WORM-FISHING. 31 



TACKLE. The tackle, composed of either two 

 or three small hooks, is now almost universally 

 used. Some anglers, however, still hold by the 

 single hook. For small clear streams we much 

 prefer the former, but find that the latter does best 

 in spated waters. If the worms are small enough, 

 a tackle composed of two hooks should be used, 

 but three hooks if the worms exceed 2| inches 

 in length. Numbers 10, 11, and 12, 1 round- or 

 sneck-bend, are good sizes for the tackle, and 

 No. 4 or 5 round- bend for the single hook a 

 size or two larger being used during a flood. It 

 is a great mistake to have very small hooks on the 

 tackle ; the angler may get more bites, but he will 

 certainly not hook so well as with a larger size. 



BAITING. When baiting, the worm is held be- 

 tween the thumb and forefinger of left hand. The 

 lowest hook of the tackle is then inserted a 

 moderate distance from the head, the centre hook 

 about the middle, and the uppermost near the 

 tail. The barbs should be freely exposed ; this 

 prevents the bait from coming off, and hooks with 

 greater 'certainty. Care is also necessary to have 

 the worm equally distributed over the tackle, so 

 that too much of it is not allowed to hang at 

 either end. 



From this description it will be seen that the 



i These numbers are from Bartleet's scale for Kendal 

 round- and sneck-bend hooks. 



