Ex Libris 
 ' C. K. OGDEN
 
 FRANCIS FRANCIS. 
 
 Author of " a Book on Angling," etc., etc. 
 
 " I care not a jot, 
 I envy no lot, 
 So I have a rod and can fish." 
 
 LONDON : 
 "THE FIELD" OFFICE, :<4i>, STEAND, W.C. 
 
 1877.
 
 LONDON 
 PRINTED BY HORACE COX, 346, STRAND, W.C.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 EVERY book should have a raison d'etre, and it might be 
 thought by some persons superfluous that I should have 
 written another and a less comprehensive work after having 
 written a book which contains so full an account of the 
 art in every branch as " A Book on Angling," published 
 by Messrs. Longman, and now in its fourth edition. The 
 popularity which that work has attained might very 
 well satisfy all my desires, but I have been told many 
 times that my "Book on Angling" has not touched a very 
 large class of anglers comprehended in those who cannot 
 afford to pay so much as 15s. for a guide to their 
 favourite amusement. Owing to the manner in which 
 " A Book on Angling " is got up, and the expense 
 incurred in producing the coloured plates all of which 
 are of necessity done by hand, there was no possi- 
 bility of bringing it within the means of the large 
 body of anglers whom I have referred to, and I have 
 been asked again and again to write a book of a some- 
 what less extensive nature and without the coloured 
 
 2000512
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 plates, or the long list of salmon flies contained ill iny 
 first work. I have now yielded to this demand, and I 
 trust that the present work may fulfil the requirements 
 of the persons for whom it is written. 
 
 A reviewer of my " Book on Angling " lately, in the 
 course of what was upon the whole a very favourable 
 and even kind review, in one of the principal morning 
 papers, said that I was rather opinionated in saying 
 which he stated neither more nor less than the truth, 
 and I plead guilty to the charge ; for, in writing books 
 on angling, I have endeavoured to write them as far 
 as possible from my own experience, and to avoid, 
 as far as I could, giving a mere rechauffe from 
 old angling works. Indeed, I have striven to borrow 
 as little as possible from any one, merely giving 
 what I know to be the ordinary methods and practices 
 in vogue as regards the sport of angling in these 
 later times. I hardly see how a person endeavouring 
 to do this could be other than opinionated. The ques- 
 tion appears to me to be, not whether I am opinionated, 
 but whether the opinions I have expressed are the best 
 thai the angler can follow. Now I take upon me to say 
 that I have endeavoured to give the best methods and 
 plans of angling, and that, in doing so, I never have 
 hesitated and I should take shame to myself if I had 
 to give full credit to the authors of those plans for 
 their inventions, be they whom they may ; and, in doing 
 so, I venture even further to say, that 1 have often taken 
 hints from brother anglers where their ideas appeared 
 good, and given them the credit of them, but with whom
 
 PREFACE. v 
 
 on many other points I have no sympathy or agreement 
 whatever. Where I have been able to speak solely from 
 my own experience, and where that has seemed to me 
 the best to draw from, I have not hesitated to do so. 
 No doubt it would have been far easier for me to have 
 said Izaak Walton says so and so, Salter recommends this, 
 Ronald advises that, and " Ephemera " the other. But 
 angling has made large strides since the days of those 
 writers ; and though in many instances their experience 
 -and advice still stands good, yet in many others it is 
 simply obsolete and useless. In the present book, with 
 very few exceptions, T have drawn almost entirely from 
 my own stores. The tackle from my box, which I 
 constantly use, and the flies from my books which I 
 find the most killing, I have simply taken and described, 
 and, consequently, in this book I fear I shall be found 
 more opinionated than ever; but if any one will show 
 me a better rod, line, tackle, or fly, than any I recom- 
 mend, and I find on trial that it is so, I shall never be 
 slow to adopt it, and to recognise not only its usefulness, 
 but the services rendered by the inventor to the cause of 
 angling. For I trust, whenever I am called upon to lay 
 down the pen, that no man will ever be able to say, " He 
 did not act fairly either to his contemporaries or to those 
 he drew his information from ; " for that I hold to be one 
 of the most disgraceful charges which can be brought 
 against an author. But if I strive to behave fairly to 
 others, I can hardly be blamed if I am tenacious of my 
 own rights. In angling, as in all other matters, one 
 cannot do better than stick to the Church Catechism,
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 and to " do to all men as you would they should do unto 
 you '" and I think that any author who has adopted and 
 striven to carry out this motto purely and simply, may 
 look back on his career without regret. 
 
 FRANCIS FRANCIS, 
 
 The Firs, Twickenham.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PREFACE . . iii 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE ART OP ANGLING 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 MID-WATER FISHING 15 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 SURFACE OR FLY FISHING 18 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE GUDGEON THE POPE OR BUFF THE BLEAK 
 THE ROACH THE RUDD THE DACE THE CHUB 
 THE BARBEL THE BKEAM THE CARP THE 
 TENCH THE PERCH 21 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 THE PIKE 51
 
 viii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 TKOUT FISHING WITH BAIT 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 FLY FISHING FOR TROUT ......... 77 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 TROUT FLIES ............. 90 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 GRAYLING FISHING ...... ...... 103 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 SALMON FISHING ............ 10G 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 SALMON FLIES ............. 110 
 
 CHAPTER XH. 
 ON TACKLE MAKING . .......... 123 
 
 ADDENDA . .132
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY BOTTOM FISHING. 
 
 WHO first invented the art of angling it would be very h^ird 
 to say. Probably in all ages of the world the necessities of 
 mankind induced them to practise it in a more or less rude 
 fashion. When Dame Juliana Berners wrote about it, hard 
 upon four hundred years ago, to judge by her illustrations 
 and descriptions, it was rude enough in all conscience ; 
 and even in the days of Walton and Cotton, more than 
 a hundred and fifty years later, it was scarcely in a con- 
 dition to fulfil the more modern requirements of the 
 present century. Since those days hundreds of books on 
 angling have been written, and in the present time they appear 
 to issue from the press at the rate of about one per month or 
 even more ; and within the last quarter of a century the art has 
 made far greater strides towards improvement than it ever did 
 in four times the period since Dame Juliana's day. And I fear 
 that the schoolmaster has been abroad, and the fish have become 
 well educated too, so that if any of the old practitioners were 
 now to appear on the banks of their favourite trout streams
 
 2 ANGLING. 
 
 they would find their skill and their tackle alike unequal to the 
 capture of those " trouts of 20in.," &c., which we read about 
 so constantly in their works. 
 
