142 MODERN PRACTICAL ANGLER. 
gentles put on the hook so as to make a bunch and 
partly cover the bend and point. The trace should con- 
sist of three yards of fine stained gut. 
The grasshopper is worked by “sinking and drawing,” 
as it is termed: that is, the bait is thrown in and 
allowed to sink till it touches the bottom, and is then 
steadily drawn up again about a foot or a foot and a 
half, and allowed to sink as before. The stream is 
usually strong enough to shift the bait as much as is 
desirable, but if the water is too still for this, the result 
can be arrived at by “drawing” the bait a little to right 
or left with the rod. The great point is to be quite sure 
that the bait touches the bottom before drawing up, and 
in order to assist the eye in judging this point, it will 
be found of the greatest advantage to have a small 
moveable white mark on the line, placed a foot or a foot 
and a half higher up the line than the highest point 
which ought to be submerged. It is, in fact, a minia- 
ture float, always kept out of water, and the most 
convenient form is this. Take a small white feather, 
and cut off about half an inch of the hollow quill, and 
three-quarters of an inch of the solid white part of 
the feather-stem, just thick enough to fit neatly into the 
hollow quill cap (A), as shown in the engraving, figure 
2; the cap passes over the line and is shifted accord- 
ing to the average depth of the water fished. 
A run will of course be perceived as the bait is being 
drawn up, when a smart stroke should be given, and the 
