CHAPTER VII 

 CASTING IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE 



Different methods of casting Casting with a coiled line The 

 Nottingham style The right-handed cast The cast from the 

 left hand How to cast from the reel Summing up the salient 

 points Weights and distances A cramped position, and the 

 straightforward cast. 



THERE are two or three different schools of pike 

 fishermen, each throwing out the bait in their own 

 particular fashion, each more or less proficient in their 

 own peculiar style, that is, the style best suited to the 

 requirements of the various waters in which the fishermen 

 ply their craft. 



t As I mentioned before, there are those who coil the line 

 at their feet, casting the bait from the rod point, and draw- 

 ing it in with long, sweeping, one-handed drags ; always a 

 heap of line at their feet, and always having to play the 

 fish with the hand. Inch by inch they move down the 

 river, trailing their line behind them, ever and anon re- 

 moving bits of thistles, thorns, and grass, that have been 

 caught up and held fast, while with monotonous regularity 

 tangles and snarls have to be attended to. This method 

 of casting, in my opinion, is not an unqualified success, 

 when it has to be tried in every conceivable situation, 

 under every condition, and in all the difficulties to be en- 

 countered by the river side. 



Then again there are others who never use the rod when 

 casting ; they simply coil the line on the ground, the rod on 

 rests, hanging the bait over the crutch of a forked stick, 

 E 49 



