40 THE SEA SHORE 



not so suitable for the purposes of the amateur angler, fishing 

 with small hooks close to shore. They may be dug out of the 

 sand when the tide is out, and are most abundant where the sand 

 is mixed with mud. A spade should be used, and this should be 

 thrust deep into the sand, selecting those spots where the holes 

 or burrows of the worms most abound. Lngworms should be 

 used whole ; and being of large size, are suitable for baiting large 

 hooks only. They may be kept alive in wet sand or sea- weed, 

 preferably the latter for convenience, and stored till required in 

 a wooden box. 



Eagworms also afford good bait, and are particularly adapted 

 for shore angling with small hooks. Almost all the fishes that 

 frequent our shores take them readily, but they are not to be 

 found in all localities. They are to be taken, though not usually 

 in large numbers, on rocky shores where numerous stones lie 

 among the somewhat muddy deposits of the more sheltered nooks, 

 where they may be seen on turning over the stones. The best 



FIG. 23 __ THE RAGWOBM 



situation for ragworms, however, is the more or less odoriferous 

 mud so frequently deposited in the estuaries of rivers and in land- 

 locked harbours. Here they maybe dug out in enormous numbers 

 with a spade, attention being directed to those spots where their 

 burrows are most numerous. They are best stored with a little 

 of the mud in a shallow wooden box provided with a sliding, 

 perforated lid. 



Failing a supply of the marine worms just mentioned, the 

 common earthworm may be used as a substitute, but it is 

 decidedly less attractive to the fishes ; and the same may be 

 said of gentles the larvae or grubs of flies. The latter may be 

 bred in large numbers by simply placing a piece of liver in the 

 soil with only a small portion exposed. If this is done in the 

 summer time, hundreds of eggs will soon be deposited on it, and 

 in about a week or so it will be found to be a living mass of fat 

 white grubs, perhaps more useful to the fresh-water angler than 

 to his marine counterpart. 



