18 TROUT. 



a yard or two at a time. A master of the art will throw 

 from forty to fifty yards of line, but on no account have out 

 more line than you can conveniently manage ; if you do, it 

 will only be in your way, and when fishing from the bank 

 will be sure to catch up loose twigs and grass. Drawing the 

 the requisite length of line from your winch, let it fall in 

 loose coils in front of your left foot. Hold the rod firmly in 

 the right hand about eighteen inches up the butt ; the wooden 

 button on the socket of which should be kept tight to the 

 hip ; draw the line in with the thumb and two first fingers 

 of the left hand, till the bait hangs about five or six feet from 

 the top of the rod. Bring the point of the rod, round to the 

 right, to give the bait the necessary swing, and throw the 

 bait sharply to the left (or vice versa, as occasion may require) 

 at the same time letting free the line in the left hand ; still 

 keeping the butt tight to the hip. The bait will then be 

 carried out to the full extent of the line, the coiled portion 

 running freely through the rings. 



As soon as the bait enters the water, spin it either across 

 or against the stream ; in fact, in any direction that the 

 nature of the place may render most convenient to yourself. 

 The line, which is now held lightly in the same hand as the 

 rod, should be drawn through the right hand, about a couple 

 of feet at a time, by the thumb and the two first fingers of 

 the left hand ; coiling it at the feet as before. Keep the rod 

 steady with the point about a foot from the surface of the 

 water, holding it in such a manner that the top may keep a 

 slight strain upon the line, which should not be drawn in too 

 fast at each backward motion of the left hand. The beginner 

 in the art should learn the method of gathering up the line in 

 the left hand as practised by the Thames puntmen, he will find 

 it extremely useful when fishing from a weir. " Let him 

 observe a first-rate Thames Spinner standing on the top of a 

 weir (a performance requiring rather a strong head and good 

 nerves) casting his bait into the foaming torrent below ; now 

 gathering up the line with the thumb and little finger of the 

 left hand, and again throwing out the spinning-bait from a 

 twelve or thirteen feet rod with the right hand, at the same 

 time letting go the gathered line, and spinning the bait 



