MIXED GROUND-BAITS. 63 



being paste. This should not be done in ponds, as the bread 

 quickly goes sour in the stagnant water, and drives away 

 rather than attracts the fish. In very wet summers, when 

 the water is more often coloured than not, it is a capital 

 plan to keep one or two swims regularly baited with worms — 

 not many are required, but about a hundred should be thrown in 

 every day. Swims so baited generally yield well, and more 

 than roach will be brought to creel. 



I have, I think, mentioned all the ground-baits that the 

 angler need know of, but there is an unlimited number of 

 mixtures which are more or less useful. For instance, there 

 are brewers' grains, barley, or any other kind of meal, boiled 

 potatoes (mashed), coagulated blood, pollard, greaves (called 

 scratchings on the Trent), boiled rice, &c. 



A peculiar ground-bait, said to be very attractive, was given 

 in No. 562 of the Fishing Gazette. Take a few dozen lobworms, 

 thoroughly scour them, and kill them by throwing them on the 

 ground ; nearly fill a clean lemonade-bottle with the dead worms, 

 lightly cork it, and stand it in a saucepan of cold water, the 

 water coming up to the neck of the bottle. Stew for five hours, 

 add fresh water as required. Strain the contents of the bottle, 

 and mix the worm -oil liberally with bread-and-bran ground-bait. 



Finally, a word of advice kept to the end to make it the 

 more impressive. The size of a fish's stomach is limited. If 

 that stomach is distended with your ground-bait, the fish is 

 not likely to further distend it by taking the bait on your 

 hook. Therefore, when baiting up a swim, give the fish (for 

 this applies to all fish) a fair and reasonable time — not less 

 than twenty hours — to get fresh appetites after the feast you 

 have provided for them, so that, when you come with rod and 

 line, they will, like poor little Oliver, be asking for more. 