 The art of angling is divided into three sections, " bottom 
 fishing," or fishing with a bait on the bottom; mid-water 
 fishing, comprehended principally in spinning and trolling ; 
 and surface fishing, which is chiefly practised in fly-fishing. 
 "We will commence at the lower round of the ladder, and 
 take bottom fishing first. Bottom fishing, is the most 
 primitive style, no doubt. We all more or less began with 
 bottom fishing, and pitched minnows and sticklebacks out on 
 the grass, with a pin, thread, and worms with as much interest 
 and delight, and perhaps a good deal more, than we now evince in 
 the capture of a two-pound trout, or even of a lordly salmon ! 
 Anon promoted to a real halfpenny hook and a withy, the noble 
 gudgeon or the festive roachling became the sweeteners of our 
 existence. The withy was discarded for a sixpenny two-joint 
 hazel rod ; until, finally, on some glorious red-letter day which 
 we* all remember so well, and will to the last hour of existence 
 papa having heard from Dr. Whackhem that Frank was really 
 doing his declensions very creditably indeed considering his age, 
 and had said his 4th prop, of Euclid without a mistake 
 considering that if he knew the value of two, it would 
 be quite proper that his eldest-born should be equal to 
 one angle at least prepared a surprise for us ; and when 
 we walked into the breakfast parlour on the morning of 
 our twelfth birthday, there sat the dear old man with that 
 noble four-and-sixpenny four-jointed bambooer which we had 
 so long scanned with anxious infraction of the tenth com- 
 mandment in the window of the local tackier, who was also a 
 hairdresser, toy-shopper, stationer, newsman, and tobacconist ; and 
 beside it on the table a paper parcel containing a bamboo 
 
 winder, with a real line and float, and a gut hook. Ah h ! 
 
 "Times have passed since then, and many strokes of good fortune 
 and unexpected luck have happened, but few that gave us such 
 ^delight as that 1 With some such appliances the young angler
 
 BOTTOM FISHING. 3 
 
 will probably commence his career as a real angler. With a bag 
 of well scoured worms he will make his way to brook, river, or 
 pond, and try conclusions with the denizens of the waters. At 
 first he will fish for anything that comes along. As he improves 
 he will go out with a set purpose to catch some particular kind 
 of fish, then he may be said to be on the high road to know- 
 ledge. 
 
 BOTTOM FISHING may be practised either from the shore 
 or from a boat. Whichever the angler selects to commence from, 
 he should always remember this cardinal rule, "study to be 
 quiet." It is an old rule, a very old rule, but it has had the 
 approval of all anglers, from Father Izaak's time down. Be as 
 quiet and unobtrusive as possible. You may catch many kinds of 
 fish either from the land or from a boat ; but if you wish to fish 
 for carp, say in still waters, you will find it better to fish from 
 the land, as they are very shy, and the least movement of the 
 boat causing wave or ripple will suffice to make them still more 
 shy. We will suppose, therefore, that the angler commences from 
 the shore in still water say a pond. To do so effectually 
 he will find a good long light rod of some fourteen or fifteen 
 feet desirable, with which he can swing out a good length of line. 
 To this will be fixed a winch or reel with some thirty 
 yards of line. Suppose he is fishing in four or five feet 
 depth of water, he will be able to fish some three or four 
 and twenty feet from the shore. If he wishes to cast his line 
 still further out he must draw it down from above the second or 
 third ring, as described hereafter, in Nottingham angling, and 
 thus he may get out another eight or ten feet. As pond fish, 
 and indeed all fish in still water, bite very slowly and nibble a 
 good deal first, the float gives ample warning of a bite^to the 
 angler ; and he may lay his rod down on the bank without any 
 detriment to his fishing, and resume it as soon as he has a bite. 
 For the more convenient exercise of this plan it is usual to stick 
 a forked stick a yard or so out into the water, so that the butt 
 of the rod and reel rests on the shore, and the body of the rod 
 is supported above the water in the fork of the stick. A light 
 
 B2
 
 4 ANGLING. 
 
 line of fine but strong Derby silk, which will not sink to the 
 bottom too heavily, and so entangle in the weeds, &c., is best. 
 The float may be as light as it possibly can be consistently with 
 the power to fish comfortably a too light float will sometimes 
 blow about in the wind, and will not swing out well. Three or 
 four shreds of rush tied on the line make a light and very 
 unobtrusive float, and in clear water that is a point worth 
 studying. The whole of the tackle from some distance above 
 the float to the hook should be of single gut, as fine as can be 
 fished with, considering the strength required. The bait should 
 always rest on the bottom, as pond fish feed chiefly on the 
 bottom : the depth, therefore, between the float and the hook 
 should be somewhat more than the depth of the water, and the 
 I lowest shot with which the line is loaded, to balance the float, 
 I should be at least a foot above the hook. There is another 
 advantage in the bait resting on the bottom, and that is that it 
 is its natural position, and it does not thus challenge the 
 suspicion of the fish ; and as the gut, which is in immediate 
 connection with the hook, rests on the bottom too, it is not 
 seen. That most cunning of all fish, the carp, may be taken 
 in this way when it would be hopeless to fish for him with the 
 bait hanging just off the bottom, for he could then see the gut 
 at once, and also the shots that weight the line, and probably 
 the float above ; and if the float is of a nice white and 
 vermilion, or some other dazzling rainbow colour, it will 
 afford the old carp a capital text on which to preach an 
 instructive sermon to the young ones on scarlet abominations 
 and the Lady of Babylon. But to fish in this way you must 
 have a clear bottom and free from weeds, otherwise the bait will 
 sink amongst the weeds and be hidden. If the pond, therefore, 
 has any gravelly places, or hard clay bottoms, then if they are 
 not clear of weeds, you should get some one to rake spaces. A 
 very large space is not required one or two spots some 30ft. 
 or 40ft. square will suffice ; of course the larger they ars 
 in reason the better chance for more fish, but if places like 
 tLcse be cleaned out between the weeds, here the big carp and
 
