46 THE ART OF FISHING. 



should be of bamboo, 16 to 20 feet long, and the line shorter than 

 the rod. Keep the point of your rod exactly above the bait, steadily 

 following it, as the bait drags along the bottom. When the fish 

 takes the bait, do not let him run with it, but keep a steady hand. 

 Do not jerk, but play gradually with him. If the day be clear, and 

 the stream shallow, the best way as to wade up the stream cauti- 

 ously, throwing your line far up, and letting it come gradually to- 

 wards you. The fish always heads up stream, and you should not 

 fail to remember if he once sees you he vanishes. 



Bottom Fishing with blue-bottle flies is practiced as follows:— 

 Use a silk or fine hair line, with gut leader, and a small quill-float. 

 Hook No. 10 is about the proper size. You will want one or two 

 split shot on the line. Fill a glass bottle with the common blue- 

 bottle-fly. Bait your hook with two of these flies, and let it sink 

 nearly to the bottom. In this way you may catch trout in ponds, 

 or deep water deposited by running streams, and often in the slack 

 w^ater of mill dams, when you could not catch them in the stream 

 itself. This kind of trout fishing is practiced in July and August. 



When neither fly-fishing nor bottom-fishing can be practiced, in 

 consequence of forbidding circumstances of water and season, 

 trolling can be resorted to as an excellent substitute. Trolling is 

 divided into three parts, viz: sinking and roving, trolling with gauge 

 and snap-hooks and spinning. Sinking and roving is practiced with 

 a live bait; a minnow or roach for the common trout or perch; 

 bleak, gudgeon, dace, or roach, for pike or large trout. The best 

 general bait for all sorts of trolling is the gudgeon. The rod used 

 should be a long bottom one, with a good winch, and prepared 

 plaited silk trolling line. For foot line, about a yard and a half of 

 the best gut. The link to which the hook is tied, should be of fine 

 gimp, if pike are sought for; but gut, or three-twisted hairs, will do 

 for trout and perch. The baits must be strong and lively, and 

 placed on the hooks with as little injury to them as possible. Allow 

 the bait to swim here and there, generally at mid-water, but in deep 

 placvs, deeper, drawing it up gently to the surface now and then, 

 letting it sink again, and guiding it to the best looking spots of the 

 locality. Snap-baits are mostly used at seasons when pike do not 

 feed with sufficient voracity to pouch their baits promptly. Their 

 merit lies in allowing the troller to strike quickly, before the fastid- 

 ious fish, suspecting something wrong, has time to eject the bait 

 from his mouth. The rod used must be short and stiff. Snap bait? 



