THE BARBEL. 79 



a well-scoured lob-worm is the best bait for a barbel, it holds 

 equally as good now. The next business, therefore, is to 

 procure a well-scoured lob-worm. The maiden lobs are the 

 very best for the hook ; and may be known very easily, 

 they are the smallest of the dew worms that you pick up 

 from the grass, and have no rings or knobs on them. Their 

 colour is a bright pink, and they are usually about two or 

 three inches long. These sorts should be picked out from 

 the others and kept separate, among some fresh moss that 

 is slightly damped. To make them a clear red colour, you 

 should have a piece of very soft red brick, and when you 

 have placed your worms on the top of the moss (a small bar- 

 rel or a large earthernware vessel is the best to scour, them 

 in), you should take a nutmeg grater and grate the piece of 

 brick, so that the dust goes among the worms. Examine 

 them every day, and pick out all bruised and diseased ones, 

 and repeat the operation with the brick and nutmeg grater. 

 This operation will make the worms a splendid red colour, 

 very tough, and a perfect bonne bouche for the barbel. They 

 will be ready for use in about a week, and if you are careful 

 with them and adopt this plan, you will have a well- 

 scoured attractive lob-worm. It is an advantage to have a 

 reserve stock of worms for use when the weather prevents 

 you from gathering them ; for this plan procure a very 

 strong and sound packing-box, and partly fill it with clay, 

 and get a lot of worms, when the weather is favourable, 

 and turn them into it, and then put on the top of the clay 

 some damped moss ; when you want to use these worms, 

 take as many out as you require, and scour them as directed. 

 I have known anglers, by this plan, to always have a 

 plentiful supply of worms, sometimes as many as twenty 

 thousand at once. The worms that you use for ground 

 bait should be well-scoured, for, as Walton says, "he is a 

 curious feeder," that is, he likes to have his food clean. As 

 an illustration I might just mention a little incident that 

 came under my own observation. Two anglers were fishing 

 the barbel swim at the Corporation fishery, Winthorp ; 

 they had both scoured their hook baits separately, only 

 with this slight difference, one had had his worms scouring 



