Gudgeon, Bleak, Minnow, &c.—­The small fry of European waters, gudgeon, bleak, minnow, loach, stickleback and bullhead, are principally of value as bait for other fish, though the first-named species gives pretty sport on fine tackle and makes a succulent dish.  Small red worms are the best bait for gudgeon and minnows, a maggot or small fly for bleak, and the rest are most easily caught in a small-meshed net.  The loach is used principally in Ireland as a trout bait, and the other two are of small account as hook-baits, though sticklebacks are a valuable form of food for trout in lakes and pools.

Mahseer.—­Among the carps of India, several of which give good sport, special mention must be made of the mahseer (Barbus mosal), a fish which rivals the salmon both in size and strength.  It reaches a weight of 60 lb and sometimes more and is fished for in much the same manner as salmon, with the difference that after about 10 lb it takes a spinning-bait, usually a heavy spoon-bait, better than a fly.

[v.02 p.0030]

Cat-fish.—­None of the fresh-water cat-fishes (of which no example is found in England) are what may be called sporting fish, but several may be caught with rod and line.  There are several kinds in North America, and some of them are as heavy as 150 lb, but the most important is the wels (Silurus glanis) of the Danube and neighbouring waters.  This is the largest European fresh-water fish, and it is credited with a weight of 300 lb or more.  It is a bottom feeder and will take a fish-bait either alive or dead; it is said occasionally to run at a spinning bait when used very deep.

Burbot.—­The burbot (Lota vulgaris) is the only fresh-water member of the cod family in Great Britain, and it is found only in a few slow-flowing rivers such as the Trent, and there not often, probably because it is a fish of sluggish habits which feeds only at night.  It reaches a weight of 3 lb or more, and will take most flesh or fish baits on the bottom.  The burbot of America has similar characteristics.

Sturgeon.—­The sturgeons, of which there are a good many species in Europe and America, are of no use to the angler.  They are anadromous fishes of which little more can be said than that a specimen might take a bottom bait once in a way.  In Russia they are sometimes caught on long lines armed with baited hooks, and occasionally an angler hooks one.  Such a case was reported from California in The Field of the 19th of August 1905.

Shad.—­Two other anadromous fish deserve notice.  The first is the shad, a herring-like fish of which two species, allice and twaite (Clupea alosa and C. finta), ascend one or two British and several continental rivers in the spring.  The twaite is the more common, and in the Severn, Wye and Teme it sometimes gives very fair sport to anglers, taking worm and occasionally fly or small spinning bait.  It is a good fighter, and reaches a weight of about 3 lb.  Its sheen when first caught is particularly beautiful.  America also has shads.