boys know what a roach is like, so it will be enough by way of description to say that it is a fish of the carp tribe, of a silvery colour, and covered with scales. Its fins are of a pale, pinkish grey, and its mouth is small and soft, suited best for vegetable food.

The roach grows sometimes to two pounds in weight, but in most rivers one pound is considered large, whilst in ponds the fish seems to deteriorate, and swarms of little roach are generally to be seen, but very few fish of over a quarter of a pound.

In rivers roach should not be killed unless they are seven or eight inches long; but in ponds, where they are very numerous, it is best to keep all that are caught. More food is thus left for the remainder.

The roach spawns in May, and is, therefore, out of condition from the end of April till June or July. It is fattest and most healthy in autumn and winter, and when caught from a clear river will be found fairly good eating. Pond roach taste muddy; but before we bring our fish to table we must learn how to catch it.

The rod should be long, light, and stiff. White cane is best, but is very dear; and the rods now to be had at many tackle-makers for three or four shillings will answer nearly as well. They are of Japanese make, and have no metal on them, which makes them light and cheap, though less durable than the expensive English rods.

For the line, if roach only are expected, nothing is better than good single horse-hair. If there are large carp about, fine gut will be better; but carp do not feed after October. In any case, it will be found convenient to have a few inches of fine plaited silk for that part of the line which is next the rod. The float should be as small as can conveniently be used, and if the fish are very shy, a little rough bit of stick is sometimes preferable. A porcupine quill is generally best, and just enough shot to sink it within a quarter of an inch, or less, of the surface should be put on the line. One of the shot should be placed within six inches of the hook, and the rest about a foot higher. The hook should be of fine wire and about No. 12.

It is important to see that the hair or gut on which this is tied is perfectly round and clear.

With regard to baits, the very best are wasp-grubs; but these are often unobtainable, and gentles (the maggots of the friendly bluebottle) answer fairly well. A cleaner and pleasanter bait to use is paste, made from bread one day old. This should be dipped in water, and then quickly squeezed dry with clean hands, or in a cloth. In some rivers--the Ouse for instance--boiled wheat is a very good bait.

In order to find the depth, use a little roll of lead, called a plummet. This should be attached to the line, close to the hook, by being partly unrolled, to admit the hook, and then fastened again; and the depth should be plumbed as soon as the tackle is ready, and before bait is prepared. The operation necessarily disturbs the fish, and time must elapse before they will feed. It is desirable to keep well away from the water while putting your rod together, and, if possible, even while fishing.

Many roach fishers carry a light square box, or basket, which serves for a seat. These anglers will sit still for hours, patiently waiting for the roach to come on; they are often very successful. When a roach is hooked, the angler retains his seat, and in order to bring the fish to the net, will remove the butt and second joint of the rod. This is also done when rebaiting. It is the great length of the rod and the shortness of the line that makes this necessary. But to return to the method of fishing: the depth being ascertained, the float should be so placed that the bait will just touch the bottom at the shallowest part of the swim, and only a foot of line should be used between the float and the top of the rod.

Calm weather is best for roach-fishing, as it is easier to see the bites; but if there is a gentle wind from south or west, sport is often good.

In summer, evening is much the best, but at this time of year roach will often feed all day. Let us suppose that you start fishing on a calm afternoon in February or March, and on reaching the river, which is free for fishing, wonder where to begin. It is lined with rushes, but here and there are gaps, and on the banks at some of these points you notice scraps of ground-bait on the ground, and you also see that the grass is trampled and worn. This shows that anglers have found the spot a good one. Seat yourself, or stand quietly near one of these points, and put your rod together. Then attach your line and plummet as described, and when all the rest is ready put in a little ground-bait, some yards above your swim. Chewed bread will do if you have no bran to mix with it.

If your tackle is in order, and the roach are there, you will have a nibble before many minutes; but at this stage of your education it is useless to strike at nibbles. Keep on the alert, and you will find that if you can manage to strike as the float is sinking, when a bite occurs, you will hook your fish; not otherwise. A gentle jerk is enough, as your little hook is sharp, and the roach's mouth soft.

Violence risks breaking the line, and in any case disturbs the fish unduly.

If the roach is of good size, remember that your tackle is weak, and play your fish carefully; and don't attempt to get it out, whether with net or otherwise, till quite exhausted. Even if you have only a small fish it is well to land him gently, or you will scare others.

When placing the line do not flop it in, but let it sink bait first, and be prepared for a bite the moment the float cocks, for the first few seconds are the best. There is also a good chance at the end of the swim. If there is a stream the top of your rod must follow the course of the float. The rule, as to only a foot of line above the float, may be relaxed if the swim is long, for to walk along is most undesirable; it scares the fish by shaking the banks. You should stand still, or better sit still while roach-fishing. Even this rule has many exceptions. If, for instance, the stream is very rapid, the saving in time effected by following your float may more than compensate for the disturbance caused by your footsteps.

In swift or flooded streams fish are less easily scared than when the water is quiet. Under these circumstances a worm is often better bait than paste, or even than gentles.

