55 



with some coarse wet sacking lying on the moss. Put the 

 worms on the sacking and they will find their way through, 

 into the moss, scouring themselves as they do so, and they 

 will be tough in two days. An inch and a half to two 

 inches is the best length for worms for this kind of fishing. 



An ordinary stirfish fly rod about 1 2 feet long will do very 

 well, and your gut trace should be about 1 1 feet long, so as 

 to minimise the chances of flicking off your worm. In spring, 

 when you fish the little rapid streams, a single shot, 6 inches 

 from the hook, should be used, but in summer when you get 

 on to the thins and shallows you require no lead ; the bait 

 will sink quite sufficiently of itself, and the river will trundle it 

 along naturally into just the places where the fish are lying. 

 In bright summer weather the very shallowest places are not 

 to be ignored, as trout often lie concealed behind a little 

 stone in spots where it would almost appear there is not 

 sufficient water to cover them. Throw a line about one and 

 a half times the length of your rod, and cast either straight 

 up stream or in a slightly oblique direction. Fish two hooks 

 in preference to either one or three ; let the upper one be 

 a No. 2 and the lower a number 3, and bait your worm as 

 shown in plate 12. Let the stream bring your worm along, 

 and if it stops in its progress, wait a couple of seconds and 

 then strike, remembering that in many cases in which a 

 trout takes a natural bait he commonly follows it down 

 stream a short distance before he takes it. If, as often hap- 

 pens in worm-fishing, you see a fish lying a short distance 

 above you, do not cast your worm above, that is, beyond him. 

 In most cases you will only startle him by so doing. Drop 

 your worm about eighteen inches behind him ; in nine cases 

 out of ten he will turn down stream and seize it instantly, 

 being much too intent on his prey to perceive the angler. 



An up-stream breeze is always best for worm-fishing, and 

 the weather cannot be too bright and sunny. If you have got 



