L'7' 1 . HOW TO DETECT A BITE. 



worm should neither be hastened nor retarded in the least 

 by any act of the angler's, but it should be allowed to come 

 down as if it had neither line nor hook attached to it. 

 When the line stops in its downward career, an experienced 

 angler can for the most part tell at once whether the stop- 

 page is caused by the bite of a fish, or whether the sinkers 

 or worm have lodged in a weed, stick, or stone. There is 

 an abruptness, a tremulous motion, sometimes a slight 

 movement of the line, which tells the angler at once, 

 without any ' tug, tug/ or feel by the hand, that it is a 

 fish. When yop see this, drop the point of the rod for a 

 second or two ; for if the fish feels any restraint on the 

 worm, he will, unless very hungry indeed, at once reject 

 it, and you will certainly lose your fish. Having given a 

 second or two, strike firmly, play boldly, and land as 

 soon as possible. 



This is vhat you must do if you are fishing with the 

 large single hook. If you are fishing, however, with Mr. 

 Stewart's tackle, you need give no time, as this is used for 

 the most part with light sinkers in mid-water, or at any rate 

 clear of the bottom, and the instant the line stops you strike. 

 This is a great advantage over the old plan, in which when 

 the line stopped, if you were not certain that it was a fish, 

 you either had to * feel ' him or to strike at once. 



Feeling the fish is dangerous work. It consists in 

 raising the point of the rod so as to tighten the line suffi- 

 ciently to enable you to feel the ' tug, tug, tug ' made by 

 the fish in detaining the worm ; but this, as I have said, is 

 not safe, being often merely the herald of a rejection of 

 the worm, and when you strike you find the fish has left 

 you. If, on the other hand, you strike at once on sus- 

 picion, one of two things may happen, viz. either the fish 

 will not have got the large hook sufficiently into his 

 mouth, or, failing in its being a fish at all, you will take 

 such fast hold of root, stick, or stone, that the greatest 



