THE BARBEL. 69 



the bank, he should never be less than fifteen yards from the 

 hole he intends to fish; and having carefully anchored the boat 

 lengthways down the stream, or taken his starid on the bank, 

 before he puts his tackle together, he should take his cocoa- 

 nut shell and put two or three dozen worms in it. With a pair 

 of old scissors he cuts them up in pieces and throws them down 

 his swim. This will make the fish feel as it were, at home, 

 and they will not be so easily frightened ; because when a 

 swim is properly baited, and you have a nice bait on fine 

 tackle, you very often hook a fish the first swim, and if you 

 have not thrown a few worms in before you begin, the fish 

 are apt to be frightened at seeing one of their companions in 

 trouble, and fly from the swim. You will then, perhaps, be 

 at considerable trouble to entice them back again, and all 

 for the want of just throwing a few cut-up worms in. Per- 

 sonal experience, and the experience of old angling friends, 

 prove this to be correct. Another thing these old friends 

 have told me, besides my own experience in the matter, and 

 that is — if when you begin to fish barbel, and you take a 

 dace or two the first few swims, you may make up your mind 

 that there are not many barbel in the swim, for they do not 

 seem to agree very well together ; on the other hand, if you 

 take a barbel or two the first few swims, you may congratulate 

 yourself, and know that the barbel have got it to themselves. 

 And now the angler must bait his hooks. Two of the maiden 

 worms will, in my idea, be the best ; roll the worms in 

 the bag of sawdust before mentioned, and put the hook in 

 the first worm about three quarters of an inch from the head 

 end, and work the worm up to the lip-hook; leave about 

 half an inch of the tail end hanging below the bottom hook, 

 and then stick the lip-hook right through the head end of 

 the worm, and bring the points of both hooks out of the 

 worm. Take another worm smaller than the first, and just 

 hang the head end on the lip-hook and the tail end on the 



