BAITING THE TACKLE 79 



your mind, proceed to fish with it. If it does not, tighten 

 or slacken the lip or the shoulder-hooks or both as the case 

 may seem to require, and try it again. These directions are 

 to suit a dace or gudgeon or other round-bodied fish. With 

 a more flat-bodied fish, as a bleak or roach, instead of the 

 bait hanging quite straight upon the hooks, the head should 

 be bent a little down towards the tail, and the body on the 

 side opposite to the hooks should have somewhat of the 

 curve displayed by the back of the bowl of a spoon (see Plate 

 V, Fig. 2) . Put on properly thus a bleak or even a roach may 

 be made to spin quite as well and sometimes better than a 

 dace or gudgeon. The directions given by many old writers 

 to compress the body by tying it round and round with white 

 silk are quite unnecessary. Poor old Tom Rosewell, of Marlow, 

 was the first man who showed me how a bleak should be 

 put on, and when he put one on and spun it, you could see 

 nothing but one long even line of silver. I am particular 

 in these directions as it has been the fashion hitherto with 

 many authors to pretend that the putting on of a bait cannot 

 be explained, but the young hand is directed to go to a Thames 

 fisherman and to get him to show him how to do it. This is 

 all very well, and I by no means disparage the advice, for the 

 Thames fishermen are the best spinners in the world ; but it 

 is not everybody who can go to a Thames fisherman and take 

 lessons. Practice alone will enable the young hand to put 

 a bait on with any certainty of its spinning well, or (as even 

 old hands cannot always be quite sure of this) will enable 

 him at once to know how to rectify it if it does not. But I 

 think by following the above instructions and studying the 

 cuts given, that, if in time he is not able to succeed, he must 

 have less appreciation and readiness than a fisherman ought 

 to have. The same directions will answer to the letter when 

 I come to touch on spinning for large trout. 



If the angler chooses to have tackle with four triangles, 

 the only difference will be that the triangles will be closer 

 together, but in inserting the hooks the angler must follow 

 the instructions already given. He can also have hooks on 

 the reverse side as well, but as these are supplementary hooks 

 they have merely to be stuck loosely into the bait so as not to 

 interfere with the hang of it, this depending entirely on the 

 main set. I do not recommend them, however, unless the 

 fish are very large and hungry, the tackle very stout, and very 

 heavy striking be the order of the day. With these conditions 





