FROM LAND AND PIER 207 



the latter for preference. Whatever bait is used, a little ground- 

 bait of the same kind chopped or minced up very small should 

 be thrown in every few minutes. A dessertspoonful is enough at 

 a time, for the object is not to feed the fish, but simply to keep 

 them on the feed or look-out for food. The lightest and finest 

 tackle is necessary for these small fish, and either a paternoster 

 with four or five hooks can be used, or roach tackle with the 

 same number of hooks. A porcupine quill float with a couple 

 of shot to sink it is quite heavy enough. The hooks can hardly 

 be too small ; in fact, few seaside tackle-makers sell them small 

 enough or on sufficiently fine gut. The weight at the end of 

 the paternoster should not exceed a quarter of an ounce. A 

 toy bamboo rod, running line of fine plaited silk, two yards of 

 fine-drawn gut, a dozen roach hooks, a quarter of an ounce 

 of lead, and the smelt fisher has the necessary tackle. 



In the Solent and other places thousands of smelts are 

 caught by means of small meshed nets extended on an iron 

 hoop and let down into the water by means of a stout pole. 

 Shoals of these fish can usually be seen swimming about. It 

 is not advisable to let the net down very deeply, or the fish will 

 be off before it can be pulled up, though it must, of course, be 

 deep enough for them to swim over it ; the depth depends 

 very much on the place, colour of the water, light, and perhaps 

 other considerations. 



If the smelts can be found in shallow water where the net 

 can rest on the bottom, so much the better. The pole must 

 be kept very still, because any motion of the ropes which sup- 

 port the net has a tendency to frighten these little fish. To 

 bring the smelts over the net it is customary to cast in crabs 

 and raw potatoes bruised up ; in fact, the ground bait I have 

 already recommended for a variety of fish. The net, as soon 

 as the fish swim over it, should be hauled up steadily but 

 quickly, and its contents shaken into a basket. 



