TRENT FISHING. 31 



the end of a staff, or handle, about four feet long. The 

 angler can please himself as to whether he has a wicker 

 basket or a mat one, or whether he has a waterproof haver- 

 sack ; all three sorts are found in the outfit of a Nottingham 

 angler ; he also has bags for his worms, tin boxes for his 

 gentles, bags for his fish, &c., and a pair of flat-nosed pliers 

 will also be found a useful article. 



And now having described a Nottingham bottom fisher's 

 outfit, it is time to hark back to where the angler has made 

 his gut " tackle," and got it ready for the hook. Supposing 

 this to be done, he now takes a piece of the coloured silk, 

 and waxes it slightly, and, taking his hook in one hand, he 

 winds the waxed silk two or three times round the shank ; 

 he then draws the end of the gut through his teeth to flatten 

 it slightly, and lays it on the shank, and binds it tightly and 

 closely as far up the shank as he requires. This operation 

 should be done as neatly and as closely as possible, or you 

 may have a difficulty in threading on a fine worm or gentle, 

 to say nothing of the curious spectacle you would present to 

 the fish. The split shots are now put on the tackle, the 

 bottom one not less than a foot or so from the hook ; the 

 others are placed on up the tackle, at distances of five or six 

 inches from each other, till you get as many on as you 

 require. This plan is a deal neater than that sometimes 

 practised on the Thames, where all the shots are crowded 

 together in one place, about six inches from the hook. "With 

 a fine line, quill float, and thin tackle weighted with some 

 half dozen split shots, the Trent or Is ottingham anglers fish 

 for roach, dace, chub, bream, and sometimes for barbel, 

 although we have a set of heavier apparatus, called " light 

 corking tackle," for fishing in a heavier stream. 



I think I have made it pretty clear to the tyro, or the 

 would-be angler in the Nottingham style, the kind of the 

 various appliances required for its practice. A very formid 



