38 



ber, beating local flies and old-established favourites, almost beyond 

 belief. Slightly varied in size and shade, the angler will find his 

 account in keeping a stock of them. Buns of every shade and hue, 

 also, the angler should keep in his book ; the March brown he 

 should never be without, varied also in size and shade ; and the 

 alder and red spinner, likewise. The last three flies will kill nearly 

 all the season through. Cow-dung flies, also varied slightly, are 

 admirable on windy days ; and spite of its bad character, the black 

 gnat, dressed with spare body, and not too light a wing, is very 

 useful; the cock-y-bondu, a moth or two, with a few double- 

 hooked Palmers', will complete all, in fact, that the angler need 

 require; and if he cannot kill with one or the other of these, chosen 

 to suit the day, at one time of the day or another, he must be a 

 muff, beyond all redemption, or there are no fish in the water. 



ON BAITS. 



Gentles should be kept in clean bran, and in a cool airy place, 

 or they soon heat and turn off ; they should be kept where neither 

 rats, mice, ducks, or birds of any kind, can get at them. A spar- 

 row will empty your bait box with the utmost satisfaction, while you 

 are asleep in a punt. Buried in an earthen pot, they will keep far 

 into the winter. Worms should be kept for three days at least 

 before using, in fresh moist moss, changed every day, and the dead 

 or sickly ones taken out, or they infect the others. Wasp-grubs 

 should be partially baked before using, to render them hard enough 

 to remain on the hook. Cad baits and larva should not be kept 

 entirely in water, but where they can have water if they like, or 

 dry quarters if they prefer it. In baiting with wasp, hornet, or hum- 

 ble bee, don't let him sting you, or you will be rightly served for 

 your cruelty, as they are not absolutely indispensable baits. 

 Minnows, dace, and gudgeon, should have as extensive quarters as 

 can be provided for them, and be kept in a running stream, in a 

 large corfe, with plenty of gratings in it, under some shady tree ; 

 and as fish cannot well live without eating, don't be suprised, if you 

 dont feed them, at their dying off in the course of a month or six 

 weeks. A little chopped liver, a handful or so of gentles, or small 

 worms, from day to day, will go far to obviate this, and will save the 

 lives of many. Always remove the dead ones as soon as possible, 

 and scour out your corfe, and clear the gratings of slime and filth, at 

 least, once a week. A portion of the upper part of the corfe and 

 one of the gratings, at least, should be above the surface of the 

 water. 



Never use rotten or stinking bait, as fish are not aldermen, and 

 none but eels like high game. If you cannot keep your fish baits 

 for a long distance, for either spinning or trolling, pickle them, 

 they answer the purpose quite as well. Never use a live bait, when 

 a dead one will do, for as the angler's pursuits are sometimes 

 charged with cruelty, avoid all that is unnecessary. 



