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your tackle, under such bad management. Further 

 when your line is not tight, you cannot judge exactly as 

 to the spot where the fish then is, whereby you become 

 subject to much error and incertitude. 



It should be equally your care, always to keep your 

 rod out of the water ; for, exclusive of the injury it sus- 

 tains by being wetted in the joints, it never fails to frighten 

 away other fish, and to cause that on the hook to be par- 

 ticularly agitated. 



Though I have already spoken very pointedly regard- 

 ing the impropriety of handling the line when taking a 

 fish out of the water, yet it may not be improper to re- 

 peat my injunctions on that head, and to recommend to 

 the juvenile angler, when the fish is exhausted, to draw 

 him very gently along the surface to a convenient spot, 

 within reach of one hand, while the other is to retain 

 and direct the rod ; the butt of which may be advan- 

 tageously rested against the side, or upon the knee, ac- 

 cording to the length of his line. He will find the fish 

 to float freely on the surface, and that there will be very 

 little pressure on his tackle. 



If there should be occasion to draw his prize over, or 

 through weeds, he should be careful to lay the fish on 

 that side which may leave his hook pointing upwards j 

 thus, if the hook be in the right corner of the mouth, the 

 fish should be drawn on his left side, and vice versa. 



This is done to prevent the hook from getting entangled 

 in the weeds, of which there will be little danger, if the 

 foregoing precaution be attended to, and that the fish's 

 head be a little raised, so as to prevent its nose from 

 getting under any weeds. A very little practice, with 



common 



