192 



MODERN SEA FISHING 



about, should at once draw in the line quickly with his left 

 hand, letting it pass between the first finger of his right hand 

 and the rod. Between each draw the rod should be pulled 

 away from the sea, so that a constant motion of the bait is kept 

 up. In other words, there should be first a draw of the left 

 hand, and as the left hand comes from the rod down to the left 

 hip, the point of the rod should be brought round a little sea- 

 ward ; then while the left hand is coming up for a further draw 

 of the line the rod should be brought landward. If these 

 alternate motions are maintained, the bait will be kept in 

 continual motion. For bass the bait should be worked rather 

 quickly. For pollack a slower spin is better, and before any 

 attempt is made to draw in the line, time should be given for 

 the bait to sink nearly to the bottom. The exception to this 

 rule occurs, as I have already stated, in the evening, when 

 pollack are often found near the surface. 



There is one considerable objection to casting in this manner 

 for bass. If while w*e are drawing in the line a fish of this 

 species suddenly seizes the bait and makes a gallant rush sea- 

 ward, as likely as not some of the line on the ground at our 

 feet will twist up into a small knot and foul the rod rings or 

 get caught in the toe of our boot or on a button, and in an 

 instant there is a lamentable smash. For pike fishing the 

 method which is common on the Thames answers well enough, 

 because pike do not, as a rule, make any considerable rush 

 when first hooked, as do salmon, trout and bass. Unfortunately 

 the difficulties of casting from the reel in the Nottingham 

 fashion, which for sea fishing is undoubtedly superior to the 

 Thames method, deter many people at the outset from learning 

 not only a very useful but a very pleasant branch of angling. 

 No one, however, need dread the difficulty of casting from 

 the malloch reel described on p. 197. But I certainly prefer 

 Nottingham gear myself. 



