. BAITING OF THE TACKLE. 



into it the point of the wire. He must then continue 

 to run it along, over bend and shank, until the entire 

 hook and nearly half-an-inch of the gut surmounting it 

 be completely covered, taking great care not to break 

 or further injure the body of the bait, and nowhere to 

 expose the instrument of capture underneath. This 

 latter advice is particularly to be attended to as respects 

 the barb or point ; the smallest protrusion of which is 

 sufficient to alarm and warn off fish, and these always 

 the primest and best-conditioned. 



I have not hitherto said a great deal as to the size of 

 the worm. It is difficult to procure any large number 

 exactly of equal length and thickness, nor is any such 

 correspondence as to their proportions at all necessary. 

 The button-worm, which, as it is generally found, mea- 

 sures about six or seven inches, and is as thick nearly 

 in the upper part as a small quill, may be taken as the 

 standard in point of size. Smaller worms are often as 

 deadly, perhaps in some waters more so ; but on Tweed 

 and Teviot, I for my own part prefer a large bait. It is 

 less apt to be assailed by parr and insignificant trout, 

 and without question, attracts more readily the eye of 

 big watchful fish of the roving swallow-smolt, and 

 sometimes of the salmon itself. 



Reverting to the matter in question, namely, the 

 baiting of the tackle, it often happens, the worms being 

 unequal, that the angler finds it difficult to accommo- 

 date some of them to the dimensions of the hook. 

 Should the bait be a little over-sized and lively, and he 

 deem it not worth his while substituting a larger de- 

 scription of hook for the one in use, I would recom- 

 mend him, after running on the worm about half its 

 length, to force through it the barb, and omitting a 

 small portion of the body, re-enter the point of the wire 



