THE complete Troller, OR, THE ART OF TROLLING.  
WITH A Description of all the Utensils, Instruments, Tackling, and Materials requisite thereto: With Rules and Directions how to use them.  
AS ALSO A Brief Account of most of the Principal RIVERS in ENGLAND.  
By a Lover of the Sport.  — Trahit sua quemque voluptas. 
LONDON, Printed by T. James for Tho. Helder at the Angel in Little Britain, 1682.   

To the Right Worshipful JAMES TRYON ESQUIRE, OF Bullwick in Northamptonshire; A Favourer of this ART. The Author wisheth all Health and Honour here, and Happiness hereafter.  
SIR,  
TIs both my duty and my debt, to return the improvement of my talent to you, from whom I first received it, and to pay my thanks for those borrowed sparks which have since kindled and increased into a flamme. That debtor is too ungrateful, and deserves to have no favour shew'd him in the principal, that never comes to pay, much less aclowledge an interest. This Obligation, Sir, was one Motive to address this Piece to you, having at first been initiated in this little Art I pretend to, by your Brother and yourself; but fearing withal the severe and critical censure of a more judicious Eye. Be pleased therefore to accept of this small Tribute, not for any worth or desert of its own, but as a Token of my Gratitude. Yuor Name( I confess) is too Great to stand in the Front of so inconsiderable a Paper as this, wherewith I here present you, and might make a suitable Frontispiece for some for more excellent Work. Whatever it be, it begs your Candid Acceptance; it may parhaps need, but I fear it deserves not so good a Patron. Another reason( Sir) why I offer this Tract to you, is an Ambition I have to bring the World better acquainted with so great a part of its own Treasure, and to make it know that there are yet some such worthy Persons as yourself, whom even they that are Enemies to this present World, cannot refuse both to love and honour. I shall forbear at this time to display your Merits, in reference to my own particular; least he that reads this and sees Your Name praefixed, may expect more by the Epistle than is performed in the Book. And so I make myself Guilty of his Pride and Indiscretion, that sets a fair Porch before a sorry Building. This only Sir, I shall endeavour, and do beg You to believe, that I shall always be industrious to manifest myself,  
Right Worshipful, Yours in all Christian Services, RO. NOBBES.   

TO THE Ingenious Reader.  
Good Reader,  
IT is not any desire either of profit or credit, that induced me to writ this Piece, but only the solicitations of some private Friends, concurring with my own Nature and Inclination, which was always addicted to this Sport, I never could see any thing of this Subject in particular: The complete Angler hints the most at it, as first of the Nature and Generation, and Age of a Pike, quoting the same Author Gesner that I do. He also observes some Physical Effects of him, the Spawning time, all sorts of Baits; especially of the Frog, he speaks much, and the Ledger Bait. He hath inserted a Story of the Antipathy between a Land Frog, which he conceives venomous, and a Pike in a Pond in Bohemia. He shows the way to bait the Hook, as also to play it with Bladders, bulrushes, &c. Teaches a way to charm and invite the fish, by sweetening the Bait with Gum of Ivy dissolved in Oil of Spike; as likewise a Receipt to roast a Pike. This is the sum of Mr. Walton's Discourse. Then there is the Gentleman's Recration, hath one Chapter, but much the same as the other, as borrowed from him. I never could see any other concerning Trolling, though if there be, it may be of an old standing; and any thing new does more please, because Men hominum est noritatis avida. I have not put it in that florid Dress of Eloquence or Rhetorical Phrases, nor indeed would the Subject bear it.  

Ornari res ipsa negat, contenta doceri.   

The thing itself is only well content,  
To be for use, and not for Ornament.   
I confess I have not had that Experience in the Art, which many have that have made it their business for the space of several years; and I but a late pretender; however this may invite some that are more judicious and able to undertake the Work; in the mean time use this till a better comes, and think of that of the Poet, 

— Si quid novisti rectius istis  
Candidus imperti, si non his utere mecum.   

If any thing thou know'st that better is,  
Impart it, else content thyself with this.    
It cannot be expected that this Discourse should have increased into any larger Volume, these being only the private Sentiments and Collections of my own Experience. The first Edition is always the least, if it were worthy of a Second Impression, it might receive some Addition, as having the advantage of being enlarged by the help of some new and more refined Notions. Nor is the subject Matter enough copious to make a fuller Treatise, it being confined to one particular manner of Fishing; which if it had extended to the generality of the Art, and to all the Fresh Water Inhabitants, it might have made this diminutive piece to swell into a Folio.  
The Design of it is only to give th●m some insight and instructions, that are wholly ignorant, but desire to learn: not that it can benefit those that are already taught, and perhaps may find, or at least pretend to find many errors in it; for this I can attest, that what is said is as true as Probatum est; having not confided to any mans judgement but to my own experience. Whether then it be approved on or not, it must take its fortune as all other Books do, which are blamed by some and commended by others: 

— Habent sua fata libelli—   

— The Poet sings  
Books have their chance as well as other things.    
As plain as it is, it may be serviceable to some, and if it had been far better and more accurately done, it might have been condemned by others. Every man that is a Fisherman hath some private thoughts of his own, which he will still prefer before others. Besides the Diversions of Fishing are now generally undervalued, it being an Art which few take pleasure in; nothing passing for noble and delightful, which is not brave and costly; as though men could not gratify their Senses without the consumption of their Estates.  
Hawking and Hunting have had their Excellencies celebrated with large Encomiums, and though I design not to slight or disparaged those Noble Recreations, which have been so much famed in all Ages and by all degrees, yet this I must affirm, that they fall not within the compass of every mean person to pursue, being as it were only entailed on vast estates; for if lower Fortunes should seek to enjoy them, Actaeon's Fable might prove a true Story, and these Ravenous Birds make a prey upon their Masters. Besides those Recreations are more obnoxious to choler and Passion than these of ours. Our simplo Art composes the Soul to that quiet and serenity, which gives a man the fullest possession and fruition of himself and all his enjoyments.  
This clearness and equanimity of Spirit being a matter of so high a concern, is of much value and esteem in the opinion of many profound Philosophers. Witness that Excellent Tract of Petrarche, De Tranquilitate Animo, and certainly he that lives, Sibi& Deo, leads the most Happy Life. Though all these Contentments and many more, both for Health and Pleasure, as well to gratify the Senses as delight the Mind, do arise from this cheap, and as some call it, mean Melancholy Art: I say though all these satisfactions do procced from it, and it propounds pleasure at such an easy rate, yet I expect to meet with no other Entertainment in the publishing of it, then neglect, if not scorn, contempt, and neglect. Some few there are that have cast off their other Recreations and embraced this; though I never knew any repent of their learning this, and with-draw their affections from their beloved Recreation. If this Art therefore may prove a noble rest to thy mind, it will be a great satisfaction to his, who is thy Well-wishing Friend and Servant,  
R. N.   

To his Ingenious Friend Mr. ROBERT NOBBES, On his Book called The complete Troller.  
GO on ( Dear Brother) to display thine Art,  
Of thy Experience lend the World a part:  
Let thy Light shine, that Men may see thereby  
There's nothing private kept can edify.  
hid not thy Talent: Dread that cursed fate  
Of him that hide it; and communicate.  
blushy not, nor fear thy secrets to unfold;  
For what thou sayst has been approved of old,  
And practised too; the difference only this,  
Their sport in salt, thine in fresh water is;  
The good Disciples first catched fish; and then  
They left their Nets, and afterwords catched Men.  
From which we may this Observation make,  
'tis lawful Fish as well as Men to take,  
Thy Sacred Function is Divine, and all  
Thy Recreations Apostolical.  
Catch what thou long hast fished for, then go pray,  
Catch one great Fish, and throw thy Net away.  
Your truly humble Servant, G. D. of Trin. Coll.   

To his Esteemed Friend Mr. ROBERT NOBBES, On his Book of TROLLING.  

LEt proud Actaeon chase the timorous hart,  
And fair Diana pierce him with a Dart.  
Let Pan the Satyrs and the Nymphs control,  
And briny Nereus on the Billows roll.  
whilst thou the Brooks and silver streams dost greet,  
Of Avon, Cham, Welland, and Nine, that meet.  
Thou dost not treat of that deformed Race,  
Which Neptune governs with his Triple Mace:  
Not of that Monster in the Ocean deep,  
Which did in's Belly three days Jonas keep:  
Nor of the Orke that on Caephean Strand,  
Bold Perseus slay with strong and mighty hand.  
Nor of th' Admirer of sweet Harp, that bore  
Arion safely on his back to th' Shore.  
Nor of that Fish that bears a Sword in's Snout,  
Nor the fierce Thrasher, that does fling about.  
Nor th' Crocodile, that weeps when he does wrong;  
●… he Turbat, Sturgeon, or the Conger long.  
●… hese are the Flock of Proteus watery Fold,  
And are too strong for slender Lines to hold.  
●… hy Reoreation hath more easy been,  
●… n Rivers fresh, adorned with Meadows green.  
chequered with Flowers, clothed in Ver's Livery,  
enameled round with Flora's Tapestry.  
These are thy country pastimes and delights,  
Proud of good luck, when greedy Lupus bites,  
And across the stream thy slender line does draw,  
Gorging thy glistering bait in's hungry Maw;  
Then strike him gently, tyre him, and lye down;  
Take him by th' Eyes, and give him leave to drown.   

In these Diversions thou dost imitate  
Those Twelve Christ choose his Word to propagate,  
This Recreation they did countenance,  
And by their practise did it much advance,  
Thou their Example hast before thine Eyes,  
How they did use this harmless Exercise;  
In this thou truly dost Apostolize.   
R. L. Mr. of Arts.   

ON THE Antiquity and Invention OF FISHING, And its Praise in general.  

WHen God at first placed Adam in a Seat  
So rare, so rich, so princely, and so great,  
Edens fair Garden Eastward to the Sun,  
Thro whose fat soil four silver streams did run.  
The first Euphrates, whose fair waves do kiss  
The Monarchs Towers of proud Semiramis.  
Swift Pison thence, and Gihon did arise,( Gen. 2.  
Tigris the Fourth to water Paradise;  
These in their kind were furnished to present  
Adam with Fish from th'Watry Element:  
This added to his bliss, by which we see  
Fishing derives an ancient Pedigree,  
And bears its date from the Forbidden three.  
Next unto him that built the Wooden Wall,  
But for whose Ark the Flood had drowned all.  
Yet still the Fish moved in their proper Sphere,  
They neither Rain, nor Deluge deep did fear.  
Noah with them himself might recreate,( Gen. 8.  
Till Dove brought news the Waters did abate.  
Food sure was scarce, when Mr. Flood had left,  
Few Beasts but those for procreation kept.  
Hunger might force eight persons to device  
A trick to take what Fish to th' top did rise.  
Now this to Poets fiction did afford  
How th' empty World should be with people stored.  
When good Deucalion and his Pyrrha dear,  
Were left of all that overwhelmed were.  
They to an ancient Temple went, that stood  
Forlorn and wasted by the raging Flood.  
Prostrate they fell upon the sacred ground,  
Devoutly praying th' Earth might re-abound.  
The Goddess heard their prayers,& bid them take  
Their Mothers bones,& throw behind their back.  
This Oracle obscure and dark of sense,  
amazed their minds, what they might draw from thence.  
They then viewed hill and dale, each rock& three,  
And thought the Earth their Mother well might be.  
Therefore to try if it were false or true,  
The scattered stones behind their backs they threw,  
Forthwith the stones as they had life conceived,  
Began to move, and more and more received  
The shape of Man. Thus was the World again  
supplied with people sprung with little pain.  
But yet no Birds or Beasts for meat was found,  
Since the great Deluge all destroyed and drowned.  
Then did Deucalion first the Art invent  
Of Fishing, and to Woods and Groves he went:  
There from the Trees long rinds& crooks he broke,  
And made them hooks and lines the Fish to take.  
In this rude sort began this simplo Art,  
The Fish as yet had felt but little smart.  
And were to bite more eager, apt, and bold,  
In that first Age, which was then all of Gold.  
But when in time the fear and dread of Man  
Fell more and more on th' Creatures, they began  
To stand in awe of this Usurping King,  
That did both Seas and Earth in thraldom bring.  
'twas then a Work of greater skill to take  
The wary Fish in any Pond or Lake.  
So worse and worse two Ages more did pass,  
And Hooks were made of Silver and of Brass;  
And Lines of Hemp and Flax were framed new,  
So still this Art more perfect daily grew.  
But at the last the Iron Age grew near,  
And Hooks of hardest Steel invented were:  
And Rods of lightest Cane and Hazel Plant,  
And Lines of Silk and Hair no Skill did want.   

