FLOATS, TRACES, &C. I^'Z 



or 



whalebone, in the hole, at the top of the cork, by 

 way of a plug, and only let about a quarter of an inch 

 appear above the cork. I have found the large-sized 

 cribbage-pegs, made of ivory, and sold at the toy-shops, 

 the best thing for the purpose. By this contrivance the 

 float is considerably shortened, which is also of conse- 

 quence ; because, when a Jack has taken your bait, and 

 retires among weeds to pouch it, a long float often gets 

 entangled therein, and checks or alarms the Jack, and 

 he then drops the bait, instead of pouching it. — ^Note. 

 A float of a size that will swim with about half an 

 ounce of lead, and a bait-fish of five or six inches in 

 length, will be found, generally speaking, the most use- 

 ful ; but when very small baits are used, and twisted 

 gut instead of gimp, a smaller float will be requisite -, 

 then take the traces, (which are described in Chap. V.) 

 fasten the line to the traces with a bow-draw knot -, 

 and, after having baited your hook, fix that to the 

 hook-swivel of the traces, and all is ready to cast in 

 search. — Note. Cork floats sold at the tackle-shops are 

 all bored through j therefore, if you choose to use 

 them with a plug, as I have recommended and de- 

 scribed above, you have only to remove the quill at 

 the top, and the plug at the bottom, and you have 

 then a cork fit for the purpose. 



When the float is fixed at a proper distance from 

 the baited hook, which as a general rule, observe, 

 that it should be something less than three feet ; but 

 in very shoal water, or where there are many weeds, 

 two feet above the hook will be a more proper distance 



