8 A BOOK ON ANGLING 



have very different ways of biting, and even the same fish 

 seldom bite two days together in the same manner. A wee 

 bleak or gudgeon will often bob the float down almost out of 

 sight, so that a novice thinks he has a most important bite, 

 while a two-pound roach will often barely move the float at all ; 

 sometimes the float will be thrown up or lifted, sometimes will 

 sink almost gradually as if the hook had touched the bottom ; 

 and when this is the style of biting it mostly proceeds from 

 good fish well on the feed. I like to see it as it nearly always 

 heralds good sport. But all these peculiarities the novice must 

 learn from long experience, for no book can teach him. The 

 great thing to aim at is never to use more force in striking than 

 is absolutely necessary to fix the hook, lest damage or needless 

 wear of tackle and hooks be the result. Having hooked a fish, if 

 possible coax him out of the swim that he may not disturb the 

 others, and play him at your leisure in the nearest vacant space. 

 Be not over hasty to land your fish, or you may lose him ; 

 but, on the other hand, waste no time over him. Experience 

 again alone will teach what strain your tackle will bear. 



In landing a fish you may lift him in by the rod, weigh him 

 in by the line, or handle him in by the gills or tail, or use a 

 landing-net to him, or gaff him. The first method you only 

 adopt with very small fish, which will not perhaps strain the 

 rod. The second you employ with fish that are doubtful in this 

 respect. Having played your fish until it is nearly conquered, 

 take hold of the line, draw the fish gently up to the bank or 

 boat, carefully judge the length to see all clear in lifting him in 

 so that the fish may not come in contact with bank or boat and 

 so be knocked off or induced to struggle in mid-air, which is 

 almost certain loss ; and when the fish is for the moment 

 supine, lift him steadily, but quickly and without any jerking, 

 over the bank or boat side into a place of safety. 



Handling a fish in is more often resorted to when the net or 

 gaff happens to be left at home by accident, and is usually 

 employed on large fish, as large trout, big pike, or salmon ; for 

 example : Bring the fish up to the side, and when he is quiet 

 slip the hand behind the gulls and grip the fish firmly, lifting 

 him out at the same time. Some persons put the finger and 

 thumb into the eyeholes of the pike, and lift him out thus ; but 

 they should remember the pike's sensations. Tailing a fish out 

 is more often employed on salmon. The fish is brought to a 

 shelving bank of gravel, gripped suddenly, but cautiously and 

 firmly by the root of the tail, and runup over the gravel 



