SALMON F1SHENG IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 135 



the middle, so as to form altogether a real good lump of 

 worms with plenty of ends to wriggle about You want a 

 real good-sized bait for a salmon, and if you could firmly 

 thread on your hooks four good big worms your chance of 

 getting a run would be all the greater. You now make 

 your cast either direct from the reel or by pulling down 

 the line from between the rings of the rod, as most fully 

 explained elsewhere. When the cast is made and the float 

 has settled into its position, the knob of the rod is, as already 

 indicated, dropped into the hollow of the left thigh, the left 

 hand firmly grasping the rod close against and partly on 

 the top edge of the reel back with the fingers in readiness to 

 act as a brake or check to the revolving part of the reel the 

 very moment that check is required ; then with the finger 

 and thumb of the right hand you pay off the line, so that 

 the float shall travel down the swim without any catch or 

 hindrance whatever, taking care, however, that there is no 

 slack line between the rod point and the float if you can 

 help it. When the float has travelled down the swim, say 

 thirty or forty yards, or whatever length it is, without a bite, 

 you wind it back again and repeat the operation. I believe 

 I have before given an outline of fishing a swim in this 

 style, but in spite of this the plan does not seem to be 

 thoroughly understood by anglers generally, so I hope it will 

 not be thought a waste of time if I have just looked at it 

 again in detail If the angler gets a bite, he allows the 

 salmon a second or two to get the bait well into its mouth 

 and then strikes sharply, at the same moment pressing his 

 finger-ends on the edge of the revolving portion of the reel, 

 so that his stroke shall take effect and the hook be driven 

 well home. After this takes place, of course the angler has 

 to be guided very much by circumstances, checking his reel, 

 letting it run, or winding it home as well as he can ; but he 

 will soon find out the best and quickest plan to kill his fish, 

 I myself prefer to use my finger ends as a check, and 

 would not give a penny for a check action to the reel, if 

 that check action was only to be used as a help to kill the 

 fish ; indeed, I think this killing the fish with your fingers 

 on the edge of a fast revolving reel to be the true Netting- 