Thus far the Fable.— next the Truth presents  
How Fish of wonders have been instruments.  
A monstrous Fish God did prepare, to save( Jon. 1.  
The angry Prophet in the Euxine Wave.  
Which doth for us an Observation make,  
That to a Fish the great Jehovah spake.  
Of great and strange effects b'inform'd you may,  
If you'll give credit to Apocrypha;  
Where th' Fishes gull they dry and pulverize  
To cure the whiteness of old Tobit's eyes;( tub. 6.  
And of the Hearts perfume is made a spell.  
To charm the Devil sweetly into Hell.  
Whether or not this Truth authentic be,  
We will not here dispute Authority.  
Only believe it with a Moral Faith,  
And now let's hear what Evangelium saith.   

When the Collectors of the Tribute went  
To Christ for pay, to th' Seas he Simon sent,  
Who opening th' Fishes mouth, that he first took, Mat. 17.  
A piece of Money with a Silver Hook.  
When at Emaus Christ alone appeared Luke 24.  
To th'two Disciples that a Spirit feared,  
He asked them for meat, and the first Dish  
That he did eat of was a broiled Fish.  
When Christ another time appearance made,  
He found's Disciples at the Fishing Trade;  
Andrew and James and John were toiling sore,  
Mending their Nets when Jesus stood on th' Shore.  
When Simon Peter saw it was the Lord,( Joh. 21.  
O'rjoy'd he was, and leaped overboard,  
Naked, gird only with his Fishers Coat,  
He cast himself down head-long from the Boat.  
This Peter durst not on the Waters pass,  
Without his Master, yet chief Fisher was;  
Chief Shepherd,& first Pope, whose name( say some)  
Descended to th'old Fisherman at Rome.  
What if St. Peter ne'er to Rome was sent,  
The Scripture says he oft a Fishing went.  
What if he ne'er sa●e Bishop in Rome's See,  
At Sea he was with th' Sons of Zebedee.( Mar. 1.  
Who long had toiled, and had nothing caught,  
Till Jesus bid them let down for a draft;  
In which a multitude though they did take,  
Its written there, their Nets it did not break;  
But straight retired themselves from thence and fed Mat. 4.  
Upon their broiled Fishes and their Bread.   

It's said they took an Hundred fifty three;  
Some of all kinds i'the Sea of Galilee;  
By which all sorts of Men is signified,  
And the great Fishing of the World implied;  
How the Apostles by their Preaching shall,  
Both Poor and Rich, both Base and Noble call;  
And draw them with their Nets from the Worlds Sea  
To th'Ship of Comfort and Felicity.  
So Amos, Esay, Habakkuk compare Isa. 19.  
Things that of worth and great importance are,  
To Fishing, Drags, and Nets, and like to these, Can. 7.  
Are th'Wisemans Fishpools in the Canticles.  
So doth Ezekiel and Jeremy Jer. 16.  
Call Preachers Fishers in their prophesy.  
Whose Doctrine is their Nets, which from these toys Ez. 47.10.  
Do draw Mens Souls into Eternal Joys.  
When Christ his power and God head did express Mat. 14.  
To th' hungry people in the Wilderness.  
He first made choice of Loaves, Lifes staff and then,  
Two little Fishes fed Five thousand Men.  
Another time a multitude he fed, Mat. 15.  
With few small Fishes and a little Bread.  
If we search Chronicles, we there may see  
The Art of Fishing from Antiquity:  
When Bishop Wilfrid turned to Christian Faith,  
The Heathen Saxons( an Historian saith)  
He teaches them this Art at first, and makes  
Those Nets catch fish, which did before catch snakes.  
He going with these Pagans to the Brook:  
Three hundred Fishes with their Nets he took,  
straight he divides the spoil, and one part gets  
Himself; then furnished them that owned the Nets:  
The third part to the poor he did divide,  
Which made's Religion to be deified,  
And gained him Converts, when he did bestow  
His Prayers above, with blessings here below.  
In fine if you look up to'th Azure sky  
And view the Circles in Astronomy,  
You there may see a Fish preferred so high  
The Heavens are with the Constellation graced;  
Pisces is next unto Aquarius placed;  
For least the Firmament a sign should lack,  
A Fish the Twelfth is in the zodiac.  
Thus from the Ocean to the Stars, we can  
Advance the Praises of the Fisherman.  
And 'tis from Gospel and the Prophets seen,  
What honour, use of Fish, and Fishing's been.   
Ro. Nobbes. M. A.   

THE Fishermans Wish.  

WOuld I might live near Avon's flowery brink,  
And on the World, and my Creator think:  
Whilst others strive ill gotten goods t' embrace,  
Would I near Welland had a dwelling place.   

Would I these harmless pastimes might pursue,  
And uncontrolled might pounds and Rivers view:  
Whilst others spend their time in base excess,  
In Drinking, game, and in Wantonness.   

Would I might let my fancy feed its fill,  
And daily by fresh Rivers walk at will,  
Whilst others toil in hunting, and perplexed,  
Are with unquiet Recreations vexed.   

Would I might view the Compass of the Sky,  
The flaming Chariot of the Worlds great eye,  
And fair Aurora lifting up her head,  
Blushing to rise from old Tithonus bed.   

Would I might walk in Woods and Forrests long,  
In whose cool Bowers the Birds sing many a Song;  
And in the Verdant Meadows fresh and green,  
Would I might fit and Court the Summers Queen.   
Sic Optat, R. N.   

THE complete Troller, OR, THE ART OF TROLLING.  

CHAP. I. Of the Name and Nature of a Pike.  
A Pike is called in the Latin Lucius, either a Lucendo, from shining in the Waters, or else( which is more probable) from {αβγδ} the Greek word for Lupus; for as the Wolf is the most ravenous and cruel among Beasts, so the Pike is most greedy and devouring among Fishes. So that Lupus Piscis tho it be proper for the Sea-Wolf, yet it is often used for the Pike itself, the fresh water Wolf. He is of so greedy and voracious a nature, that he doth not only prey upon small Fishes, Frogs, &c. that come in his way in the Water, but sometimes upon Birds, and the Fowls of the Air: and( some say) he will fasten upon greater Animals. A German Writer reports for a certai●… truth, That when he had his Mule to drink a●… the River Rhine, she was caught so fast by he●… neather lipp with a Pike; that being sorely bitten and terrified at so unexpected an Assault 〈…〉 she suddenly threw up her head, and cast th●… Fish upon the shore, which became a prey t●… the Master of the Mule. Out of this Pike wa●… taken, when it was opened, two young Gees●… or Goslins, a Fen-Duck, and the foot of 〈…〉 Maid. If this Story be not creditable, because i●… is so far fetched as from Germany, yet this i●… certain that a More-hen hath been found in th●… belly of a Pike taken out of our own Rivers 〈…〉 and I have seen myself that a Pike hath rise●… and struck at a Swallow, that hath dipped he●… wings upon the Waters; and have known the●… that have used a live Sparrow for a Bait at Snap●… An English Physician made this Observation i●… his Travels in the Low Countries, That as they were passing the Rivers in little Boats, the Pike struck so swiftly and greedily at the small Fry for feed, that sometimes they shot themselve●… so far out of the Water, that they fell into th●… Boat. This is another foreign Story, whic●… we may parallel with one at home; how on●… that had catched an Eel, and was pulling of the skin and washing it in a Mote, a Pike leap●… at the Eel and fastened himself so to it, that h●… drew out both Eel and Pike. Of all the small Officers under this great Captain, a Perch is the most secure from his devouring jaws; on which ●… e seldom adventures, except mere hunger ●… ompels him: yet Albert says he will take a ●… erch by the head, and kill it with his teeth first, ●… est if he should gorge it a-live, the fins and ●… rickles might be offensive to his maw: nor ●… oes he only tyramnize over all the small inhabi●… ants of his own dominions, and sometimes ●… respasses upon another Element, but often ●… ransgresses the laws of Generation, and those ●… f his own species he unnaturally devours. This Common-wealth among the Fishes, is much ●… ike Mr. Hobbes's State of Nature, which is ●… ut Status belly, the Great Ones always devour ●… he less; such is the Government, or rather ●… narchy in the Waters, where might will be ●… ure to overcome right, and the weakest go still ●… o the Walls. A Pike is a Prince in his own Li●… vid country, and like an Universal Monarch, ●… an command all the Regiments of the Scaled ●… rmy, can Lord it over all his Vassals, and ●… ike a Potent Tyrant) can enslave all the Resi●… ents in his own Territories without the least ●… esistance: Yet one professed enemy he hath, and ●… hat more powerful than himself, which is a ●… reature of an amphibious Nature, and can live ●… y land as well as by water: This is a cunning ●… nd a choice Fisher, for he seldom takes any but the best and the biggest Fish: He is much esteemed of in some Countries, especially in Sweden, where he is kept tame for the purpose, and taught so much craft and dexterity, that the Cook will sand him out of the kitchen when he wants a Dish of Fish, and he will go straight to the Pond and fetch them. 'tis a strange tale if true, and we had better believe it, than go so far to disprove it: I never looked upon an Otter to be such a docible and serviceable a Creature; tho perhaps those of another country may differ much in their Nature from ours.   

CHAP. II. Of the Parts and Lineaments of a Pike.  
AS to the shape and proportion of this great devourer, the figure of his Body is very long, his back broad, and almost square; altogether equal to the lowest fins: his head is lean and very bony, which bones in his head some have resembled to things of mysterious consequence: One of which they commonly compare to the across, another to the Spear 〈…〉 three other to those bloody Nails which wer●… Instruments of our Saviours passion: If thos●… comparisons smell any thing of superstition, yet as to Physical use, those bones may be profitable. For the jaw-bone beaten to powder, may be helpful for Pleurisies and the sharpness of Urine; some do approve of it as a Remedy for the pain in the Heart and Stomach; others affirm that the small bones pulverized, may be fitly used to dry up Sores, and many the like Medicinal qualities are attributed to the Pikes head. An Ancient Author writing of his Nature of things, does discover a ston in the Brain of a Pike much like unto a crystal: Gesner himself the great Naturalist, testifies that ●… e found in the head of a little Pike two white Stones. As to the shape of his Head, his snout ●… s long, which some have compared to the Bill ●… r Beak of a Goose. His lower Jaw is far longer than his upper; and in it are placed many Teeth, ●… ot orderly disposed, but of divers ranks and orders. His Eyes are of a golden colour, and very quick sighted, as are all sorts of Fish. Hi● Belly is always white, but his Back and Sides ●… re of a black and speckled yellow. His Ven●… ricle is very large and capacious, and his Throat ●… hort, as we may see by his prey which he hath ●… ewly taken and not digested; part of it will come up into his mouth, but this is when he ●… eizes upon a great prise. A Credible Author ●… ffirms that he saw a Pike of that wonderful ●… igness, that had another within him conside●… ably great, and that within had a Water-Rat in its Belly; So that the Ventricle of the great one must needs be exceeding large and extensive Gesner likewise observes that his Heart and Galls is very Medicinable to cure Agues, abate favours, &c. and that his biting is venomous and hard to be cured.   

