64 SEA-FISH. 
grooved lead is also very convenient for easy 
adjustment or removal. 
The artificial baits, which rarely beat the sand- 
eel, and which will only occasionally kill at Bourne- 
mouth against the all-powerful local mussel, are 
legion, the chief being the rubber-eel, with or with- 
out a “ baby spinner,” and either white, red, or drab. 
Hearder, of Plymouth, supplies these baits in great 
variety, and they can also be found in most of the 
London shops. The “baby” can be used with or 
without a strip of mackerel, a sand-eel, mussel, or 
other natural bait. The caprice of the fish on any 
given day must be discovered; it cannot be 
guessed beforehand. Sometimes they prefer the 
spinner by itself; at others, it is necessary further 
to rouse their appetite by the addition of a frag- 
ment of fish or mussel. The rubber-eels and band 
baits sold by most makers are often found in prac- 
tice to hang too far below the hook: if it is found 
that fish after fish seize the bait without being 
hooked, cut off, an inch at a time, the rubber beneath 
the hook, and results will usually improve now that 
the pollack can no longer nibble at the extremity 
with impunity. I confine myself, however, in the 
present chapter to the bare mention of such tackle 
as is referred to in the following pages ; its manipu- 
lation will be dealt with in the chapters on pier and 
boat-fishing. The soleskin bait is, in combination 
with a “baby,” very killing at times. 
Many, “John Bickerdyke” among them, trail 
their sand-eel on some kind of spinning flight, 
the “Chapman” spinner being a favourite, as 
they might in fresh water. I have tried these 
arrangements in salt water times out of number, 
but have found nothing beat the far simpler device 
