160 NOTES ON FISH AND FISHING. 



" You must not every worm promiscuous use, 

 Judgment will tell thee proper baits to choose ; 

 The worm that draws a long, immod'rate size 

 The trout abhors, and the rank morsel flies ; 

 And if too small, the naked fraud's in sight, 

 And fear forbids, while hunger does invite. 

 Those baits will best reward the fisher's pains 

 Whose polish'd tails a shining yellow stains ; 

 Cleanse them from filth, to give a tempting gloss, 

 Cherish the sullied reptile race with moss ; 

 Amid the verdant bed they twine, they toil, 

 And from their bodies wipe their native soil." 



I think Gay must mean the " brandling " by " the rank 

 morsel/'' The best worm for a trout is the "marsh" worm 

 or a well-scoured, succulent "lob." Not the gamey, odori- 

 ferous "brandling," loved of the voracious perch and tench. 

 A trout turns up, or rather away, his nose at the very 

 smell of it. He no more fancies a meal of these offspring 

 of the manure heap than an alderman does a dinner of 

 plain biscuits. At least this is my experience, and I 

 must confess I am somewhat surprised at Mr. Francis 

 and other authorities recommending the " brandling " as 

 a trout worm. A friend of mine recently told me that he 

 once had the opportunity of throwing a fine "brandling" 

 before the nose of a splendid trout of some 3 or 4 lbs., 

 who, with many others of his fellows, were roving just 

 beneath the surface of a lake, seeking what they might 

 devour. The fish at once dashed at the wriggling morsel 

 open-mouthed, but hardly had his teeth closed on it than 

 he ejected the mangled mass fully a foot through the 

 water, and evinced such evident tokens of disgust as fully 

 demonstrated that a " brandling " was not to his taste. 

 Here, then, I must leave the minnow and worm-fishing 



