92 THE SCIENTIFIC A^GLEB. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

 WORM FISHING FOR TROUT. 



ANTIQUITY OF WORM FISHING ; BUSH FISHING ; TACKLE REQUI- 

 SITE ; "TRAWLING" FOR TROUT; SCIENTIFIC WORM FISHING. 



The term Worm fishing, to many minds, conveys rather 

 an obnoxious impression, anglers being as a class rather 

 apt to ignore what lias for ages been considered the most 

 primitive bait for the simplest and most ancient method 

 of fishing. As a lure for trout, until a recent period, 

 the worm was but little used. We shall endeavour to 

 show that this lure may be artistically and scientifically 

 worked in clear and rapid trout streams, wherever situate. 



Worm fishing in discolored water, it is well known, 

 is practicable under circumstances when other experi- 

 ments usually fail. Here the simplicity of the system 

 pursued is exemplary of the art as practised by our fore- 

 fathers ; a cork float, leaded line, large hook, and stout 

 gut, constituted the customary rig-out. In swollen 

 streams fish congregate at the circulating side eddies, 

 whether in or out of the usual water-course. Here the 

 fisherman inserts the bait, and as an undue advantage is 

 extended to the rodster by the thickened state of the 

 water, the largest and best fish by no means unfrequently 

 meet with an untimely end. To this unsportsmanlike 

 method we venture to assert that no true fisherman will 

 devote himself. Let there be clear water, clear weather, 

 and clear scope for observation, and man may with a 

 clear conscience pit his superior intelligence against the 

 animal instincts of the brute creation. 



