BAITS. 239 



GROUND-BAITING. 



The object of ground-baiting is, of course, to collect the fish, 

 either spread over a large area or roving about in shoals, to the 

 spot at which it is intended to fish for them ; and, having col- 

 lected them, to keep them there as long as possible. 



For this purpose it is not uncommon to bait, as it is termed, 

 a pond or a river ' swim ' the day previous, and even sometimes 

 several days previous, to the actual fishing. The only danger is 

 that the fish should be surfeited with food — or rather the special 

 sort of food which it is proposed to tempt them with — before the 

 intended feeding time arrives. In order partly to counteract 

 this possibility, and partly also to induce them to prefer the bait 

 on the hook to the ground bait, it is very usual to employ a 

 coarser quality either of the same or a different bait for the 

 purpose. For instance, if gentles are used in ground-baiting 

 it is generally the carrion gentles already mentioned that are 

 used — liver gentles, which are larger and probably more gusta- 

 tory, being reserved for the hook. In paste-fishing again, espe- 

 cially in ponds, it is also a very good plan to throw in from time 

 to time a few small pellets of paste round the float. The 

 ground-bait actually used generally consists of bran and soaked 

 bread mixed up together. In river-fishing, of course, this 

 ground-bait would not answer as the stream would carry it away 

 at once and with it probably even those fish which might other- 

 wise have come to the fisherman's hook. When this ground- 

 bait, therefore, is used in rivers it is very commonly mixed with 

 a little clay, or else some flour meal or other more adhesive 

 ingredient is added to give it consistency, and the ground-bait 

 having been worked up into a ball a stone is pushed into the 

 middle of it to carry it quickly to the bottom. 



Lob-worms also make a good, perhaps the best, ground-bait 

 for bream and barbel. The best way to use them is to enclose 

 a handful or two in a large clay ball, taking care that a good 

 iuany heads and tails stick out — pour encourager Us autres. 

 Ill baiting a Thames ' swim ' for barbel as much as two or three 



