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Types of fishing bait - fishing basics

Ency 123 July 22, 2015
The principal baits are—
  • The Lob-worm.
  • The Brandling.
  • The Marsh-worm.
  • The Tagtail.
  • The Ash-grub.
  • Cowdung Bait.
  • Caterpillars.
  • Cabbage-worms.
  • Crab-tree-worms.
  • Gentles.
  • Cad-worms.
  • Flag-worms.
  • Grasshoppers.
  • Wasp-grub.
  • Cockchafers.
  • Bread Paste.
  • Cheese Paste.



1. Lob-worms are found in gardens or churchyards, late in the evening; they have a red head, a streak down the back, and a broad tail. This is a good worm for salmon, chub, trout, barbel, eels, and large perch.
2. Brandling is found in old dunghills, rotten earth or cow-dung, and the best in tanners’ bark. It is a good bait for any kind of fish.
3. The Marsh-worm is found in marshy grounds, or on the banks of rivers; and is a good bait for trout, perch, gudgeon, grayling, and bream.
4. The Tagtail is found in marly lands or meadows, after a shower; and is a good bait for trout when the water is muddy.
5. The Ash-grub is found in the bark of trees. It is a good bait for grayling, dace, roach, or chub.
6. Cowdung Bait is found under cowdung, from May to Michaelmas; and is good bait for grayling, dace, roach, or chub.
7. Caterpillars can be found on almost every tree or plant. Almost any small caterpillar will answer.
8. The Cabbage caterpillar is found on cabbages.
9. The Crabtree-worm can be taken by beating the branches of the crab-apple.
10. Gentles. These are bred in putrid meat—liver producing the best—or may generally be obtained from the butchers. They are an excellent bait for most kinds of fish.


THE CADDIS FLY.

11. Caddis is found in ditches, or on the sides of brooks. It is an excellent bait for trout, grayling, roach, dace, or chub.
12. Flag-worms are found among flags in old pits or ponds, and are good bait for grayling, tench, bream, carp, roach, and dace.
13. Grasshoppers are found in sun-burnt grass, and are good bait for chub, trout, and grayling.
14. Wasp-grubs are to be obtained from wasps’ nests, and are a good bait for most fish that will take gentles.
 Wasp-grubs will keep better, and be easier to fit on the hook, if they are baked for half-an-hour.
15. Cockchafers are found humming round the bushes at about dusk on a summer evening, and everywhere, and sometimes in cowdung; are a capital bait for chub, though not for anything else.
16. White-bread Paste is prepared by dipping white bread in water (soaking and squeezing it in the corner of a pocket-handkerchief is the best way), and then working it a little in the palm of the hand. It is a good bait for carp, tench, chub, or roach. Some add a little honey.
17. Cheese Paste is made with fresh cheese, worked up in the hand. It is a good bait for chub.
18. Ground Bait should be used in the spot about to be fished, and, if possible, the night before, and should be fresh. For carp, chub, roach, or dace, use white bread soaked in water, and mixed with bran, pollard, or meal. For barbel, chandler’s greaves, boiled and worked up into a ball with clay. Gentles may also be used as ground bait for any of the above.

TO BAIT WITH GREAVES.

First select the whitest pieces from those you have soaked, and put two or three of them upon your hook, or as much as will cover it from the bend to and over the point; these pieces should be put on the hook separately, one after the other—not a large piece doubled, as some slovenly boys will do, for then the hook is prevented from entering firmly the fish you may strike.
These little particulars of baiting are of considerable advantage to young anglers, who ought to remember also that it is a bad practice to soak greaves in hot water, for it makes them rotten, and they in consequence soon fall off the hook.

TO SCOUR AND PRESERVE WORMS.

To do this, the young angler should provide himself with a quantity of fresh moss. Wash out all the earth and squeeze it, but not too dry; then put it into a jar and squeeze it lightly down: throw in the worms upon it. The jar should be kept in a cool place in summer, and the moss changed once in three or four days. Gentles should be thrown into a mixture of damp sand or bran to scour them, and will be ready in two or three days.

Excerpt from the book:
EVERY BOY’S BOOK: A COMPLETE ENCYCLOPÆDIA OF SPORTS AND AMUSEMENTS.
EDITED BY EDMUND ROUTLEDGE.
With more than Six Hundred Illustrations
FROM ORIGINAL DESIGNS.
LONDON: GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS,
THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE.
NEW YORK: 416, BROOME STREET.
1869.
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