 BOTTOM FISHING. 5 
 
 tench will wallow and feed ; and if before fishing the angler 
 baits such spots for a few days with a good store of ground 
 bait, such as malt, rice, pearl barley, or worms and gentles, 
 so as to accustom the fish to feed there, he will much increase 
 his sport. If he is not able to do this, and has only say one 
 day's fishing at his disposal, his best plan is first to pick out two 
 or three of the best of such spots as he can see, and fix his 
 forked sticks ; to plumb the depth, and keep an accurate 
 register of it in each spot so as not to have to do it again when 
 he wants to fish, and then, throwing in a few handfuls of bait, 
 to begin with the one first baited, and to vary from one to the 
 other as sport may counsel. To plum the depth fix a leaden 
 plummet on the hook, then swing the plummet out to the spot 
 you want to fish. Let the line stand upright in the water, the 
 plummet just touching the bottom ; mark the place where the 
 surface of the water cuts the line, and fix the float accordingly, 
 taking a half hitch of the line round the quill to prevent slipping. 
 The best sized hook for this sort of fishing will be one of about 
 No. 7 or 8, of the round bend series, as this will take both carp, 
 tench, perch, and even small roach too. In fishing such 
 places the angler will always find that with such sharp-eyed 
 fish it is as well to have a tree, hedge, bank, or bush, at his 
 back, if he can get one, so that his body does not stand out 
 clear against the sky behind him. It is quite astonishing what 
 a difference this makes. I have often seen a trout take a fly 
 within five or six yards of me, I having the high bank at my 
 back, when, if I had been on the bank with the sky at my back 
 he would not have looked at my bait, but would have been off 
 under a stone or weed for shelter. A hurdle propped up on 
 end answers very well for this purpose if there is nothing else 
 naturally placed. It should, however, be put up a week before 
 fishing, to let the fish get accustomed to it. And now we will 
 suppose the angler his pitch chosen and baited, his depth 
 plumbed beforehand, his rod all ready he walks gently down, 
 puts his little stool behind some tree or bush (for he should 
 never sit on the damp ground), then he baits his hook with a well
 
 6 ANGLING. 
 
 scoured red worm, covering it completely, and leaving very little 
 more tail hanging off the point than he can help ; he next 
 slings the bait out as far as he can into the pond, lays the rod 
 down carefully, resting it on the fork, lights his pipe if he is 
 a smoker, or gets out his book if he is not, and waits. The 
 top of his small quill projects a bare half inch above the 
 surface. "Ha! was that a motion of the float?" "Yes, no 
 doubt of it ; there it dipped, and there it bobbed right under 
 water ! " and here the tyro would seize his rod and do something 
 desperate, when he would lose his bite and scare his fish for 
 his pains ; but the experienced angler merely puts down his 
 book, takes up the rod very softly, so as not to disturb the float 
 in the least, and waits. The float keeps on shaking and 
 bobbing, now dipping down well under water, and now darting 
 an inch or two one way or the other, and at length as a reward 
 for his patience the float sinks slowly down, assumes a horizontal 
 position, and sails steadily off six inches under water. Then is 
 the time, and a short jerk of the angler's rod top arrests the 
 thief, who, mighty indignant and a little alarmed, darts off at 
 full speed. He must then be handled and played according to 
 his size, the angler's object being to get him away from his 
 pitch, and to make as little disturbance as possible, so as not to 
 alarm the other fish. A capable landing net, with a good Jong 
 light handle so as to reach well out beyond the margin, is useful. 
 It is desirable to make as little noise in stumping about the 
 bank as possible, as the still water easily conveys the slightest 
 sound or vibration ; and the angler should also take care as much 
 as possible to keep within the shelter of his tree, bush, or hurdle. 
 If fishing for carp exclusively, paste will be found a better bait 
 than worms for the hook, but all this will be treated under the 
 head of " carp," and in the proper place. After taking a fish 
 or two the best plan, if the angler observes that they are 
 scared at all, will be to throw in a handful or two of bait, and 
 to go to the next pitch, and so on to the next when the same 
 occurs, or back to the other as he may fancy thus he will save a 
 good deal of time, and increase his chance of sport.
 
 BOTTOM FISHING. 7 
 
 This is the first and simplest kind of fishing, and, as I have 
 said, is usually the method in which the young angler first 
 breaks ground into the noble art : if a boat is used there is no 
 difference in the method. But if small perch or roach are the 
 aim, then the bait should not be on the ground, but an inch 
 off it, and the angler may, if he has a mind, use a couple of 
 hooks, one six inches above the other. 
 
 Bottom fishing in running water is rather more difficult of 
 achievement ; and this again is divided into fishing with a moving, 
 and fishing with a still bait. The moving bait is either allowed 
 to trundle along the bottom without a float, in which case the 
 angler strikes by feel (this is described under worm fishing for 
 trout), or it is attached to a float which is weighted, and the 
 line plumbed, so that the float shall carry the hook just off the 
 bottom, now and then perhaps touching it, or " tripping," as it 
 is termed, and the float projecting half an inch above the 
 surface. This travels along down stream, and whenever the float 
 bobs or sinks under the water, the angler (unlike " still " fishing) 
 strikes at once with a short sharp upward jerk of the wrist, for 
 the fish bite much quicker in running than in still water. Little 
 time is afforded them to nibble at and play with the bait as it 
 floats away down stream from them, if they do not secure it in 
 their mouths at once. So that when the angler sees his float bob 
 under water he may be pretty sure that most of the hook is 
 inside the fish's mouth. In float fishing running water .from 
 the bank, the angler keeps the top of the rod immediately above 
 the float, and so follows it all down his swim, so as to be able to 
 strike truly and at once, and thus he seldom has or wants more 
 than two or three feet at the most between his rod point and his 
 float. The rod should be as long as he can comfortably use, but 
 it must be comparatively light, as there is no putting the rod 
 down at this kind of fishing ; it must be poised the whole time ; 
 and many a time has my arm ached up to the shoulder and 
 my hand grown numb with holding one of these long cane rods 
 common to the Lea. These rods are used of a prodigious 
 length in some instances, even to two or three and twenty feet,
 
