134 THE PRACTICAL ANGLER 



plentiful of all descriptions of worms, and may be 

 found in any garden among heaps of decayed rubbish 

 and below stones. 



THE RED-HEADED WORM. This worm is only 

 to be found plentifully in the very richest soil, about 

 the edges of dunghills and similar places. It is of a 

 dark-red colour on the head and all down the back, 

 and of a pale-blue colour underneath. As a bait 

 for trout it does not deserve much attention. It is 

 so thick in proportion to its length that if it is 

 sufficiently long to cover the hook, it makes too 

 large a bait, and after it has been a very short time 

 in the water it loses its colour, becoming quite dark, 

 and consequently not so attractive. 



With regard to the size of worm for fishing where 

 the trout are well fed 'and wary when the waters 

 are clear, worms can hardly be used too small if they 

 cover the hook. A worm from two to three inches 

 long, and about the thickness of a hen's quill, is the 

 largest size that should be used. A small bright 

 clean worm is always most enticing to well-fed trout; 

 and it is quite common to meet anglers using worms 

 so large as effectually to prevent their having the 

 least sport. It is a great error to suppose that a 

 large worm insures a large trout ; quite the reverse. 

 A large worm will seldom capture anything but some 

 audacious little fellow of a parr, or equally insigni- 

 ficant trout. 



Trout do not seem to evince any decided prefer- 

 ence for one kind of worm before another, so that 

 the angler may use whichever kind he likes best or 



