LIVE-BAIT FISHING. 213 



In lieu of one large float, it will be found a good plan to 

 employ a number of much smaller ones, say four or five, 

 strung on the line at a foot or so apart : cork balls var- 

 nished green and varying in size from a bantam's to a 

 pigeon's egg are most convenient. The merit of this 

 arrangement is that whenever the bait makes a plunge 

 the corks yield to him, and enable him to rove about 

 over a much larger area and at a greater variety of 

 depths than he can with the ordinary single large float, 

 which is, likewise, both more easily seen by the fish, and 

 more liable to stick in weeds and roots than its smaller 

 substitutes ; another advantage is that the corks prevent 

 the running line from tangling with the bait and trace. 

 The cork nearest the bait (or two together if one is not 

 buoyant enough) should be just sufficient to keep the 

 bait up w/ien absolutely at rest, and no more. 



Live Baits, 



With regard to live-baits a good deal must of course 

 depend upon the state of the water. Should it be very 

 bright and clear, a Gudgeon, which is also a very tough 

 fish, will generally be found the best, and in extreme 

 cases even a Minnow used with a small float and a single 

 gimp hook passed through its upper lip or back may 

 sometimes be employed with advantage. — In this case the 

 smallness of the bait nullifies the objection to a single 

 lip-hook. Bigger baits and with brighter scaling should 

 be used as waters are more swollen and discoloured. It 



