134 THE COMPLETE ANGLER 



is, with a worm, a minnow, which some call a penk, or with 

 a fly. 



And you are to observe, that he is very seldom observed 

 to bite at a minnow, yet sometimes he will, and not 

 usually at a fly ; but more usually at a worm, and then 

 most usually at a lob or garden-worm, which should 

 be well scoured, that is to say, kept seven or eight days 

 in moss before you fish with them : and if you double 

 your time of eight into sixteen, twenty, or more days, 

 it is still the better ; for the worms will still be clearer, 

 tougher, and more lively, and continue so longer upon 

 your hook ; and they may be kept longer by keeping 

 them cool and in fresh moss, and some advise to put 

 camphor into it. 



Note also, that many used to fish for a salmon with a 

 ring of wire on the top of their rod, through which the 

 line may run to as great a length as is needful when he 

 is hooked. And to that end, some use a wheel about the 

 middle of their rod, or near their hand ; which is to be 

 observed better by seeing one of them, than by a large 

 demonstration of words. 



And now I shall tell you that which may be called 

 a secret : I have been a-fishing with old Oliver Henley, 

 now with God, a noted fisher both for trout and salmon, 

 and have observed, that he would usually take three or 

 four worms out of his bag, and put them into a little box 

 in his pocket, where he would usually let them continue 

 half an hour or more, before he would bait his hook with 

 them. I have asked him his reason, and he has replied : 

 " He did but pick the best out to be in readiness against 

 he baited his hook the next time : " but he has been 

 observed, both by others and myself, to catch more fish 

 than I or any other body that has ever gone a-fishing 

 with him could do, and especially salmons ; and I have 

 been told lately by one of his most intimate and secret 

 friends, that the box in which he put those worms, was 