CHAP. III. Of the Age and growth of a Pike.  
AS to the increase and vivacity of this devouring Fish, some Historians have asserted that he will live to an incredible Age▪ and that he will carry half as many Years a●… Scales upon his Back. Our Fore-quoted Autho●… Gesner, relates in his Natural History that a●… Pike was taken out of a Pond of the Emperou●… Frederick, that had lived 260 and odd Years▪ which appears by the date in a Brass Ring whic●… lay hidden and grown over in his Gills, and had this Inscription written in Latin, Ego su●… illi piscis huic Stagno omnium primus impofit●… per Mundi Rectoris Frederici secundi manus di●… quinto Octobris, 1497. But whether our Fait●… will give us leave to believe this or not, it is no●… material to our Disquisitions; for though w●… cannot prove him to be so longevous as to reac●… Hundreds, it is certain he will live to some score●… of Years; and one of 40 or 45 inches, which are of the largest size, may possibly consist of as many Years as Inches; and some of our own countrymen have known and observed a Pike to come within Ten Years of the distinct age of Man, and had lived longer had not fate hastened his Death by a violent hand. One of 40 inches( I said) might haply be of so many years standing; not that a Pike grow just about an Inch in a year, for that is a thing that is hard to determine, some grow faster, some slower, according to the diversity of their Water and their Feed: River Fish are thought to grow much faster than Pond Fish; except the Pond be very large and have a good stream run through it: for there is nothing helps so much to the feeding of a Pike as fresh Water. That's the reason why a Pike will not bite well after a great Rain. Jacks or Pickerills grow faster than great ones, and I have observed in a clear and springing Brook, that a Jack spawned in March will take a Bait in October following, and will be increased to Eighteen Inches the next March. In standing Water, as Motes and pounds, he grows nothing so fast; for to try the experiment, I have taken one out with a Cast-net in May, Measured him and marked him on his Tail, and about Michaelmas I have taken the same fish, as appeared by the Mark, and then measured him again and he hath not increased in length above two Inches, and very little in Breadth. A River Fish will grow very fast till he come to be 24 or near 30 Inches, then he stands a little more at astay, and spreads himself in thickness; after that he will grow a long time, and be much longer growing to his full bigness from 30 Inches, than he was increasing to that proportion. He is a great Breeder and Multiplier, as we may see in those places that are preserved, how soon a River is full stocked. Small Jacks show themselves much after a Springflood, every Ditch is then full of Pickerills, and the fens are so abundantly stored with them, that you may buy an Horse load for a shilling. Its the Spring Tide that brings them up most, for about Midsummer and after they much decrease ●nd diminish in their number; some being taken with Snares and Bow-nets, some with Trolling, and many little ones devoured by the greater: So that in the Stocking of a Pond, the wisest course is to put in all your Jacks as near as you can of a bigness, for a Pike of 30 Inches will make no bones of one of 16. As to the increase of them, some are apt to grow more in length, others more in Breath and Thickness; which latter sort are the best fed and the firmest Fishes; for a lean, slender Pike, though he may seem to advance and improve in length, yet he is commonly a Waster; for if he hath received any outward hurt, or wound, either by the Otter or by a stronger of his own species, or is inwardly pricked by the Hook or any casualty, yet still he will live and eat his Meat, and be as hungry as Pharao's lean Kine, which devoured the fat ones: he will be yet for Plunder and greedy as ever, tho he neither thrive nor grow; this I observed in a large Pike which I took in a wasting condition, he had a long Hook in his Belly, and the end of the Wire hung out of his Mouth; he might probably have been long in that declining estate, and so might have continued a considerable time, though he fall away, and must at last necessary die of a Consumption. There are several circumstances of time and place which may be very advantageous and conduce much to the growth of a Pike, a still shady unfrequented place, where he is not affrighted and disturbed at his Feed is very Commodious for his rest and repast; especially if his Shelter be thick and convenient for him: for if a Ditch join upon the River, or a Spring or small Brook run into it, his abode will be more pleasing and delightsome; if it be a solitary and retired corner, not beaten with Fishers and the often visits of his flatering Friends.   

CHAP. IV. Of the Seat and Harbour of a Pike.  
THe Place and Harbour of a Pike is usually amongst or near a Bank of Weeds; for he does not always confine himself to his bed and lie close like a Fox in his den, but often shoots out and sports in the clear stream; and( like the great Leviathan) takes his pastime in the middle of the Waters. The Weeds indeed are his chiefest refuge and his Sanctuary, if he be affrighted by a Net or the sudden disturbance of his approaching Enemy; he then strikes into his accustomend Harbour, and there keeps his garrison. Those weeds where he most delights to make his Residence, are Flags and Bulrushes; if there be none of those, then Candocks have the next honour to entertain this princely Guest. There are other Weeds where he thinks fit to make his abode, as Reeds, green Fog, and a Weed with a small leaf, which he often frequents, especially about October, when they begin to rot. If a place be very thick and weedy, you cannot so easily guess where his Lodgings are, but if the River be free from weeds, only here and there a bank or bed of bulrushes, you may safely conclude those are his retirements and his baiting places: If your River be very broad, deep, and streight like a scour, it will be so much the more difficult to find his recess; and if there be but few fish, it will be next to seeking a Needle in a Bottle of Hay; for in such a kind of false River you may Troll perhaps from Morning till Night and scarce get a bite. But if such a place be little beaten, and have plenty of Fish you may have sport enough to encourage you to the same place; but then you must arm yourself with a great deal of patience, and fish it very true and slow. There's not so much variety and delight in Trolling such a River, because it is all along even and alike, and you cannot conceive where your prey lies; this you may call Hap-hazard, and expect a bite every throw, though you go three or four hours, and neither see nor feel any Fish but your own Bait. Some there are that place their sport in Hopes, and take as much delight in expectation as others do in frution; but a little Encouragement does well; not only for the profits sake( as something has some savour) but also to save the credit and keep away despair from the Melancholy Fisherman.  
The best and securest way of Fishing these wide Reaches, is by drawing the bait along the sides next to you, except you can search the breadth of it, and throw over to the farther side; but that is but dull and slow Sport, and it will spend a great deal of time to Troll the length of a Furlong. If your River consists of pits, which is the quickest and most delightsome way of Trolling, you must have a special regard to the top and bottom of the Pit. A Pike may be taken sometimes in the middle, but his chiefest Seat and Habitation is at the bottom of the Pit; and this I have often observed, that where one Pike hath been taken at the Mouth, another hath been found at the feet or bottom of the Pit.  
These are the ordinary places; yet according to the variety of Weather and Seasons of the Year, a Pike will alter and change his dwelling. In the Winter he usually couches very nigh the ground, and gets into the deepest and obscurest places; about the latter end of February, or the beginning of March, he begins to be weary of his melancholy repose, and to raise himself a little from the bottom, and is more active in seeking his feed: At the latter end of March, or sometimes the middle, he shoots into the scours, and there leaves the Spawn to multiply according to its kind. In April and May he still gets higher, and advances himself into the shallows; and if he may lye unmolested there, he will so continue most part of Summer; in September he begins to retreat again, and removes himself from his accustomend harbour to visit his Winter Quarters, which will be much the same as before, if no floods disorder him: This is his yearly course to change according to heat or could, so that a Pike, like a Person of Quality, hath both a Winter and a Summer House. As to his daily Transactions, he thus disposes of himself: In a hot gleamy day, he gets to the Surface of the Water, as if he had a desire to exchange his Element, to enjoy the comfortable influence of the Airy Region, he then scorns to be tempted with a Bait, and can live all day with a little more nourishment than the Motes in the Sun: for you can no sooner offer him the kindness of a deceitful Bit, but he's gone as swift as lightning to abscond himself in his lowest retirements. There are some that will make such brags of their Art, that they have the confidence to say, They can find a Pike as easily in his seat, as an old Hare-finder can take Puss in her Furm; and that the same Pike will as infallibly take your Bait, as an hungry Dog will leap at a Crust: They would make you believe they are good accountants, and such Water Arithmeticians, that they can tell the number of the Fish in the River as well as Graziers can count their Sheep and Beasts in their Pastures. These Stories are too Romantick to gain the credit of sober Fishermen, though one that hath had much experience and made it his business, may give a near guess where the Fish lies: some places are more probable than others, though you will often meet with them in the middle as well as by the sides, and sometimes unexpectedly where there is no conveniency of shelter or repast. A Ford that is clear and gravelly at the bottom, especially if it have a Spit adjoining to it that is indifferent deep and weedy, is looked upon as a probable place: for though they generally affect a deep Water, yet they will get as near as they can to a Ford or Shallow; where they delight themselves, and sport with the little fry, so a●… scours and Pits that are near Mills, eithe●… above or below them, commonly well stor'●… with Fish: A Mill Dam that is deep and weedy 〈…〉 is an approved Receptacle for them. Tho●… Rivers that are streight and level, are not 〈…〉 good to Fish, as those that are crooked and hav●… many corners and turnings: for the Fish wi●… get into those Creeks and Channels, an●… hid themselves in their private apartments. 〈…〉 the water be narrow, it is more pleasing for t●… Troller; for where it is very broad and deep●… there is more uncertainty in their Seat and Ha●…bour, if it be narrow, you may Fish both side●… and sooner chop upon them, you will then g●… on the the faster; and with more courage a●… alacrity drive forward to your journeys en●… But this is chiefly as every one fancies, for so●… desire the widest places they can find, and the●… to fix themselves two or three hours without at●… considerable motion: I never approved of th●… dull way, as thinking it needless and impertine●… to cast three or four times in one and the sa●… Place, because a Pike if he bites at all, common●… rises at it the first throw, tho he may sometim●… snap at it, when you have the least thoughts 〈…〉 him. As to the Nature or Constitution of the●…ver, the deeper is generally the better and the saf●… Harbour; altho he delights much in a mid●… Retirement, about four foot in depth is a rig●… proportion, and the best pitch for the Troller; ●… or if it be much deeper, they are the more difficult to stir, and harder to find; and if ●… hallower, they will be apt to see you, and so ●… hun the enticements of a Treacherous Friend. Small Jacks will often lie within two or ●… ometimes one foot in Water; its the wisest course in such places to keep at a distance and not come nigh the River till the Bait is in.   

