Izaak Walton

“ And doubtless, as of sea-fish the Herring dies soonest out of the water,
and of fresh-water fish the Trout, so, except the Eel, the Carp endures
most hardness, and lives longest out of its own proper element ”

“ And it is the rather to be believed, because you
shall scarce or never take a male Carp without a melt, or a female
without a roe or spawn, and for the most part very much, and especially
all the summer season; and it is observed, that they breed more
naturally in ponds than in running waters, if they breed there at all; and
that those that live in rivers are taken by men of the best palates to be
much the better meat.
And it is observed that in some ponds Carps will not breed, especially
in cold ponds ”

“ I told you that Sir Francis Bacon thinks that the Carp lives but ten years:
but Janus Dubravius has writ a book Of fish and fish-ponds in which he
says, that Carps begin to spawn at the age of three years, and continue
to do so till thirty: he says also, that in the time of their breeding, which
is in summer, when the sun hath warmed both the earth and water, and
so apted them also for generation, that then three or four male Carps
will follow a female ”