138 BOTTOM FISHING IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 



lie likes, but so steadily that it would only move a couple of 

 yards or so in five minutes. This is a very good plan to fish 

 those deep steady swims close under the bank or nearly so, 

 and I know that in such places as these salmon are some- 

 times found. Sometimes a salmon might choose as its rest- 

 ing-place a spot without any current at all and a good distance 

 from the bank ; and when this is the case he is fished for 

 with a lead or stationary bait, locally known as plumbing or 

 ledgering. A flat ledger lead is used, and the bait and 

 tackle are the same as for the rolling bait ; it is then cast to 

 the required place, and the angler can just hank his line 

 over the handle of his reel, rest his rod in a forked stick, and 

 wait for a bite. Personally, if it can be managed anyhow, I 

 prefer to fish a swim with a float travelling down, as first 

 described ; but it cannot be always managed, and the angler 

 must learn to adopt that plan that is best suited to meet the 

 circumstances of the case. 



A shrimp or a prawn fished on a single hook in the same 

 manner as the worm is a pretty good bait for salmon on 

 some waters, but I cannot say how it would act on the Trent, 

 never having seen it tried. 



I need not give any directions in spinning for salmon, as 

 the modus operandi of the spinner has already been most 

 fully described in the chapter on pike ; it is only necessary 

 to say that instead of the trace being gimp, it should be very 

 strong gut, with the hanging lead and plenty of swivels. 

 Natural baits are sometimes spun on a spinning flight or an 

 Archimedean tackle ; and here I might add that while the 

 pike seems to prefer a wobbling bait, the salmon likes one 

 that spins most truly and glitters most beautifully, but 

 artificial baits seem to be the most in use, and the " Derby 

 Killer " and the " Devon " the most successful. 



In bringing these few instructions for fishing for salmon 

 in the Nottingham style to a close, I will just say that let 

 the fly fisherman scoff at the plan as he likes, he cannot alter 

 the fact that some considerable skill is required in order to 

 successfully kill a big lively salmon on the, comparatively 

 speaking, fine lines and tackle of a Nottingham bottom 

 fisherman. 



