202 CAKKION GENTLES. 



compost: as the mass sinks, fill it up with the 

 same, and press it at last moderately, as the 

 gentles will sink to the bottom. This box may 

 be then placed in any out-door cool situation, and 

 the mould at times be slightly moistened ; or it 

 may be buried a foot or two in the earth, if con- 

 venient, and will then require no moistening. The 

 advantages we derived from a long box were, that 

 we could turn up the earth in it at one end to 

 procure the gentles we wanted, without admitting 

 air or disturbing the whole mass.' 



The gentles got at the knackers' are generally 

 called carrion gentles, and their proper use is for 

 ground-bait. They are nasty things to handle, 

 and are never so good for hook-baits as the gen- 

 tles produced by putrefying liver. When used for 

 ground-bait, they attract fish to the locality, but 

 fish easily distinguish the nice, clear, well-scoured 

 gentle on your hook from them, and will take it 

 in preference. They are a great nuisance to carry, 

 as they will eat their way through the stoutest 

 bags, and crawl about in every direction. 



The caddis, or straw-bait. I have a better 

 opinion of this bait than the generality of anglers 

 have. I have killed a great many trout with it, 

 particularly by placing it on the hook in con- 

 junction with an artificial fly. Though the gentle 

 may be a better bait in large rivers for coarse 

 fish of the carp tribe, it is not so good a bait in 



