To take a Carp either in Pond or River, if you mean to have sport with some profit, you must take a peck of Ale-graines, and a good quantity of any bloud, and mix the bloud and graines together, and cast it in the places where you meane to Angle; this feed will gather the scale Fish together, as Carp, Tench, Roach, Dace, and Bream; the next morning be at your sport very early, plum your ground: you may Angle for the Carp with a strong Line; the Bait must be either a red knotted worm, or Paste: there is no doubt of sport.
To take Pearch. The Pearch feeds well, if you light where they be, and bites very free: My opinion is, (with some experience) to bait with Lob-worms, chopt in pieces over night; so come in the morning betimes, plum your ground, gage your line, bait your hook with a red knotted worme; but I hold a Menow better: put the hook in at the back of the Menow, betwixt the fish and the skin, that the Menow may swim up and down alive, being boyed up with a Cork or Quill, that the Menow may have liberty to swimme a foot off the ground: there is no doubt of sport with profit.
I will shew, a little, my opinion of floating for scale fish in the River or Pond: The feed brings the Fish together, as the sheep to the Pen: There is nothing better in all your Anglings, for feed, then Bloud and Grains; I hold it better then Paste: then plumming your ground, Angling with fine Tackles, as single haire for halfe the Line next the hook, round and small plumed, according to your float: For the Bait, there is a small red worm, with a yellow tip on his taile, is very good; Brandlins, Gentles, Paste, or Cadice, which we call Cod-bait, they lye in a gravelly husk under stones in the River: these be the speciall Baits for these kinde of Fish.
One of my name was the best Trouler, for a Pike, in this Realme: he laid a wager, that he would take a Pike of four foot long, of Fish, within the space of one Moneth, with his Trouling-Rod; so he Trouled three weeks and odde days, and took many great Pikes, nigh the length, but did not reach the full length, till within the space of three dayes of the time; then he took one, and won the wager. The manner of his Trouling was, with a Hazell Rod of twelve foot long, with a Ring of Wyre in the top of his Rod, for his Line to runne thorow: within two foot of the bottome of the Rod there was a hole made, for to put in a winde, to turne with a barrell, to gather up his Line, and loose at his pleasure; this was his manner of Trouling: But I will pawn my credit, that I will shew a way, either in Maior, Pond, or River, that shall take more Pikes than any Trouler with his Rod: And thus it is. First, take forked stick, a Line of twelve yards long wound upon it, at the upper end, leave about a yard, either to tye a bunch of Sags, or a Bladder, to Boy up the Fish, and to carry it from the ground: the Bait must be a live Fish, either Dace, or Gudgin, or Roach, or a small Trout: the forked stick must have a slit in the one side of the fork to put in the Line, that you may set your live Fish to swimme at a gage, that when the Pike taketh the Bait, he may have the full liberty of the Line for his feed.
You may turne these loose, either in Pond or River: in the Pond with the winde all day long, the more the better: at night set some small weight, as may stay the Boy, as a Ship lyeth at Anchor, till the Fish taketh. For the River, you must turn all loose with the streame; two or three be sufficient to shew pleasure, gaged at such a depth as they will go currant downe the River; there is no doubt of sport, if there be Pikes: for the hooks, they must be doubled books, the shanks should be somewhat shorter than ordinary: my reason is, the shorter the hook is of the shank, it will hurt the live Fish the lesse, and must be armed with small wyre well softned; but I hold a hook armed with twisted silk to be better, for it will hurt the live fish least.
If you arm your hook with wyre, the neeld must be made with a small hook at the one end thereof. If you arme with silke, the neeld must be made with an eye: then must you take one of those Baits alive (which you can get) and with one of your neelds enter within a strawes breath of the Gill of the Fish, so put the neeld betwixt the skin and the Fish; then pull the neeld out at the hindmost finne, and draw the arming thorow the Fish, until the hook come to lye close to the Fishes bodie: But I hold for those that be armed with wyre to take off the hook, and put the neeld in the hindmost fin and so to come forth at the Gill; then put on the hook drawn close to the body, 'twill hurt the live Fish the less, so knit the arming with the live Fish to the Line; then put off either in Maior or Pond, with the winde, in the River with the stream: The more you put off in Maior or Pond, you are like to have the more pleasure: For the River I have shewed you before.
There is a time when Pikes goe a Frogging Ditches, and in the River to Sun them, as in May, June and July, there is a speedy way to take them, and not to misse scarce one in twenty.
You must take a Line of six or eight foot long, arm a large hook, of the largest size that is made; arm it to your Line, lead the shank of your hook very handsom, that it may be of such a weight as you may guide the hook at your pleasure: you may strike the Pike, you see, with the bare hook where you please: this Line and hook doth far exceed snaring.
The principall sport to take a Pike, is to take a Goose or Gander, or Duck: take one of the Pike Lines I have shewed you before: tye the Line under the left wing, and over the right wing, about the body, as a man weareth his Belt: turne the Goose off into a Pond, where Pikes are, there is no doubt of sport, with great pleasure, betwixt the Goose and the Pike: It is the greatest sport and pleasure that a noble Gentleman in Shropshire doth give his friends entertainment with.