CHAP. V. Of the best Seasons for Trolling.  
THere are some that pretend to Trolling, and yet Observe no Time or Season to be better than another: A Pike indeed will bite more or ●… ess at any time, and the Fisherman may happen ●… 'pon some sport, let him set out when he will; but ●… o go out so at all adventures, is a very uncrtain ●… nd unsecure way: for as to the Heat in Summer ●… nd Frost and Snow in Winter, he had better make Hay in the one, and sit by the Fire in ●… he other. Some will brag so much of their ●… ardy Constitutions, that they can break the ●… ce with one hand, and take out Fish with the ●… ther, and can slide a Trolling( like Dutchmen) ●… n their Scates, and not be sensible of the in●… lemeny of the Air: they will be still for Fishing, when the Weather is more proper for Fowling; they will pretend they can charm the Fish at Christmas with a sweetened Bait, and to be more admired, will present their Landlord with a Pike at New-Years-tide; These( I confess) are Artists far beyond our Profession, i●… their performances be as large as their promises.  
There are some Days( we grant) in the depth of Winter, as in December or January, that a Man may pick out to stand two or three hours, by the River-side, but the Weather must be Open and Temperate, and about the middle of the day: such a Winter as the last was in 81 might be very favourable to the sport, and there was few days but what might have been serviceable for the Trollers Diversion; the great Fish will be then soonest enticed with the Bait at that time of the Year, because they lie dee●… and are not so careful of their own preservation▪ There is another great advantage for the Winter Troller, that the Weeds are then down, an●… rotten, which before were a great hinderanc●… both from throwing the Bait, as also in keepin●… the Fish from the sight of it; for though a Pi●… delights much among the Weeds, and doe●… usually make his abode there, yet it is very diff●…cult to take him there, except it be with th●… Snap; for if you give him the liberty of running and playing with your Bait, he winds himself so fast about the Weeds, that you may b●… in some danger of losing both your Fish and your Hook, if your Line be not very Strong: If you take a Snap too, you will be troubled with them, for they are great Enemies to that. To begin the Year then and the Fishermans Recreations, February is the first and none of the worst Months he can pitch upon for his sport, after Candlemas if the season be moderate and the water in tune( which is very rare then) for if it be not a flood, as it is often at that time, yet the Ditches and Brooks are commonly so rank and full, that it is but indifferent Fishing; but if it chance to be a dry season and open, it is one of the best Months. So is March very seasonable and auspicious to the Troller, excepting the time of Spawning, which usually begins about the middle, unless the Spring be very forward; and then they will be sick sooner. The Snap is then the only way to deceive them, for if you fish at Pouch you may have many ●… ites, but scarce take one, except it be a Male-fish. These two Months will try the Fishermans ●… atience, whether he be Wind and Weather ●… roof; the next is April, which will make him ●… mends for his former sufferings; and is a Month ●… o inviting to sport, that it is both pleasant and ●… rofitable; the chirping Birds do then begin to ●… eek their Males, and the long silent Cuckee ●… hat forsook her colder Climate, does again ●… alute her sprouting branches, and tell us the News of an approaching Summer: Yo●… may then please yourself to see the tende●… Swallow so joyful at her first flight, when sh●… seems to make obeisance to your Bait, an●… displays her Wings upon the surface of th●… Waters. This Month you will find most propitious to your pastime, because the Weed●… which have couched all Winter, have not ye●… erected their Heads to annoy the Bait, o●… frustrate the hopes of an impatient Fisherma●… This Month( I say) is usually successful fo●… these diversions, both because the River is the●… clear of Fog and Filth; and also that the Fi●… which have lately cast their Spawn, are now mo●… hungry and ready for their prey; there is no●… little fear of their forsaking your Bait as the●… did in March. They are not yet arrived to tha●… fatness, and firmness, which they will ge●… in Summer, but are many of them flamp an●… thin; the individium decreasing to multiply th●… species. The beginning of May is likewise ve●… seasonable, especially if it hits with the Pr●…verb to be could and Windy; towards the latte●… end of it the Weeds spring up, and are ver●… offensive to the Hook; then begins the Trolle●… Vacation, which continues till the latter end 〈…〉 August or the beginning of September; yet tho●… that are afraid of an Ague at Spring, or Fa●… may choose themselves the coolest cloudy d●… they can find in June or July to exercise the●… Skill; but then they will be sure to take more Weeds than Fish.  
As to the Fall of Autumnal season, October is the principal Month, the Wea●her being then temperate, and the Weeds which were st●o●g and high before, do now die and fall to the bottom. The Rivers are then generally low, which is a great advantage one way, because the F●sh are more easily found in their Harbours, when they leave the Shallows and Sc●●res, and ●odge themselves in the Pits and deepest places: A P●●● is now very firm and fat, having had the benefit of the Summers feed; and if the Weather continue dry and not extraordinary could, you may take in part of November, which will add much ●… o your sport, because the Weeds will be the more wasted and rotten; but if a flood comes in October, or the beginning of November, you may lay aside your Tackling for that Season: for great Rivers( like great Vessels) being long in filling, and slowly mounting to their full height, are again long in falling and settle●… king; so that the Water will be thick and out of order, except frost or much fair Weather comes to clear it. In small Brooks and rivulets ●… t is not so, but you may Fish there again within a Week or less after the Flood. If such inconveniencies put off your designed Sport, you must be content to desist till the fol ow●ng Spring, when the days will be longer, though haply the Weather colder. Now as to the time of the day, the Morning and Evening is most delightsome in Summer; because towards Noon the Fish get up to the top of the Water, and are more mindful of their play than their meat. If the day be clear and calm, a Snare is more proper than a Bait; for the least motion you can make with your Line will affright a Fish that lies high; and if he be once moved and put to the flight, a●l the art you can use will not entice him to your Bait again: besides that, it will then be too hot for sport; for heat creates no appetite in any thing, much less in Fish: its the Wind, and the cooler Clouds, when zephyrus curls the Waves with a brisk and delightsome Gale, that invites a Fish to repast; these hot and sultrey da●s are fittest for the stote, when the Fish are for some light and slender diet; and the Angler hath the best pastime with his Flies and Bees, &c. At such a time of year early or late is the best Fishing, if it be in the Night. But as to the Winter or Spring Quarter, one part of the day is as favourable as the other; for then the Sun being not so hot, it neither molests the Fisher, nor takes away the Fishes stomacks; if the day be dark and cloudy, you will find but little difference; if any, the Noon-tide is the best, or about Ten or Eleven of the Clock; you will be then glad of a warm blast, when your fingers can scarce feel whether they be Fish or Flesh. Some are very scrupulous concerning the Wind, and will not stir cut a foot except it stand in what corner they would have it; though upon such a Nicety I scarce ever denied myself a day of diversion. A Northern Wind indeed is more sharp and piercing, and will weary the Fishermans patience, because Boreas his Breath is more nipping than that of his fellows, and the North East carries a Proverb with it, enough to discourage a fresh Water soldier; yet this I have observed, that in a right and seasonable time of year, the Fish will bite let the Wind-stand where it will. The South and the southwest have the general applause, because they are more pleasing and delightsome to the Troller; and tis granted that the Fish may then rise more briskly and quicker at the Bait, and perhaps they may then have more sport, than when the Wind is contrary; yet this is as certain, that the colder the Wind is, the closer the Fish lie to the bottom, and the farther in their harbour; which may hinder you of having so many bites, as when they lie out and more open in a warmer day: yet the Air being could and sharp, it makes them hungry; and if you be careful you may have as many Fish as bites: besides a Fish of any bigness, is too cunning to be cheated of his life, if he lies not securely in the deeps, or invisible among the weeds; for as old Birds are too subtle to be taken with chaff, so an old Fish that hath been already pricked in the Gills or the Guts, is very cautious in making a s●cond adventure. All the principal and chiefest time for Trolling may be epitomized into four Months, two of which attend the Spring and two the Fall; part of March may conveniently be left out, which will only tantalise with Bites and afford you no Fish, if you use the Pouch; neither will they then bite so freely as they will about a Fortnight after, they are then very averse and indifferent in their feeding; the reason of which some do ascribe to the multitude of Frogs which do then engender and breed in the Waters; though I have not been altogether of that opinion: for supposing the Fish do feed upon Frogs then, which I could seldom observe, especially in the deep Streams and running Waters, where the Frogs very rarely come; for they generate for the most part in Pits and standing Pools amongst filth and mire: yet notwithstanding this that the Fish do prey upon them at that time, yet it will not hinder your sport so much, but that they will oft take your Bait; for a Pike is of that greedy and rapacious Nature, that although he hath lately made a good meal of Frogs, yet he will not deny to taste of a roche for his second course: He takes so much pleasure and delight in eating, that he never cares to stint himself; or Physically, for his healths sake, to be content with a moderate diet: for I have often taken him so soon after his feeding, that he hath had part of his meat in his mouth; having newly swallowed so large a Fish, that his Ventricle was neither capable to receive or digest it quickly: sometimes I have taken him with two or three Baits in his Maw; sometimes with a great Roch or Daze; sometimes with one of his own species, very seldom with a Frog in his belly; a Frog is accounted a good Bait once by the year, that is about Hay-time, when it looks bright and yellow, though then it is something difficult to find; in March they are very plentiful, but are not of that golden colour, to make the Fish so much enamoured with their beauty. This may be granted then, that a Pike will feed to that excess and fullness, that he cannot gorge your Bait, yet will he rise and show himself, and make many offers, having such a good will to it, that you may often catch him with the Snap.   

CHAP. VI. Of the Feed of a Pike, and when he is fattest.  
IF you divide the Year into four Quarters, a Pike is good three of them; the Spring only being excepted. I could never find any considerable difference in the eating of it. It is an usual saying, That a Pike and a Buck are in season together; that is in July and August: He is then very firm, and his parts hard and solid; you will find little alteration in September and October, which are the chiefest Months for the goodness of a Fish, he having enjoyed the quiet and unmolested feed of the fore-going Summer; in this we suppose a Pike of a considerable growth and bigness; for a small Jack eats always loose and washy; for he( like many Terrestrial Animals) grows too fast to be fat, and therefore would be let alone till he increases to greater dimensions. One about Two Foot or Twenty six Inches, is most grateful to the Palate, and a Male Fish of that size is generally fat and delicious. Physicians affirm that the Chyle or Juice of such a Fish concocted, is more wholesome to the Stomach, than one of the largest proportion; though all Fish are naturally light and of easy digestion. A Pike indeed cannot be too bog to make a present, or to spend on a public occasion, to give noble and sumptuous Entertainment. It will then be very welcome and acceptable, when the Pike is answerable to the company, and the sauce answerable to the Pike; for if it swims not in sauce and liquour, it had been better still swimming in the River. Such a Fish( which may be supposed about 40 inches) will feed to an incredible fatness; some say far more, but I can testify that a quart of fat hath been taken out of the belly of such a one: it must necessary be a great charge and expense to se●d a Pike to that bigness, insomuch that some have credibly affirmed, that a Pike i● as costly and as long a feeding as an Ox●. Now a● to the difference of Fish, one out of a River that is sa●, is far better and sweeter than one fed in a Pond; except he be taken out of the Pond, and put into a running Stream, t● clear a while before he be eaten. Some that are curious, have Stews and Fountains for that purpose, and can draw them at their pleasure, choosing the sattest, and throwing in the rest again. As to the Feed of a Pike, the small Fry will keep him very well, though not so much to make him thrive and fatten; Griggs or small Eels cut on the backs, and cast in a few at a time, are his most nourishing and fattening diet. The way of throwing Bullocks Blood into a Pond, Panches and Guts, cannot be so cleanly and wholesome Feed; much less is their practise approvable, that allow their Fish no better fare then Carrion, young Wh●lps or Kitlins, or such kind of loathsome meat: it is possible that Fish may feed upon such stinking and noisome food, and gr●w fat withal, but they are only fit for them to eat, that feed th●m with such trash; for it is not imaginable how those Fish should be sweet and wholesome, that live upon such foul and unclean meat: however, if they can persuade themselves that those Fish so foully fed, are equally pleasant and toothsome with those that fare better; yet the very conceit and fancy that works upon some queasy Sermachs, may represent that nauceous and loathsome, which is really sweet and nourishing. A●… to the difference of Fish, you may easily distinguish a Fed Pike from one in a wasting condition: for they differ in the col●ur, which is usually yellow and spotted in a fat, but white and pale in a thin lean Fish: you may also distinguish them by the weight and bulk, if they be much of a length; observing likewise the breadth of the back and the sides: for those Fish that have full and extended bellies, are often deceitful, and may be full of Spawns instead of fat: The Male-Pike is generally firm and inviting to the Eater; but the Spawners or Sow-Fish( as s●me call them) are out of season great part of Summer: for both before and after they have cast their Spawn, they are scarce worth the Trollers labour: Some do observe that they multiply twice by the year, at the beginning o●… the Spring, and again the latter end of Summer▪ which is not at all improbable. There are many circumstances that conduce much to the feeding of a Pike, as first a convenient Harbour; for they that lye among Weeds and foggy places do prove the fattest; they are there secure from the assaults and disturbance of Enemies, and enjoy a more safe and contented repose: Rest and quietness being as natural and helpful to their feeding as to other Creatures: Again there is some Water may be more feeding and nourishing than other: A thicker sort of Water, if it be not soul and muddy, is of a better consistency, and the parts better disposed and qualified for nutrition, than those of a more thin and rarefied substance; for it is a Rule in Philosophy, that no Element that is pure and without mixture, is consentanteous for nourishing; so that they have put it among their Vulgar Errors, that the Camaelion cannot live by Air alone, or the Salamander by Fire: so may we deny that Fish can live by pure Water, or by Respiration, or sucking in those slender Particles of his beloved Element, without the concurrence and assistance of some grosser and terrene qualities, which are intermingled with these Liquid Bodies. This is the reason why Fish are the fattest, though not altogether the sweetest, among Weeds and thick Fog; when they live and thrive with a little more refreshment, than what they receive from that fatness which the soil imparts: if there be great store of Rubbish in a Pond or River, there needs a less supply of adventitious feed: it is a common observation, that after a glut of Rain, or some great showers, a Pike never bites well, because he hath lately fed upon those fresh Streams that come in from the Banks and the Ditches; and indeed that reason may be probably true; for though the Rain water of itself can have but little or no more strengthening than that already in the River; yet it scouring through the Channels, and washing the Land and Earth as it passeth, may from thence receive a firmer and more solid substance; which may make it more glutinous and congruous for nutrition. It is possible that a Pike may live a great while in a clear Pool, where there is neither small Fry to prey upon, nor Harbour to shelter in, nor any quantity of Fog which might give him subsistence; yet certainly he will be much dissatisfied with that course of life, being as much discontented with those short commons, as one that hath not been used to a Prison-life, is there put in and fed with nothing but Bread and Water. I could never hear of any that made trial of this, merely for experiment sake; but this is confessed, that some persons have put a great stock of Pikes into their pounds, and have not regarded to put in meat proportionable to their number, yet have preserved it many years, denying both themselves and others the liberty of Fishing in it; have drawn it afterwards, expecting a plentiful increase, and have found nothing answerable to their expectations: so great a diminutio●… of them must either be caused by the devouring Otter, or secretly by stealth or the like( which is scarce probable, they being kept so diligently, and watched so narrowly) or else they must infallibly languish and die for want of their accustomend feed. Some Fish might escape in such a mortality of them, and might still live and grow, but it is to be conceived, that they are those that were bread and wonted to the place, and not those that were taken out of the River and put into the Pond to feed: for alteration of Water among Fish, as well as change of Air or Ground among Beasts, is of much consequence, being very beneficial to some, and destructive to others.  
Not but that they are much advanced that are translated from a worse to a better condition: It is well known that Fen-Fish brought up into clear and higher Waters, will thrive much and be sweeter; but whether those that are bread in Brooks and small Streams, carried and put into Fen-Ditches will change for the better or the worse, is worth our inquiring.   

