MODERN METHODS OF SPINNING 161 



use long snoods 1 ; or, to put it in the language of 

 fresh-water, have the lead on our trace very much 

 farther from the bait than is at present the case. I 

 am quite sure this would lead to increased catches, 

 particularly when trout and salmon fishing. The sea- 

 fisherman thinks nothing of placing his lead ten 

 yards from the bait. This we could not do if using 

 a rod, for when a fish was hooked we should reel up 

 until the lead caught in the top-ring, and then find 

 it impossible to bring the fish within reach of the 

 landing-net or gaff. But if we are using a twelve-foot 

 rod, the lead might certainly be put fourteen feet from 

 the bait. It is an experiment well worth trying in 

 any large lake where fish are shy, and generally in 

 clear, smooth water and bright weather. 



Trailing on rivers, though it leads to the capture 

 of a good many fish, is usually condemned as un- 

 sportsmanlike, and is prohibited on the Thames and 

 Lea. The prohibition is still regarded as a grievance 

 by the bargees, many of whom used to capture 

 pike by trailing a bait astern as their lumbering 

 but picturesque craft were slowly towed up-stream. I 



1 By a singular coincidence, only a few weeks after writing 

 this, I came upon professional fishermen on Lough Corrib using 

 hand trolling lines, in which the lead was placed several 

 fathoms from the bait. J. B. 



M 





