FLOAT FISHING— TACKLE. 



215 



fishing, however, where there is any current to speak of. No. 4 

 will be found practically useless, as the slightest touch, whether 

 from weed or gravel, or even the sweep of the 

 current itself will suffice to carry it under. 



For ordinary float fishing the four descriptions 

 indicated will be found all that the most fastidious 

 can require. Of float No. i it would be desirable 

 to keep three sizes, one larger and one smaller than 

 the pattern. Where it is necessary to fish deep in a 

 strong stream, it is also necessary to have a good 

 marry shot on the line to carry the bait with suffi- 

 cient rapidity to the bottom, and to prevent the 

 stream unduly ' bagging ' the line. For this purpose 

 it is, of course, also necessary to have a float of 

 corresponding carrying powers, and I think that 

 even a fourth size of No. i, a still larger size than 

 those already mentioned — making altogether four 

 sizes of No. i — ought to be kept by the float iisher 

 in case of emergency, Nos. 2 and 3 are also made 

 both smaller and larger, but on the whole, I think 

 the two sizes represented will be found most con- 

 venient. 



So much for ordinary floats ; I now come to 

 the extraordinary floats. 



No. S is a smaller size of the Nottingham or 

 travelling float — that is, the float used in what is 

 known as the ' Nottingham style ' of float fishing. 

 Its peculiarities, it will be noticed, consist first in 

 the fact that it is bow-shaped instead of straight, 

 and that the bottom loop is at right angles with, 

 instead of perpendicular to, the shaft, and that, in 

 lieu of the ordinary quill or gutta-percha cap, there ^°' S- 

 is a small projecting brass loop through which the line can 

 run with perfect freedom. The float, therefore, travels up 

 and down the line, and at the point where it is intended it 

 . should rest, that is, as the expression is, at the right ' depth,' 



