76 BOTTOM FISHING IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 



use it). A bit of white pipe is a very good bait, and is 

 much liked by both barbel and chub. The tackle for this 

 bait should be the same as the worm tackle, except in the 

 case of the hooks. A lip-hook will not be wanted, and 

 instead of a No. 5 or 6 hook on the bottom, two No. 7 hooks, 

 whipped back to back, will be the best, or else the double- 

 brazed reversed hook, as described in the chapter on Chub ; 

 indeed, an old friend of mine tells me that these hooks are 

 the very best he ever tried for barbel fishing with scratchings, 

 and I agree with him. In baiting, the tackle can be released 

 from the line, and the pipe slipped over the shots and down, 

 till it is stopped by the bend of the hooks ; the points are 

 then covered by a small piece of the scratchings, and the bait 

 is ready for use. This sort of ground bait, to my mind, has 

 its objections, for, after you have done fishing the swim, very 

 few more fish can be caught in it for a week or two after, it 

 makes them sickly, and I think it spoils the sport for any 

 one who may happen to follow you soon. In fact, I don't 

 like the plan at all, but as it is used a good deal on the Trent, 

 I have thus referred to it. Sometimes I have known when 

 scarcely a drop of rain has fallen on the parched earth for 

 weeks, and the river is running remarkably low and clear, 

 you might as well have thrown your hat on the water for 

 a bait, as try to catch barbel during the daytime, and yet 

 during the darkness of the night they would come " on." I 

 have known several cases of this kind to happen, where a 

 couple of anglers have been fishing a carefully baited swim 

 and got next to nothing during the daytime ; and after they 

 had given it up in disgust, a knowing customer has gone 

 down just at dusk, and quietly ledgered for two or three 

 hours, and got six or eight right good fish. When the 

 water is in the condition as just named, it is necessary to 

 ground bait with your scratchings prepared in a little dif- 

 ferent manner to that just described ; instead of being mixed 

 with the potatoes and barley meal, it should be used just as it 

 is after scalding or boiling, except that the angler must be very 

 careful, and with an old pair of scissors clip it up very, very 

 small, and use it very sparingly (of course this plan of baiting 

 can be followed during the daytime as well as at night). 



