42 ANGLING IN SALT WATER. 



Pollack will take tliem alive, and they are a good bait 

 for mullet, flounders, dabs, eels, and smelts, if peeled. This 

 operation is a little difficult unless the prawns are boiled, 

 but they are far more killing raw. 



Bagworm, Mudworm, or Pollack Worm. — This is a 

 long, flat worm, about the size of a brandling, with a fringe 

 of legs on each side. It is found in mudbanks below and 

 about high water mark, and is easily obtained by digging. 

 The unsavoury black mud of harbours contains thousands 

 of these worms, and any fisherman's son will obtain a 

 can full for a few pence. The largest ragworms are found 

 under large stones, and in nooks and crannies between 

 rocks; but they are not so plentiful as the smaller kind 

 in the mud. At places like Brighton, Hastings, and East- 

 bourne, where there are neither harbours nor creeks, they 

 are not found. Ragworms rank high among baits. Two or 

 three of them, hooked through the head, are a good whiffing 

 bait much liked by pollack. There is nothing better for 

 the bottom hook of a paternoster when harbour fishing, the 

 ragworm being much affected by flounders, dabs, and fresh- 

 water eels. For sand-smelt fishing they are the best bait 

 known. Ragworms should be kept in a little seaweed and 

 sea water, and looked over at least once a day, when the 

 water should be changed. A shallow, wooden box, about 1ft. 

 square, with a cover, is the best thing to keep them in. All 

 dead or wounded worms should be removed. Some people 

 keep these worms for a night in powdered saltpetre or salt. 

 This kills and toughens them ; but I doubt if they are so 

 attractive to the fish after this pickling process. 



The Hock Ling, or Sea Loach. — This is a useful little 

 fish for pollack whiffing, but is not so good as a sand-eel, 

 or small conger or fresh-water eel, which latter it somewhat 

 resembles in shape. In colour, it is a light brown, with dark 

 spots down the sides of the back. They should be searched 

 for under stones, among rocks, and are sometimes taken with 

 fine float tackle — the hook baited with a shrimp, or soft part 

 of the limpet — ^in pools among rocks. Where fresh water runs 