 8 ANGLING. 
 
 and when the size of the fish taken with them is considered, it 
 looks as if the angler were using the mast of a young fishing 
 smack ; I shall notice them in "roach fishing." In this matter 
 the angler must suit himself to his own convenience and 
 powers. For ordinary bank fishing from twelve to fifteen 
 i'eet will be found quite long enough ; for punt or boat 
 fishing from ten to twelve feet is ample. In choosing a swim 
 the fisherman will be guided by circumstances, such as the time 
 of year, the state of the water, the kind of fish he wants to 
 catch, and so forth matters which all materially affect his 
 choice. Some fish lie in much heavier and swifter streams than 
 others, and some in eddies altogether, while in clear water the 
 calm deep-running waters hold the fish, and in a flood they are 
 found in great eddies close under the banks. Experience either 
 of his own or of some friend will determine all this for him. If, 
 however, he does not know the river, and cannot see the fish, 
 and has no one to ask, then he had better look along the bank 
 and see where the grass is worn from the long standing of feet, 
 where a few grains of bran may be left, or the paper that 
 wrapped the sandwich has been cast aside, and then let him look 
 narrowly about and he will doubtless find a swim. Failing in 
 all this a swim neither too deep nor too shallow, with sheltering 
 weeds not far off. or some place of refuge very handy should be 
 selected. If he selects one or two, and baits them, as advised 
 in still fishing, good! If he. can bait them two or three nights 
 before, better still ! but in that case he must sleep like a Bristol 
 merchant, with one eye open, or some rival may accidentally 
 appropriate the results of his baiting than which few things 
 in fishing are more exasperating. Some of the puntsmen on the 
 Thames, in places where there is any strong rivalry, sometimes 
 do this. But it is a low, mean thing to do, and only one 
 degree better than picking a man's pocket ; indeed, as far as the 
 honourable feeling in the matter goes, it is worse, and I never 
 would permit such a thing, or employ any man who did it. The 
 same care is requisite in bank fishing as in pond fishing quiet 
 and unobtrusiveness are very essential to sport.
 
 BOTTOM FISHING. 9 
 
 In bottom fishing from a punt the process is slightly different. 
 The pitch being chosen, the punt fixed on the Thames this is 
 done across the stream ; on the Norfolk rivers with the stream ; on 
 the Trent slightly askew the depth is taken, the bait cast in (this 
 usually is made up in large balls either mixed with clay or 
 without) ; a rod of from ten to twelve feet is used, and as much 
 line as the length of the rod, or a little more, is let off above the 
 float. The float is then drawn up close to the boat, and the 
 swim commences, the angler keeping his rod as well over his 
 float as he can. When the float has travelled down stream as 
 far as he can allow it to go, he strikes, in case any fish should 
 snap at it as it rises off the bottom (a very favourite moment) by 
 reason of the tension of the line ; then he draws the float and 
 tackle back up stream to the boat, drops it in again, and begins 
 another swim. If he hook a good fish he has to take care that 
 he does not get round the punt pole, in which case grief is 
 usually the result. If two anglers be fishing from the punt, 
 and one hooks a good fish, it is as well that the other should 
 withdraw his line till the fish is landed, lest it should foul and 
 tangle the other's line, and perhaps even get off ; and while the 
 fish is disturbing the swim many fish are not likely to bite. In 
 case of a very large fish, say of ten pounds and upwards, if I 
 am using very fine tackle, I always like to let the punt loose, 
 and, getting below the fish, take him into strange water if 
 possible, where he has no holt or hide to go to, and where he 
 does not know the country. For lack of this I have lost many 
 a noble fish, as a big fish always has a hide, and sooner or later 
 remembers and runs for it, when you may wish him " good 
 day." Float and tackle must be suited as near as possible to the 
 weight and rapidity of the stream, and the angler should never 
 fish with it a shot heavier than is necessary, as extra weight helps 
 to frighten the fish, wear out the rod top, and tire the wrist, for 
 it must be remembered that the angler strikes many thousands 
 of times in the course of a day, and that which is little in itself 
 becomes great by repetition. In very quiet, easy streams, where 
 big roach and bream sometimes congregate, a light quill or
 
 10 ANGLING. 
 
 porcupine float, that will only carry about three or four No. 4 
 shot, is ample, and from this you may go through all grades up 
 to a cork as big as a small carrot, or a large radish, and a dozen 
 or twenty B B shot. After this floats are vanity and are useless, 
 and you must use a ledger. 
 
 Stream fishing is, as I have said, subdivided into fishing 
 with a travelling or tripping bait, with or without a float, 
 and also with a stationary one, with or without float. The first 
 of these latter is termed "tight corking," and the latter ledger- 
 ing or ledger fishing. In tight corking a good heavy float is used, 
 the line is well leaded, and allowed to rest on the bottom, and the 
 float therefore is set 6 or 8 inches or more too deep. The bait rests 
 on the bottom kept in its place by the shots, the float is held up 
 so that it cannot be carried under water by the stream, and as 
 soon as a fish comes and mumbles the bait the float gives 
 warning of it. If the angler likes it better, a combination of 
 ledger and float can be made, which is the acme of tight corking 
 and one of the most killing methods employed. It is simply to 
 use a light ledger lead instead of fixed shots. What the ledger is 
 I will now unfold. The cut of the tackle may be seen at Plate 1, 
 Fig. 1. A bullet or a flat lead with a clean round hole through 
 it is the lead this lies upon the bottom. The line runs through it, 
 and on the hook side of it at any space from two to four feet I 
 like a good length, it gives the bait more play a piece of wood 
 or a shot is fixed to prevent the bullet or lead coming down on the 
 hook. Thus you can weigh the lead two or three feet from the 
 hook and bait, and it can get no further. Now when the line 
 lies free on the ground, if anything touches the hook, it is felt 
 at the rod point as sharply if not more so than^if there were no 
 lead, because the line between the lead and rod is kept tight. 
 When a fish bites it is felt instantly, an inch or two of line is 
 yielded him to let him get the bait and hook well in his mouth, 
 and at about the third try you strike, smartly lifting lead and all in 
 the stroke. A light pistol bullet with a hole in it is used in 
 tight corking. N.B. This is a capital method of fishing for 
 carp in rivers. There is one other way of stationary bait fishing,
 
