FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 



On other days, however, not a fish shows, the whereabouts of the shoal 

 being indicated only by the movements of the gulls on the look out for a 

 share of the meal. Still more puzzling are the days on which, with no visible 

 evidence of either fish or birds, one catches good bass. 



As already mentioned, the sand-eels are towed in a wooden box made 

 fast to the rowlocks by a short line, and when the fish are biting freely, 

 it is a good plan to keep a dozen baits at a time in a bucket of water in 

 the boat. When a fresh bait is needed every few moments, this saves time. 

 The manner of baiting is not difficult, but should be learnt from actual 

 demonstration. The hook is passed through the lower lip, and the point 

 is hitched lightly in the skin of the throat. Properly used, the sand-eel 

 should last a quarter of an hour, and if it is not taken in that time, then 

 the bass are either elsewhere or not to be caught. They are not like trout, 

 indifferent the first time a fly is put over them, and suddenly taking it 

 into their heads to swallow it. If the bass are in taking mood, they need 

 no coaxing. If they are not, the fisherman might as well try to coax fish 

 in a glass case. 



The method of fishing is simple. Let us suppose that all is in readiness. 

 It is five o'clock on a July morning in the Teign, and ninety minutes after 

 low water, so that the river is running in with moderate strength, fast 

 enough at any rate to carry the boat stern-first to the bridge. Some local 

 anglers start fishing in line with the lowest tier of anchored vessels, and 

 drift as far as the bridge. Others keep down by the lowermost vessels 

 all the time, either paddling the boat in circles, or else tying up to one 

 or other of the buoys and letting the bait run between the vessels, choosing, 

 if possible, a keel covered with weed. The growing vogue of anchoring 

 higher up the river has already been referred to. I cannot condemn it 

 too strongly, and the one excuse for it is in the case of anyone who, for 

 the sake of economy, dispenses with the services of a boatman and goes 

 alone. Even so, he ought to avoid anchoring his boat in the fairway, and 

 so impeding the movements of those who still prefer the older style of 

 drifting. 



Personally, having caught all my best bass there during the past twelve 

 years, I always start drifting at the topmost tier of ships, or a little higher, 

 and do all my fishing between that and the bridge, searching the same 

 ground again and again, now on one side of the buoys, now on the other. 

 In any case, when the boat has to be rowed downstream against the 

 tide, so as to make another drift, time and labour are saved by cutting 

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