FISHING FROM PIERS AND HARBOURS. 115 
Let us, as an example of the former, take a 
morning’s fishing at Littlehampton. We have 
brought a good supply of soft green crab, which 
we had to get by train from Macpherson of 
Southampton, knowing it to be the correct bait 
hereabouts; and our tackle consists of a short 
(9 ft.) rod, Nottingham reel carrying a hundred 
yards of fine, strong line, and a couple of traces of 
twisted gut, three yards each, a pike-float and 
some hooks, also on twisted gut, (for size, sce p. 55). 
This, with the long-handled landing-net, so often 
alluded to in these pages, completes our equip- 
ment. We have timed our arrival just after low 
water, and we put our tackle together against the 
railway quay. There is no need for the float to 
slide in this case, for the bass are generally to be 
found feeding, if at all, not more than five or six 
feet from the top, so that it is possible to fix the 
float at the proper depth without interfering with 
the due netting of any bass that may get hooked. 
The hook—one is all sufficient—is next passed 
through the body of the crab, from shoulder to 
shoulder, the legs and claws being removed. It is 
kinder to the crab, as well as more attractive to the 
bass, to kill it first and slightly crush it with the 
foot. This float-fishing at Littlehampton railway 
quay involves some little exercise, for which reason 
it used to be in great favour with a quaint old 
gentleman of the neighbourhood, who was so good 
as to assure me on one occasion that he had only 
caught two bass that season, the season being then 
nearly over, but that he would not miss his daily 
walk all the summer on any account; for, in 
truth, you walk here while angling for these fish. 
The reason for this is obvious. The tide runs 
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