n8 AN ANGLER'S HOURS vn 



however, but request him to put a bait on 

 the spinning-flight for me. This he does 

 extremely well, in spite of his contempt for 

 my policy ; many decades of wicked life 

 have taught him all there is to know about 

 catching fish, and he is unrivalled at getting 

 the perfect curve on a spinning-bait, an art 

 that many fishermen never acquire at all. 

 Practice will not do it alone ; an unerring 

 hand is needed as one of Nature's gifts, and 

 you must arrange the hooks right instinct- 

 ively at the first attempt or your trouble 

 will be vain ; there can be no revision of 

 your work, or you will destroy both bait 

 and temper, and in the end produce nothing 

 better than an unseemly wobble. 



Old Billy's bait spins beautifully, as can 

 be seen by trying it close to the boat with a 

 short line. Now I pull about thirty yards 

 of line off the reel and coil it on the floor 

 of the punt with some care, so that there 

 shall be no kinking. Kinking is one of the 

 curses of the pike-fisher's lot, but with 

 reasonable precaution it can be avoided ; 

 when one is in a boat one ought never to 

 be troubled with it. The principal things 

 to ensure are a clear space for the coils of 



