TROUT FISHING WITH BAIT. 83 



This style of fishing is much practised in small brooks, 

 and you may often pull out lots of little speckled fellows 

 from brooks not a yard wide in places ; the small pools 

 caused by falls and rapids being certain finds, and it 

 requires a good deal of skill to guide the line under 

 banks, and past stones, and close by every sheltering 

 tussock, bush, or fern, where a trout may make his home ; 

 and to my mind it is a very pretty amusement, which does 

 not require much preparation or tackle and a scramble up 

 a mountain beck after a day's rain is frequently a most 

 delightful expedition. The most deadly way perhaps of 

 worm fishing is that pursued with the Stewart tackle so 

 called because it was first written about by my late 

 lamented friend the author of " The Practical Angler," 

 who was in his day one of the best all-round trout fishers 

 in Scotland. Instead of one hook of a larger size, you use 

 three small ones, tied on at short intervals above one 

 another. I append V sketch of the tackle, Fig. 4, Plate 3 ; 

 the sketch will relieve me of any necessity for explaining 

 the method of baiting, the head of the worm is stuck on 

 the top hook, and a turn being taken round each hook, 

 the tail comes on to the lowest ; the size of the worm 

 must be suited to the hooks. In fine work, a good sized 

 brandling suffices. The advantage of this tackle is that 

 you can strike the instant the fish seizes the bait, and you 

 rarely miss your fish. 



In fishing up stream with worm, which is by far the 

 most skilful and killing method, you more often than not 

 are obliged to wade. The tackle used in clear water is of 

 the finest ; a long light rod, a very little stiff er than a 

 two-handed fly rod for trout, is useful. The hooks may 

 either be Stewart's tackle, or a moderate sized single round 

 bend. The brandling is the worm more generally used. 



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