500 PRACTICAL LESSONS IN THE GENTLE CRAFT. 



lying in the same locality, and always keep, from first to 

 last, well out of sight of the water. In pond or lake 

 fishing, much the same tactics may be adopted, except 

 that one may use a much lighter leger lead where there is 

 no stream, and indeed I would not use a lead at all if it 

 were possible to get the line out without it. If float-fishing 

 be the order of the day, the float cannot be too light, and a 

 small quill carrying three or four shot only is to be pre- 

 ferred. The bait should always be well on the bottom. 

 I fish with the baited hook at least six inches on the 

 bottom and the shot may be placed on the hook-link of 

 gut so that they too rest on the ground, and thus there is 

 nothing of a foreign nature to catch the wary eye of the fish 

 that may be prowling about. Even the gut may be dyed 

 green or of a bluish tint, so as to assimilate as nearly as 

 possible with the tinge of the water. The rod used should 

 be a longer one than the one previously mentioned, for it is 

 a time-honoured maxim in angling for some classes of fish, 

 to " fish fine and far out ; " and the carp is one of them where 

 this maxim should be observed. A good plan, when float 

 fishing, is to have an iron rod rest, or a forked stick, stuck 

 in the ground, so that the rod, in this case, unlike when 

 legering, may be placed in the rest or cleft stick. Throw 

 well out, and, particularly when the water is clear and 

 bright, have no more of the rod than is absolutely necessary 

 projecting over the bank, then sit well away from the water ; 

 don't move the rod if you see a bit of a nibble, but if the float, 

 after a preliminary cautious dip or two, sails slowly away 

 and out of sight, then get your line taut, and strike, not two 

 hard, however. The remarks I have just made apply more 

 directly to worm fishing, and it is useless to strike when 

 operating with this bait unless the float begins to slide off, 

 for carp suck the bait in very artfully, and if he is not given 



