WHERE TO USE FLOAT-TACKLE. 



43 



the water is coloured, and the pike are feeding, as they 

 generally do under these circumstances, near the bottom. A 

 glance at the illustrations of the tackles given in this chapter 

 will make my meaning clear if it is not so already. 



Fishing with Float-tackle is most useful when we 

 wish our bait to be carried along by the stream over a 

 bed of weeds which do not reach to the surface; for working 

 a bait under branches where it could not be cast; for fishing 

 lakes and ponds the bottoms of which are too weedy for the 

 paternoster (if the paternoster is cast out a considerable 

 distance, the line makes such an acute angle with the bottom 

 that the bait is 

 nearly sure to lie jj 

 in the weeds, if 

 there are any) ; 

 and, in rivers, for 

 fishing distant 

 spots, to which 

 the bait could not 

 be cast, but to 

 which it can be 

 swept by the cur- 

 rent. As a matter 

 of fact, float- tackle 

 can be used almost 

 anywhere, except 

 in very heavy 

 streams, in which 

 pike are not often 

 found, or where 

 the weeds grow to 

 the surface ; but 

 it is best suited 

 for the purposes 



I have named. The rod for the purpose should be fitted with 

 a rather stiff top. In fact, the larger and heavier the bait, 

 lead, and float, the stiffer should be the rod. 



Fig. 20 is an illustration of the tackle which is best for 



Fig. 2a Float-tackle. 



