142 ON ANGLING WITH THE WORM. 



the hook, thus exposing the shank. You must also 

 allow the point of your rod to go nearer the water 

 than in casting a fly, as it is necessary to extend the 

 rod to the full length, in order to get the bait as 

 far out as possible. In doing this, you must not 

 lower the point of your rod till you have given the 

 worm all the forward impetus you intend ; then 

 lower it slowly almost to a level with the water, 

 and the worm will go to the full stretch of both rod 

 and line. Whenever the worm lights, raise your 

 rod gradually, so as to keep as little of your line in 

 the water as possible ; but you must take care not 

 to raise it so quickly as in any way to interfere 

 with the motion of the worm. It is of great im- 

 portance that there should be very little line in the 

 water, not so much because it is calculated to alarm 

 the trout, as because the action of the stream upon 

 the line will in some cases bring the worm down 

 much faster than it would otherwise come, and in 

 others bring it nearer the surface. If you throw 

 your worm into an eddy or any quiet piece of water 

 at the side of a stream, and any part of the line 

 alights in the current, the worm will be swept 

 out almost instantaneously. When you throw your 

 worm and line into an open stream, the worm, pre- 

 senting considerable surface to its action, is carried 

 down almost at the same rate as the stream ; but 

 the line, not presenting so much surface to the action 

 of the water, lags behind. If this takes place to 

 any extent, and there is much line further up the 



