96 BOTTOM FISHING IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 



the float has been thrown upwards a trifle ; and then again it 

 might only tilt over a little ; and he is now of the firm con- 

 viction that all these moves indicate a roach bite, a conviction 

 that I most heartily share. It is always the largest and best 

 roach that bite in this sly and unobtrusive manner ; it is 

 nevertheless true that anybody can catch roach at those odd 

 times when the fish are quietly sucking down the bait and 

 hooking themselves ; but it is not very often that he is " on," 

 like that. Very small fish will bob down the float and make 

 the angler think he has got a most important bite ; but the 

 big fellows in a quiet water, when they are not very well "on," 

 are not to be taken by anybody. When you are fishing with 

 gentles in a slight stream, and your float is travelling down, 

 you cannot notice this action of your float, but it will be the 

 best to strike promptly on the least indication of a bite more 

 roach have been lost by waiting a trifle for a second bob, than 

 have been taken. I think I have shown the necessity of 

 having a float to properly indicate a roach bite, and now we 

 will look for a minute or two at the roach hooks ; these should 

 be carefully selected and tested before whipping them on the 

 gut. Some anglers like a hook that is short in the shank and 

 very fine in the wire ; as they say " you can thread a gentle 

 on them so much nicer," but I don't care for them, because 

 if your hook is very short in the shank you cannot hook your 

 fish properly (they do not strike sufficiently true on the point 

 of the hook). Tie two hooks on two pieces of gut, the one 

 with a short shank, and the other with a shank a little longer, 

 and fix the points in something, and then pull the gut gently, 

 and you will see then what angles the hooks and gut form. 

 The one with a short shank will approach a right angle a great 

 deal nearer than the one with the longer one ; so you will see 

 by this that when you strike a roach with the short shanked 

 hook, you will most probably draw the hook out of his mouth 

 instead of into his jaw j or, in other words, when you struck 

 the fish, the hook failed to penetrate the jaw, because the 

 angle formed by the point of the hook on the gut and shank 

 was too great : whereas a longer shanked hook would have 

 pulled straighter from the point. Hooks that are extra fine 

 in the wire, too, have their objections. They will spring 



