108 FISHING IN EDEN 



was taken. The dodge has often accounted for 

 similar odd rising fish in shady places, but never 

 if the slightest attempt to lift the line was made. 

 So the point is to avoid drag at all costs. 



In regard to the tackle itself I have always found, 

 excepting in the becks, three hooks the best. If 

 they are whipped on to fine 3X gut a lively, 

 toughened worm, when pricked, frequently curls 

 itself up into a knot, and has to be removed. The 

 tackle is, therefore, better when it is dressed on a 

 stiff piece of gut with the top hook eyed. This 

 prevents the knotting up of the worm. (See 

 illustration^} 



When a tackle of this kind is worn out and coming 

 undone, or is lost when fishing, it is an easy matter 

 to tie on another to the end of the cast, as the gut 

 is already damped with use in the water. 



Another very important point to remember is not 

 to bait the three hooks in such a way as to allow 

 of the worm showing a series of unnatural-looking 

 loops. Stewart's illustration shows this fault. It 

 has been found from careful experiment that trout 

 take a fairly straight worm best. When a worm is 

 dropped into a glass tank containing trout they take 

 it when it straightens out. Put on the worm from 

 the head downwards, leaving very little " spare " 

 at both head and tail. 



