MID-WATEB FISHING. 19 



be kept as near the surface as possible, so that it may not 

 sink and become caught in the weeds below, and so check 

 the free motion of the bait or the run of the fish. To 

 effect this fix a small piece of cork on the line, a yard or 

 two, if possible, above the float. The bait must be allowed 

 to swim rather below mid-water unless the water is very 

 deep, when it should be placed nearer to the bottom. The 

 object is to fix it so that it may be seen best over the 

 largest area of the bottom ; and of course the depth and 

 colour of the water must be duly considered, as in thick 

 water, unless the bait is put pretty close to the fish, he 

 will not see it at all. 



For float fishing for perch, or even trout, a lighter 

 tackle and float is used. That used for trout must, 

 of course, be suited to the size of the trout. For 

 perch the tackle would be a float equal to carrying a 

 couple of minnows which should be set at such a depth 

 that the lowest minnow shall clear the bottom by an inch 

 or two, and the one above, shall hang so as to be about 

 from fourteen to eighteen inches above the bottom. When 

 I come to jack and perch fishing, I shall give a closer 

 account of how these tackles are to be used. Another 

 species of live-bait fishing is by means of a paternoster. 

 This is simply a gimp or gut line, according as it is used 

 for pike or perch, with a plummet of lead on the bottom, 

 and with two or three hooks as the depth of water, <fcc., 

 requires, these hooks being baited with a small fish 

 minnow, gudgeon, dace, or what not. The plummet is 

 cast into the water, and, sinking to the bottom, the line is 

 held tight, so that the least touch of a fish can be felt ; 

 and as soon as it is supposed that the fish has the bait in 

 his mouth,, the angler strikes sharply. A plan of a 

 paternoster is given in Plate 1, Fig. 5. Occasionally a live 



c 2 



