EVIL OF TOO MUCH PRECIPITATION. 191 



ceived the first attack on the bait, before time was given 

 to gorge it ; and who, on abandoning that plan for the 

 one recommended above, were liberally rewarded with 

 heavy baskets. 



Nevertheless, I have heard some sportsmen contend, 

 that in worm-fishing the line ought always to be fept 

 strict, and the fish struck the moment the bait was 

 mouthed. But I think the fallacy of such a practice 

 will be readily apparent, when we consider that long 

 before the presence of a fish can be telegraphed through 

 sixteen or eighteen feet of loose line, and answered again 

 by a stroke of the rod, it has voted its supplies yea or nay. 



In either case, what will be the use of striking with 

 such precipitation ? In the latter, the fish will have 

 indignantly ejected the bait from his jaws, long before 

 the stroke of the rod can reach him, and the angler will 

 only drag to land the mangled remains of a worm instead 

 of a trout ; while, if he has happened to gorge it on the 

 first assault, which will happen but rarely indeed, there 

 can be no necessity for hurry in the matter, as the hook 

 will be quietly awaiting an intimation from its owner 

 to plunge its barb into its throat, and be past the power 

 of ejection. And the most likely thing to result from 

 such a hasty practice will be, that the impetuous 

 sportsman will, in nine cases out of ten, jerk the worm 

 away from the fish's nose, just as he was about to re- 

 turn and appropriate it for better or for worse ; and 

 nothing but disappointment will accrue to both of 

 the parties concerned, from the too hasty action of the 

 principal actor in the drama : the fish will be un- 



