BOAT-FISHING. 177 
at once understand that I am about to speak of 
the process of ground-baiting, a principle woefully 
neglected in salt water. It is, of course, Ground 
influenced by a number of conditions in ait 
the sea that do not in the ordinary course bear 
on its use in fresh water, as, for instance, the 
tides, great depth, and distance from which it is 
often necessary to attract the fish. Nor is it so 
simple a matter as in some quiet inland water, 
free from disturbance of any kind, where the bait 
remains within a foot of where it was dropped 
until discovered by the fish. Apart from the tides 
and currents that interfere with its position, the 
bed of the sea teems with crabs, which, scavengers 
that they are, soon seize upon any edible matter 
that they come across. It is therefore necessary to 
enclose the ground-bait in some kind of receptacle, 
and, for want of a better, a cage or wicker, or for 
that matter a square of string net, may be lowered 
by a cord, which is occasionally jerked to free a 
little of the mixture. The 
ground-bait should be so 
placed that the tide sets 
from it past the hooks. 
The object of this is that 
the fish, following up the 
track of oily particles 
and fragments of bait to 
its source, shall be com- 
pelled to pass close to 
the hooks. A similar 
principle is, I believe, in- 
volved in the use of the brainy water when baiting 
for chub with pith. A useful arrangement, not un- 
like a miniature diving-bell, is supplied by Messrs, 
N 
Divine Bett ror Grounp Bair. 
