MODERN METHODS OF SPINNING 151 



The Thames being a big river, most of the fishing 

 is done from a punt, and the line, which is drawn 

 from the reel, lies either on the floor or the till of 

 the little craft. But when fishing from the bank, if 

 we allow the line to fall at our feet it is sure to get 

 caught in the seed heads of the grass, or, if it escapes 

 this danger, to pick up pieces of twig, dead leaves, 

 or other unconsidered trifles. Thus, instead of the 

 bait flying out boldly some forty yards and dropping 

 gently on to the water, it is checked half-way, brought 

 back a yard or two, falls with an ugly splash, and there 

 is a confused entanglement necessitating the delay of 

 half a minute or so during which the bait sinks to 

 the bottom, where very likely the hooks get foul of 

 some stone, weed, or snag. Some Thames fishermen 

 have a very clever knack of gathering up the line in 

 the palm of the hand, but it is difficult to do this 

 with sufficient rapidity except where there is a fair 

 stream which assists in spinning the bait. When the 

 cast is a short one, a few yards of line can be held 

 in coils as they are drawn in. 



With a bait which spins really well one can 

 hardly spin too slowly, and the fisherman should, 

 generally speaking, aim at keeping his tackle about 

 two-thirds of the way from the surface, except in very 

 deep water, when four to five feet from the bottom is 



