CH. II.] INDIA-RUBBER BALLS FOR LIVE-BAIT. 29 



rubber balls which are capable of being inflated 

 at pleasure, and are sold as toys. They take up 

 no room, and answer very well for floating off live- 

 baits with. If there is a boat on the water, they 

 need not be fastened to the shore. If not, it will 

 be generally necessary to have them made fast to 

 a line, which should be kept from sinking by a few 

 small corks attached to it at intervals. The balls 

 should be more or less inflated in proportion as 

 there is less or more wind. By shifting the posi- 

 tion of the end of the line on shore, the greater 

 part of the water can thus in most cases be closely 

 fished. 



Jack will often, if not hungry, take a live bait 

 apparently for mere wantonness, and, after holding 

 it for a short time, leave it again. When this is 

 the case it "sells" them considerably to fish with 

 a double set of tackle, each consisting of a bait- 

 hook and another rather larger one tied just below 

 it back to back, the two sets being on different 

 pieces of gimp meeting the line about eight or ten 

 inches from the bait at a swivel, just above which 

 the lead may be fastened. One of the bait-hooks 

 should be run through the skin a little before the 

 tail, the other just before the dorsal fin, so that 

 the loose hooks stand out on opposite sides. This 



