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When you have struck him, he will plunge and bounce in the water very much, therefore it is necessary to have a strong rod, ringed the same as a trowling-rod, and a winch, with a strong line on it forty yards long, with which length, and a proper playing him, you may kill the largest sized one. He has not a constant residence like a trout, but removes often, and you should always angle for him as near the spring-head as possible, in the deepest and broadest parts of the river, near the ground. Put two large lob-worms on at a time, and you may fish without a float, that is, with a running line. Let one yard next to your hook be gimp, and your hook a proper sized salmon-hook. No. 1.

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N. B. When I come to treat of fly-fishing, the proper flies for the salmon, &c. will be clearly expressed.

The Trout.

The Trout is a delicious fresh-water fish, speckled with red and yellow; coming in and going out of season with the buck, and spawning in the cold months of October and November, whereas all other fishes spawn in the hot summer months. There are several species of this fish, all valued very much: but the best are the red and yellow; and of these the female distinguished by a less head and deeper body, is preferred; by the largeness of their backs you may know when they are in season, which may serve as a rule for all other fishes. All winter long they are sick, lean, and unwholesome, and frequently lousy. As the spring advances, deserting the still deep waters, they repair to the gravelly ground, again which

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they continue to rub, till they have got rid of their lice, which are a kind of worm, with large heads; from that time they delight to be in sharp streams, and such as are very swift; where they lie in wait for minnows, May-flies, &c. The latter part of May they are in the highest perfection. He is usually caught with a worm, minnow, or fly, either natural, or artificial; the different baits for him are the earth-worm, dung-worm, and the maggot, or gentle, but the best are the lob-worm and brandling. His haunts are, in purling brooks running very swift over chalk stones, gravel, &c. he is oftener taken in the side of the stream, than in it, though the large ones are often caught in the deepest part of it. He delights to shelter himself behind large stones, or small banks, that hang over the river, which the stream running against, creates foam; also in the eddies between two. streams; his hold is usually under the roots of trees, and in hollow banks in the deepest parts of rivers. When you angle for him at the ground, let the link of your line, next the hook, be the best silk worm gut you can provide; and have a nice elastic rod, which will enable you to strike true, and to feel him when he bites. Angle for him with a running line, and begin at the upper part of the stream, carrying your line with an upright hand, and feeling your lead run on the ground about ten inches from the hook, leading your line according to the swiftness of the stream; as before directed. If you bait either with one, or two worms, follow the manner of baiting with them which I have laid down in the rules, and you will run on the ground without being entangled.

There is a very killing method likewise for a large trout: make a pair of wings of the feather

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of a land-rail, and point your hook with one or more cadis's; your hook should be bristled, that is, when you whip on your hook, fasten a hog's bristle under the silk, with the end standing out about a straw's breadth at the head of the hook, from under the silk, and pointing towards the line, by which means the head of the cadis will be kept close to the wings: angle with a rod about five yards long, and a line about three; cast the wings and cadis up the stream, which will drive it down under the water towards the lower part of the hole; then draw it up the stream very gently, though irregularly, at the same time shaking your rod, and in a few casts you will be sure to hook him, if there is one in the hole. You may angle the same way with two brandlings. If you use two cadis's with the wings, run your hook in at the head and out at the neck of the first, and quite throngh the other from head to tail.

The minnow is the most excellent of all baits for the trout; when you fish with one, chuse the whitest, and middle-sized ones, these being the best; and you must place him on your hook in such a manner, that being drawn against the stream he may turn round. The best way of baiting with a minnow is thus: put your hook in at his mouth, and out at his gill, drawing it through about three inches: then put the hook again into his mouth, and let the point and beard come out at his tail; then tie the hook and his tail about with a fine white thread, and let the body of the minnow be almost strait on the hook; then try if it turns well, which it cannot do too fast. Angle with the point of your rod down the stream, drawing the minnow up the stream by little and little, near the top of the water. When the

the trout sees the bait, he will come most fiercely at it, but be careful not to snatch it away, which at first you may be apt to do; and never strike till he has turned with the bait.

N. B. In this way of angling, a ringed rod is to be always used, with a winch for your line, which should have two or three swivels on it; by which means the minnow will spin the better.

The rivers most famous for trout are, the Kennet near Hungerford, in Berkshire; the Stower, in Kent, which runs through Canterbury, and is said to breed the best trouts in the south-east of England; thofe in the Wandle, near Cashalton in. Surry; the Amerly, in Sussex; the Dove, Wye, Lathkin, and Bradford, in Derbyshire; Ribble and Irk, in Lancashire; and in the Usk and Wye, in Monmouthshire, are accounted excellent trouts; but to speak impartially, no one can absolutely determine in what particular river or brook are the most and best trouts. This, however, is certain, that trouts are better or worse, bigger or less, according to the nature of the soil on which the river runs: pure clear, transparent streams, running on rocks, pebbles, or more especially lime-stones or flints, are experimentally found to breed, and afford the most delicate and best trouts. The hook No. 2 or 3.

The Gragling, Grayling, or Umber.

This fish has three different names given it, according to the different parts of England where it is found; he is by no means a general fish, and what anglers seldom meet with, except in the rivers Dove and Trent, and some other small streams, particularly in that which runs by Salis

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bury. The haunts of the grayling are nearly the. same of the trout; and in fishing for either of them, you may catch both. They spawn the beginning of April, when they lie mostly in sharp streams; in December he is in his prime, at which time his gills and head are blackish, and his belly dark grey, studded with black spots. He bites very freely, but is often lost when struck, his mouth being very tender. Angle for him about mid-water, he being much more apt to rise than descend; and when you angle for him alone, and not for the trout also, use a quill float, with the bait about six or seven inches from the ground. He takes brandlings, gilt-tails, meadow worms, gentles, &c. but the most excellent bait for him in March or April is the tag-tail.

The hook No. 10.

The Carp.

The carp is allowed to be the queen of fresh water fishes (as the salmon is the king) and lives longer than any other fish (except the eel) out of its element. They breed several times in one year; but their first spawning time is in May Mr. Ray assures us that in Holland they have a speedy way of fattening them, by hanging them up in a net in a cellar, and feeding them with bread and milk. Patience is highly necessary for every one to be endowed with who angles for carps, on account of their sagacity and cunning; their haunts are in the deepest parts of ponds and rivers, and in the latter where the streams run slow. When the weather in April, May, June, July, and August, is hot and fine, you cannot be too early or late at the sport. He seldom refuses

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