160 CAUTIONS NECESSARY IN DIBBING. 



the head and out at the neck of the first, and quite 

 through the other from head to tail. Two brand- 

 lings, or small red worms, may be fished with in 

 the same way. Walton, in recommending the 

 above bait, adds, touching the packing of fish for 

 presents, " Before you send trout on a journey, 

 always have them cleaned and gutted, and let 

 them be laid on their backs, and closely packed in 

 a willow basket with dry straw. Packing in 

 damp grass or rushes is apt to ferment, and there- 

 fore liable to spoil the fish." 



Many are the precautions recommended to be 

 adopted in dibbing. The chief are to keep be- 

 yond the sight of fish, and when you have hooked 

 one to get it out of the water expeditiously with 

 as little disturbance as possible. As dipping is 

 not always to be practised behind the friendly 

 shade of bushes or trees, the angler is often forced 

 to content himself with the resources of the bank 

 he stands on, to which he should creep on his 

 hands and knees. In some cases, it is true, he 

 may procure the shelter of a hurdle interwoven 

 with boughs, or he may adopt some similar arti- 

 fice ; but many cases must occur, where he can 

 trust to concealment only by prostration, or 

 stooping low. In such situations Mr. Salter 

 directs, that, " as much line be drawn out as . 

 will just let the baited hook reach the surface of 

 the water ; then, with the top of the rod a little 



