BAITS 93 



fies the fish. Being small bait, it is often necessary to place two 

 or three on a hook. 



Chad Bait. This is the young of the sea bream, and 

 much used on the coasts of the West Countrie. I shall have 

 more to say concerning these little fish later on in Chapter XIII. 

 under the head of ' Bream.' 



Crabs. The ubiquitous green crab when in full marching 

 order that is to say, with all its armour on is not much used 

 as a hook bait, but is extremely valuable when pounded up as 

 a ground bait. Crushed and commingled with raw potatoes, 

 it is thrown in over the smelt net. I have so often found 

 infantile crabs inside fish I have taken, that there is little 

 doubt one of these minute creatures about the size of a six- 

 pence, or a little larger, would be a very good hook bait ; but I 

 have never used them, owing to the difficulty of obtaining a 

 sufficient quantity. When the shelly armour has been cast 

 away, and pending the growth of another, the crab is excellent 

 as a hook bait. During this period it hides in any safe, and 

 sometimes unsafe, nook or cranny. I have heard of people 

 taking a mean advantage of these poor creatures by placing in 

 estuaries and harbours a number of artificial resting places, 

 into which the unsuspecting crabs enter for the purpose of 

 changing their shells, there to be collected from time to time 

 by the heartless bait-catcher. 



There are few fish which will not take soft crab ; flounders 

 and bass are particularly fond of this. Crabs are also a good 

 bait in brackish water for silver eels. They, of course, have to 

 be cut up into pieces of suitable size, according to what we are 

 fishing for. Another use for them is to bait prawn nets. On 

 the whole, they should be borne in mind and in bait box, and 

 used whenever occasion offers. 



Almost, if not quite, as good a bait is that extremely curious 

 little creature known as the hermit, soldier, or farmer crab. I 



