45 8 SEA BAITS. 



sort of small fry. Any kind of fish in fact, of a bright 

 silver colour, makes good bait, as also in some cases 

 do cuttle-fish, squid shrimps, prawns, crabs, sand eels, 

 etc. There can be no doubt of the fact that the prin- 

 cipal food of fish is fish, and that the whole extent 

 of the ocean is one vast slaughter-house, the strong 

 preying upon the small and weak with true cannibal zest. 



Good bait of some kind is also obtainable on almost 

 every beach, when the tide is out. Shell-fish such as 

 cockles, whelks, limpets, clams, etc., all make excellent 

 bait. On sand banks lug worms can be dug up in 

 quantities in most places, the worm-casts on the sand 

 showing where a worm is working beneath. In like 

 manner rag worms are obtainable on mud banks; 

 ordinary lob-worms dug in the field also do for sea 

 fishing; so do pieces of the entrails of chickens and 

 other birds. When sand eels can be obtained they 

 are particularly valuable as bait ; these delicious little 

 fish are however only found in certain localities, 

 generally on the extreme outer edge of mud or sand 

 banks, close to the tide at low water. They have to 

 be dug up with forks, and in some places hundreds 

 can be got in a short time at dead low tide. They 

 are particularly fine in Australia, both in Victoria and 

 New South Wales. The tails of fresh water eels also 

 come in very valuable as bait ; so do any kind of small 

 bright fish, like dace. 



As regards artificial baits for sea-fishing, the fishing 

 tackle shops furnish many varieties, like rubber sand 

 eels and such like. We cannot say we ever found 

 them very efficient. By far the best of all artificial 

 baits for sea fishing is the spoon. They however require 

 constant cleaning to keep them bright, as seawater is 



