'Fishponds: a parlour game' containing three wooden rods with hooks and 41 wooden 'fish' which are beehive shaped with a ring in the top. The rules are pasted inside the lid. The game is intended for four to six players, so three rods and one fish are missing.

The game is played on a table. Six fish go into a central 'pool' and each of the players receive six fish which form his pond. The fish have numbers on their base. Players work in pairs from opposite sides of the table and attempt to hook fish from their opponent's pond. Once hooked the player calls 'caught' and then needs to guess 'odd' or 'even' for the number on the base. If he guesses correctly he adds the fish to his own pond. If the player guesses incorrectly, play moves to the next players.

A faint inscription on the inside of the lid provides the date 1856.

This game is more complicated and more difficult than the fishing game played with magnets. In the magnetic game the tiny metal fish are caught with a rod fitted with a magnet. This game has a hook on the end of the string attached to the rod and it requires considerable deftness of touch to 'hook' a fish.

Burton, Anthony. Children's pleasures: books, toys and games from the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, London: V & A Publications, 1996

Cadbury, Betty. Playthings past, Newton Abbot [Eng.]: David & Charles, c1976

Opie, Iona. The treasures of childhood: books, toys and games from the Opie collection, London: Pavilion, 1989

Hampshire Museums Service: Childhood collection. A brief history of toys

Powerhouse Museum Collection: search for 'fishing game' and scroll through results

Victoria and Albert Museum: Museum of Childhood. Collections: Games

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing exhibitions. To be a child August 2004-