MODE OF USING. 49 



very little below the surface of the water when 

 the bait touches the bottom. 



And thus is that bait to be managed. 



Wherever you have reason to suspect the 

 presence of fish, whether in streams or still 

 water, drop the bait as lightly as may be, and 

 when you feel it touch the bottom, communicate 

 to it, by means of very slight jerks of the wrist, 

 that momentum which will cause it to jump 

 three or four inches at a time. Xever allow it 

 to remain still ; yet let the jerks, though sharp, 

 be short — proceeding from the ivrist, not the 

 whole arm, as the arm would be liable to drive 

 the bait too far at once. Watch the action of 

 the float with the greatest care ; and, on the 

 slightest deviation you observe from its direct 

 course, strike, not A«?t/, but \N\i\\ great quickness. 

 Having alluded to the operation of " striking," 

 I must put the reader in possession of a fact, 

 which does not appear to be generally known 

 to anglers; yet it is of considerable importance 

 as an auxiliary to success. Most fishermen 

 strike upwards — exactly contrary to what 

 ought to be practised. If the motion of strik- 



D 



