70 BOTTOM FISHING IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 



bottom hook, your bait will then be in the shape of a link, 

 with three or four ends to wriggle about in a most lively 

 manner ; that, in my idea, is the best worm bait you can 

 use. Sometimes I have put the worms on the hooks head 

 downwards, and taken fish with them ; these were at odd 

 times when I had been an hour without a bite in the 

 ordinary way of baiting ; but whether this result was an 

 accident or not, I cannot say. Having your bait now ready 

 (and you must be sure that it touches the bottom of the 

 river), let it glide down the swim thirty, forty, or even fifty 

 yards from the boat or stand. When you have covered the 

 entire distance where you suppose your ground bait to be, 

 without a bite, wind up the line on the reel and repeat the 

 operation. If you have a bite, don't be in a hurry, give him 

 a second or two to take the bait, and then strike pretty 

 smartly to fix the hook well. Should your float be forty 

 yards away, you must strike a little harder thari when it is 

 only twenty yards from you, as you have a good length of 

 line to lift ofl" the water, and when you find you are fast in a 

 fish, wind him out of the hole as quickly as possible. Let 

 him run as near the boat as you can, and then he won't dis- 

 turb the others. When I say wind him out as quickly as 

 possible, I don't mean a sort of a pully-hauUy system— a 

 dragging out of the fish neck and crop, because your tackle 

 would not stand it, but as soon as you can, get him under 

 the rod's point ; keep a tight line on him, and when he is 

 exhausted your companion should put the landing-net in the 

 water as carefully as possible. You then bring the fish over 

 it, and with a sharp lift you have him. Never dash the net 

 in the water right in front of his nose, or perhaps the sudden 

 fright may make him give an unexpected bolt when you 

 were not prepared for it ; be very cautious in this respect, or 

 you may lose both fish and tackle, and then you will perhaps 

 think of the quotation — 



