170 Worm- Fishing. 



of the line and an index of its movements. The 

 tackle I use for a small water consists of three 

 No. 2 hooks, tied on a fine hair of gut, in the same 

 manner as in No. 1 minnow-tackle. In very low 

 water some prefer No. 1 hooks with correspond- 

 ingly smaller worms. Enter the upper hook 

 through the worm near the head, the second 

 through the middle, and the third a little above 

 the tail. This must be done with as little injury 

 to the creature as possible, and in such a way that 

 it may hang loosely between the hooks, and be 

 free to assume a position sufficiently natural to 

 render it an object of interest and desire to the 

 trout. Generally speaking, no sinkers are necessary 

 in up-stream fishing ; for the water being " small," 

 the trout have no difficulty in seeing the bait, and 

 seizing it too, if so disposed. Sinkers, in most 

 cases, so far from keeping the bait waiting the 

 leisure of the trout, merely impede the desirable 

 motion which renders it attractive ; and should 

 they get fixed below stones, they may stop progress 

 altogether. Those who consider sinkers indispen- 

 sable in all waters, plead that thereby the worm 

 will most surely reach or approach the bottom ; but 

 in a " small " water the bait is already sufficiently 

 weighted with the hooks to secure that end, and 

 anything additional will lead to delay, if not to 

 disaster. In deep reaches of the river, however, 



