BAITS 105 



interior itself runs out, leaving nothing but the empty skin ; but, 

 as I have said, the sandy end is nearly always pinched off by the 

 fishermen in the manner I have directed. Lugworms can be kept 

 for some time in a cool place in a box of wet sand or seaweed, 

 but it is very necessary to look them over daily, for a dead one 

 left among them for a few hours turns putrid and quickly kills 

 the rest. These baits are so killing for bottom-feeding fish 

 that it is quite worth while going to some expense to obtain 

 them ; and if they are not found in the district where one may 

 happen to be fishing, it is good policy to send a telegram 

 or letter to the nearest part of the coast whence they may be 

 obtained by parcels post or otherwise. 



While this book was in the press I received the follow- 

 ing interesting notes concerning lugworms from Mr. Edward 

 Hanger, of Deal. ' There are two kinds of lug here, one the 

 large yellow-tail lug, so-called by our fishermen, and the other 

 the ordinary or common black lug. The yellow-tail will keep 

 alive much longer than the common lug, and is the best for 

 bait for whiting and cod. The common lug is best for all 

 kinds of flat fish, because the large lug will choke small hooks 

 up. The yellow-tailed lugs are very difficult to dig up, as they 

 generally lie well down into the sand. When rough and cold 

 weather sets in the fishermen sometimes squeeze the inside 

 out from the tail up through its mouth and then hang them 

 over a line, and by this means a man has bait when the weather 

 breaks up.' 



The Mackerel, which is more particularly described in a 

 subsequent chapter, is very valuable for purposes of bait, and 

 can be used in a variety of ways. In the first place, a strip of 

 mackerel skin is the best of all baits for mackerel. Any thin, 

 triangular piece of skin will answer the purpose, but the regu- 

 lation last or laske, which is best of all, is cut in the following 

 manner. With a sharp knife make a semicircular incision 



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