CHAP. VII. Of the Baits for Trolling.  
HAving already discoursed of the Nature of a Pike, and discovered his Harbour and Feed, and the time and seasons most proper to take him; the next work will be to provide Instruments and Tackling, as likewise Baits fit and suitable to every Season. Some there are that vary their Baits according to the time of the year, using small Fish in Winter, and Frogs, &c. in Summer. I cannot disapprove of that way, though I seldom made use of others then a small Fish, a Roch, or a Dace, sometimes a Gudgeon, which if it be large, is an excellent Bait, it being a sweet Fish, a Pike very rarely leave●… it; it is of a dark colour and complexion, and therefore is most proper to be used in a brigh●… day, or when the Waters are very clear and transparent: If the River be any thing muddy▪ or the Weather cloudy, then a Roch or a littl●… Dace, or a Bleak newly taken, are the be Baits can be made use of; the fresher they ar●… the better, for if they lye dead but one night▪ especially in hot Weather, they may fail th●… Fisher of his hopes; for Fish are the soone●… stale of any thing, and a Pike may chance t●… catch at a stale Bait, and play with it briskly a●… first, but it is great odds that he leaves it at last▪ if he be not extraordinarily pinched with hunger▪ A stale Bait( we aclowledge) may make a goo●… shift sometimes, but it must be neither in Summer, nor in Spawning-time, in October o●… April they are not so curious but they can dispense with an indifferent diet; and in col●… Weather a Bait may keep two or three days and yet be very supposable, especially at Snap, which makes no difference in Baits as to the sense of tasting; if they look bright and glister in the water, it is not material whether they be old or new; which affords a greater variety of Baits then that of Pouch: any thing that may affect the eye, may be used at Snap; some will take a piece of hard Cheese or Pack wax, a Rasher of Bacon or a Sheeps Gut, or almost any thing that is radiant and shining; some will float on the top with a live bide, a Swallow, or a Sparrow; though I judge that may be more out of curiosity, then for profit or sport. I never admired this way of Snap, as thinking it too quick and surprising, to give any diversion; the sport of Trolling consisting more in the managing the Bite, in the playing of a Pike, and his eager biting and running with the Bait, then just a word and a blow, snapping him up and putting him into the Bag.  
One time of the year indeed, the Snap is the best means to attain the end, that is in March, when they are sick and about casting their Spawn; for then if your Snap-book be made the right way, with springs to strike sure, you may take four or five in the time the Pouch takes one: some fancy the Snap-hook plays the Bait more lively and naturally, though there may be no great difference, in that, especially if the Pouch-hook be fastened to the Line● with a Swivel, which is very conducible to the playing of a Bait. Some there are that Fish with their Baits alive, and have short Hooks fashioned accordingly with more joints and without led; but that is rather a destroying and a poching way, then any fair Fishing; it makes such a slaughter amongst the Fish, that it is not fit to be used: for I have known some Rivers that have been quickly eased of their burden of Fish by that unlawful trade: the way and method they use, is to lay it may be three or fourscore of these Hooks, which may reach almost a Mile, after they have lain four or five hours or more, or presently after they have done the last, they begin to take up the first; so that they will kill perhaps a score of Pikes and Jacks: which way( if allowable) is the ready course to empty a River, and engross all the sport to themselves; two or three at a time, or one, if considerable, is enough to content any moderate Troller, that would have others partake of the Recreation as well as himself, and not fish above once or twice in a Season in the same place; for the means to preserve and continue this Sport, is to favour and cherish it: It is an easy matter indeed to take half a dozen or more, if he would stick at it a whole day in the beginning of the year, before the Waters are beaten or dragged, for then they are so plentiful, that they show themselves in every corner: As for a sweet and delicious Bait, a piece of an Eel may be preferred, which if once taken and tasted, a Pike will assuredly feed upon it; this may be experienced in pounds and Stews, when they throw in Griggs to feed the Pikes. Of all the small Fish, a Perch makes the worst Bait, yet that may be used in a case of necessity, if you first cut off the fins and prickles on his back, though when you have done all you can at him, it will be but too little purpose; for a Perch is like a Prince among the Fish, and a Pik● is in so much fear of him, and hath that Antipathy against him, that he will much sooner fasten upon one of his own kind, then upon him; yet I have seen small Perches taken out of a Pikes belly, but it was in a Mote where he was kept short and had little else to feed upon; but if you be confined to this Bait, and can get no other to promote your sport, it is best to scrape off some of the Scales, for it being a dark Fish, it will make it look somewhat brighter, and still the Snap is the best Hook for it, because if the Scales of the Perch be on, a Pike cannot easily gorge or digest it. A small Jack is a far better Bait, though it seems unnatural, yet Fish are not bound to observe the Laws of Nature. If it be a foot long, it may be cut in two, and so made use of. A young Chub or a Shallow may be very useful, or any Fish that glisters and shines in the Water; a Bleak is a very bright Fish. The way to keep and preserve your Baits till you have occasion to use them, is first to take a Cast Net and throw it, choosing those that are most fit for the purpose; and so lay them up in store: which must be done by having a Trunk ready to put them in, and then to take them out by two or three as occasion serves. In Summer time you may take them with an Angle, but that is very uncertain; nor can you have any choice that way, because they will often be too little or too big, besides it spends too much of the day that is intended for Trolling: sometimes you may take with one Bait fresh out of the Trunk, three or four Jacks or more; for a Fish that bites greedily and swallows the Bait, presently does not tear it so much, as one that plays with it in his mouth and then leaves it; for a Bait is not much worse for being chopped and full of holes, provided it hang well upon the Hook, and the led is not seen; for one Pike will feed very well after another, and the Bait will be still the sweeter the more it is bitten, if it be not used so long to be water-sopt: the Scales of a Roch or Dace are a great preservation to it, as also light and perspicuous, which render it more visible to the eyes of the great devourer: As to the definite number of Baits, it cannot be positively determined; two or three if fresh, will last long enough, if you have not very ill luck with them; for sometimes the first Fish that bites will tear the Bait: so that it will make it unserviceable, and yet not take the Pike, but the Weeds are most destructive to your Baits, especially when they are strong and tough; so that if you be not careful in tying the tail of the Bait fast to the joint of the Wire, the Weed will consume it, before the Pike comes. Some Fish will hold better than others; a Dace is one of the hardest, and will endure the longest; but a Gudgeon is but a tender Fish, and will soon burst: one fresh Bait will wear out two or three stale ones: Besides these natural Baits, there are a sort of Artificial ones, which are made so exquisitely to resemble the other, that they will delude the eyes of some Men, much more of the Fish; for if they be only looked on, and not felt or touched with the finger, there is no doubt to be made of the reality of the Fish. Some pretend to Fish at Pouch with these Artificial deceits, though 'tis more probable they were designed for the Snap; for a Pike is endowed with a perfect sense of tasting, and therefore will scarce be courted to gorge and digest that which he can neither taste nor smell: There are indeed some of those Artificial Baits made after the Pouch fashion, whether for sight or service, to look upon rather then to use, I cannot conceive; for I more admired the curiosity and ingenuity of the Artificer, then any extraordinary excellency or usefulness in the thing. A Pike must be very hungry that gorges one of them, and he must do it hastily and greedily, for if he stays to consider of it and plays much with it, as some of them do, his curious and delicate Palate will presently distinguish a fresh and well relishing Morsel, from a dry and insipid bit.  
Those that are covetous, may have two strings to their bow; by taking a Gudgeon of a middle size or a large Minow, for then they may be in hopes of taking large Perches as well as Pikes, for a Minnow is an excellent Bait for a Perch; great Baits do most invite a Pike, but little ones are more secure to take him.   

CHAP. VIII. Of the Pouch-Hook.  
OF Pike-Hooks or Jack-Hooks, there are several sorts, both for the Snap and Pouch, the latter of which, we shall only endeavour to describe in this place; for though the Spring-Hooks are esteemed excellent, and strike sure, yet the ordinary plain Snap-Hook will miss almost as often as it hits. Of Pouch-Hooks there are many fashions, some with a round bent, almost after the figure of a Perch-Hook; that may be very good, though I never made use of that fashion; for there is another sort which have a sloping bent outward, turning a little inwards under the beard, and withal bending the led at the point of it, which point must be as sharp at it can be made; much after this fashion  woodcut of pouch hook  
It is the best to choose them of a black and somewhat bluish colour, indifferent thick and strong, the led not very gross, but neatly covered, without any flaws or hollows in it, you may led it yourself if you buy them bare; by putting your Hook into a Reed, or a piece of Elder, or any such hollow thing; provided you do it fair and smooth, making it thicker in the middle or towards the bottom, then at the top, which must be narrow and slender. It will require an indifferent quantity of led, for if it be pretty weighty, it plays the Bait the better; this is supposed of a single Hook, though the double one is the same as to the led and joints of the wire: I commonly made use of the single Hook, which strikes as sure as the other. The double Hook hath one advantage above the other, that if it meets with such resistance in the Water, that it loses one side of it, the other part with a little plaining and filing, may be still as serviceable as it was before; it is more troublesone in the Water, and more apt to check and take hold of the Weeds and Roots; it is the fittest for a great Bait, for if you put a small and slender Bait on a double Hook, it will hang out and bear off so much in the bendings, that a Pike may not only discover the delusion and craft of it, but if he chance to take it, it may check him in his feeding, and so hinder him from gorging of it: There are two or three sorts of double Hooks, besides that of the Snap, some of them are flat and are bent back to back, after this manner:  woodcut of double hook Another sort there is that is more sloped and the bends closer together; others there are that have a round bent, much after the form of the Snap, which must always have a full bent, and very large; That is baited by fixing the Hook in the middle of the Bait, and may have the led fastened to the Wire; the way to use that, is to strike soon after the Fish bite, and as the Pike runs one way to strike the contrary.  
In the choice of Hooks, you may have some regard to the Wire, lest that be rugged or knotty, for if that be not found and strong, you may lose both your Fish and your Hook. The first joint of it which is next the led, must be so long that the tail of the Bait may not reach over it, for if it does, you cannot well fasten it to the joint, though in a time of necessity you may untwist the wire of the upper joint, and there fix the thread; some Baits are short, as Roches and Shallows; some are longer, as Daces, Bleaks, or large Gudgeons, which require that the Hook and Wire be both long proportionable to it. The other joint which is fastened to the Line, must be twice or thrice the length of the other; lest when the Pike hath gorged the Bait deep into his Ventricle, the Wire be not long enough to reach out of his mouth, and so he shear and cut the Line with his Teeth; this joint had need be very fine and smooth, lest if it be rugged, it tear the Bait when you put it on; if this be stiff and strong, you need not that which they call the Arming Wire to help you thrust it out of the tail of the Bait; you may sometimes search your Wire, least it be faulty or broken, especially the lowest joint, for there it often breaks, and may deceive you in your intended pastime.  
There are another sort of Hooks which are made purposely for the Ledger Baits; those are used with live Fish, and are not leaded, the Hook is rather shorter than the other, but the Wire hath usually more joints. The Lines for these need not be so long as the Trolling Line, for they may be thrown into the Water, and so gauged with a stick; for a Pike will not so soon take a Bait off the ground, as if it swims about a foot or more from the bottom. The way of Fishing with Ledger-Baits is too destructive to be made a common practise, and far below the diversions of a fair Fisherman.  
The best Hooks may be chosen by their Mettal, which is the hardest and best tempered Steel; these are so well composed, that they break and snap, rather then stand bent, or be the least moved from their first frame and figure; there is much variety in Hooks, and a great deal of deceit in them, and therefore it requires skill and caution to choose the best.  
When you fasten the Wire to the Line, you must be sure to tie it with a right knot; least it catch a Weed that is far stronger then a Pike, and it slip the knot and get from you; but if all your Tackling be new and sound, you need not fear to adventure among Fog or Weeds, or any thing but Roots and Stumps of Trees, which may hold play with a Cart-Rope. To this end the safest and most secure way of fastening, is first to tie one single knot, and then one that will slip, or else only the slipping not, allowing it an inch or two of Line, and then girding and drawing it close, first making trial of it with all your strength before you put it into the Water it's a neat and handsome way to fasten it with a Swivel, tying it close with a bit of thread; this seems to play the Bait better, giving it a turn when you stir it, which makes it glister and swim like a live Fish.  
There are a sort of course Hooks made of Iron and thick Wire, which may make a shift to serve those that can get no better.   

