LIVE-BAIT FISHING. 211 
In lieu of one large float, it will be found a good plan to 
employ a number of much smaller ones, say four or five, 
strung on the line at a foot or so apart: cork balls var- 
nished green and varying in size from a bantam’s toa 
pigeon’s egg are most convenient. The merit of this 
arrangement is that whenever the bait makes a plunge 
the corks yield to him, and enable him to rove about 
over a much larger area and at a greater variety of 
depths than he can with the ordinary single large float, 
which is, likewise, both more easily seen by the fish, and 
more liable to stick in weeds and roots than its smaller 
substitutes ; another advantage is that the corks prevent 
the running line from tangling with the bait and trace. 
The cork nearest the bait (or two together if one is not 
buoyant enough) should be just sufficient to keep the 
bait up when absolutely at rest, and no more. 
Live Baits. 
With regard to live-baits a good deal must of course 
depend upon the state of the water. Should it be very 
bright and clear, a Gudgeon, which is also a very tough 
fish, will generally be found the best, and in extreme 
cases even a Minnow used with a small float and a single 
gimp hook passed through its upper lip or back may 
sometimes be employed with advantage.—In thiscase the 
smallness of the bait nullifies the objection to a single 
lip-hook. Bigger baits and with brighter scaling should 
be used as waters are more swollen and discoloured. It 
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