34 BOTTOM FISHING M THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 



he is using would twist and tangle up. He cannot reach the 

 swim with the rod, and what line there is is hanging from the 

 point. What is to be done 1 A Nottingham angler holds 

 the rod in his right hand, and with his left takes hold of the 

 line as high up the rod between the rings as he can reach, 

 and draws down as much line as he requires. He then has 

 some four or five yards of line in his left hand, and with 

 what is hanging from the point of the rod, he can then throw 

 the distance he requires, which he does by bringing the rod 

 away from the river at about an angle of 45°. He then sends 

 the point of the rod smartly over the river, at the same time 

 time letting go of the line he held in his left hand, the line 

 wiU now go fair and neatly to its destination without tangle 

 or catch. Some Nottingham anglers, when they want to cast 

 extra long distances, draw down two lengths of line from the 

 rod, the rings of course parting them, and throw in the same 

 way as before. By these means, after a little practice, one 

 can throw to nearly any distance he likes. 



Now that the float is cast to its destination, the angler 

 changes his rod to the left hand, and with the finger and 

 thumb of his right he takes hold of the line close to the reel, 

 and pays it off gently and continuously so that it shall run 

 freely through the rings and never check the swim of the 

 float. By this means the line between the float and the rod 

 point is tight (but not too much so, or the float would lay 

 nearly flat on the water), and enables him to strike the very 

 moment he perceives a bite. Failing in getting a bite, he 

 allows the float to travel down stream until he has completely 

 covered the space where he supposes the ground bait to be, 

 when he winds up the line and repeats the cast. Sometimes 

 the hole to be fished is from twelve to twenty, or even more, 

 feet in depth ; and when this is the case, it is difficult to fish 

 it with the ordinary floats, and for this purpose a float called 

 a "traveller," " slider," or '-running float " is used. As may 