 BOTTOM FISHING. 11 
 
 and that is by what is called the clay ball. A single hook, or 
 sometimes a small triangle is used, or bit of stick half an inch 
 long tied on the line a foot or eighteen inches above the hook. 
 The hook baited more often than not with six or seven gentles, 
 a bit of clay and bran is worked up as big as an orange, a hand- 
 ful of gentles put inside it, the cross bit of wood in the line 
 buried in it, the clay worked about it, the line wound into it 
 once or twice till the hook bait only just protrudes from the 
 ball (some even bury it in the ball, and let the fish rout it out, 
 but this is quite needless delay), and the ball hanging on the 
 line is dropped to the bottom. The gentles wriggle their way 
 out of the clay. The fish come up and pick them off, and in 
 doing so rarely miss the hook. As soon as a bite is felt and it 
 is astonishing how distinctly you feel one a strike sticks 
 the hook in the fish and shakes off the clay ball. A cut 
 of this tackle is given in Plate 1, Fig. 2. 
 
 I have mentioned the method of bottom fishing pursued by Nor- 
 folk and Trent anglers. The former differs little from that 
 pursued by the Thames anglers, save in the position in which 
 the punt is moored, which is lengthwise with the stream. 
 The two anglers facing either bank a plan which avoids the 
 rough boil and bubble caused by the Thames plan of mooring 
 across stream though it is quite possible that this boil and 
 bubble serves to hide the angler from the fish, and to make 
 them bolder in their biting and this when the water is only 
 five or six feet deep is certainly an advantage. In Norfolk, 
 however, the swims run from ten to sixteen or more feet in 
 depth, and there is no need for any concealment at that depth. 
 In other respects, owing to the depth, they use somewhat longer 
 rods, and heavier tackle than would be employed in the Thames* 
 but there is no other peculiarity in their method. On the Trent 
 the system is quite different from that on the Thames. They do 
 not as a rule fish short swims only the length of the rod and 
 line. If fishing from a boat they take very long swims. The 
 bait mostly worms or greaves is thrown in loose, not in balls ; 
 the depth plumbed, and the float set, so that the bait may drag
 
 12 ANGLING. 
 
 the ground, and the swim is commenced. As the float travels 
 onward, line is constantly paid off the reel, so as to give as 
 slight a check to the tackle as need be until the bait has 
 travelled down stream the requisite distance, which may be 
 anything, from thirty or forty yards to double that distance. 
 Thus the hook bait is sure to travel over the greater portion 
 of the ground bait, which it does not in the restricted swim so 
 often used on the Thames, in the which plan most of the bait 
 is eaten far below the swim, where the fish do not have a chance 
 of seeing the hook, and indeed may be thoroughly gorged before 
 ever they are attracted within its range at all. For fish are not 
 drawn up from a distance so quickly as some folks suppose. 
 It takes several nights steady baiting to draw fish up from a 
 distance to some new quarters. Of course, if they are on or 
 about the spot in any quantity already, it does not take long to 
 get them together. Thus it will be seen that the Nottingham 
 or Trent plan of covering sixty or even seventy yards of stream is 
 ten times more captivating than the old Thames plan, and it is 
 now, for barbel, bream, and chub, commonly adopted on the 
 Thames. The Trent tackle is peculiar. The lines are of the 
 finest Derby silk,, so as to lie lightly on the water, and not to 
 impede the quickness of the strike. The reels turn on a well 
 finished spindle, and a touch sets them twirling with wonderful 
 rapidity, and though they are very suitable for the purpose for 
 which they are wanted, and in the hands of an experienced person 
 work perfectly, yet in the hands of a tyro they are a stumbling 
 block and a snare too. They overrun, so that every turn they 
 are set running, the line gets all into a rumble tumble and 
 tangle. What the young angler has to learn is, while holding 
 the rod with one hand, so that it can be pressed against the 
 edge of the reel at will, so as to stop the running of the line 
 instantly, with the other hand by regular and quick touches of 
 the little finger, to spin the reel round so as to give off line freely 
 to the drag of the float, and at the same time to regulate the 
 pace. This is not easy, and nothing but practice, and a good deal 
 of practice, will do it. The casting of a float, bait, or ledger, to a
 