CHAP. IX. Of the Trolling Line.  
NOw as to the Line itself, it is one of the chiefest and most necessary Member that is required to the Constitution of the body of a Fisherman: for an ordinary and indifferent Hook may be sometimes dispensed withal to show good sport, as also the Pole; but if your Line be not strong and of a considerable length, you can have but little hopes of any competent success: The best materials for the composure of your Line, is green or blew Silk, which Cerulcan colour is most resembling and agreeable to the Water; but it is possible it may be only a fancy that that colour is of more consequence than another; yet sometimes the pleasing of the fancy, does so much enliven and encourage the Fisherman, that it makes him the more active and laborious, and so by that means is the occasion of all his sport; and if his fancy divert him another way, he will take the less care and pains in his present pastime.  
Next to Silk, the best sort of green thread is to be preferred, which though it be neither so handsome or so durable as Silk, yet it may last very strongly a year or two: but that wears like other things, according to the care and good keeping of the user; for if it be laid up wet, and on an heap, as soon as you have done Fishing, and take no more care of it, you may haply rot out as many Lines as you catch Pikes: The best way then of preserving it, is to wax it sometimes with Bees-wax, and when it is wet to wind it up loosely in long foldings, that the Air may come in to dry it, or else let it dry at length, and then wind it upon a Roll: with such usage, a Silk Line will last beyond your expectation.  
There are some that make their Lines of Sheep or Cats Guts; but I cannot conceive they are so suitable and agreeable to the Water as Silk, or thread; Silk and Hair may be fitly mingled in the making of a Line; some make them of Silk and Silver, thinking that way to preserve it; tho the addition of Silver may be rather to please their fancy and the gaiety of their humour, then to keep their Line from perishing; such as they should have Silver Hooks to their Silver Lines, that if it cannot take Fish itself in the Water, it may take them ready caught, and so be useful in saving their credit.  
There are other sorts of course Lines very short, not above half the length of the Trolling Line, which are either to Fish with a Ledger-Bait, or to lye all night, being tied to a Float, and cast into the water.  
These are not made of such fine stuff, neither are so well twisted as the other, and only serves in some exigencies, as when a Pike that will not be invited by Trolling, may be better pleased with a Bait that is laid for him: he will sometimes so humble himself as to take it off the bottom; but it is the wiser course to tie a stick or a cork to the Line, that it may hang about a foot or more from the ground, observing the Wind withal, for if you throw it in against the Wind, it will drive it backward, and carry the Bait close to the side, and though a Pike often harbours by the side, yet the middle hath more scope and advantage of drawing him to it; for these laying Lines the worst sort will serve, because the lying so long in the Water is the ready way to rot them.  
As to the length of the Line, it is good to have enough, and far better to leave than to lack; for though a short Line may do very well in a Brook or some narrow place, where the Pike must either run upwards or downward, and so you may follow your sport, yet if you come to a broad Reach, where the Fish run across the Stream to the far side, you may often miss of your Pike for want of a few yards of Line; for if he be the least curbed or stopped in his so speedy Career, and may not have his full swing, he is presently checked, and leaves his suspicious prey. This I have often found by experience, though my Line was long enough, yet having a knot in it that would not quickly pass, as also being so entangled that it much shortened it, I have by that means lost very good Fish.  
As to the precise length of it, that need not be determined, about 30 yards is a good medium for the Pouch, I cannot see any reason why it need be so long at Snap, for though they may throw out as far at Snap, yet that strikes as soon as he bites, and lets him run no farther, whereas at Pouch he may go farther with it still, though it be far cast.  
It's true that for the Line at Snap ought to be thicker and stronger, for a sudden jerk may break that which might hold a good pull by degrees; but as to the length, it need not be so long, because that is only for casting in, and a Pike will sometimes run farther with it then it can be thrown: so that I have seen those that have fished at Snap, with no longer a Line then what was tied to the Pole, and so cast it up and down like an Angle: this was too short to be confined to no more Line then what was commanded by the Pole.  
As to the managing of the Line and fitting it for your sport, you may wind it upon a Roll that turns upon a ring of Iron with your finger in it, having no more in your hand then you make use of at the present: so that if occasion be, you may unwind it at your leisure.  
Some draw it after them at length, which I approve as a very good way; if there be no impediments in the way; as Shrubs or Bushes to interrupt or make them go back; it will be very ready to cast out, and may throw it the farthest; for if you hold a great deal loose in your hand, it will be apt to knot and tangle, which will try the Fishermans patience. Some object that the drawing the Line upon the ground will be apt to wear it out sooner, but that is questionable, for it sooner dries so, and when it is dry, it can take but little harm: besides a Pike will sometimes be so hasty and furious, that he will scarce give you leave to unwind fast enough for him, and therefore the surest way to trepan him, is to make preparation for him, by having your Line at command in a complete readiness.   

CHAP. X. Of the Pole.  
SUpposing your Hook be good, and your Line strong, you may make the better shift with an indifferent Pole; though some that are more curious in their Tackling than painful and patient in their Fishing, will not stir a foot without all the formalities of an exquisite Fisherman: such precise Crafts-Masters as these, can spend their time in admiring their Instruments, and sufficiently delight themselves with the commendation of their own Materials. This is certain and undeniable, that the longer the Pole is, if it be streight and light, you will find the more benefit in playing the Bait and throwing it from you; for if there be Flags or Reed between the Bank and the main deep, you can very hardly play your Bait with a short Pole. I confess I have often put a Ring upon my Hand-stick and made use of that instead of a Rod, and have had the fortune sometimes to take a Pike well nigh as long as my Pole: sometimes I have taken nothing with me, but confided in the Willows that grew next to the place designed for that days Recreation, cutting down as good a Stick as I could find, and so making a bent at the end for the Line to slip; and have left it at the conclusion of the Sport: In a broad River or a Pond, being at a pinch, I have had no Pole at all, but only took the Bait in my hand, and cast it from me like a ston to the length of my Line, the end of which I was sure to fasten about me, least I threw it quiter out, and then have repented of my folly when it was too late to amend it. In some places they fish altogether that way where the River is deep and clear from Weeds. I never accustomend myself to a long Pole, lest I might seem like them that make a great bustle, and take but few Fish. I generally made use of an Alder as long as I could get, commonly about three yards long, which I barked and kept dry for lightness and easy carriage; when it was thoroughly dry it would be tough, and so light, that I could scarce feel it in my hand; and there is no objection to be made, that such a stick is too weak; for any thing is strong enough at Pouch that will play the Bait and throw it from you; there is no weight or stress upon the Pole, and but little upon the Line; if you strike the Fish gently and play him slightly and dexterously, you may tyre him with a slender Line, if it be long and can keep him from Weeds and Roots; at Snap indeed your Tackling must be all fitted accordingly, your Line very strong, and your Pole on purpose of a good Ash, or Withy, or Hazel well dried; streight and tough, that it may be able to draw him out nolens volens, by mere force and compulsion: He that uses that way is scarce a word and a blow, for the mistaken Fish no sooner lays his Mouth upon the deceitful Bait, but he is catched up into another Element. The way of Pouch is far more mildred and flattering, though as much destructive and pernicious. If you use an Ash or an Hazel Pole, you must have a Ring fixed at the end, some have two; that is one in the middle, though I see no necessity of that superfluity. If it be an Alder or a Cane, or any hollow Wood, you may have an Iron Ring made to screw in at the top about an handful or more in length, or else that which may be at well, a piece of dry Alder that is cut sharp and sloping about three or four Inches long, which you may stick fast in the end of the Pole; some have only a Ring with a little Screw very short. If your Pole be of Alder, it will be apt to crack, you may secure that by binding the end of it hard with a Waxed thread, and then you may thrust in at the top without any danger of breaking or cleaving the Pole. A dry Withy or Hazel, bored about twelve or fourteen Foot, will make an excellent Pole; which may serve for Angling if it be so long, only putting a top into it, as also at Snap. It is a great ease to have a light Pole, and therefore the best course is to get them in the season of the year, and let them stand near the Fire, or in some dry place, for the space of half a year or more; for if your Rod be green and heavy, it will make you weary of your Sport, and be a great hindrance and discouragement to your Fishing.  
The truth is, if sport be quick and good, scarce any thing can vex or discompose the Fisher; for he is then so attentive on his pleasure, that he takes little notice of those inconveniences which otherwise might be a trouble and vexation to him; he then regards neither Wind nor Weather, and disdains those slight perturbations of could, Thirst, or Hunger; he hath then gotten the Philosophers ston which sweetens all his other crosses, and turns all disasters into Gold. His Sport is a Cordial for all his Distempers, and the Pike( like a good Water-Physician) can cure him of all his Diseases: if he be weary, his sport refreshes him, if could, it warms him; if melancholy, it cheers him; if drowsy, it revives him; if in pain, it eases him; if sick, it recovers him: he then fee's not the weight of his Pole, nor is concerned that his Tackling is no better. This is the prosperity of the Fisher, but if you see him in adversity, when fortune does not smile on his endeavours, you shall, find him much altered, and in a contrary condition; supposing( I say) the thing called Luck does not attend him, and his beloved Sport does not sweeten all other Ingredients, which should refine all the dross of outward misfortunes, he it then so much at a loss and dejected, that he can expect but a bitter potion: Patience and Hopes are the tw●… chiefest Pillars that support the Building of 〈…〉 Fisherman; for if they be once disturbed or shaken, you may easily foresee the ruins of Piscator.  
If you desire to be private at your Sport, an●… to go undiscovered to the River, you ma●… walk out with an Oak stick or the like in you●… hand, taking a Ring with a Screw at it; yo●… may deceive the expectations of others, an●… pass on without the least suspicion.   

CHAP. XI. How to Bait the Hook, and to play the Bait.  
THough it be supposed that you are perfectl●… furnished with all sorts of Tools and Instruments that are required to the making up th●… very Essence of a Fisherman, and that you ar●… as thoroughly accoutred with all the Materials and Utensils for Fishing as Piscator himself could possibly be, yet if you know not how to use these Implements, you will be soon weary of your Sport, and despair of learning the Art of Trolling; provided then that your Baits are ready, take a couple of Hooks at least with you; if you have a mind, you may Bait them before you set out, especially if the Weather be could, that it may not trespass too much upon your patience when you come to the River: The way then to Bait your Hook, is first to thrust your Wire into the mouth of the Fish, quiter through the belly and out at the tail; some have besides the running Wire a Knitting Needle on purpose, but if the first joint of your Wire be stiff and strong, it may very well be done with that; the point of the Hook must be even with the belly of the Bait; for if it hang on either side, it may hinder and check the Pike, who will probably lay his mouth upon it; for when he chaps across the Fish, he may be pricked, and so leave you only the hopes of another Bite; when you have so put through the Fish, then tie the Tail of the Bait fast to the joint of the Wire with strong thread, which will both make it hang streight upon the Hook, and preserve it from outward violences; for if it be not well fastened, the Weeds will have so much power over it, that they will soon tear it down to the Gills, and so separate the Hook from the Bait; some fasten it with a Needle.  
The best way of fixing your Hook to the Line, is with a Swivel, which if you have not, you may make it fast with one slipping knot, which you may untie without cutting your Line.  
When you are thus fixed for your intended Sport, then drop in your Bait first even before you, then cast it on each side to search them, and let the third throw be before you into the middle, afterwards cast about all places where you conceive your Game lies, or any where that you can fish without annoyance; for a Pike often delights himself in a very unlikely and improbable Harbour; and therefore the surest way to meet with him, is to fish true and close; missing as little of the River as you can: which though it be tedious, yet it is the only way to search and see what store of Fish a River affordeth; and you may often have a Bite, when you think least of it.  
Now the farther you throw in your Bait, the more advantage you gain by it, and more hopes of a Bite, provided there be no impediments is your way, as Weeds, Roots, or the like; fo●… if the place be foul or weedy, you canno●… make out so far, but only drop in your Bai●… here and there by the sides and in holes that an●… clear and deep: The Weeds are bad Enemie●… to the Bait and Hook; though a good Hook and a Line answerable to it, will pull up the strongest of them; for I cannot remember that I ever lost a Hook by a Weed alone, except it had some stump or root of a three to be assistant to it; the Candocks indeed, and bulrushes will much disfigure and annoy your Bait, and almost quiter discountenance a young Undertaker; for if the smallest bit of weed hang upon the Hook, a Pike will be very sqeamish to gorge it; though some affirm that he feeds upon a Weed one time of the year, which they call from thence Pickerill Weed.  
Supposing then that you have cast out a very fair throw, it may be a dozen or sometimes twenty yards, which may easily be done if the River requires it; let it first have a little time to sink, then feel it, and draw it gently towards you; for a Pike often takes it at the first sight before it gets to the bottom, and if you snatch it hastily, you may chance to give him such a discouragement, that you may be deprived of your expected sport: after you have given it an easy motion towards you, let it have the liberty of sinking again, then draw it slowly and softly, for if you jerk it too quick and hastily, you will not give him leave to lay hold upon the Bait; for he will often shoot himself from the farthest sides, and at a great distance, being so quick sighted in the Water: when you have got your Bait near the Bank, then play it longer there; first deep: for the deeper you Fish the better, especially in could Weather; afterwards raise it higher and higher by degrees till you see it, and then you may often have the pleasure of being an Eye-Witness to your own bite; and though you have before been often deceived in your hopes, and have caught a Weed instead of a Fish, yet now you may assure yourself, if the Proverb hold true, That seeing is believing: there are indeed some sort of Weeds, and the stream together, which may often give encouragements, by promising Sport, and performing none; they will sometimes so exactly imitate a real Bite, that an old and experienced Fisherman m●y be mistaken with all his craft and cunning. The best way then to be sure, is to pull your Line gently till you come to feel it, and if it be a Fish, the moving of the Bait, will make him more eager and greedy, he will then strike out and gorge it; whereas if he lay still and not stirred, he would very probably leave it. When you have raised your Bait so high towards the top, it may be within two or three foot, that you can perceive it to glister; you may then comfort yourself with the hopes of a Pike that may rise at it, as he often does, and therefore it is not prudence to bee too hasty in taking out the Bite.  
When a Pike is once stirred, he will lye as it were watching for the Bait, and catch greedily at it, if he does not see you; therefore you must be careful to keep a little distance upon the Bank, for they will often take it at the very top, and sometimes leap out of the Water at it; but they are then commonly so much affrighted that they will not be courted to Bite any more; you may Fish as close as you will, though it be not material whether you throw two or three times in one and the same place; for he is so hungry, that he usually embraces the first opportunity to lay hold upon his Feed.  
Some there are that Troll with great Corks and Floats on their Line, which may do the best with the Ledger-Bait, though I never approved of that way; for the Weeds will make the float dance as exactly as a Pike, except he bite very greedily, and so you may often be deceived in your expectation; sometimes I grant, you may distinguish and be sensible of your Bite if he runs with it, and especially up the Stream; but if he goes downward and bites slowly, you cannot assure yourself whether it be a Fish or a Weed. If a place be free from Weeds, you may make the best shift with a Cork; though you may be often mistaken when you lay a little too deep; for the Hook will draw along the bottom, and you will be ready to comfort yourself with the hopes of Sport.  
In some places they Troll without any Pole or any playing of the Bait, as I have seen them throw a Line out of a Boat, and so let it draw after them as they Row forward; but that must needs be a careless and unsafe way, for though they may have Bites and Offers so, yet it must certainly check the Fish so much that he will never Pouch it; I cannot tell what Art they may have at the Snap, though it is very improbable to have any as they go to work, without either Pole or Stick.  
Now besides them that are not endued with that excellent gift of Patience, there are some of our young Pretenders that have too much confidence or rather too little skill; these will stand an hour or two in one place, as immovable as the Trees they stand by, they are so importunate with the Fish, that they would force them to bite; and if there be never a Pike in the place where they are, they do their endeavou●… to wait till one comes: these are indefatigable Crafts-men, which can weary the Fish soone●… than themselves, and are neither discourage●… with ill fortune, nor transported wit●… good.  
As to the baiting the Hook with a Frog, 〈…〉 spoken nothing, because I never made that an●… part of my practise; s●me Frogs are though●… to be venomous, as the Land Frog, or that whic●… breeds by Land; it is observed by some, that 〈…〉 Pike hath an Antipathy against this. And of these there are several sorts, some speckled, some greenish, which are the most dangerous to touch; these breed by flime and dust of the Earth, which turn to slime in Winter; and in Summer to a living Creature again. Cardan gives a reason for the raining of Frogs, which proceed from putrefaction, and are not supposed to be that sort of Frogs which engender in February or March, and breed in Ditches by slime and blackish Eggs. If you intend to Troll with a Frog, you must choose out of these the yellowest you can get; first then put your Hook into his Mouth, which you may do from May day to the end of August, afterwards some say his Mouth grows up, and so con●inues at least six Months without eating, and is sustained, no one knows how( but the great Creator.) Put in the arming wire in at his Mouth, and out at his Gills, and then with a fine Needle and Silk sow the upper part of his Leg, with only one stitch to the arming wire, or tie the Frogs Leg to the upper joint of the Wire; use him gently and he will live the longer: when you have thus baited it, you may fasten your Line to a bough, a bunch of flags, or a bundle of straw, and by the help of the wind they will more across a Pond or more. Some will tie four or five live Baits to Bladders, and let them swim down the River, whilst they walk softly a long the shore. Others will fasten baits to Ducks or goose, and so let them swim about the Pond; if there be store of Pikes you may see excellent sport this way, for sometimes a great Pike will draw the Duck under the Water. This is the most proper to Fish with live Baits, and so to gauge your Line with a Forked stick, with a neck or notch at one end of it, and put in Line enough for him to have his full liberty of Pouching. This is the ordinary way of Fishing after that manner, if you have none of the fore-spoken things to move your Bait.   

