78 BOTTOM PISHING IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 



nocturnal fish 'would be attracted into the swim if you 

 baited over-night, and get a lot of the ground bait that was 

 intended for the barbel, therefore I pronounce for morning 

 baiting. 



If you wish to fish a pitch that you cannot bait very well 

 by scattering the worms down the stream if, for instance, 

 the water runs too fast then a good plan is to have a small 

 net, something like a cabbage or onion net, and put clay and 

 worms in it. Then tie a strong cord to it, and cast it in the 

 stream a little above where you are going to fish ; the action 

 of the water will cause the worms to work out of the net and 

 attract the fish into the swim. When you come again to 

 bait, draw the net out by means of the cord, fill it again, 

 and repeat the operation until the swim is fully baited. 

 There is now a baiting-can in use that is a great improve- 

 ment on the net after the pattern supplied by that cele- 

 brated Thames angler Mr. J. P. Wheeldon, I believe, but 

 this is more for use from a boat, and while you are fishing 

 the swim. The worms are put in this thing, and with a cord 

 it is lowered over the boat's side and down to the bottom, 

 then a jerk of the cord releases the lid, and out roll the 

 worms along the river bottom. The practical utility of this 

 thing must now be apparent to the veriest novice ; for, 

 supposing you are fishing from a boat, and the swim is 

 rather rapid, and the water fourteen or more feet deep, and 

 you throw your worms loose over the side, they would be 

 carried by the stream clean out of your reach before they 

 grounded, so I consider this can to be a very useful article in 

 a barbel fisher's outfit, especially if he does his fishing from a 

 boat. 



Walton says " the barbel is curious for his baits, that they 

 may be clean and sweet, that is to say, to have your worms 

 well scoured, and not kept in sour or musty moss, for he is a 

 curious feeder ; but at a well-scoured lob-worm he will bite 

 as boldly as at any bait, and especially if, the night or two 

 before you fish for him, you shall bait the places where you 

 intend to fish for him with big worms cut into pieces, and 

 note that none did overbait the place, or fish too early or too 

 late for a barbel." If this held good in Walton's time, that 



