44 A BOOK ON ANGLING 



called " light corking tackle," because they use for it their 

 lightest cork float ; the one above described being but a quill. 

 The barbel float has an elongated cork body, more or less 

 bulky, supplemented over it. 



Now, one of the chief objects of a Nottingham fisherman 

 is, not to let the fish see or hear him, and therefore he fishes 

 as far from them as he reasonably can. Walking along the 

 bank of a river, if he has not already selected a swim, he 

 fixes upon a spot that looks likely to yield sport. He decides 

 to fish at a certain distance from the shore where the stream 

 is steady and not too strong, and the water apparently of 

 the right depth. The first thing is to ascertain how deep it 

 really is. A London angler would drop in a lump of lead 

 and work it about up and down all over the swim, thereby 

 scaring the fish to commence with. But the Nottingham 

 man avoids this ; he adjusts his float at what he supposes to 

 be about the right depth, casts his tackle out to the exact 

 distance from the shore at which he intends to fish, and 

 allows his float to drift down the stream. If it floats in quite 

 an upright position without the slightest symptom of dragging, 

 the line is too short, and the depth below the float must be 

 increased. If the float bob under, the shots are on the ground, 

 and the line must be shortened below the float, and so on. 

 Thus after four or five swims are tried he hits, by judgment, 

 the right depth, which is for the worm to trip or drag slightly 

 over the bottom without the shot coming in contact with it, 

 for if the worm be properly hooked, and the bottom not foul, 

 the tackle will nearly always carry the worm with it ; should 

 it hang, the slightest raising of the rod-point will loosen it. 



Having found the depth of the water opposite to him, he 

 proceeds to try it for the whole length of the swim for a 

 Nottingham angler's swim is often from a dozen to twenty 

 yards in length ; sometimes it does not commence until the 

 float is almost that distance from him, the intermediate 

 water being a cautionary compliment to the fish's sharpness 

 of sight and sensation. Of course, having taken up the 

 position or line of swim, if I may so express it, which he 

 means his float to travel over, it is expedient to keep in that 

 line, and it is there his ground-bait will be cast, and a few 

 feet outside or inside of it will be so far from the fish. Con- 

 siderable nicety of judgment is required to keep to this. 

 Having now to try the swim the whole length, and having 

 pitched his tackle out to the requisite distance, he lowers the 



