240 Rod and Tackle. < 'ii.vpt. xviii. 



a native blacksmith will turn out a thing like a bullet mould, for 

 casting three sizes of sinkers, and that is all you want. 



These sizes may be £ of an inch long in the lead, by -^ thick in 

 the broadest place, and £ x •£ and ^ x £ , but the medium size will 

 be found most useful, and next to that the smallest size. 



But you cannot get more than a limited amount of lead stowed 

 away in a bait's inside, and for still further weighting your line very 

 convenient sinkers are sold in English tackle shops, consisting of a 

 long shaped piece of lead strung on to a short bit of line with a 

 loop at either end, so that it can be attached to, or detached from 

 the trace at pleasure. I am not sure that I would advocate the use 

 of this except as an additional sinker, and after having stowed 

 away all you can in the bait's hold ; for it is there out of sight, and 

 makes no splash, and is in the best position for throwing. Still, on 

 the other hand, the lead in the bait soon tears its way out of the 

 bait's stomach, breaking through the skin of it, and when your bait 

 is not very fresh and tough, it will be found less trouble in the end 

 to have the weight outside and well away from the fish. It adds 

 much, however, to the difficulty of throwing lightly. It thus becomes 

 a question, I think, for-individual choice. When fishing deep pools 

 for heavy fish you should have it, but in the shallower runs it is 

 not necessary, and is trying to your top joint. 



I have one more complaint against the tackle-makers. It is 

 the fashion with them to bind the gut loops in the 

 snood and collar with silk, whereas the fastening 

 would be both tighter and less visible, besides lasting longer, if in 

 single gut it were simply knotted after well soaking the gut. In 

 India particularly, where whip fastenings are so liable to come 

 undone, from the extreme dryness of the air shrinking the gut, 

 spoiling the wax, and slackening the silk binding, it would lie more 

 satisfactory to have plain gut knots. Knots also are not liable to 

 fray as silk is from wear. With treble gut collars, of course, the 

 best fastening is the whipping with gut, which is exceedingly neat, 

 and durable. 



In Chapter V. 1 have, for special reasons there given, recom- 

 mended two sorts of spinning tackle for Mahseer, 



Flight of hooks. . 



one a solitary treble hook, which any one can tie, 

 the other a lip hook and one treble, which is tied as follows. Take 

 the lip hook first, and with silk whip a small piece of very fine 



