PRACTICAL LESSONS IN THE GENTLE CRAFT. 



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it up, and draw it towards me so as to get the gut bottom 

 taut, and then drop it very gently and wind up with a swift- 

 actioned Nottingham reel. This being done, I next turn the 

 point of the rod so that its extreme top indicates the precise 

 spot where the bullet lies, and place the smallest possible 

 amount of tension on the reel, just so much only as to 

 prevent the stream taking the line off. Consequently, when 

 a barbel takes the worm I feel the slightest little touch 

 and release my ringer so that the line may run freely. 

 Thus I let him take the worm, and he on his part feels 

 no resistance whatever. Away he goes with it, and then 

 he usually gets pepper, and it is cayenne of the first order. 

 A great consideration in connection with barbel-fishing is 

 baiting your swim, and upon that depends the whole of the 

 after success. I frequently hear of men who go down to 

 fish the Thames, and in really good localities, where there 

 are plenty of fish, putting in a quantity of bait over night, 

 fishing the swim early the next morning, and the next day 

 going home disgusted. A brother fisherman says, " Well, 

 Jones, did you have any sport ? " he says, " Not an atom ; I 

 put in 5,000 worms on the swim, and I never caught a fish." 

 Why is that ? Well, the answer is, because in nine cases out 

 of ten a thoughtless angler puts his worms in at night, and 

 he fishes over them the next morning. The consequence is, 

 there is a herd of barbel inhabiting that particular section 

 of the stream, they have all fed on those worms, and are in 

 precisely the same position as a London alderman would 

 be, if, after having just swallowed a huge dose of turtle-soup 

 and venison somebody offered him a fat pork chop. You 

 may put 5,000 or even 10,000 worms on to a barbel swim 

 I do not care how many there are and allow the fish 

 sufficient time to recover their appetites, say 25 to 30 hours 

 afterwards, and then most certainly will you get fish, unless 



