282 SALMON-FISHING 



quite free from the hook to the gut above. Select a 

 second worm, and insert, as formerly, the barbed wire 

 below the head; run it along underneath, until the 

 shank, bend, and point are completely concealed. Then, 

 with your finger and thumb, press down the first bait 

 close against the shank, so as to hang over in small 

 loops or folds. 



In the event of a third worm being thought necessary, 

 string on the one preceding it in the manner I have 

 already described, and use the worm in question to 

 cover the hook. 



I find on referring to Younger of St. Boswells well- 

 known treatise on river-angling, as practised on Tweed- 

 side, that the tackle recommended by him, and 

 consequently the mode of affixing the bait, differ very 

 materially from what I have described to be in use 

 in the neighbourhood of Kelso. I shall quote what he 

 says on the subject at full length ; at the same time 

 I have, on my side, the authority of the most able 

 worm-fishers, and among others, Bob Kerss of Trows, 

 Forrest of Kelso, &c., &c., for asserting that his prac- 

 tice is in many respects faulty. 



" Anglers," says he, " differ in their choice regarding 

 size of the two hooks proper to be used for this sort of 

 bait; but those most generally preferred on the Tweed are 

 large sizes Nos. 18, 19, or 20 of Adlington's, the others 

 15 or 16. As they require to be shorter in the shank 

 for this purpose than for the fly, it is requisite to break 

 a piece from the shank of each, when the longer one is 

 tied to the end of the gut, the other as much further 

 up on the gut as to allow its point to be turned round 

 to the shank of the first hook, and a little of the shank 

 of each to be left untied, for the purpose of catching 

 into the worms and preventing them from slipping 



