1 66 Worm-Fishing. 



brother anglers disparage it, because they consider 

 it so simple that any one may succeed in it ; and 

 he proceeds to show that, if brought to a clear 

 water on a warm sunny day, such anglers would 

 speedily discover their mistake. Now I am not of 

 those who ignore its claims, or decry its merits. 

 I am, moreover, quite at one with Mr Stewart in 

 his attempt to free worm-fishers from the charge 

 of being unscientific, and to raise their favourite 

 pastime to the rank of a sport. But while admit- 

 ting that it is a branch of the art well calculated, 

 when practised in clear water and sunny weather, 

 to test the angler's dexterity in casting and his 

 acquaintance with the habits of the fish, I should 

 be disposed to say that Stewart had unduly extolled 

 its powers as a lure, and attributed to it a pre- 

 eminence which it does not possess. He tells us 

 that " worm-fishing is the most certain and deadly of 

 all fishing ; and by it more trout may be captured 

 in the month of July than by any other means in 

 any other month of the year." I cannot say that 

 such is my experience. The worm cannot for a 

 moment compare with the May -fly in the certainty 

 of its operation ; and even the creeper and the 

 caddis may fairly compete with it in power of exe- 

 cution. One might possibly kill more fish in July 

 or August with worm than with fly, for these are 

 the months when the flies are passing off; but 



