52 TROUT LORE 



truth. Think of fishing with such an unortho- 

 dox bait as a great piece of chubb flesh; but I 

 had that experience some years ago. Oh, I ex- 

 perimented with every fly and orthodox bait for 

 a fishless week before I resorted to the meat bait. 

 Again, I have flshed certain meadow brooklets 

 in midsummer when the only lure that won the 

 big fellows was grasshoppers, and grasshopper- 

 fishing is the nearest approach to fly-fishing of 

 any bait angling with which I am acquainted. 

 So in this chapter I propose to discuss both worm 

 and hopper fishing. 



Not every one who uses worms knows the best 

 way of handling them. I like to have the worms 

 dug a few days before the fishing trip and 

 "scoured" in sand; then they are not quite so 

 repulsive though just as "nervous." A single 

 worm on the hook put on in a natural manner I 

 have found more attractive to the fish than sev- 

 eral great worms in a lump or wad. Some men 

 seem to think that if one worm is attractive, four 

 will be four times as attractive which may be 

 good arithmetic but is mighty poor fish sense. 

 Use as much care in baiting up as you would if 

 fastening on artificial flies; it will pay. Worm- 

 fishing is seldom surface fishing, though even 



