242

HOW TO CAST AND WHEN TO CAST.

In worm-fishing, it is often indispensable to wade. Indeed, in nine times out of ten, particularly in fine water fishing, the angler will have to wade more or less. In thick water he may avoid this somewhat. He must, of course, wade up stream, casting into every likely spot as far as he can above him, allowing the bait to roll down stream until it travels down level with him. The side of a big stone or rock, the edge of sharp streams, narrow runs between weeds or stones, the gravelly tails of pools or just before a rapid, under bridges or by bridge piers, by overhanging banks, and at times even in deep holes, are all places to be fished carefully. In what I have called 'the eye' of a stream the experienced worm-fisher will always look for a bite, if he has one in the stream at all, as here the trout always lie watching for the first chance of the food that comes down. This is the first eddy off the commencement of a rapid or stream on the side towards which the stream bends. If the young angler will note carefully, he will see that small sticks, straws, flies, and whatever may come down, usually take a turn round this eddy before they are swept down stream. As the rapid narrows where it makes its shoot, all food is brought together in a small compass, and is also swept into this eye, where the best trout lie expecting it.

In casting a worm, it is advisable to commence with a line no longer than the rod, and this may be increased while throwing in the usual way. In bringing out the line behind over the shoulder, the return must not be made so abruptly as it is with the fly, or the worm will speedily be whipped off or torn, but while bringing the rod to the forward motion a much wider and rounder sweep must be made. The line must be perfectly extended, and the worm at the extreme end of it, and, if I may so express it, at rest,' before the return is made. The necessity for this will produce the effect of

HOW TO WORK THE WORM.

243

allowing the worm to fall so low that it touches the surface of the water before it is again impelled forward, and this, if the angler watches a good worm-fisher at work, will be seen constantly to take place. To get into the regular swing, to do it neatly, and to cast accurately, require a good deal of practice, and an expert worm-fisher can cast a good long line with a worm at the end neatly and effectively. If the water be coloured, a line a trifle longer than the rod is sufficient, and the underhand lift or throw will answer all purposes; but clear water requires a longer line and more careful manipulation.

In fishing with the worm, more particularly with the single hook, when you are not mid-water fishing but are letting the bait ground, you should always cast so far up stream as to permit the worm to ground just above the point where you expect fish, so that it may come trundling along over the favourite feeding-ground like the natural and free bait. In this style of fishing, when the worm enters the water, sink the point of the rod towards the surface, to allow it freely to find the bottom; but when you have reason to believe that it has reached it, or nearly so, gradually raise the point as the line comes home towards you; but you are to remark that this must only be done so as to draw up the slack line, not pulling upon the worm in any way. Indeed, the progress of the worm should neither be hastened nor retarded in the least by any act of the angler's, but it should be allowed to come down as if it had neither line nor hook attached to it. When the line stops in its downward career, an experienced angler can for the most part tell at once whether the stoppage is caused by the bite of a fish, or whether the sinkers or worm have lodged in a weed, stick, or stone. There is an abruptness, a tremulous motion, sometimes a slight movement of the line, which tells the angler at once, without any 'tug, tug,' or feel by the hand, that it is a fish. When you see

244

HOW TO DISTINGUISH A BITE.

this, drop the point of the rod for a second or two, as if the fish feels any restraint on the worm, he will, unless very hungry indeed, at once reject it, and you will certainly lose your fish. Having given a second or two, strike firmly, play boldly, and land as soon as possible. This is what you must do if you are fishing with the large single hook. If you are fishing, however, with Mr. Stewart's tackle, you need give no time, as this is used for the most part with light sinkers in mid-water, or at any rate clear of the bottom, and the instant the line stops you strike. This is a great advantage over the old plan. In the old plan, when the line stopped, if you were not certain that it was a fish you either had to 'feel' him or to strike at once. Feeling the fish is dangerous work. In consists in raising the point of the rod so as to tighten the line sufficiently to enable you to feel the 'tug, tug, tug' made by the fish in detaining the worm; but this, as I have said, is not safe, being often merely the herald to rejection of worm, and

when you strike you find the fish has left you. If, on the

other hand, you strike at once on suspicion, one of two things may happen, viz. either the fish will not have got the large hook sufficiently into his mouth, or, failing in its being a fish at all, you will take such fast hold of root, stick, or stone, that the greatest difficulty in dislodging the hold without a breakage will ensue.

Although worm-fishing is not a very clean and delicate style of fishing when compared with artificial fly-fishing, it is a species of fishing requiring no little skill, and in which the fish has many more chances in his favour than the angler who is unacquainted with it would be disposed to imagine, for the moderately skilful angler will certainly not kill one fish for every two bites which he gets, and often not for every three, even when the fish are inclined to take worm, which is not every day; while the unskilful angler will feel tug after tug, and, unless the fish are

WHERE THE WORM IS PERMISSIBLE.

245

savagely hungry, will not kill one in six. I am of course speaking of localities where the trout are accustomed to be fished for with a worm, not in unsophisticated preserves where we may say of a worm—

Oh, no! we never mention it,

Its name is never heard;

6

and the majority, certainly, of south-country fishermen will be disposed to add, and a good job too.' Still there are districts where its use is universal, and where to stop its use would be to stop the sport of hundreds, and to interdict fishing for at least one-half of the fishing days in the season.

246

SPINNING FOR TROUT.

CHAPTER VIII.

SPINNING FOR TROUT.

SPINNING FOR LARGE TROUT-SPINNING FOR TROUT IN SMALL STREAMS— THE PAR-TAIL-THE GREYLING.

I NOW Come to spinning for trout. The very best spinners for large trout in the world are Thames fishermen. It is a sight worth seeing to see a well-practised hand standing on a weir beam and working his bait in every eddy behind piles and under the apron or sheathing; now sending it far away down the stream by a light swing of the arm; now pitching it dexterously under the broken water of the fall, and skimming along from bay to bay, so that not one inch of likely water remains unfished; all the while gathering the line up in the palm of his left hand and giving it out thence, so that no slack hangs about anywhere. The way of casting a spinning-bait Thames fashion has already been described in jack-fishing, and need not be repeated here, as the modus operandi is similar. The rod should be a little longer, but not so stout as that used for jack-fishing. Thames trout-rods are usually of bamboo, the favourite length from fourteen to fifteen feet. The line is of well-dressed fine eight-plait silk. The commonest kind of tackle in use among the Thames trout-fishers precisely resembles that used for jack-fishing, shown in Plate IV. fig. 1. It is very seldom indeed that more than three triangles and a lip-hook are ever used, and, of course, the flight of hooks is tied upon gut, and