 BOTTOM FISHING. 13 
 
 distance off the reel, is not easy either. It must be practised, 
 and a good deal practised too, to accomplish it neatly and well. 
 No explanation is of any use ; after seeing it done, and noting it 
 as well as he can, the aspirant must practice practice practice ! 
 At first he will be dangerous to himself and everybody near, and 
 instead of his float and hook landing on the swim where he wants 
 it, it will be more likely to land in his arm, or his ear, or eye, or 
 somebody else's, where no one wants it ; but he will soon 
 mend, and a week will see him well on the road to expert- 
 ness. It is quite necessary to accomplish this well to be 
 an expert bank fisher on the Trent ; the swim, particularly 
 in barbelling, often lying out beyond the reach of the 
 rod, and requiring very neat and exact casting. To fish a 
 swim at such a distance is the acme of perfection and skill 
 in bank fishing ; because, having once baited and plumbed your 
 swim, you must always keep in the same line of country so as to 
 be at the same depth, and your float must travel steadily down 
 the long swim (though bank swims are not nearly as long, as a 
 rule, as boat swims), and line must be given out so that there 
 may be no lateral pull or wrench on tke float, whereby it may 
 be diverted from its proper course ; and this is not easy, indeed 
 with a bad wind and a rainy day it is almost impossible. 
 These swims, too, are often deep, and in order to cast the tackle 
 a float called a slider is employed. This has a wire loop at top 
 and bottom through which the line slides freely. The depth 
 being plumbed, a bit of india-rubber elastic is tied on the line at 
 the requisite distance. This presents sufficient obstruction to 
 prevent the line sliding further than is required through the 
 small eyes of the float, but not sufficient to prevent its being 
 drawn pretty easily through the larger eye of the rod point and 
 the rings thereof. Thus, when the tackle is lifted out of the 
 water the float slides down to the topmost shot or weight, and 
 rests there. When dropped in the water it floats and slides up 
 the line till the top eye meets the rubber, the bait and shots 
 sinking to the bottom. This is the greatest modern invention in 
 bottom-fishing. Holes of any depth, and at any (reasonable)
 
 14 ANGLING. 
 
 distance from the shore may be fished with it, and even in 
 slightly variable depths the float, with management, will do a 
 'good deal to accommodate itself to the various depths. A 
 cut of the slider is shewn in Plate I, Fig. 3. The lighter 
 and easier method of fishing from the bank on the Trent 
 is called "dacing." I think it by far the pleasantest method of 
 bank fishing. The rod and tackle are lighter than in the last, 
 and the swim is rarely more than some twice the length of the 
 rod from the shore. If it is a yard or two beyond, and is not to be 
 reached by the ordinary swing of the rod as the tackle is too light 
 to cast it well off the reel, and the line will not hang loose or lie 
 on the ground without kinking, the Trent fisher takes hold of the 
 line somewhere up between the third and fourth rings, and enough 
 line being left to swing out the tackle, as much line is drawn off 
 the reel as can be kept tight by the left hand being extended 
 backwards. The swing being made the line is let go by the 
 left hand and flies out, giving two or three yards of extra 
 length to the cast, and this may be increased by taking the 
 line from higher up the rod. For an illustration of the method 
 see Plate 1, Fig. 4.
 
 MID- WATER FISHING-. 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MID-WATER FISHING. 
 
 THE second division of fishing is that of mid-water fishing, and 
 this may be sub-divided between spinning and live baiting : 
 taking live baiting first as being linked with float fishing. This 
 is practised in two ways, with a float and without a float ; live 
 baiting with a float is employed for taking pike, perch, and 
 sometimes trout. The float and weight of the tackle are 
 proportioned to the size of the bait. When a large bait is 
 used a heavy weight is required to keep it down in the water, 
 as the tendency of all fish, when hooked, is to strike upwards 
 towards the surface ; and also it is necessary to prevent the bait 
 from pulling the float under water, and swimming away with it. 
 It is often necessary, when the fish to be caught are very large, 
 to use large dace and roach of three and four to the pound as 
 baits ; and in this case the float is made of cork, and it is as 
 large as a good-sized Bergamotte pear. In this style of fishing, 
 which is chiefly for pike, one bait will be found enough ; and it 
 is desirable to have a swivel between the float and the hooks, in 
 order if the fish turns round much that he should not twist and 
 bring the line up, as often happens without this ; and it is as well 
 to have another swivel to attach the tackle to the reel line, so 
 that the reel or running line may not be entangled with the 
 tackle. Also it is desirable that the running line should be kept 
 as near the surface as possible, so that it may not sink and 
 become entangled in the weeds below, and so check the free
 
 16 ANGLING. 
 
 motion of the bait or the run of the fish. To effect this fix a small 
 piece of cork on the line, a yard or two, if possible, above the 
 float. The bait must be allowed to swim rather below mid-water 
 unless the water is very deep, when it should be placed nearer to 
 the bottom. The object is to place it so that it may be seen 
 just over the largest area of the bottom ; and of course the depth 
 and colour of the water must be duly considered, as in thick 
 water, unless the bait is put pretty close to the fish, he will not 
 see it at all. For float fishing for perch, or even trout, a lighter 
 tackle and float is used. That used for trout must, of course, be 
 suited to the size of the trout. For perch the tackle would 
 be a float equal to carrying a couple of minnows which should 
 be set at such a depth that the lowest minnow shall clear 
 the bottom by an inch or two, and the one above, shall 
 hang so as to be about from fourteen to eighteen inches 
 above the bottom. When I come to jack and perch fishing, I 
 shall give a closer account of how these tackles are to be used. 
 Another species of live-bait fishing is by means of a paternoster. 
 This is simply a gimp or gut line, according as it is used for 
 pike or perch, with a plummet of lead on the bottom, and with 
 two or three hooks as the depth of water, &c., requires, these 
 hooks being baited with a small fish minnow, gudgeon, dace, or 
 what not. The plummet is cast into the water, and, sinking to 
 the bottom, the line is held tight, so that the least touch of a fish 
 can be felt; and as soon as it is supposed that the fish has the 
 bait in his mouth, the angler strikes sharply. A plan of a 
 paternoster is given in Plate 1, Fig. 5. Occasionally a live 
 bait is put upon a single hook, or a small triangle, and, with 
 two or three shot, just enough to sink it to mid-stream, line is 
 paid out, and the bait allowed to go where it will. This is 
 chiefly done in trout fishing. 
 
