NOTTINGHAM FISHING FOB BASS. 71 



feed on or near tlie bottom, and take the bait within a few 

 inches of the surface. The best baits are live sand-eels, sand- 

 smelts, or ragworms, the latter being a long way behind the 

 former. The hook should be put in at the mouth of the 

 sand-eel or smelt, and out at a small fraction of an inch 

 below its gills. When ragworms have to be used, two or 

 three are strung on to the hook through khe head. 



The peculiar style of fishing invented by the anglers of 

 Nottingham, which is now finding favour on the Thames, and, 

 indeed, all over the country, has been followed with great 

 success by a few bass fishermen. It is peculiarly suited for 

 fishing from pier-heads and bridges crossing estuaries or the 

 mouths of rivers. The tackle is much the same as that 

 illustrated on page 25, and consists of a single hook on stout 

 salmon gut, a few small bullets, a pear-shaped pike float, and 

 an undressed, twisted, silk line, rather finer than that used 

 for spinning. The check must be taken off the reel (see page 

 9), and the general rod described on page 5 can be used. The 

 bait may be any of those affected by bass, the living sand-eel 

 standing first; the live sand-smelt is also good, and pilchard 

 guts are excellent. A strip of silvery mackerel-skin may also 

 be used. As a rule, the float is only placed a few feet above 

 the bait, but occasionally it is found necessary to flsh deeper. 

 The method of using this tackle is to cast it out to where the 

 fish are feeding, the weight of the float and sinker running the 

 line off the reel ; but if the tide will carry the bait to the fish, 

 so much the better. The angler stands holding the rod as 

 if about to cast a spinning bait; but he uncoils no line. His 

 left hand clasps the rod below the reel, the right hand above 

 it, the little finger of the right hand pressing gently on the 

 rim of the reel, and acting as a check to it ; at the moment of 

 casting the bait, the pressure of the finger is taken off, to 

 allow the reel to revolve. The art of Nottingham fishing 

 is not learnt in a day, and, as the first few casts are apt to be 

 erratic, the angler will do well to practise in a lonely place. 

 After the float and bait are cast out, the angler can let the 

 tide take them still farther out, if it seems desirable, for the 

 light silk line will run off the reel very quickly and easily. 