CHAP. XII. How to strike a Pike and land him.  
WHen you have diverted yourself as long as you think good with the pleasure of a Bite, and can guess by the running of the Pike, what progress he hath made in his repast, by his ranging about for more; you may then hook him with a small jerk, and so take your fill of your contented sport: for though we say of a Pike as of a Thief, give him Rope enough and he will hang himself, yet a fine gentle stroke will do no harm, but rather secure him, and entangle him the faster: supposing then that he hath fed a little, you may observe what motions he makes. If he takes the Bait greedily at bottom, and marches up the Stream with it, or strikes across the River towards his hold, he will then probably lye still a little time, while he is Pouching, as you may feel him check and tug at it; from which place if he goes quick, you may let him alone a little longer, for you may come to lose all for want of two or three minutes forbearance: if he hath lain still a while the second time and then runs with it, you may let him go with it still, if you have a desire to prolong the Sport; if not, you may draw your Line streight, and with your Pole give him an easy stroke, and so feel him by degrees, till you come to see him; but if he makes much resistance and is very furious, let him have Line enough, and give him his full swing: he will be very angry at first, till he is better pacified by losing of his strength.  
As soon as you strike him, you may conjecture of what bigness he is, for if he be large you will find him strong and unruly in the Water; but if small and light, you can scarce tell whether you have any thing or not, or perhaps he may( for madness) leap out of the Water as soon as he is pricked; but if he be a good one, at( I say) you may either see or feel him: you must be very cautious, and take a great deal of care and diligence in getting him to shore; for if the River be broad and your Line short, you may very well lose him; for he will launch out with that extremity and violence, that though he cannot break the Line, yet he will tear his own Entrails, if he be there hung.  
Now if a Fish takes your Bait at the top of the Water, and runs fiercely with it into the deep, and there lies still for some time, and you perceive that he does not Pouch it, your remedy for that is to stir him a little, to make him run and be more eager of it; then after he hath lain still and runs with it again, there is no great danger of losing that fish; for when they leave it they commonly throw it up at their first stage, that is the first time they lye still. Sometimes he will take it again after he hath left it, and run to his hold and play with it more than he did at first, showing very good sport for a while, and and after all leave you in the lurch. A fish that takes it most greedily at the beginning, and carries it the furthest, does notwithstanding often forsake it; for as the proverb says, nile violentum est diuturnum. So a Pike that bites so eagerly at first, is too fierce to last; for it happens that he often leaves it: the only way to be even with such a Fish, is to take the Snap, and that may chance to stop his career.  
Now when you have a Bite, and the Fish goes down the Stream with it, we are apt to conceive it is a small Jack; but on the contrary, if he sails slowly upwards with the Bait, it is a sign of a good one; for the greater sort bite more calmly and moderately than the less; for they snatch, and away with it without any care or deliberation: Old Fish are more wary and cunning, they are sooner taken with a Line laid for them all night, then by Trolling. It is something difficult to know of what size a Pike is, before he is strike, and therefore there's none but may be mistaken in their Conjectures; for an indifferent Fish, I mean about 20 or 22 Inches, will often make as good Sport as one twice as big, however before you strike him; but then generally the bigger the Pike is, the more delightful will the Sport be. Sometimes he will take the Bait very hastily, and run out to the length of your Line, and never lye still at all, but all along he will play up and down with it, till you think fit to strike him.  
When the Water is clear and not very deep, you may see him rise at it and take it; so you may see the Bait glister as it lies across his mouth; you may then see when he hath Pouch'd, and know your time to strike.  
When you have first strike him, you must be sure to have your Line ready and slacken, that he may take as much liberty as he will; for when he finds himself gulled, and trapan'd with the Hook, he will use all his might and cunning to give you the lose. As you feel him come easily towards you, you may be still drawing, till you feel him make resistance again, then you may let him have his swing, till the heat of his fury is over, then gather your Line to you again, till he starts away, and if you can get him to the top, it will the sooner tyre him; for the more he strives and throws himself from you the sooner he will be weary; after this manner by drawing him up and letting him loose again, you may tyre him and tame him, till you bring him to your hand, and then he will lye so quietly, that if the Hook was out, he could scarce strike off and get away.  
If you have hung him in the Gills, you cannot lose him, though you pull him out by mere force and violence, but if it hang loosely either in his Gorge or his Throat, he may deceive you, though he destroys himself, leaving you part of his Guts on the Hook for a Legacy, and dying soon after of his received Wounds. When you have after all this divertisement brought him to the Bank, you will find something to do, before you can confidently call him your own; for if you go unadvisedly to take him out, either by the Back or the Tail, or any part of his Body, though you think his best is past, and his dancing days are done, yet he may cut yo●… another Capor; and if he has had a little breathing time, he may give another leap, when you do not expect it; the best way then, is to use fair means, and invite to the land by persuasions, not compulsions, taking him by the Head, and putting your fingers into his Eyes, which is the fastest hold. If the Water be low, so that the Bank rises some distance from it; you must not fear catching an Ague, by laying your Belly level with the ground, especially if you have no contrivance to guide him outwards to a more commodious place: some will adventure to take him by the Gills, though ●… hat hold is neither so secure nor so safe for the Fisher; because the Fish in that heat of passion, may accidentally take revenge upon his Adver●… ●ry, by letting him blood in his Fingers, which way of Phlebotomizing is not esteemed so good, ●… ecause some are of opinion, that the Teeth of a Pike are venomous, and those Wounds very ●… ifficult to be healed.  
If there be Reeds and Shallows between you ●… nd the deep, or if the River be in that ebb that ●… ou cannot reach him to lay hands on him, you ●… ust contrive some other means to conduct him ●… a more convenient landing. You may have ●… Eye of that when you first strike him, looking ●… pwards and downward, and forecasting for ●… our best advantage: but if it be all along so ●… eedy( as it is commonly in pounds or Meres) that it will be so prejudical to your Sport, that you can have no conveniency of his safe arriving, by bringing him to your hand, you must then be content with the hopes of success, by committing yourself unto the hands of fortune, having nothing to trust to at that juncture of time, but that which you may call the Fishermans luck. If you have as well debilitated his strength as tired his patience, you may probably draw him out with no great reluctancy; especially if the Weeds be not so strong and friendly to their watery Element, that they interpose themselves to part the fray between the Fish and the Fisher.  
Those that are more nice and curious, then painful and industrious, have their Net ready by them, least their stooping might be injurous unto them: this Net( I suppose) is made in the fashion of a little Sparrow Net, with a long Trail, and a Pole at it, to translate Mr. Lucius out of his own into the Airy Element.  
This is a very quaint and delicate way of Trolling; such as use it must have their Attendants to assist them; that as the Philosopher said, Omnia mea mecum Porto. So they will have their Servitors to carry their Implements and Tools after them; these are of more power on Shore, then in the Water, and have more Authority to command their retinue by the Land, than the Fish in the Waters.   

