392 SALMON AND TROUT. 



rather the run of a trout. Having taken it, he will frequently 

 remain nearly or quite motionless for some little time, and 

 then move quietly away.' This is the moment to strike, with 

 a quick, tightening pull, and as the bait is almost always actu- 

 ally swallowed or pouched, there is little fear of the fish being 

 missed. Should he move away at once after biting, line must 

 be given him and time allowed to pouch the bait. 



To provide against sudden moves or rushes on the part of 

 the fish, and unintentional checks on that of the fisherman, it 

 is a wise precaution always to keep a yard or two of spare line 

 loose ' in hand.' A jack rod and a spinning line, or a salmon 

 rod with a short stiff top, will answer every purpose for this 

 sort of worm tackle. It is, however, at best a clumsy and 

 rather uninviting mode of fishing, both from the number of 

 worms with which it is necessary to bait, and also from the 

 fact of the hook being in most cases ' gorged ' before the fish is 

 struck. This deprives the whole business, in my opinion, of 

 much of its interest as a sport, as when a fish cannot by 

 any reasonable probability escape, the skill and excitement of 

 landing him are reduced to a minimum. 



There is, however, another method of worm fishing with 

 which I have had splendid sport, both with salmon and bull trout, 

 when fly fishing was, from one or other of the reasons already 

 stated, utterly hopeless. And I may here remark, parentheti- 

 cally, that such are the conditions to which I should be dis- 

 posed myself to limit the use of the worm as a bait for these 

 fish, or, at any rate, for the former. 



This method, which, until I adopted it, and published the 

 successful results of my fishing with it, was unpractised, so far 

 as I am aware, and at any rate * unpreached ' by masters of 

 the craft, is, in my judgment, as superior to the system above 

 described, both in its practice and results, as spinning is in 

 advance of gorge baiting. The principle of this mode of 

 fishing is, in fact, almost identical with that employed in 

 ordinary brown-trout fishing with my two-hook worm tackle, 

 the difference being the size of the hooks and the substitution 



