126 ON FISHING WITH THE WORM FOR TROUT. 



carried down, either among your feet or to a short dis- 

 tance on one side of where you stand. Still he pursues 

 it, but is all at once made aware of your presence, 

 becomes alarmed and bids you, for that forenoon at 

 least, farewell; whereas had you lifted your worm in 

 sufficient time, you would have left him above you on 

 the outlook, and readier than ever to seize it when 

 again pitched in beyond him. 



I shall append a single instruction as to the striking 

 of fish. Upon this matter the question naturally sug- 

 gests itself when ought a trout to be struck ? Whe- 

 ther directly on its first attack or after repeated assaults, 

 at a crisis when it is presumed to have pouched or swal- 

 lowed the worm? As in everything else, so in this 

 matter, there exists a medium, and to hit that happy 

 and just degree is all that is desirable. Now, for my 

 own part, I am opposed, out and out, to the dilatory 

 system of giving the fish its own time, neither am I an 

 advocate for immediate striking. In the one case you 

 afford opportunity for the trout to detect the nature of 

 your lure, which, in three cases out of four, it assuredly 

 will do ; then, moreover, should you secure it after all, 

 you are put to the disagreeable and time-wasting task 

 of extricating the hook from its stomach, instead of 

 simply disengaging it from the lip, jaw, or tongue. In 

 the other case you act in ignorance of the habits of the 

 fish, whose primary attack is upon the life of the worm 

 an attempt merely to deaden its movements and 

 render it capable of being engrossed more at leisure 

 and without detriment. Accordingly, as is well 

 known, trout always assail the head or most vital 

 part, and it is not until this has been rendered inert, 

 which it generally is after one or two vigorous bites, 

 that it attempts to engross the entire bait within its 



