»b ANGLING IN SALT WATER. 



are intended to keep the fish near the surface, and lull 

 their suspicions, as ground-bait, is, strictly speaking, incorrect ; 

 but anything in the way of fish food other than the hook- 

 bait, thrown in by the angler, is usually so termed, and I see 

 no reason to invent new expressions for the purposes of this 

 book. 



Fishing for grey mullet on the bottom, or at mid-water, 

 does not require a lengthy description. In harbours and quiet 

 waters generally, very light tackle should be used; the gut 

 fine, but not fine drawn ; and the float a porcupine quill, tipped 

 with red paint, and so weighted with split shot, placed 1ft. 

 above the hook, that only the red tip of the float is showing 

 above the water. Any fine silk running line will do. A large 

 variety of baits and ground-baits have already been given. 

 Among the best for harbour fishing are ragworms and peeled, 

 unboiled shrimps. If there is any current, the gi'ound-bait 

 should be placed in a small net, with a stone or two, and 

 let down into the water with a cord, the tackle being placed 

 about two yards below it, so that the stream washes the 

 ground-bait by the hook. When it can be managed, the net 

 should not be used, but the ground-bait cast in loose. 



Grey mullet, as I have said, sometimes feed on the surface, 

 sometimes on the bottom. They also often feed at mid- water, 

 working up and down piles which are covered with weed, 

 rooting in it with their noses. For mid-water fishing a small 

 float is advisable; but when this, after a careful trial, fails, 

 the angler should try fishing on the bottom. He may then 

 either leger with bread paste, or place his float a foot farther 

 from the hook than the water is deep (a plummet for testing 

 the depth is shown on page 34). The hook link of gut will 

 then lie on the bottom. He should use ground-bait, and 

 strike at the slightest movement of the float. A paternoster 

 of fine gut, with small hooks, can be used instead of float 

 tackle, and in quite still water it is sometimes cast in without 

 the lead. 



Our foreign friends, who in most matters piscatorial are far 

 behind us, have rather the advantage of us in mullet fishing 

 I have already described how mullet are caught at Nice and 



