THE GRAYLING, AND BAIT-FISHING FOR. 405 



method of using the worm, somewhat after the ' Nottingham 

 style.' As I have had no personal experience in this branch of 

 grayling fishing, I have taken the liberty of quoting from an 

 able article on the subject, which recently appeared in the 

 ' Fishing Gazette,' by Mr. Francis M. Walbran. 



The author of a ' Book on Angling,' observes this gentleman, 

 makes the remark that 'As the grayling is such a sporting fish, 

 and so free to lise to all comers, it is a disgrace and a shame to 

 treat him like a poacher, with worms and such abominations. 

 Now, this may be all very well when you are dealing with the 

 denizens of Hampshire or Derbyshire streams, where fly-fishing 

 may be carried on almost into winter with reasonable expectation 

 of success ; but anybody who pays a visit to any of our Yorkshire 

 rivers after about the middle of October will find that, if he intends 

 to kill anything like a respectable dish of grayling, he will be 

 obliged to have recourse to some other method of luring them than 

 the artificial fly. 



My object in writing is to explain to those of my readers who 

 may be unacquainted with it, the favourite mode of fishing for the 

 grayling adopted by anglers in this district during the winter 

 months, and which is termed by them ' swimming the worm.' As 

 regards sport, I consider it little inferior to clear-water worm 

 fishing for trout, and I venture to predict that any angler who may 

 try his hand at it and become an adept, will come to the conclusion 

 that it is equally a scientific amusement. 



The weather ought to be bright and frosty, with the water low 

 and clear, to ensure success in this fishing. Melted snow or 

 ' broth,' as it is called, immediately spoils sport, and if the rivers 

 are at all flooded through rain, you are unable to get to the places 

 where grayling usually frequent, and, in addition to that, they never 

 feed really well in either a rising or falling state of the water. 



The rod should be about eleven feet in length, light, and in- 

 clined rather to stiffness, but not too much so. An ebonite check 

 reel, with a fine braided waterproofed line, completes that portion 

 of your equipment, so we will now pass on to the tackle, then to 

 the consideration of bait, and finish up with a description of the 

 modus operandi. 



Prepare a cast three yards in length, tapering down to the 

 finest drawn gut procurable, and on this wrap with red silk a No. 4 

 fine wire round-bend hook, with a piece of stiff bristle projecting 