 The next division in mid-water fishing is in the arts of 
 spinning and trolling. Spinning is practised thus : a small 
 fish is taken minnow, gudgeon, bleak or dace chiefly, and 
 is fixed upon a series of hooks called "the flight," so 
 that the tail is slightly crooked. These are then hung
 
 MID-WATEK FISHING. 17 
 
 on to a tackle, divided in short lengths by two or more 
 swivels, which is called the trace. This is weighted with lead 
 to sink it to mid- water. The tackle is then jerked to a distance 
 into the stream, and is drawn in to the shore or boat by short 
 draws of the left hand, the right holding the rod ; and as the 
 bait comes shooting along through the mid-water, the crook in 
 the tail causes it to revolve rapidly, the swivels permitting it to 
 do so easily without twisting up the line. This attracts the fish, 
 who dash at the bait and are caught by the hooks. Trolling or 
 dead gorge fishing is a method employed exclusively for pike ; 
 and that, too, only when they are in large weed beds or places 
 so obstructed with rubbish that neither of the other methods can be 
 employed ; a long thin plummet of lead is used with a twisted wire 
 running through it, to one end of which is a loop, and the other 
 a pair of hooks opening diversely. The loop end of the wire is 
 then thrust into the fish's mouth, down through its stomach, and 
 out at the tail. The hooks stand out pretty close on each 
 side of the mouth. The tail is tied on to the wire by a lap or 
 two of silk, and the lead, &c., is concealed in the belly of the 
 bait. This is hung on to a tackle by a swivel, and is dropped 
 here and there into the holes between the weeds, and played up 
 and down by jerks at the rod point, and as it sinks, shooting 
 to the bottom, is now and then seized by a pike, who 
 having been allowed from five to ten minutes to pouch or 
 swallow the bait is hooked and hauled out to the best of the 
 fisher's ability.
 
 18 ANGLING. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SUEFACE OR FLY FISHING. 
 
 THIS is the most skilful and artistic method of fishing of any. 
 It is divided into fishing with the real, and fishing with the 
 artificial fly. In the first method, a real fly, as a Mayfly, shorn 
 fly, bluebottle, or some other large fly, is. used ; a fine hook 
 is carefully passed through the thorax, and the bait is then 
 dropped or cast on the surface of the water. In the first case, 
 the mode of working the fly is what is termed "dibbing," or 
 "daping." The angler with a line about half the length of the 
 rod, and with a good long light rod, a yard or so of fine 
 gut, and a hook suited to his bait notes some spot where a fish 
 is rising, and going cautiously behind any bush or stump that 
 will shelter him from the eyes of the fish, he protrudes his 
 rod gently over the water, and allows his bait to fall on the 
 surface of the water about two or three feet, or more if need 
 be, above the fish, and lets the stream bear it down over the 
 fish's head ; if the fish rises, gives him just two seconds to get 
 the bait or fly well in his mouth, then strikes not too hard, and 
 gets his fish out with as little disturbance as possible. This 
 method of fishing is used chiefly for trout, though it is also 
 employed for chub, when a cockchafer or grasshopper, &c., is 
 used. The great thing to study is concealment from the fish. 
 There is however, another method of daping, called " blow-line 
 fishing," which is employed in the open, away from bushes. In 
 this case, of course, the angler has to stand at a distance from 
 the fish. To this end a long rod is generally employed, often
 
 SURFACE OR FLY FISHING. 19 
 
 from eighteen to twenty-two feet long. A piece of line called 
 the blow line, and made of the lightest floss silk, and almost 
 twice the length of the rod, is employed ; to the lower end is 
 fastened a link or two of fine gut, and a light hook. The fly, 
 usually a Mayfly (or even two), is put on the hook, the rod held 
 upright, the angler having his back to the wind ; as soon as 
 the line is released it flies out, carried by the wind away from 
 the angler ; and when it is well extended over the water, the 
 fisherman gradually lowers the point of the rod until the flies 
 fall upon the surface of the water some distance away, where 
 they are allowed to drift naturally over the fish. In this way 
 the angler can cover a fish seventeen or eighteen or more yards 
 away from him. Then there is the plan of casting the natural 
 fly ; certainly one of the most artistic methods of employing 
 a natural bait at all. and not easy to accomplish thoroughly. 
 An ordinary single-handed fly rod and line is used, with three 
 yards of gut and a light hook ; one or two flies are put on, and 
 standing with his back to the wind, and the line between 
 his left finger and thumb, just above the hook, and as much 
 loose line waving in the air as he thinks he can cast ; the angler 
 waves his rod backwards and forwards once or twice to swing 
 the length of line clear, and then, making his cast, lets go the 
 hook and away goes the bait to its destination ; it is allowed 
 to go down stream to the full length of the line, and is then 
 pulled up and re-cast ; when from frequent immersions the bait 
 is destroyed or the line wet and heavy, a new bait must be put 
 on, or the line allowed a few minutes to dry. The frequent 
 spoiling or whipping-off of baits is the great objection to 
 this method. 
 
 Fishing with the artifical fly is, perhaps, the most popular 
 kind of fishing practised in this kingdom ; thousands of anglers 
 never practise any other Kind of fishing. I need hardly describe 
 what an artifical fly is, but for the few who are quite uninitiated 
 I may merely say that it is an imitation of a fly, made of various 
 materials, chiefly silks, fur, and feathers, which is fixed on 
 to a hook. This is then cast to a distance on the surface of the 
 
 c 2
 
 20 ANGLING. 
 
 water, and, being drawn or carried by the stream gently 
 floating along, is mistaken by the fish for some live 
 fly or other insect, and the fish rises to take it, when, 
 before he can discover the cheat, the hook is twitched sharply 
 into his jaw, and he is translated speedily to another element. 
 A good variety of fish are taken by the artificial fly, chiefly 
 trout and salmon, and all the other species of the salmon, 
 &c., as sea trout, greyling, and charr; more or less chub, 
 and dace, and sometimes roach, perch, and pike, and even 
 eels and flounders have been known to take a fly. These 
 are the various methods employed by the lawful brothers of the 
 angle, in their endeavours to capture the fish of the British 
 Islands. I proceed now to deal with each fish and its mode of 
 capture separately.
 
 THE GUDGEON. 21 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE GUDGEON (Cyprinus GoUo). 
 
