50 DAYS AMONG THE PIKE AND PERCH 



and hurling it out without the aid of the rod. The men 

 of the Welsh Harp lake are experts in this branch of casting ; 

 it is marvellous the distance some of these men will throw 

 the bait. 



One of the best casters I ever saw was a Thames man 

 spinning over one of the weir pools of that famous river. 

 The line was hanging in coils from his left hand, his right 

 hand grasped the rod, and the button on the butt was pressed 

 to his body in such a manner that he could use it as a 

 fulcrum and get the greatest power with the least expendi- 

 ture of brute force ; it was marvellous the way that man 

 got out his line, and it was no less astonishing how the line 

 was re- coiled on his hand as the bait was spinning home. 

 His skill must have been arrived at by long and constant 

 practice, as I never once saw him in difficulties. 



The pike fishermen who cast from the reel in the style 

 known as the " Nottingham " are an ever-increasing body ; 

 in my opinion I have seen all sorts and conditions of 

 casters at work I consider it far and 'away the best, 

 taking all things into consideration j places can be suc- 

 cessfully spun over where it would be impossible, owing 

 to all sorts of rank vegetation, to cast with the line coiled 

 at the feet. 



Some pike fishermen say that a bait wound home on the 

 reel in this style is not so attractive as one worked home by 

 the fingers with the coiled line, in hand or at feet. The long 

 sweeping drags of the bait are absent when the line is 

 simply wound up on the reel to spin the bait home. But 

 if the rod point is raised and lowered alternately, and the 

 pace is varied, even allowing it to sink, and then sweeping 

 it forward a little more quickly, the sink-and-draw motion 

 and the long zigzagging drags can be imitated as faithfully 

 with the winding reel as by the hand. 



Supposing we are casting from a boat, and the line is 

 coiled at our feet, I know of no greater nuisance ; it^hanks 

 round everything within reach, jerking overboard a 

 favourite knife, or a box of tackle, or the whisky bottle ; 



