112 ANGLING FOR COARSE FISH. 



it, but I have always been satisfied with the sport I have 

 obtained without using it. Potatoes, bread, and pollard, is a 

 good mixture for a pond-fishing. On the Ouse, a very favourite 

 ground-bait is brewers' grains; half a bucketful is thrown in 

 about twenty-four hours before the angling takes place. The 

 remarks on baiting up swims on pages 10, 39, and 62, should be 

 noted, as they apply to all kinds of fish. 



Float-fishing and Legering are the two methods by which 

 bream are usually captured. For the deep swims, where the water 

 is almost motionless, there is no better tackle than the combina- 

 tion of float and leger described on page 47. If the swim is 

 very deep, it may be necessary to use a sliding float (see page 

 26). In the Lower Thames, rather heavy water is fished for 

 bream, for which a leger is best suited. Swims of from 4ft. 

 to 6ft. in depth are best fished with ordinary Nottingham tackle. 

 Bream are not often in such shallow water, but when they are, 

 the angler cannot be too far from them. The way to use this 

 tackle is described on pages 43 and 78. 



In night fishing, the angler who uses coarse tackle will catch 

 more fish than he who uses fine, as he can land the fish quicker. 

 The professional bream-fishers of the Ouse use no running tackle, 

 but a long, stout rod, a very large cork float, and a few yards 

 of coarse hemp line, terminated with a few feet of very thick 

 gut. They moor their boat — if they fish from one — in a line with 

 the stream, and stick out two rods with about 2ft. of line 

 between the top of the rod and the float. They plumb the 

 depth, so that 1ft. or more of line rests on the bottom. Their 

 tackle cast out, they put down their rods, and only take them up 

 when they see their heavy floats go under. This plan is of very 

 little use in the daytime, but answers well at night, when it is to 

 be presumed the bream cannot see the line. Fine un-drawn gut 

 will be found best for bream-fishing, and the running tackle the 

 same as used for chub — if anything, a little stouter. The larger 

 of the two rods described on page 13 answers admirably for 

 carp-bream. If the travelling-float, or Nottingham method is 

 followed, the bait should just trip along the bottom. The size 

 of hook used must, of course, depend on the bait. 



For pond and lake fishing, a very tiny float and one or two 



