CHAPTER II 



BOTTOM-FISHIN G continued 



Nottingham Angling Casting from the Reel Daceing Light Corking 

 The Slider, etc. 



HAVING spoken of the Nottingham style of fishing, 

 it may be as well here to give some idea of its 

 method and the means and appliances required 

 for it. In the first place, then, as to tackle, 

 Nottingham reels differ widely from those commonly em- 

 ployed ; they are usually made of wood and in two pieces, 

 the barrel of the reel upon which the line is wound turning 

 on a spindle fixed in the centre of the portion which forms 

 the immovable part of the reel. This is contrived so that the 

 barrel shall run with the utmost freedom at the lightest touch. 

 These reels were invented chiefly for bank-fishing, where it is 

 required to cast out a long line. In the fashion pursued by 

 the fishermen who require to cast a long line on the Thames, 

 for ledgering or spinning more particularly, the line is drawn 

 off the reel and laid loosely in coils at the fisherman's feet, 

 unless he be dexterous enough to gather it up in the palm 

 of the left hand as some do, and such a practice would not 

 do where the angler is walking along the bank of a river, or 

 fishing haply from a withy or reed bed, for his line would be 

 constantly catching in twigs, thorns, or particles of rubbish, 

 and a tangle at the rings would be inevitable at every cast. 

 Added to this, the Nottingham style of float-fishing absolutely 

 requires the finest and lightest silk running-line made, and 

 the line used for float-fishing is of Derby twist, scarcely coarser 

 than common netting-silk. This would, if laid in coils, or 

 gathered in the hand, tangle up into inextricable knots ; 

 consequently it is required to run off the reel, and with the 

 utmost exemption from friction for if there were much 

 friction it would not run at all. Indeed, such is the freedom 

 of these reels, that more often than not, in throwing a heavy 



42 



