SALMON FISHING IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 131 



on a slab in the shop of Mr. Kelly, fishmonger, Castle Gate, 

 Newark, and was much admired. There is no question as 

 to the accuracy of this statement, for I saw the rod when 

 it was bending to the weight of that fish ; besides this, the 

 local bench of magistrates had something to say on the 

 subject, as our old friend Tom was fishing without a licence 

 from the Trent Board. 



If the angler wishes to combine spinning with float 

 fishing, or even fishing with a running lead where float 

 fishing would be out of the question, it would perhaps be as 

 well to have a rod built for the purpose, one that shall be 

 light and handy enough to throw out a float well, and yet 

 strong enough to stand the wear and tear of spinning, as an 

 ordinary barbel rod would hardly have this much to be 

 desired combination. I had hold of a rod the other day that 

 seemed to me to be just the very thing ; it was built after the 

 pattern of a Nottingham barbel rod, except that it had 

 rather more timber in its construction, and was when put 

 together twelve feet six inches in length ; it was not so stiff as 

 an ordinary pike rod, but notwithstanding this I believe it was 

 more powerful ; it had a hard- wood knob on the butt end 

 for the purpose of resting the rod in the hollow of the thigh 

 while fishing. It tapered beautifully, and struck splendidly 

 straight from the very point ; altogether it looked to me to 

 be just the very beau ideal of a Nottingham rod for fishing 

 for heavy and powerful fish; I might add that it only 

 weighed one pound six ounces. I carefully took its measure, 

 and intend before very long to make myself one as near like 

 it as possible. 



The ordinary plain 4J inch reel, or the centre pin, or Mr. 

 Slater's patent reel as described in Chapter II., will be just the 

 very things for this business, and it won't matter which the 

 angler has, as one will do about as well as the others; however, 

 he will have to regulate that according to his pocket. 



For a line I should recommend the strong silk twist, 

 barbel size ; some anglers say that an eighty yards length 

 would be quite sufficient, but he might meet with a fish 

 that would take that lot out, and still want more ; and as 

 these lines are less than two shillings each, it would be 



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