THE BAIT TABLE. 489 



form), but I never discovered that the sneck bend actually 

 hooked any appreciable percentage of fish more than the 

 ordinary hooks in use. 



The scales of small hooks which I have given were lent 

 to me by Mr. Farlow, and were made by Messrs. Bartleel 

 and Sons, of Redditch, an old and eminent hook-making 

 firm. 



THE BAIT TABLE. 



The Red Worm. This is a very general favourite with 

 fishermen. In the Nottingham district it is called the 

 cockspur. It will kill almost any fresh-water fish, but is 

 used chiefly for roach, gudgeon, dace, tench, and carp. It 

 is found in heaps of dead and decaying leaves, or vegetable 

 matter, in rotten dung or dead wood. The best way to 

 procure and keep a stock of them is to put a little manure, 

 some leaf mould, a few cabbage stumps or mowed grass, 

 with a bit of rotten matting or old carpet over, and water 

 it well now and then. This will breed and keep them. 

 To scour them, put them in a pan with a bit of refuse 

 damp netting or old cheese-cloth. 



The Brandling or Gilt-tail is a beautiful little worm 

 to look at, being clad in alternate rings of yellow and red. 

 It is a more lively worm than the last, and is used for 

 most of the fish named above, in common with the red 

 worm. It also comes in for fine worm-fishing in the 

 Scotch and Border streams, for which the red worm would 

 be a size or two too small. It is found in old dung heaps, 

 or rotten tan chiefly, but a good many may be found in 

 rank vegetable matter in a state of moist decay. It is a 

 nasty worm to handle, exuding a filthy yellow secretion of 

 a most disagreeable smell. A little moss, in addition to 

 the means recommended for the red worm, will be useful 

 in scouring it. 



