542 
FOREST AND STREAM 
September, 1918 
Adhesive Plaster in Camp 
O NE of the handiest things to tuck into 
the ditty bag is a roll of adhesive 
plaster. Hardly a day passes in camp 
without the plaster serving in one way or 
another—as a bandage for a cut finger, a 
protection against blistered heels on a long 
tramp, a first aid for a broken axe-handle 
or some equally indispensable implement. 
Recently I met a bit of misfortune in the 
shape of a broken reel seat. The handle 
of my rod received a squeeze that bent the 
sliding ring out of shape. I rummaged in 
my ditty bag and brought out the roll of 
plaster. It was a few minutes’ work to 
bind the reel securely to the butt, criss¬ 
crossing from side to side as shown in the 
drawing, and I was able to continue fish¬ 
ing with but a slight interruption. 
Do not forget the adhesive plaster when 
you go fishing; it is first aid for almost 
every accident that can happen. 
E. B., New York. 
Fishing with Clear-water Worm 
HIS form of fishing is more popular 
in England than in the United States, 
but there may be some fishermen who 
would appreciate knowing how to use this 
bait as I do. It is generally conceded that 
the le$s the worm and the more the fly is 
used, the higher is the ideal and the truer 
is the sport. At all times and seasons a 
real sportsman will drop any other lure 
to put on the fly when the trout begin to 
feed on the natural insect. If, as some¬ 
times is the case, late in the season, they 
will not take the artificial fly, then the 
angler is compelled to use the clear-water 
worm. 
Now, the next thing to know is, where 
to fish. Unquestionably the streams are 
the best places to fish, and many good fish¬ 
ermen with the “C. W. W.” never seem 
to have found out that the pools also can 
be successfully fished, if fished only when 
thev are in demand. My advice is: At the 
beginning of the “worm” season leave the 
pools alone and stick to the streams. But 
when the streams get overfished and the 
trout in these only “touch” the worm, and 
that gingerly, then the pools must be tried. 
Then what about rod and tackle? Well, 
I personally prefer an ordinary fly-rod of 
n ft. or ii ft. 6 in., fished with one hand, 
of course. But all men have not equal 
wrist power, and to those who have it not, 
a two-handed rod of 13^4 ft. or 14 ft. in 
length makes a useful rod. To this add 
an ordinary reel and line. A casting-line 
of tapered gut of 2ft. to 3 ft. will be 
sufficient for all practical purposes. 
The beginner will be wise if he starts 
with somewhat stouter gut at first, but the 
collar for this work should taper down to 
3x drawn gut, and the same with the 
Stewart tackle itself. 
For many years past I have discarded 
ordinary blind hooks, and have used eyed 
worm-hooks. And as useful as any spe¬ 
cial hooks I know, are the eyed worm- 
hooks named the “Rev. — Taylor’s eyed 
worm-hooks.” 
A couple of hitch knots are tied round 
the shank of the hook, and the gut is then 
passed through the eye of the hook. It is 
of great importance that, supposing the 
hook to he held so that the barbed portion 
is turned upward, not downward, the gut 
should be passed through the eye from 
below (that is, behind), upward towards 
the bend. In this way the hooks stand out 
free from the gut, hook better, and hold 
far better than if the gut be passed in the 
opposite way. They are generally three 
in number. .1 here give an illustration of 
two of my own worm tackles. But re¬ 
member this, the size of the hooks must 
be always suited to the size of the worms 
in use at the time. I wish to emphasize 
this statement. For what sense would 
there be in using No. 1 when you had none 
but rather thick and fat worms to fish 
with (as at times happens), or when 
worms, from being kept too long in the 
moss, become starved, and show very at¬ 
tenuated bodies . indeed? What sense 
would there be in using No. 4 then? Once, 
when fishing, I found that the fat flat¬ 
tailed dew-worm was taken more eagerly 
than my own smaller worms. In such a 
case, to use No. 1 hooks is folly. You 
would miss half the trout, if not more. 
Therefore, I had to take to No. 4, a thing 
I very rarely do, but the moment I did 
so I began to kill the trout quite fast. 
One must be practical of all things, in 
such details. It is sometimes good policy 
to use the topmost hook one size larger 
than the rest, especially if the worms in 
use are rather large in the head. And, re¬ 
member this, it is generally good policy 
to have the points of the hook exposed 
and not pushed into the body of the worm, 
for they hook much more cleverly then. 
At times, however (for instance, when the 
stones are covered with a green slime dur¬ 
ing a long drought), it is necessary to hide 
the points of the hooks thus. 
Now for the worm itself. I have had 
a great deal of experience in “C. W. W.” 
fishing, and I have no hesitation whatever 
in affirming that there are two varieties 
which stand at the very top of the list. I 
mean the black-headed (sometimes called 
the blue-headed worm), and next to this the 
moss worm. But neither of these is fit 
for use till properly cleansed, and tough¬ 
ened by being kept in a box or jar of clean, 
well-picked moss, changepl from time to 
time. When they are in condition, the 
bodies are all but free from slime, and are 
firm, and their tails are quite pink, and at¬ 
tractive therefore. These two varieties 
are not only the most 
greedily taken by the 
trout as a rule, but 
are tough and last 
longer than the 
others. In but few 
cases are very large, 1 
fat worms of any 
use, and should be 
thrown aside. The 
smallest worms are 
to be chosen for the 
angler’s most delicate 
and difficult work. 
The size of a quill is 
the largest worm I 
recommend for ordi¬ 
nary use. 
Having baited your 
w o r m-t a c k 1 e, the 
head being impaled 
first, on the topmost hook, then proceed' 
to fish. But before doing so, may I touch 
upon the often discussed question of a 
shot or other sinker—or none. Here, 
again, one must be practical. In shallow 
water, especially in small tributary streams 
of small volume, no sinker is needed, as a 
rule; but in any large river, with deep and 
rapid streams, a small shot is, in my opin¬ 
ion, often a necessity. And when a strong 1 
wind is blowing down stream, even the 
most experienced worm-fisher will find 
that one No. 6 shot is none too much to 
prevent his line being hurried down stream 
all too quickly for successful fishing. A 
little experience will soon drive the truth 
of this assertion home. 
E. M. Tod, England. 
