It  is  recommended  also  to  ground-bait  the  spot  where
you  intend  to  fish,  some  hours  before  you  commence
operations.  This  is  a  dirty  unsportsmanlike  process,  very
well  for  cockneys  and  punt-fishers,  who  seem  to  revel  in
preparing  filthy  composts  of  blood,  grease,  garbage,
chickens'  guts,  etc.,  but  utterly  unworthy  of  the  genuine
angler.  For  the  edification,  however,  of  those  who  prac-
tise these  nauseous  and  unskilful  tricks,  we  subjoin  the
following  recipe,  which  was  given  to  us  by  a  keeper
who  put  great  confidence  in  it;  and  invariably  used  it
when  he  wanted  carp  for  the  table.
"  Take  a  quantity  of  well-cooked  veal,  a  handful  of
oatmeal,  and  a  little  honey,  bruise  them  in  a  mortar,  and
mix  them  into  a  thin  paste  or  batter,  with  new  milk
and  a  few  drops  of  assa&etida.
u  Crush  down  in  a  mortar  a  quantity  of  worms,  gentles,


BAIT    FOR    TENCH.  143

slugs,  and  some  lumps  of  the  most  tallowy  Cheshire
cheese  you  can  find  ;  thicken  the  veal  batter  into  a  thick
paste  with  this  compound,  and  then  roll  it  up  into  little
balls;  these  balls  must  be  thrown  into  a  compost  of  tallow
greaves,  and  grains  steeped  in  bullock's  blood,  and  the
whole  mess  sunk  in  the  place  you  intend  to  fish  some
hours  before  you  commence."

This,  we  were  informed,  is  a  most  attractive  ground-
bait,  and,  sure  we  are,  it  is  sufficiently  nasty  to  satisfy
the  most  inflexible  advocates  of  this  unsportsmanlike
practice.
Carp,  like  pike,  may  be  taken  with  the  snare,  when
they  lie  basking  in  the  sun.  The  operator  must  conceal
himself  as  much  as  he  can,  and  then  no  more  dexterity  is
required  than  in  snaring  pike.  This  is  by  no  means  an
uncommon  practice  in  France.
