SINKERS. 141 



Whatever kind of hooks the angler is using, he 

 should pay great attention to the state of his 

 worm, and if it has become maimed or water- 

 logged, change it, as a lively worm is more entic- 

 ing than a dead one. 



Split shot to regulate the rate of the worm 

 down stream are usually considered indispensable 

 by the angler; but, except on rare occasions, im- 

 peding the motion of the worm is objectionable, 

 and for the following reasons : A worm thrown 

 into a stream would be carried down by the 

 current and turned round in every eddy; and as 

 this is the way in which trout are accustomed to 

 see worms coming down stream, every deviation 

 from it is calculated to excite their suspicion. 

 When there are two or three split shot on the line, 

 the worm travels at a slower rate than the stream, 

 and yields but little to any eddy. The shot 

 control and retard its movements, so that, looking 

 upon the shot as almost stationary, the line 

 between them and the worm, and of course the 

 worm itself at the end of it, are dangling about in 

 the stream ; in fact, to a certain extent, resisting 

 the current, instead of being carried down by it. 

 Again, if the worm is thrown into an eddy, the 

 shot go to the bottom and lie there; but the 

 worm, being much lighter, rises with the current 

 as far as the length of line between it and the shot, 

 and there remains almost stationary. Now, in 



