TRENT FISHING. 37 



one, about nine inches long and six wide is a very useful 

 size, the cover of brown leather, and opening like a book. 

 It should have in it numerous pockets, for the purpose of 

 keeping everything separate and snug ; I don't like to see 

 gut, loose hooks, wax, silk, thread, needles, floats, &c., &c., 

 all mixed up in confusion in one pocket. " A place for every- 

 thing, and everything in its place," ought to be an angler's 

 motto. This book ought to contain a long leaf of thin 

 leather, or waterproof cloth, with a couple of strips of parch- 

 ment stitched lengthways down it, for the purpose of holding 

 a dozen floats, a pair of scissors, a disgorger, &c. (which 

 latter useful little article I might say can be made out of a 

 little bit of thin wood or bone, about four or five inches long, 

 and about a quarter of an inch thick, with a small forked slit 

 cut in the end ; it is used for extricating the hook from the 

 throat of a fish, the fork being put in the bend of the hook 

 and pushed down, and then both hook and disgorger drawn 

 up together). This latter article saves the disagreeable 

 process of opening the fish when the hook is rather further 

 down than it should be. The tackle pouch should also 

 contain a special pocket to hold a frame to wind your bottom 

 tackles upon ; this frame should be made of thin hard wood. 

 There should be three pieces of flat wood, about half an inch 

 broad, fastened about an inch and a half from each other by 

 thin round pieces ; this, when finished, should be about five 

 inches long and three wide. It is a very useful article for 

 keeping the tackle straight ; hang the hook upon one of the 

 thin cross-pieces, and wind the tackle round the entire con- 

 cern. When the whole of that tackle is wound on, hang 

 another hook in the loop of the first, and go on again until 

 the whole of your tackle is wound on. By this means you 

 can keep the different sorts of tackle separate ; roach, chub, 

 or barbel having a separate coil to themselves. This plan is 

 a deal better than coiling them up separate and stowing them 

 in envelopes. The long leaf of the book, with the floats, &c., 

 on, can be folded up inside the covers, and then closed and 

 fastened with either a tongue and loop, or a buckle and 

 strap. The angler will also require a cocoa-nut shell and a 

 pair of scissors for the purpose of clipping up worms for 



