APPENDIX. A. 329 



shot, should be used ; and I may remark here, that the smaller your 

 float, the fewer the number of shot, and the finer your bottom-tackle, 

 the greater will be your success. 



The tip-capped float is the best for pond-fishing and for gentle 

 streams, as the line is confined at each end of the float by a cap, 

 which enables you to strike at a fish with greater precision than with 

 a plugged float, which has a wire ring at the bottom for the line to 

 run through. 



In shotting the line, I prefer a number of small shot to a few large 

 ones, as they make less disturbance in the water. 



Your line must be shotted till not more than the cap of your float 

 is seen above the water, unless it should be very rough from wind or a 

 rapid current, in which case something more of the float must swim 

 above water. 



The porcupine quill is a favorite float with some anglers, but for a 

 moderate stream I prefer a swan's quill. 



THE LANDING-NET AND GAFF. 



The landing-net may be purchased so contrived as to unscrew from 

 a socket in the handle which should be four or five feet long and a 

 gaff or hook for landing Salmon, Pike, and large Trout, may also be 

 bought to screw into the same socket, and both the net and gaff may 

 be carried in your basket or creel till you reach the river side. 



