GROUND-BAITING FOR BARBEL. 77 



using the balance of worms for casting in now and again while 

 fishing. I prefer to throw in the worms whole, as the big fish 

 get them. Dace or small fry eat up broken worms. Never 

 give the final dose of ground-bait less than twenty hours before 

 you fish. It is very difficult to advise about the method of cast- 

 ing in worms. In some pools the worms may be thrown in loose, 

 and they will work round and round the eddy until eaten ; in 

 others they would get swept away at once. In these latter, it is 

 best to place the worms in clay balls, or in a little net weighted 

 with a stone, and drop them only a few yards above where the 

 leger tackle will lie. Another plan is to let the worms work 

 into a turf, and throw the worm-laden turf into the swim. 

 Great judgment is required in ground-baiting. The hook-bait 

 should be similar to the ground-bait, but finer in quality. If 

 the hook-bait is greaves, use a ground-bait of chopped greaves, 

 made into balls with potato and meal. Greaves and cheese are, 

 for one reason, bad ground- baits, sickening the fish for some 

 days. One dose of cheese, and that a small one, is always 

 sufficient. More does positive harm. 



On coming to fish at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m., moor the punt 

 quietly, throw in half a dozen worms — broken this time — 

 being careful to throw them so that they sink in the right 

 spot. Then select a worm, dip it in a pan of sand or sawdust, 

 and thread it on a No. 1 sliced hook, commencing at the 

 head, and leaving only Jin. of tail hanging loose. Cast 

 out, let the leger sink, wind in line until it comes taut, 

 and, with the line over the first finger and under the other 

 fingers of the right hand, wait patiently for a bite. Don't 

 strike at the slightest touch, but only at decided bites. On 

 hooking a fish, hold him as hard as the tackle will stand 

 for a few seconds ; this pulls the hook* home. Then play him 

 carefully, keeping him clear of old piles, &c., and the punt- 

 pole. If you have repeated bites and misses, and find the head 

 of the worm crushed, put on only the head portion, so threaded 

 that the head is on the point of the hook, and you will very likely 



* I always file off half the barb of the hook when- angling for leather-mouthed 

 fish, such as barbel, chub, and carp. A touch or two with the file on each side of 

 the hook is also an advantage. 



