66 SEA-FISH. 
of merely passing the hook of a “baby” through 
the launce’s upper lip. I have even taken very 
fair pollack on a dead launce hanging in this way 
at the end of an unleaded drift-line. Sea-fish are, 
at any rate up to the present, less discriminating 
than those of river and lake, and “ deadly spins,” 
attractive matter though they make for description, 
are in most cases superfluous. 
Another killing method of using the rod, espe- 
Float. Cially off pier-heads, is in conjunction with 
fishing 4 float, a stout adaptation of the tackle 
used in bottom-fishing in rivers. The sea-float, 
however, must be a portly article, capable of 
carrying several ounces of lead in the tideway, 
conspicuous too at a distance of forty or fifty 
yards. The best float I have yet come across was 
given to me by Mr. Jardine, the well-known pike- 
fisher, who has also a fondness for sea-fishing. It 
allows the line to pass freely from hook to rod, but, 
as in the leger aforementioned, its passage in the 
opposite direction is effectually checked by a small 
bristle or india-rubber band of such a size that, while 
passing through the top ring, it stops at the float. 
The advantage of this stop is obvious; the angler 
can fish a depth of twenty or thirty feet, and when 
he comes to reel in a fish, the float glides down the 
line to the hook, whereas with the usual fixed float 
it would be impossible to fish such a depth save 
with a rod of the same length! One of the best 
features in Mr. Jardine’s float was a spare red top 
for use in flecked water where the ordinary white 
top, which cannot be beaten in still water, would 
so harmonise with the foam around as to escape 
notice, or at any rate severely try the eye. The 
spiral wire at either end of the float involycs the 
