TRENT anglers' COCOA NUT SHELLS. 79 



very deadly method, and can be followed where the bottom 

 is a little uneven. The best swims for the purpose are those 

 which shallow at a little distance from the angler. The float 

 has to be a rather large one (most writers say cork, but I much 

 much prefer quill when I can get one large enough), as a goodly 

 number of shots are necessary to keep the bait down when the 

 float is checked. In barbel, as in all other, fishing, the angler 

 should use as small a float and as few shots as the depth and 

 rate of the current will allow. At the same time, fish are often 

 left uncaught by too few shots being used in swift swims, 

 the bait, in consequence, not keeping near enough to the bottom. 

 Of course, when the swim is very deep, a sliding float (see 

 page 26) will have to be used. Float tackle is particularly 

 useful for fishing shallow swims — 3ft. to 5ft. deep — into which 

 barbel come when the river is discoloured. When float-fishing, 

 the angler should be very careful not to over-feed the fish: 

 nothing puts a stop to sport sooner. Nottingham anglers 

 carry half a cocoanut-shell and a pair of scissors. They put 

 three worms into the shell, and clip them into twenty or thirty 

 pieces with the scissors, and use these very small fragments of 

 worm as ground-bait. 



A somewhat similar tackle to that used in tight- corking, very 

 suitable for swims of the non-turbulent order, is shown in Fig. 

 21, on page 47. 



Clay-ball-fishing for Barbel. — This is a very useful method 

 when the water is clear, and the fish more than usually shy. 

 The tackle is a 2yds. length of gut, a No. 4 hook — shank coloured 

 white (see page 20) — and a fragment of stick, lin. in length, 

 fastened crosswise, 12in. above the hook. Into a lump of stiff 

 clay either gentles or greaves are worked, and a piece the size 

 of an orange is squeezed round the stick. The hook is then 

 baited with either gentles or greaves, and the gut above the 

 hook is wound round and pulled into the clay ball, until only 

 the hook-bait is showing. The ball is cast out like a leger, 

 but not so far. The fish come and dig their noses into the^'Clay, 

 and sooner or later one is sure to take the hook-bait — a circum- 

 stance which the angler will feel and respond to. A rather stiff 

 rod is desirable, and the tackle need not be very fine. If the 



