242 COARSE FISH. 



Plumbing the depth disturbs fish for a short while, as, to 

 get the correct depth, the plummet must reach the 

 bottom, and a certain amount of dragging must ensue, 

 except when taking the depth immediately under the rod- 

 top. To keep the bait on or near the bottom, a greater 

 length of line between float and bait must be allowed in 

 swift swims than in slow ones ; in perfectly still water the 

 depth at a certain spot can he adjusted exactly. After 

 hooking on the plummet set your float, slider or fixed, at 

 what you judge the depth to be, or, with a slider float, 

 take the first dip to gain a somewhat accurate idea of it. 

 The plummet being dropped in the water, if the depth 

 set -is too shallow, the float will go under ; if too great a 

 distance between float and hook has been allowed, the 

 float will lie on the surface flat or — when your depth 

 is very nearly the correct one — partially upright. By 

 raising or lowering the float on the line until the top 

 of the float rests just on the surface of the water, the 

 length between float-top and plummet when the line is 

 held taut will show the exact depth. To find the depth 

 without a plummet, set the float at the supposed depth 

 and let the tackle run down the swim. If it runs per- 

 fectly freely without bobbing in any way, you are fishing, 

 it may be only a very short distance off the bottom ; but 

 by deepening the line (from float to hook) till the float 

 bobs or is dragged under, the depth can be pretty accu- 

 rately obtained. When the float bobs in running down, 

 slip it down the line somewhat until it travels along the 

 swim steadily, you are then fishing at nearly the proper 

 depth. An aid to finding the depth at a long distance is 

 a cork with two passages for the line cut through it, the 

 passages meeting in the shape of a V on its side, thus <;, 

 and the point of the V coming out at the side of the coirk. 

 Insert quills in the passage, the line then runs freely 

 through. Pass the line through the upper tube, com- 

 mencing at the top of the cork, then through the lower 

 tube, the line coming out at the bottom of the cork. 

 Tie a plummet on the end of the line, let the cork act 

 for itself, and pitch the whole affair out to the spot to be 

 sounded. The plummet and cork go to the bottom, 

 slacken your line, and the cork rises to the surface in the 

 most ludicrous way, popping up most unexpectedly. 

 Tightening the line jams the float on- it at the <J, the 



