04 THE PATERNOSTER. 



The paternoster is simply a gut line, a yard or four feet 

 long, with hooks about a foot apart, and weighted at the 

 end with a bullet or pear-shaped plummet. Some anglers 

 use three hooks and some two, a necessity which is more 

 often regulated by the depth of the water to be fished. 

 But the lowest hook, unless the bottom is unusually foul, 

 should be almost on the ground, as it is the habit of the 

 minnows to strike up toward the surface in their efforts 

 to escape, just as it is the habit of all fish when pursued 

 by an enemy ; fear causes them to seek the surface, and 

 even to jump out of the water. Therefore if the minnow 

 be not kept down, it will be much above the head of such 

 perch as are lying at the bottom ; and, if the water be at 

 all coloured (as is best for perch-fishing), this will not 

 only be a fault, but a great one ; whereas if the hook be 

 kept close down to the lead, it will catch two or three fish 

 against either of the other hook's one. The second hook 

 should be fixed nine inches above, and must hang clear 

 of the tie of the lower hook. This is the best form of 

 paternoster made. 



Some people make a paternoster by tying their hooks 

 on to coarse hog bristles, and these again on to a piece of 

 perforated bone, through which the main line runs, a shot 

 above and below it keeping the bristled hook in its place. 

 This is done in order to keep the minnow clear of the 

 main line (bristles being stiffer than gut), and to permit 

 him to swim freely and unnaturally round and round like 

 a mill-horse a very clever contrivance, and very exquisite 

 fooling, but an abomination of abominations in practice. 

 It is the paternoster of tackle-makers made to sell, not 

 to catch fish. Paternostering properly followed is a very 

 skilful and not particularly easy branch of angling, and 

 as far as my experience goes, not one angler in a thousand 

 knows how to make or fish a paternoster properly. You 

 cannot fish too fine for the perch in season ; and the finer 



