It served as a preserve for ducks and wild fowl of
various descriptions, and was inhabited also by a number of swans, who
floated gracefully over its calm surface. As they were accustomed to
depend upon their own exertions for a subsistence, they generally kept
at a distance from strangers, and I had never been interrupted by them
when fishing. I made my way to a spot where I knew that the water was
deep, and where I had frequently been successful in fishing. It was a
green bank, which jutted out into a point, with bushes on one side, but
perfectly free on the other. I quickly got my rod together, and my hook
baited with a red wriggling worm. I did not consider that the worm
wriggled because it did not like to be put on the hook, but if I had
been asked I should have said that it was rather pleased than otherwise
at having so important a duty to perform as catching fish for my
pleasure. I had a new float, white above and green below, which I
thought looked very pretty as I threw my line out on the water. Up it
popped at once, there being plenty of lead. Before long it began to
move, gliding slowly over the surface, then faster and faster. I
eagerly held my rod ready to strike as soon as it went down; now it
moved on one side, now on the other. I knew that there was a fish
coquetting with the bait, trying perhaps to suck off the worm without
letting the hook run into its jaws. Before long down went the float,
and I gave my rod a scientific jerk against the direction in which the
float was last moving, when to my intense satisfaction I felt that I had
hooked a fish, but whether a large or a small one I could not at first
tell. I wound up my line until I had got it of a manageable length,
then drew it in gradually towards the bank. I soon discovered that I
had hooked a fine tench. It was so astonished at finding itself dragged
through the water, without any exertion of its fins, that it scarcely
struggled at all, and I quickly hauled it up on the bank. It was
three-quarters of a pound at least, one of the largest I had ever
caught. It was soon unhooked and placed safely in my basket. As I
wanted several more I put on a fresh worm, and again threw my line into
the water.

Some people say there is no pleasure in float-fishing, but for me it
always had a strange fascination, that would not have been the case, if
I could have seen through the water, for I believe the interest depends
upon not knowing what siz