THE BAIT TABLE. 405 



large black slug. If the belly be slit open so as to show 

 the white, it will be almost infallible. 



Small Frogs are an excellent bait for both trout and 

 chub. In baiting with them, be careful only to take up 

 a little of the back skin on the hook, so as not to impede 

 their motions, and they will be found the more attractive. 



Large Frogs are a capital bait for pike when fish cannot 

 be procured. In baiting, Izaak Walton's directions are 

 good to an extent, viz. put the hook in at the mouth and 

 out at the gills, and then tie one of the hind legs above 

 the upper joint to the wire of the hook. I think, however, 

 a better plan is not to interfere with the gills at all, but 

 pass the hook through the under lip and so through to 

 the leg. 



Rats, Mice, and Small Birds are also good bait for 

 pike. The two first make a good bait stuffed with suffi- 

 cient lead within to make them swim properly, and one 

 good hook sticking out of the after part of the belly. 

 Failing in procuring the skins, a tolerable imitation of 

 water-rat can be made from a bit of the skin of a cow's 

 tail. But these baits need never be resorted to when live 

 or dead fish can be obtained. The best 



Fish Baits are : for pike, the roach, dace, bleak, and 

 gudgeon ; for trout, a small dace, bleak, gudgeon, loach, 

 minnow, and even bull head. Fish baits should be kept 

 in a corfe with plenty of gratings in it. A corfe is simply 

 a large box made of stout elm or oak timber, and shaped 

 rather like the bow of a boat. This bow has a chain and 

 anchor to it, so as to secure it in its place. There are 

 usually gratings at the bows and on the under part as well 

 as at the back and on the top. The latter two admit 

 plenty of air. The corfe should be kept in a running 

 stream, and in sunny weather it should be put in a cool 

 shady place. It should now and then be cleaned, and the 

 gratings freed from obstructions, and the fish should be 



