72 ANGLIXG IN SALT WATER. 



I have found that the top ring described on page 6 greatly 

 facilitates the passage of the line. With Nottingham tackle, 

 float and bait can be cast out from rocky points beyond the 

 surf, worked along the quays, harbour walls; and, as a matter 

 of fact, it is, in skilful hands, by far the most deadly form 

 of float tackle known. 



Last of all, we come to ordinary ground fishing, which 

 may be carried on from boats, pier-heads, quays, and bridges, 

 by means of a two-hook paternoster (see page 19), made either 

 of stout salmon gut, double gut, or the fine Patent Gimp 

 already mentioned, which has the advantage of being not 

 only fine and strong, but also impervious to the sharp teeth 

 of bass. The size of hook must, of course, depend upon the 

 description and size of bait used. Live sand-eels, for instance, 

 require a good-sized hook (about No. 12), while the beard of 

 an oyster — a bait used and recommended by Mr. Sachs, a noted 

 sea angler — rather a small one (about No. 8). Pilchard guts 

 are good baits, and so are soft crabs, pieces of squid or 

 cuttle, and a slice from a pilchard. Ground-baiting (see 

 page 45), when it can be carried on, is very advisable, the 

 best ground- bait being a mixture of pilchard refuse and 

 pounded crabs. When the water is not deeper than the 

 length of the rod, a large float may be fixed above the pater- 

 noster, and the tide allowed to carry out the tackle and 

 baits. When the angler finds one plan unsuccessful, he 

 should try another, and always choose that method of angling 

 best suited to circumstances and the locality. Where no 

 pier is available, and the bottom is not too foul, the paternoster 

 or leger can be thrown from the shore ; but (excepting, of 

 course, the mouths of rivers and quiet estuaries), owing to 

 the wash of the waves, so heavy a lead is usually required 

 to keep out the bait that the rod can rarely be used. At 

 Deal, the tackle described in Chapter IV., page 54, is used 

 for this purpose, and some very good takes of bass are made 

 with it. Pieces of cuttle, squid, or strips of mackerel-skin, 

 on account of their toughness, are good baits for use on 

 tackle which has to be cast any great distance. Casting from 

 the beach is often practised when it is too rough to go afloat. 



