SPINNING AND BAIT FISHING. 391 



The ' Leap ' on the Bush — a high fall into a rocky chasm, 

 which ends both my angling experience and local topographi- 

 cal knowledge — is considered the best place on the river for 

 the worm, doubtless because the fish work their way up to 

 this point with the rising water, and there find themselves 

 barred in the * pool,' where if you fish sufficiently long and per- 

 sistently you are pretty sure to be able sooner or later to show 

 them the worm, or, perhaps, more correctly speaking, to bring 

 it into juxtaposition with their noses. 



The method of using the worm on the Bush, which is also 

 that most commonly practised everywhere, is of a very primitive 

 nature. A single large hook, say grilse size, is whipped on 

 to two or three yards of salmon gut, and passed through the 

 middle inch or so of three or four lob, and some smaller 

 worms (according to the ' size ' of the water and size of worms), 

 which are run up the line one by one as they are threaded on, 

 the last small worm being adjusted to cover the point of 

 the hook. The worms are now slipped down the gut again, the 

 lowest ones over the hook shank. A large shot, or small bullet, 

 according to circumstances, is then attached to the line about 

 if feet above the hook. The shot or weight should be sufficient 

 to carry the line well to the bottom, but yet should not be so 

 heavy as to prevent the stream ' dribbling ' the bait along with it 

 over the stones and gravel. The method of working this sort 

 of worm bait is exceedingly simple. The fisherman, having 

 chosen a pool where he is certain that there will be a good 

 collection of salmon, goes on fishing it steadily out, throwing 

 the bait up stream and letting it be brought down to him and 

 carried past him by the current. The length of line to be 

 used must, of course, depend entirely upon the size of the 

 pool. 



The first symptom of a bite is the bait ceasing to travel, 

 followed commonly by a very gentle sort of twitching. Some- 

 times, however, as I have pointed out in the * Modern Prac- 

 tical Angler,' although, in my experience, not very often, ' the 

 salmon takes the bait in a more reckless fashion, resembling 



