Half of the hoop nets had been baited with Mills’s bricks, which hung in little mesh bags. The hope was that the baited nets would attract more carp. The fishermen made no secret of their skepticism. One of them griped to me about the smell of the carp candy, a complaint I found curious since the odor it was competing with was the stench of dead fish. Another rolled his eyes at what he saw as a waste of money.
