HOW TO STRIKE IN WORM-FISHING. 189 



STRIKING. 



Trout seem to treat a worm differently in rapids 

 and still waters. In the former, they usually seize and 

 swallow it at once, as if aware that if not immediately 

 secured, it would be swiftly carried down by the current 

 and lost ; while in the latter, they generally lay hold of 

 it first by one of the extremities, give it a smart 

 shake, relinquish it for a second or two, then seize it 

 again and gorge it ; and if in a shy mood, they will 

 mouth it half a dozen times or more, before they do so ; 

 or, perhaps, finally leave it altogether. That this is 

 their general habit, even when hungry and greedily on 

 the feed, I have proved on several occasions, by dropping 

 worms over a bridge into a deep still pool below, swarm- 

 ing with ill-fed hungry trout ; and in every instance, 

 without an exception, they rushed at it the moment it 

 reached the surface of the water, and seizing it by one 

 of the extremities, shook it violently, then quitted it for 

 an instant as if to see that all was right, when they 

 again seized and swallowed it. 



In fishing, therefore, in a rapid, the fish will most 

 likely gorge the bait the moment he lays hold of it ; 

 and the first indication of his presence will be the 

 stoppage of the line, when the hook must be instantly 

 fixed, by a smart but gentle twitch. The stroke had 

 better not be a too hasty one, as the cause of the stoppage 

 of the line will not always turn out to be a fish, as 

 many have found to their disappointment. It may 



