THE COMMON BROWN TROUT. 269 



WORM FISHING. 



Worm-fishing for trout has undeservedly been much despised. Because 

 it is known to be so deadly after rains, or so sure to take fish from 

 deep pools if practised with a float after the style of gudgeon-fishing, 

 anglers with hypercritical notions about sport denounce it as unsports- 

 manlike and unworthy the true high-minded angler. There is, of course, 

 a reason to complain if such a charge were true, but worm-fishing in 

 clear water is a totally different style of fishing from this. It is practised 

 in lucid streams, where the trout are few and wary, and never should it 

 be allowed in rivers where the fish are numerous and unused to fishing or 

 anglers. Under circumstances of such difficulty as indicated, it ranks, 

 in my opinion, next to fly-fishing in its demands on the resources of the 

 fisher ; the necessity for careful and neat casting and alert attention to 

 the indications of a bite being, indeed, in some respects of a superior 

 grade. Worm-fishing comes in when the water is brightest and the fish 

 wariest, namely, in July or thereabouts. It should never be practised 

 before, and it is really unsportsmanlike, as I have admitted, if used after 

 the showers of late summer begin 10 colour the water. If the angler is 

 skilled, his sport is sure to be great ; if, however, he does not care to 

 attend to the minutiae of the art of worm-fishing, he may in vain exercise 

 his strength and perseverance, for it is, under such conditions, as difficult 

 to take trout with the worm as with a fly. A good angler in this style } 

 however, may be sure of taking almost as many trout during the heat and 

 brilliance of midsummer as during the whole of his subsequent or pre- 

 vious experience in that season. Mr. Francis goes into raptures over 

 the scenic and other charms, incident to the dolce fcvr niente worm- 

 fisher's art. Mr. Stewart confines himself to describing the methods of 

 its practice, and the latter example I shall elect to follow myself. As 

 has been my custom throughout when dealing with all styles of fishing, 

 I will commence with a description of the necessary tackle, and for this 

 purpose let me refer first to the rod. 



In order that the cast may be made with a success commensurate with 

 that in fly fishing, I prefer a double-handed rod, of greater stiffness than 

 the ordinary fly rod, and from 14ft. to 16ft. in length. A single-handed 

 rod can, of course, be used if the angler chooses, but I do not recommend 

 it, having found, even in fly fishing, a double-handed weapon inflict less 

 real fatigue than the other. A double-handed rod, then, be it. 



When I referred to the success of the cast, I did not mean the getting 

 out of a long line necessarily, but the successful cast of the bait, so that 

 the fragile worm may not be mutilated or broken. A long cast, indeed, 

 is not desirable, because the force of sending it out often sadly dis- 

 arranges your lure. The length of the rod also aids one in striking and 



