enough for a lob-worm: then finding a place free from weeds, about the compass of the crown of a hat, let him drop his bait without a float, and with only one large shot upon the line, which he must lodge upon the leaf of some adjoining weed, so that the bait may not be above eight inches in the water; then retiring, but so as to keep his eye upon the shot, let him wait till he sees it taken away, with about a foot of the line, and then strike when he has hooked his fish, let him keep him tight, and not suffer him to entangle himself among the weeds: but either draw him out by main force, or pull him into a clear place. N. B. The foregoing method is an excellent one, and great numbers of carp may be taken by it in ponds that are well stocked. THE BREAM. The time of the bream's spawning is in June: his chief residence is in ponds: he is a bony fish, and very slow of growth. From St. James's tide. to Bartholomew tide is the best time to angle for him, and the best time of the day in that season is from sun-rise to eight o'clock, in a gentle stream, the water being rather thick and curled with a good breeze. He delights in the deepest and widest parts of the water, and if the bottom is clear and sandy it is the better. His baits are gentles, red-worms, gilt-tails, and grasshoppers: when he takes your bait he makes for the opposite shore, therefore give him play, for though he is a strong-made fish, he will not struggle much, but two or three times fall on one side, and you may land him very easily. Angle for him with a strong line, with gut at bottom, the hook No. 4; and throw in the place you intend to angle for him, a ground-bait made of malt, grains, bran, blood, and clay, the night before; and you may fish with two or three lines, plumbed to different depths, and follow the method which is laid down for the carp. The French esteem this fish highly, and have this proverb concerning him, that he who has breams in his pond, is able to bid his friend welcome. The best part of a bream is his belly and head. THE PIKE. The pike is a very long-lived fish, according to Lord Bacon and Gesner, who say he out-lives all others. He is called the tyrant of the waters, and will almost seize upon any thing, nay unnaturally devour his own kind. He spawns in February or March: the best pike are those that are found in rivers, those in ponds are not near so good: the larger he is, the coarser the food, and so vice versa. He feeds on small fishes and frogs, and on a weed called pickerel, from which some assert he derives his being he is a solitary, melancholy, and bold fish, always being by himself, and never swimming in shoals, or in company with other fishes. There are two ways of angling for the pike, by the ledger-bait and the walking-bait. First, the ledger-bait is that fixed in one certain place, and which the angler may leave, and angle for other fish of this kind, the best is some living bait, as a dace, gudgeon, roach, or live frog. To apply it, if a fish, stick the hook through his upper lip, or back-fin, then fastening it to a strong line, ten or twelve yards long, tie the other end to some stake : in the ground, or stump of a tree, near the pike's haunt, letting the line pass over the fork of a stick placed for that purpose, and suspending the hook by a yard of the line in the water; but so as when the pike bites the fork may give way, and let him have line enough to go to his hold and pouch the bait. If you bait with a frog, put the arming-wire in at his mouth, and out at his gill; then tie the frog's leg above the upper joint to the armed wire. Secondly, the walking-bait is that which the fisher attends to himself, and is called trowling, from the French of troller, to move or walk about. Before I proceed any further in this mode of angling for the pike, I shall give the angler a description of that kind of rod, line, and hooks necessary to be used. Your rod must be a strong one, and ringed for the line to pass through, and about three yards and a half long; your line, about thirty yards long, wound upon a winch, to be placed on the butt end of your rod, and with which you may always keep your line to any length; at the end of your line next your hook let there be a swivel. The hooks that are most general are the two following ones they are forined and baited in this manner. The first is no more than two single hooks (though you may buy their made of one piece of wire) tied back to back, with a strong piece of gimp between the shanks; in whipping the gimp and hooks together, make a small loop, and take into it two links of chain, about an eighth of an inch diameter; and in the lower link (by means of a staple of wire) fasten by the greater end a bit of lead, of a conical figure, and angular at the point. The second hook may be either single or double, with a long shank, and leaded two inches up the wire with a piece of lead about a quarter of an inch square; at the greater or lower end fix to the shank an armed wire about four inches long, and at the top of the wire, about half a yard of gimp, with a loop at the top of that; to bait this hook you must have a brass needle about seven inches long; put the loop of the gimp on the eye, or small curve of the needle, then thrust it into the mouth of the fish, and bring it out at his tail, drawing the gimp and wire along with it till the lead is fixed in the belly of the bait-fish, and the hook or hooks are come to his mouth; then turn the points of the hooks towards his eyes, if a double hook, but if a single one, directly in a line with his belly, and tie his tail to the arming-wire very neatly, with white thread: I always, whether the hook be double or single, put a small piece of a worm on the point or points of it, which prevents their pricking the pike, for if it does he will instantly leave it. To bait the former, put the lead into the mouth of the bait-fish, and sew it up, the fish will live some time; and though the weight of the lead will keep his head downwards, he will swim with nearly the same ease as if at liberty. Either of the former hooks being baited and fastened to the swivel, cast it into the water, and keep it in constant motion, sometimes letting it sink and at others raising it gradually, chiefly throwing it into the parts of the pond, meer, or river, where his haunts are most usual; as near banks, under stumps of trees, by the side of bulrushes, waterdocks, weeds, or bushes; but in any of these places you need never make above a trial or two for him, for if he is there he will instantly seize the bait. When you draw your bait near the bank, play it longer there, first deep, then raise it higher and higher by degrees, till you bring it so near the top that you can see it glitter; take it not hastily out, because he often takes it near the top. When he has taken it, give him line, and let him run to his hold and pouch it; allow him in general five minutes' law, then strike him, and divert yourself with him as you please. But if after he has run on with the bait to his hold, and rests there but about a minute, and then runs quickly off with it again, do not strike him until he has rested a second time; and not then until the five minutes are expired, unless he runs off again before they are; which if he does, draw a tight line and strike him immediately; if he resists very much, give him line enough, which will soon exhaust his strength; and when you pull him towards you, do not do it violently; for if you do he will launch and plunge in such a manner, that though he may not be able to break your tackle, yet he will tear away his hold, nay even his entrails if he is hooked there; but if you feel him come easily towards you, wind up your line until you see him; then if he struggles again very much, give him line again, and so proceed till you have killed him: by following which methods you will soon accomplish. The pike bites best from the middle of summer to the end of autumn, about three in the afternoon, in clear water, ruffled with a gentle gale, but in winter all day long; and in the spring he bites early in the morning and late in the evening. The best baits for him are small roaches, daces, bleaks, &c. if the day be dark and cloudy; but a gudgeon is the best, if the water is clear and the day bright and fine. Your live baits should be kept in a tin kettle, with holes |