ANGLING WITH WORM FOR SALMON. 133 



ANGLING WITH WORM FOR SALMON. 



Angling with worm for salmon is practicable only 

 when the river is very low and clear, and in all dry 

 and frosty weather. 



In January 1814, when the Tweed was frozen 

 on both sides, leaving only about a fourth of its 

 entire breadth still open in the middle, John Hali- 

 burton fished with the worm, walking on the ice (a 

 lad attending him with a long gaff), when he made 

 great slaughter, until the ice closed over. His great- 

 est difficulty was to keep the freezing line running. 

 Worm angling, however, can only be practised most 

 successfully in the very lowest state of the river, after 

 the fish have set up, as the fishers term it, and will 

 not take a fly. In the summer season, the best fishing 

 hours are very early in the morning, from daylight 

 till the sun has become too bright, or in a day grey 

 throughout. 



The worm used in this angling is called the large 

 dew worm, from its being found in the spring and 

 summer nights among the dewy grass. They may 

 be seen in a morning lying linked in couples all 



