BAITS."! 



ANGLIXG. 



[trE flALMON. 



the Brifjht-yellovr Dun ; Cream -coloiiroil Dun ; 

 Dun Cat; Green Drake; Grey Drake, or 

 May-fly ; Land-fly ; Wasp-flv ; Wliito ]\Ioth, 

 and Brown ^loth. For Juno — Tlie Oil- 

 fly ; Ej)liemeral lied Spiirness llumble-bfo ; 

 Jia/.t'l-fly (already mentioned); House-fly; 

 Large Blow-fly, and Blue Gnat. For July — 

 The Largo Black Ant-fly; Largo lied Ant- 

 fly, and the Blue-blow. For September —The 

 Golden Dun ; Dark Dun; Alder, or lied-fly; 

 Late Dark-bodied AVillow-fly, and the Cinna- 

 mon, or Fttid Brown-fly. 



In reference to the artificial flies used in 

 salmon-lishing, there are certain writers 

 •who recommend diflerent sorts of salmon- 

 flies ; and among these are Bainbridge ; Sir 

 Humphry Davy, in bis Salmonia ; Taylor, 

 Cajitaiu Williamson, and the Hev. R. Las- 

 celles, iu bis Letters on Sport in j. In this 

 last work, seven flies are enumerated and 

 described as applied to fishing in North 

 Wales ; but to insert them here would occupy 

 too much space. He says, however, that all 

 the salmon flies of K'ortli Wales, with the 

 exception of the wasp and hornet, should be 

 made to imitate dragon-flies, being the only 

 large ones that are seen playing about the 

 rivers there. 



BAITS FOR ANGLING. 

 Baits are numerous, but the best for trout 

 are well-scoured earth-worms. The garden, 

 the dew, and the lob-worms are all of the 

 same species, notwitlistanding that they vary 

 considerably in the points of size, form, and 

 colour, iu accordance with their ages, and the 

 season and soils in which they are found. 

 According to Daniel, there are two kinds of 

 lob-worin — the old, which is Jcnottcd, and the 

 young, which is destitute of knots, and which 

 is sometimes called maiden lobs — as well as 

 red worms. The latter is in highest esteem 

 among anglers. These, with other sorts of 

 worms, are obtained iu fields and gardens, but 

 more abundantly iu such places as contain 

 soil recently mixed with vegetable or animal 

 remains. Another worm, called the brandling, 

 is, from its head to its tail, streaked with red 

 and yellow in alternate circles, but darker at 

 its anterior than at its posterior portion. It 

 is usually found among rotten tan bark, heaps 

 of rich vegetable mould, and old dung-hills. 



The pnhncr-worms, or wool-beds, aro the 

 hairy cnterpillars of certain niotha which fly 

 about iu tho night. They are taken by trout, 

 and aro capable of preservation for many 

 weeks, in a box with damp earth, covered with 

 some of tho bu-^h h-aves on uliicli tho insect is 

 knowa to fi-ed. Jie(>a and wanps are, aliio, 

 bait for the angler. Tho roe of the salmon in 

 greatly praised by Barker, who Hcems to liavo 

 been the flrat to discover its merits as a bait. 

 Pastes, too, are of great value to the ll.ther; 

 among which tho following have been recom- 

 mended as good sorts : — A red paste is made 

 with a large spoonful of fine wheat-flour, 

 moistened with the white of an egg, and 

 worked with the hands until tough. A small 

 quantity of finely-powdered loaf-sugar should 

 be added, with some cotton wool spread over 

 the paste when flattened by the hand. Tl-e 

 cotton sliould be well mixed with it, and the 

 whole dyed with a little vermilion. It will 

 keep good for a week, if a piece of fresh 

 butter be added to it. By omitting the colour- 

 ing matter, white paste may be composed of 

 the same ingredients; yellow, also, using a 

 little turmeric as a colouring. To make a 

 salmon-paste — Take one pound of salmon- 

 spawn, in September or October; boil it about 

 fifteen minutes ; then beat it in a mortar until 

 sufficiently mixed with one ounce of salt, 

 and a quarter of an ounce of saltpetre. Pick 

 out the membrane in which the spawn is con- 

 tained, as it is disengaged from it. After it 

 has been beaten to a proper consistence, put 

 it into gallipots, and cover it over with blad- 

 ders, tied down close, and so preserve it for 

 several months. Minnows are frequently used 

 by anglers as a bait for trout, and the tackle 

 employed is both lighter and finer t!:an that 

 used for the salmon, with a single line of gut 

 at the bottom. With this, very large fish are 

 frequently captured. 



We shall now describe some of the principal 

 kinds of fish, the snaring of which form the 

 chief object of the angler's art. 



THE SALMON. 



This is the king of fresh-water fishes ; and 

 the family to which it belongs is, in an econo- 

 mical point of view, the most important in the 

 eyes of the angler. It embraces the grey 

 trout, salmon trout, common trout, Loch 



1005 



