CH. II.] INDIA-RUBBER BALLS FOR LIVE-BAIT. 29 
rubber balls which are capable of being inflated 
at pleasure, and are sold as toys. They take up 
no room, and answer very well for floating off live- 
baits with. If there is a boat on the water, they 
need not be fastened to the shore. If not, it will 
be generally necessary to have them made fast to 
a line, which should be kept from sinking by a few 
small corks attached to it at intervals. The balls 
should be more or less inflated in proportion as 
there is less or more wind. By shifting the posi- 
tion of the end of the line on shore, the greater 
part of the water can thus in most cases be closely 
fished. 
Jack will often, if not hungry, take a live bait 
apparently for mere wantonness, and, after holding 
it for a short time, leave it again. When this is 
the case it “sells” them considerably to fish with 
a double set of tackle, each consisting of a bait- 
hook and another rather larger one tied just below 
it back to back, the two sets being on different 
pieces of gimp meeting the line about eight or ten 
inches from the bait at a swivel, just above which 
the lead may be fastened. One of the bait-hooks 
should be run through the skin a little before the 
tail, the other just before the dorsal fin, so that 
the loose hooks stand out on opposite sides. This 
