86 A BOOK ON ANGLING 



or, if the weather be cool, simply put into a box of bran if they 

 are not required to be kept too long, or by painting them over 

 with glycerine, or by putting a number into a widish-mounted 

 bottle full of spirits of some kind.* The last-named method 

 keeps the baits well, and their colour is as brilliant as in their 

 natural condition, while they are rendered so tough that they 

 will stand much more wear and tear. Take out of the bottle 

 as many as may be required for the day, and if they are not 

 used they can be returned to the bottle again. The angler 

 should keep up his stock by adding fresh baits occasionally. 



We will now suppose that the weighty matters of choosing 

 a tackle, fixing and baiting it, are concluded. Let the angler, 

 if standing on the bank of a river or pond, see that the ground 

 at his feet is clear of fragments of stick, etc., which may en- 

 tangle in his line and spoil his cast ; then let him draw off as 

 much line as he requires from the reel, and let it lie in loose 

 coils at his feet. Of course I am supposing here that he is about 

 to fish in the Thames style, which is that most generally 

 adopted, and is certainly the best and most attractive. 

 Only on very foul ground is the Nottingham style of 

 spinning at all preferable, and even here Thames fishers of 

 experience will often greatly counteract this advantage by 

 the knack which they have of gathering up the line in the palm 

 of the hand by an up and down motion, something like that 

 of a weaver with a shuttle. 



Supposing, then, the line to be ready : it will be best to 

 commence with a short line for practice, say ten or fifteen 

 yards ; this can be increased progressively, by pulling some 

 two or three yards extra off the reel between each cast, and 

 just after the angler has made his cast, when all the line is out. 

 Holding the rod above the reel firmly in his right hand, with 

 which he clasps the line to the rod, and with his left handf 

 taking hold below the reel the point of the rod being elevated 

 in the air at an angle of about forty degrees, and the bait hang- 

 ing downwards some five or six feet from the rod-point let 

 him wave the bait gently backwards, either to the right or 



' Salting and other methods of preserving baits have been completely 

 superseded by bottling them in a solution of formalin. ED. 



\ Some anglers hold the rod only with the right hand, the hip forming a 

 rest and a pivot, the line being held in the left ; this is awkward and lacks 

 the capability of precision, which is desirable whether in casting, working, 

 or striking. It also gives the right arm too much to do, and in a long day's 

 spinning with a fourteen or fifteen feet rod this will be found a consideration. 

 r. r, 



