BAITS. 21 



brooks, and ditches, is a good bait for every fish in the "water the 

 caddis is found in. 



Flag-worms^ which are found amongst flags, in pits, or ponds, are 

 good for the fish. 



Caterpillars, callage-worms, &c., are good for trout, chub, roack 

 and dace, dropped on the surface of the water. 



Salmon-spawn is a superior bait for trout, chub, roach, &c., and . 

 may be bought ready preserved. 



Carpenter says, " Having obtained a pound of it, about Septem- 

 ber or October, put it into hot water, and having boiled it for about 

 ten minutes, wash and clean it ; rinse it well with cold water, and 

 dry it. When dried, take two ounces of salt and a quarter of an 

 ounce of pounded saltpetre, and mix it up with the spawn, after 

 which it should be spread out on a dish or board before the fire, 

 until it becomes quite stiff. Then put it into jars or gallipots, 

 pouring over the top of each melted mutton suet, and covering 

 with a bladder." 



Paste is a good bait in still, quiet waters, with a small hook and 

 a light float. See that it is clean, or the fish will not take it. 



A good paste for carp, roach, tench, and chub, is made of crumb 

 of white bread. 



A good paste, especially for chub, is made of rotten Cheshire 

 cheese and crumb of bread. 



Greaves paste that is, a paste made of white bread dipped into 

 the liquor in which greaves have been boiled is a killing bait for 

 barbel, but wheat paste is a favourite bait in some parts of the 

 country, as is also pearl-barley. The wheat should be freed from 

 the husks by keeping ten or twelve hours in water, and then par- 

 boiled, which will swell it to twice its natural size. Malt and - 

 pearl-barley may be prepared in the same way. They may be 

 crushed and used like a paste, or a single grain be taken and put 

 on the hook, after the manner of baiting with a gentle. 



Ground-baiting should be done the night before, when it is 

 practicable. 



Greaves boiled, and worked up into balls with clay and bran, is 

 a good ground-bait for barbel. 



White bread soaked in water, and mixed up with bran and 

 pollard, is a ground-bait for carp, roach, dace, and chub. 



Clay and bran mixed together, and made into small balls, may 

 be used for roach, dace, and bleak. 



Carrion gentles, or worms cut into pieces, are sometimes used with 

 great success in still waters. 



For roach, dace, bream, and every other fish in still water, bread 

 chewed till it sinks is the very best ground-bait ; or, if it be too 

 much ^ trouble, knead^ some very moist, that it may partly separate 

 as it sinks. Use this in small quantities upon the very spot you fish. 



For roach-fishing in rivers, bread and bran kneaded together till 

 they are sticky or clammy, and put a coating of a quarter of an 

 inch thick round good-sized pebbles* 



