238 AVOID WET TINGERS. 



below, where generally the largest and boldest fish 

 are to be found." This worm deteriorates by being 

 kept in moss or in any other substance. 



There are many other sorts of worms recom- 

 mended by angling authorities, but I recommend 

 none of them, except as a pis-aller. Some anglers 

 use white slugs, and the black ones so cut as to 

 show their white insides, and say they are good 

 baits for barbel, chub, and eels. Never use them 

 when you can get worms. 



Having now described the best worms for 

 angling, I must tell how they are best put upon 

 the hook. Make the points of your fore-fingers 

 and thumb rough by dipping them in sand, bran, 

 or rubbing between them some dry earth, and you 

 will obtain a light and firm hold of the worm, 

 which will prevent it from slipping through your 

 fingers as you bait your hook with it. "With 

 wet or moist slippery fingers you can never put 

 on your hook properly, and in attempting so to do 

 it you lose much time and injure the bait. 



In baiting with a single worm, insert the point 

 of your hook just beneath the flat part of the 

 head, and work the worm lightly up the shank of 

 the hook and beyond it up your line, until not 

 more than a quarter of an inch of the tail, or at 

 most half an inch, when the worm and hook are 

 large, projects or hangs beyond the point of the 

 hook. When you use well-scoured and tough 



