62 ANGLING. 



place it is not so liable to chafe, if properly attended to, as some 

 other lines; and, in the next, it holds no water, dries quickly, 

 springs well, and never becomes dabby and sticky. This latter 

 quality is, we apprehend, so valuable to the angler, that it must 

 necessarily overbalance every other consideration. What trpller 

 has not experienced the miseries which arise from wet flabby lines, 

 "which hang about his clothes and feet like spider's web, and ruffle 

 about among the grass like a skein of crumpled silk. It is true, a 

 .genuine, unadulterated, horse-hair line of the requisite length and 

 strength for trolling, is rather an expensive article ; but then it 

 will last a man's lifetime, with care and good luck. Silk is not 

 good for trolling-lines ; and silk and hair do not make the best 

 compound in the world. 



The hook used in trolling, is the common double hook, fixed on 

 a brass wire shank, with a loop at the end to receive the gimp 

 bottom, which it is necessary should be employed in this mode of 

 fishing. This hook should not be large. The wire shank must be 

 loaded with lead, about two inches in length from the very bottom 

 of the hook, tapering nicely up towards the other end. This lead 

 should be as large as it can be, to go easily into the mouth and 

 throat of the bait, because we are persuaded that the bait generally 

 sinks through the water too slowly. Between the gimp bottom 

 attached to the hook which should be moveable at pleasure 

 and the line, you may insert a sort of gimp trace, furnished with 

 three or four swivels, which many trollers recommend, and which 

 most of the tackle-shops will supply you with ; but we confess we 

 do not think the swivels possess the advantages commonly attri- 

 buted to them. They very often break, they do not always work 

 freely, and they are liable to rust and to corrode the gimp. We 

 never fish with swivels ourselves ; we merely fasten our line with 

 a simple slip-knot to the gimp bottom; but, perhaps, a very 

 strong one, which can be readily removed at pleasure, may not 

 be disadvantageous in strong running- water. If, however, the 

 general custom influence the angler, he can easily obtain the re- 

 quired tackle at any fishing shop^. 



To bait this gorge-hook, it is necessary to have a flat brass 

 needle, somewhat longer than the fish you bait with. We need not 

 give specific dimensions, because some trollers prefer larger baits 

 than others. A friend of ours, who is t the very t soul of nattiness, 

 has his needle graduated, so that by simply laying his bait along 

 the needle, he sees at a glance what sized hook will best suit his 

 purpose. 



Fix the loop of the gimp bottom, or trace, to the little hook at 

 the but-end of the needle. Push the point of the needle in at the 

 mouth of the bait, drive it straight through the entire body, and 

 bring it out exactly between the forks of the tail. There is a stifl 

 membrane encircling the tail, which will hold the gimp firm, and 

 prevent the necessity of tying a thread round the tail the clum- 

 siest of all contrivances, unless, perchance, the water be bunged 