CHAP. XIII. How to preserve a River for Trolling.  
THe way and means to preserve a River for your own Sport, is to secure it from all those Enemies that are hurtful and destructive to it. The first and greatest, which may be called the Arch-Enemy, is the Drag, which is as unmerciful as an Epidemical Disease, that sweeps all into the dust; or as a greedy and covetous monopoliser, engrosseth all into its own possessions, and so verifies the old Proverb, That all are Fish that come to that Net. Some there are that commend the following of the Drag to Troll immediately after it; these love to fish in troubled Waters, for they say, The draging the River, stirs up the Fish and makes them more ready to catch at their prey: I cannot applaud the practise of these, nor judge it any ways consentaneous to reason; for though it be confessed that it s an hard battle where none escapes, and that the Drag like an Universal Distemper cuts off the mayor part, yet still there will be some left to renew their Species, which after a short time of quiet and forbearance will multiply and replenish the Waters. This I suppose, if there was none to come in and succeed them in their place, as there are continually; though( I say) they may propose these ends as encouragements to their Sport, yet they will find such a scarcity and diminution among the Fish, that their pastime will be very could and uncomfortable, having nothing to hope for or trust unto but those few Scape-Drags, which are only as the Gleanings when the Harvest is gone.  
Another Enemy to the Sport is the Bow-Net, which though it be far more favourable and sparing, and of a far lower Classis than the Drag, yet it is by so much the more dangerous by how much it is private and undiscovered; for the Drag is a professed and a public Foe, which gives some notice and intimation to avoid those places it hath lately cleansed; but the Bow Net is so close and secret a murderer, that it cunningly slays and leaves no visible Wound.  
Another Plea there is that may be alleged for the Drag, which is this, that it is seldom used above once, sometimes not so often as once by the year; but the Bow-Net kills and destroys, spoils and plunders all the year long; the Spring time indeed is the fittest for it, when the Fish run and get into the scours; or else immediately after a Flood; to lay many of these in small Rivulets and Ditches, they that use them, may then make their Harvest of them, especially after a Spring-flood.  
The third Enemy that presents itself to be taken notice of for avoiding, is the Stall or Tramel: a Net which is made up of great Mashes, as it is so much the more tolerable and allowable, because it holds only the great Fish, and gives the lesser leave to escape. This Net is not so common, nor so much to be condemned as the Bow-Net, because it is usually assisting to the Drag. In Washes and back Dikes it may do good service, because there they may both draw it, and plunge on both sides it; but in the main River it can do no great Execution, but only set as a Stall to stop the Fish: In one respect it is very Murdering, because the Mashes are made so alike on both sides, that it takes the Fish which way soever they come. They that use this Sport, have commonly two to set at a little distance, and then they may meet, and take most that are between them.  
As to the Cast-Net, it is rather a Friend and subservient to the Troll, than an Enemy to the Sport: for there is no way so good to take Baits as with that; because out of a multitude of Fish which it takes, you may have your choice of Baits. An Angle indeed may make a shift sometimes in Summer, but that often takes either those that are too little or too big for Baits.  
Again, a Cast-Net is helpful for the taking small Fry, to feed Pikes in a Pond or the like, so that it may be necessary and beneficial many ways. Those that use it as destructively as they can imagine, will not revenge themselves much upon the Pikes; they may kill many small Jacks with it in shallow Streams, but the great Fish that lye deep and close, are too secure from the narrow compass of a Cast-Net: It may chance to fall upon a great one sometimes, yet if there be any Weeds or Fog in the place, and the Net be not strong and well bulleted, as also the Caster very wary in drawing it up, the Pike will deceive the expectations of the Fisher. In a clear place, where there are no impediments or obstructions, and the bottom smooth and level, it may haply enclose and draw up a good Pike; but where there are the least encumbrances to annoy the Net, it is to be supposed, the Fish will make his escape: The new sort of Nets that are hung with Chains instead of Bullets, are too light for this service.  
Next to the Nets which kill by whole sale, the Trollers are often the greatest Enemies one to another, especially the way of the Ledger-Bait, which is very destructive to the Game, for that enticing way which they use with a live Bait, and laying such an Army of Hooks, must needs weaken the Forces of the watery Militia.  
Dead Baits are not so pernicious, yet if they be too often used, they will much lessen the Fish; for at some seasons of the year they will bite almost till there is none left in the place: The way to favour it, is to be moderate, and not to beat a River too much or with too many Hooks; to Fish more for pleasure than for profit, and to come but once or twice in a Season to the same River.  
The Snare may do some harm at the beginning of the year in a Sunny day and a clear Water, that is only for by-places and narrow scours.  
One of the greatest Enemies is still to speak of, which must not be forgotten, because he is such a cunning and expert Fisher, that he generally preys upon only the greatest and the best Fish of all kinds. This is the Water-Dog, or Dog-Fisher, as some call him; which will walk five or ten Miles to a Pond in a Night, and some have disputed whether he be a Beast or a Fish: he can smell a Fish above an hundred yards from him, and then he devours them, and spoils more than he eats, leaving the Head and great part of the Back untouched. Gesner says, that his Stones are a good Remedy against the Falling Sickness; and that there is an Herb called Benione, which being hung in a linen Cloth near a Fish Pond or any haunt that he uses, it makes him to avoid the place. There is so many of them in a River in Cornwall, that cambden says the Name of it is called Ottersey, from the abundance of Otters that there breed, and are fed in it. Though this amphibious Creature be chief Regent, and is Triumphant in the Waters, yet the greedy and audacious Pike, will sometimes set him at defiance, and is so bold as to give him battle; as some have seen and observed it, that a Pike hath fought with an Otter for a Carp that he had gotten.  
It would not be amiss for the Conservation of the Waters, to keep the fence Months, which are three at the Spring in Spawning-time, for if the taking the Dam on her Nest when she hatches her young, were a sin so much against Nature, that it was forbidden in the Old Law, certainly the taking Fish in the time of their Spawning may be something unlawful as well as unnatural.  
Besides such unnatural Fishermen and all the Enemies before-mentioned, the Fish have many more, as the Bitterne, the Cormorant, the Osprey, the Sea-Gull, the Hern, the King-Fisher, and many others; which though they dare not make their prey upon the great luke or Pike, yet they lessen the small Fry which should feed and sustain the greater; and sometimes they may devour young Jacks and Pickerils.   

CHAP. XIV. A Description of the Rivers.  
THere are in the Kingdom of England and Wales 555 Rivers. I cannot conceive how the number jumps so equal, or comes to be so great; but that I suppose some small Brooks and Rivulets are taken in.  
Now of those 555, England alone claims the greatest share, having in it 325, though there may not be so many main Streams which either have the denomination, or the fullness and capacity of so vast a Current. As to their Diversities, is their Situations, their Distance and Remoteness, or their Nearness and Vicinity to the Sea; so they are different both in the qualities of their Water, as also their various kinds and species of Fishes.  
Those that have a more immediate intercourse with the Ocean, partake of its Influences, and have the same Vicissitudes, the same Fluxes, and Refluxes, the same Salt Water, and the same Scaly Army attends them which rules and bears sway under Neptunes Government: These are too deep to be fathomed by the short Cordage of a Line, and therefore cannot be brought within the compass of our designed Treatise. Those that are more in-land and farther distant from the common Receptacle of Waters, may be brought into the Lists, and fall under the Notion of our intended Subject.  
To begin then with the nearest, and to set forth the praises our Native country, we may prefer the Neighbouring Avon, which hath afforded opportunities for our frequent Visits, and may challenge the greatest share of our own experience.  
This River consists chiefly of Pike and Perch, some good Bream, few carp, Chevins, Gudgeon, Roches, &c. and very good Eel; it is a clear, fine Stream, in most places broad, and very deep. Some call it by the Name of Nine, because it hath its Original from Nine Fountains, though I cannot discover above five Rivulets that flow in to the increasing of it: Springs indeed there are many, that join Forces to augment it, the first of which arises about Daventree.  
There are several other Rivers that go by the Name of Avon, one of which takes its course through the middle of Warwickshire.  
The next in order to Avon is Welland, which may claim the second place in our Description, having much encouraged our Diversions, and contributed very freely towards the perfecting and completing of this Art.  
These two, like loving Sisters, meet and salute each other at Crowland, and then part again. The Welland cannot boast of that store and plenty of Fish as her Neighbour Avon; with Pike and smaller Perch she is abundantly furnished, many Bream of a middle size, store of Chubs, Dace, Gudgeons, Eels, &c. She hath many turns and windings in her Current, which makes her the more Commodious for Trolling, though slow in running; so that after a great Flood, there will be no Fishing for a long time.  
The Third, and next to these, is the Ouse in Bedfordshire, a fair River and full of Fish, much the same as that of Avon, a good Trolling River.  
From thence to the famed Cham, which gives Name to our Mother Academia; for Historiaus and Antiquaries say, That by setting a Bridge over Cham, it was called Cambridge.  
This River is broad but shallow, and is not so Commodious for the Troll as the Cast-Net; here are many Gudgeons, Ruffs, small Jacks, some Trout and Chub; great part of it is Navigable; and therefore not so favourable for our Sport, not only because the sailing of the Vessels much disturbs and thickens the Waters with their Oars and Spreads, but because those continual motions that keep the Water from settling, keep the Weeds from growing, which might harbour and shelter the Fish from the violence of Nets. The Stream of this Cham is somewhat Rapid and Velocious, both by reason of the shallowness of it, as also the level and straightness of it; it having but few Pits and Crooks which might render it serviceable for our Recreation. However if its Fountains cannot sand forth such Waters, that will multiply and generate Fishes to furnish the Adjacent Countries, yet from that ancient Scource of Liberal Arts and Pious Literature, have flowed full Streams of Learned Sciences, which have refined all parts and corners of this Land.  
Next to this Seminary of good Education, may we place her Sister Oxonia the other Nurse and Breast of Learning: This, as well as the other, hath the denomination from the River the ford of Oxen; or as some derive it Oxford, quasi Ouseford, from the River Ouse adjoining to it.  
From thence we hasten to the River Swift, whether so called from the swiftness and velocity of its motion, is disputable; it waters and washeth Lutterworth in Leicester shire, and then kindly greets the greater Avon.  
The renowned Trent is generally known, being remarkable in the very Name and Derivation, which some have it called from Triginta, because it is stored with Thirty sorts of Fishes. If that be true, she must certainly borrow some of her Mothers Brood, the Salt Off-spring of the Sea; since there are not so many distinct kinds of Fishes that have their being and habitation in the Fresh Waters.  
Bordering to this, is the Capacious Humber, and many more spreading through the Northern Climate, the most ancient of which, is the greater Ouse, Commodious for Enriching the City of York. Some say, Humber is not a distinct River of its self, but only the Mouth and Aestuarium of divers Rivers here confluent and meeting together, as your, Darwent, especially Ouse and Trent, which there changeth its Name.  
More Northerly still is the noted Tweed, on whose Bank is seated the Impregnable Town of Berwick.  
The River Tine, so famous for New-Castle, and her Inexhaustible Coal Pits. Kent boasts much of her Princely Medway, famous for harbouring the Royal Navy.  
Swift-running Severne is a special Glory and Ornament to the Ciry gloucester, then which( says an Ancient Author) there is not any for Channel broader, for Stream swifter, or for Fish better stored. There is in it a daily rage and fury of Waters, which may be called a gulf or Whirl-pool of Waves, raising up the Sand from the bottom, winding and driving upon great heaps; sometimes she overfloweth her Banks, and roveth a great way upon the face of her Bordering grounds, and again retireth as Conqueror into her usual Channels; unhappy is the Vessel which she taketh full upon the sides; for if the Watermen are ware of it, they turn the Vessel upon it, and cut through the midst of it, whereby they check, and avoid that violence and danger: she is called Sabrina, from the name of a Maid that was there drowned.  
There are many noted Rivers in Darbyshire, Lancashire, Devonshire, Shropshire, &c. the Description of which would be fit for a larger volume, and cannot be reduced into this Epitome.  
The most considerable of them all may be summed up, and comprehended in these following Verses.  

Queen Thames the First, for Ships and Swans is crowned;  
The crystal Trent for Fords and Fish renowned:  
And Stately Severn for her Shore is praised.  
Newcastle's Tine to Albion's Cliffs is raised;  
West Chester brags much of her holy d'ye,  
The peak her Dove, whose Banks so fertile be.  
York many wonders of her Ouse can tell,  
And Kent will say her Medway doth excel.  
Cotswoll commends her Isis to the Tame,  
Our Western parts extol the Avon's famed.  
The Northern Borders boasts of Tweed's fair flood,  
And the old Lee brags of Danish blood.    

A Receipt to dress a Pike.  
TAke your Pike, and open him, rub him within with Salt and Claret Wine, save the Milt, a little of the Blood and Fat; cut him in two or three pieces and put him in when the Water Boils; put in with him sweet Marjorum, savoury, Time or Fennel, with a good handful of Salt; let him boil near half an hour: For the Sauce, take sweet Butter, Anchovies, Horse Raddish, Claret Wine, of each a good quantity; a little of the Blood, Sherlotte, or garlic; some Lemon sliced, beat them well together, and serve him.   
FINIS.   

THE CONTENTS of the BOOK.  

Chap. I. OF the Name and Nature of a Pike, page.. 1.  
Chap. II. Of the Parts and Lineaments of a Pike, page.. 4.  
Chap. III. Of the Age and growth of a Pike, page.. 6.  
Chap. IV. Of the Seat and Harbour of a Pike, page.. 9.  
Chap. V. Of the best Seasons for Trolling, page.. 15.  
Chap. VI. Of the Feed of a Pike, and when he is fattest, page.. 23.  
Chap. VII. Of the Baits for Trolling, page.. 29.  
Chap. VIII. Of the Pouch-Hook, page.. 36.  
Chap. IX. Of the Trolling Line, page.. 41.  
Chap. X. Of the Pole, page.. 46.  
Chap. XI. How to Bait the Hook, and to play the Bait, page.. 50.  
Chap. XII. How to strike a Pike and land him, page.. 58.  
Chap. XIII. How to preserve a River for Trolling, page.. 65.  
Chap. XIV. A Description of the Rivers, page.. 71.  
A Receipt to dress a Pike, page.. 78.    

Books Printed for and sold by Thomas Helder at the Sign of the Angel in Little Britain: 1682.  
DAretis Phrygii, Historicorum omnium primi, de Bello Trojano, Libri Sex. Latino Carmine á Josepho Exoniensi Elegantissime redditi. 8o.  
{αβγδ}, Seu Tractatus de Tonis in Lingua Graecanica: Scriptus per R. F. in S. T. B. 12o  
A Good help for Weak Memories, or the Contents of every Chapter in the Bible, in Alphabetical Dysticks: Being very profitable for such as desire to repeat Books, or find out divers places in the Scriptures, especially in the Historical Books. 8o.  
ENCHIRIDION, Containing Institutions Divine: Contemplative, Practical. Moral: Ethical, economical, Political. By Fra. Quarles. 12o.  
Miscellanea, Or a mixture of Choice Observations and Institutions Moral and Divine: Composed for private use. By J. H. 12o.  
Ludus Mathematicus, Or the Mathematical Game: Explaining the Description, Construction and Use of the Numerical Table of Proportion. By E. W. 12o.