88 BOTTOM FISHING IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 



sand and bran ; it is then covered over with the sand and 

 buried in the earth, and when the angler wants to use his 

 gentles a couple of months after, he will mostly find them in 

 good condition ; gentles for ground bait can be procured 

 from a bone or knacker's yard. These are not fit for the hook, 

 a quart or two of them they will be sufficient to bait the 

 swim ; in slow running swims on the Trent this is as good a 

 ground bait as can be used. The angler scatters them in during 

 the time he is fishing, and good sport is often obtained by 

 this means ; indeed, it is more often practised by Nottingham 

 anglers than any other plan for roach fishing. Two gentles 

 are put on the hook, and the fisher throws in and lets his 

 float swim down as far away as he thinks fit, very often 

 thirty or forty yards from him. When the fish slacken in 

 their biting he scatters them another handful of the coarse 

 gentles, and a very few of the scoured ones. 



It sometimes happens when the angler is fishing with 

 gentles and the fish are very shy — biting and nibbling very 

 cautiously, though sufficiently to move the float — that the 

 angler strikes time after time, and yet cannot hook his fish or 

 only just feels them for a moment, and that when he has 

 drawn out his bait he finds that his gentles are nothing but 

 a bit of skin. The fish have sucked and squeezed the insides 

 out. When this is the case I have found the best plan is to 

 take off the No. 10 hook you are using and whip on instead 

 a No. 12, and instead of having two gentles on only use one, 

 and sticking the hook through the thick end of the gentle, 

 just let it go twisting down the stream in a lively manner. 

 Sometimes I have managed to deceive a few after using this 

 " dodge." 



If you can manage to find a few cad baits or if you have a 

 few wasp grubs with you, you will find it to be to your 

 advantage, in order to change the baits pretty often, that is, 

 if the fish are biting very slow and shy ; i.e. sometimes use 



