Fishing. 271
a bladder or other float; tie it to the line, and cast the whole adrift.
Trimmers are well known, and are a convenient way of fishing the middle of a pool, with only a short line. Anything will do for the float-a bladder or a bottle is very good.
To recover a lost Line, make a drag of a small bushy tree with plenty of branches, that are so lopped off as to leave spikes on the trunk. This is to be weighted with a stone, and dragged along the bottom.
Otters.-What is called " an otter" is useful to a person on the shore of a wide river or lake which he has no other means of fishing : it is very successful at first, but soon scares the fish; therefore it is better suited to a traveller than to an ordinary sportsman. It is made as follows :-A board of light wood, fourteen inches long and eight inches high, or thereabouts, is heavily weighted along its lower edge, so as to float upright in the water ; a string like the bellyband of a kite, and for the same purpose, is fastened to it ; and to this belly-band the end of a line, furnished with a dozen hooks at intervals, is tied. As the fisherman walks along the bank, the otter runs away from him, and carries his line and hooks far out into the stream. It is very convenient to have a large hand-reel to wind and unwind the line upon ; but a forked stick will do very well.
Boat fishing.-In fishing with a long ground-line and many hooks, it is of importance to avoid entanglements ; make a box in which to coil the line, and a great many deep saw-cuts across the sides, into which the thin short lines, to which the hooks are whipped, may be jammed.
Fishermen who do not use oars, but paddles, tie a loop to their line : they put their thumb through the loop, and fish while they paddle.
To see Things deep under Water, such as dead seals, use a long box or tube with a piece of glass at the lower end ; this removes entirely the glare of the water and the effects of a rippled surface. Mr. Campbell, of Islay, suggests that a small glass window might be let into the bottom of the boat
