1 86 MODERN PRACTICAL ANGLER. § 



The bait should not be taken out of the water until 

 brought close tip to the bank, or side of the boat, as it is 

 not at all an uncommon circumstance for a fish, which 

 has perhaps been following it all the way across, to 

 make a dash at it at the last moment, when he appears 

 to be about to lose it. 



The proper play of the rod, which is one of the 

 most certain tests of a good spinner, is highly im- 

 portant, not only to prevent the stopping of the 

 bait between the draws, but in order to give it its 

 lull glitter and piquancy. It produces a more "life- 

 like motion," as it were, than that imparted by the 

 mere pulling in of the line by hand, whilst for some 

 reason or other — probably the greater elasticity of the 

 lever used — the spin of the bait is also far more rapid 

 and brilliant. 



The loss of attractiveness in the bait caused by the sub- 

 stitution of a mere mechanical motion for this combined 

 movement of the hand and the rod, is in my opinion one 

 fatal objection to what is termed the " Nottingham 

 style" of spinning. 



To test the fact that such a loss does actually take 

 place, the following simple experiment will suffice ; — 

 drop the spinning bait into the water, and wind it in 

 as fast as possible, on the Nottingham plan (that is, by 

 the reel only), keeping the point of the rod stationarj^ ; 

 then draw the bait through the water at the same pace, 

 using the rod only, and it will be found that whilst a 