Again, in clear water which is swift and not deep it may be desirable to let out line by using running tackle. In this way you may reach fish which are too shy to let you get within casting distance of them.

The Nottingham anglers are particularly expert at this sort of fishing, and use rods and reels which are specially adapted for it. They are very successful on their own river, the Trent, and have introduced their style on the Thames, and even the Lea, and have sometimes taken fish when ordinary fishing was useless. They are very skilful in casting from the reel without unwinding any line first; but many different circumstances must be studied before the sort of fishing most effective can be chosen.

Rules are very necessary; but the young angler will soon find that the most important thing is to find out when the exceptions, which are so numerous and important, come in. This can best be learnt by careful study of the habits of the fish, carried on patiently, day after day, at the water-side.

$The Fishing Season.$--On June 16th the "close" time comes to an end, and boys may fish in free water for any kind of fish, from bleak to barbel.

If we have had a very genial spring, many fish will have finished spawning and be getting into condition, so that there will be no harm in taking advantage of legal permission, and beginning to fish as soon as opportunity occurs.

It will be found that many fish, especially chub and dace, can be caught much better at this season by flies, either natural or artificial, than by the usual float and shot system.

A common house fly, used either on the top of the water or sunk by a single shot, will be found very effective, both for these fish and for roach, rudd, and bleak. Chub will take any large insect readily, if it is presented to them in an artistic manner--that is, in such a way that they can see little of either tackle or angler.

On some parts of the Lea the wooded banks and deep holes afford capital chances for dapping for chub--a kind of fishing in which a boy with some patience and ingenuity should be very successful.

No cumbrous tackle is required, only a long, light, and stiff rod, and two or three yards of medium gut, ending in a foot or two of finer stuff, with a largish hook, about No. 6 or 7. Running tackle would seldom be of use, as the awkward places, overgrown by bushes, in which the best chub are usually hooked, make it very desirable to keep your line short. If the chub run large (two pounds or more), you will have to use stout tackle, or even carry a landing net.

If you have a bamboo rod, which is hollow throughout (through the knots), it is a good plan to pass the line through the middle, instead of the rings. In this way one disadvantage of using running tackle is avoided--the rod can be pushed through bushes, etc., without entangling the line.

Another and more lively plan for chub catching is to whip for them with the artificial fly; and in this case running tackle is, of course, necessary.

In the shallower parts of the rivers you will get more dace and bleak than chub in this way, and very pretty sport it is, only second to trout-fishing.

When you are trying for roach only, it is best to use a sunk fly, and to move it up and down very gently. You can feel the roach bite if you have a delicate hand, but if you find this difficult put on a small gentle with the fly. This can be seen at a considerable depth, and will disappear, of course, when the roach takes the fly.

It also forms an additional attraction, and at a pinch will do alone; but I have found the house fly generally more effective. Single hair is best for your line, unless you see large chub cruising about, which is often the case.

In this sort of fishing you can generally watch your quarry, and you have to be very careful that they do not see too much of you.

It will be found far more interesting than regular bottom-fishing, and requires more thought and more resource for its successful prosecution.

Among the insects most useful for bait, the grasshopper stands (or jumps) pre-eminent, but is not often obtainable much before July. The cow-dung fly has a brilliant yellow colour, which is very fascinating to roach; and the green caterpillar (to be obtained by tapping the boughs of oaks) is almost irresistible, especially to trout. The oak-fly, called also "the up and down fly," from the position it always assumes on the oak trunk, is equally attractive, and no doubt would be appreciated also by other fish.

The hottest and calmest weather is best for this sort of fishing, as it is usually worst for the other sorts.

In case the day should be windy or otherwise unsuitable for dapping, and yet the season too early to fish the deeps, a good plan is to put on a very small quill float, and one shot; and, using a No. 10 or 11 hook and a single gentle, to fish the shallow gravelly runs from as great a distance as you can manage.

The "Nottingham" method is very useful for this purpose. This consists in using a free running wooden reel, and a light line, and throwing from the reel. It is difficult, but very useful on open rivers, where fishing fine and far off is essential.

Of course, you have to fish down-stream by this method, and will often miss your fish when striking; but that is better than getting no bites--the usual result of fishing under your nose at this time of year. Occasionally you may get hold of a barbel in this way, when using gentles for bait; and, if so, it will not be easy to land him, though he is not so strong now as he would be later on.

Bream-fishing will be coming on before long, and the early boy will get the bream. Before sunrise is the best time, and for this fish-tackle of a different sort is required. A strong rod with rings is useful, and the gut and reel line may be stout.

If the water is deep, use a long float and fairly heavy lead, and fish on the bottom with a worm (a small lob by preference) on a large hook. Put in ground-bait, over-night if possible, and lose no time when fishing. A three-pound bream can be got out in two minutes, and twenty or thirty may thus be had in an hour or two of early morning, and, perhaps, not another all day, though in the Norfolk broads I've known the bites continue till mid-day.

Roach-fishing proper is not in season till August, and has been described in these pages.

Jack should be let alone for a month or two yet, and perch are scarcely in order.

In conclusion, let me suggest that all fish found to be out of condition should be gently returned to the water.