120 Worm-knot a good Bait for Trout. 



a stranger, and though the latter may not have been so 

 successful in storing his pannier as he anticipated, yet he 

 returns home gratified with the pleasant variety which 

 his walk has afforded him. He is in constant exercise ; 

 sometimes, indeed, travelling miles in the pursuit of his 

 art, whereas the old-fashioned ground-angler remains in 

 a state of inactivity, beside some favourite pool. Worm- 

 fishing, as now generally practised, in clear water, is 

 certainly an improvement. The diversion, however, of 

 Worm-fishing, without considering the dirtiness of the 

 practice, is so inferior to that which Fly-fishing affords 

 that few who have the opportunity of making choice will 

 hesitate in their preference of the latter. " The simple 

 and cleanly act of forming an artificial fly from feathers 

 and fur, &c. is vastly preferable to the unpleasantness 

 attendant upon baiting with the worm. The first will 

 last a whole day, nay, longer, while the other requires 

 adjusting or renewing after every trifling nibble, without 

 adding anything further." It must, at the same time, be 

 granted, that, when an Angler has had a ten miles' walk 

 to his fishing ground, and then finds water and elements 

 against his Fly-fishing, he would be badly off without his 

 bag of worms ; I would therefore recommend that on such 

 excursions he should never omit to take it, as well as a few 

 salted minnows, if fresh ones cannot be obtained, for by 

 thus preparing himself he will have a double chance of 

 sport. 



An excellent bait for trout, when the water is clearing 

 after or during a flood, is procured from the thick red knot 

 of the largest dew- worm or earth-worm. Cut this knot 

 out and fix it on your hook, fish with a running-line, and 

 either lead or no lead on it, if the strength of the water 

 allow it. As many as ten or eleven trout have been taken 

 by one bait, without changing or losing it. It has very 

 much the appearance of a bait formed of salmon roe, and 

 is unquestionably very deadly as a substitute for roe. 