 SETTING aside minnows, bull-heads, loaches, and sticklebacks, 
 and such small game for I have known a treatise to have been 
 written on the correct method of capture of the last noble 
 quarry, and if I remember aright, a pickle bottle played a prominent 
 part in the process. For my eldest son, at the tender age of eight, 
 wrote a treatise on the above sport, as he styled it, for the 
 " Information of his Young Friends." This noble emulation and 
 imitation of his father's pursuits has rather inclined me to be a 
 bit of a believer in the Darwinian theory. I repeat, " setting 
 aside " all this, the gudgeon is usually the first quarry of the young 
 angler, that is always providing he lives where they are found. 
 The gudgeon is gregarious, and where you catch one you may 
 catch others, sometimes in large numbers ; indeed, I have known 
 as many as ten dozen of gudgeons caught at one pitch. The 
 gudgeon runs to six or seven inches in length, but seven inches 
 is a large one. The largest I have seen are found in the river 
 Itchen, in Hampshire. The bait which they prefer is a small 
 red worm ; they will take a gentle or any other small insect, but 
 nothing is so attractive to them as a red worm. Eed worms 
 may be found in old leaf mould or vegetable refuse, and it 
 is a very good plan to have a heap of this mixed with some very 
 rotten old manure, covered over with a bit of carpet to keep 
 it moist in the summer. The worms will soon breed in it, and
 
 22 ANGLING. 
 
 the angler can then choose what he requires from time to time, 
 They keep well for a week or more, in a few bits of old rag or 
 rotten net, which is the best thing to scour and cleanse them in 
 provided they are kept fairly moist and in a cool place. The 
 tackle to use for gudgeon fishing is a light taper cork float, 
 proportioned to the stream, a yard or two of tolerably fine gut ; 
 plumb the depth, and set the float so that the bait shall just 
 drag the bottom, the hook must be a small one, number 9, 10, 
 or 11; the rod, of course, must depend upon whether you 
 are fishing from a punt or from the bank. The ordinary rods 
 used for these means will do, and last but not least, the angler 
 must have a large heavy iron rake, with a long stout handle, 
 to rake the bottom with. All else being ready, the bottom, 
 for a space of some two or three square yards, is vigorously 
 raked, so as to disturb the sand and earthy particles, and to send 
 them down stream in a cloud. This attracts the gudgeon, who 
 expect to find fresh food in the freshly turned up gravel, and 
 they flock to the spot from some distance down. Then, the 
 raking finished, the angler drops in his tackle, and if the gudgeon 
 are there and are feeding, his float will not move a yard before 
 it will bob down with a dash that there is no mistaking ; 
 a quick short stroke and a brief pull, will bring the little brown 
 fellow wriggling to the top, when a touch at the bait to re-settle 
 it on the hook is all that is required, for the same bait will 
 often take six or seven or more fish before it is worn out. 
 When the fish begin to grow tired of biting, another turn of 
 the rake may bring them on afresh for a short time, and even a 
 third rake will sometimes when they are plentiful pay fairly, 
 but it is seldom that two rakings do not suffice to bring to hook 
 all that mean to bite. Perch often come into the swim and 
 are taken when gudgeon fishing. Indeed, should the presence of 
 a perch be suspected, by reason of a sudden cessation of biting, 
 it is as well to put in a larger worm, or to have a paternoster 
 with a minnow on handy, so as to get rid of Mr. Perch, who 
 sadly disturbs the equanimity of your clients. Dace, too, are 
 often taken on the gudgeon swim, and indeed this method of
 
 THE POPE OE BUFF THE BLEAK. 23 
 
 fishing is often used purely for dace ; in the same swim with 
 the gudgeon, too, is often captured the Pope. 
 
 THE POPE OR EUFF (Perca cernua). 
 
 If there be a deepish still eddy by the side of your gudgeon 
 swim, and a bank or bough beside it, there you will 
 probably (in the Eiver Thames, at least) find good store of 
 popes. Like his great namesake, the Pope, " he leads a happy 
 life." The angler does not often trouble him, for he is of little 
 value ; and if caught by accident he usually gets turned 
 back again. Netsmen will not be troubled with him either, as he 
 fetches nothing either as a live bait or for edible purposes, 
 though the small amount of flesh on the Pope is very sweet and 
 wholesome, and like that of the gudgeon. It is a curious little 
 fisli, and though so little sought for does not seem to increase 
 much ; indeed, in the Thames, I doubt if it has not, of 
 late years, diminished. It lives exceedingly well in small 
 ponds. I have had one in a bait pond for above a twelve- 
 month, and it has grown considerably ; and, let who will 
 starve, he is always fat and hearty. Pope are not common 
 in English rivers, and not a great deal is known of them. 
 They were said to have been first discovered by Dr. Caius, 
 the founder of Caius College. 
 
 THE BLEAK (Cyprinus alburnus}. 
 
 This lively silvery little fish is the exemplification in 
 fish life of perpetual motion, for he is never still, darting 
 hither and thither, snatching at any floating trifle that 
 seems to promise food ; his activity is incessant. Throw 
 on the water a bit of bread, and, before it has floated 
 fifty yards, if there be bleak about, it will be surrounded 
 by a perfect shoal of them, all struggling and jostling 
 to get a crumb of the desired morsel. The embouchure
 
 24 ANGLING. 
 
 of a drain is a favourite hunting-ground for them ; there they 
 may be seen in shoals, darting through the filth and capturing 
 the atoms that pass down. They will take worm, gentle, or fly 
 freely, either on the bottom, in mid-water, or on the surface, and 
 the best way to catch them, perhaps, is by whipping with 
 a single gentle. They are by no means bad eating, cooked 
 like sprats, and formerly the nacre was collected from their 
 scales, and fetched a good price for silvering various objects, 
 particularly artificial pearls. 
 
 THE EOACH (Cyprinus rutilus). 
 
 The roach was years ago, when roach fishers were nothing like 
 as numerous as they are now, called the river sheep, because 
 he was so unsuspicious and so easily caught ; but now he by 
 no means deserves so simple a character ; when he is seldom 
 fished for, he may be correspondingly incautious, but a big roach 
 in a fairly fished stream is a mighty wary fellow ; and though 
 they may abound you may tempt them in vain, and even when 
 they are hungry and are feeding, and the water is coloured by 
 rain, the finest tackle is required to make a good take of them 
 The roach is a great vegetarian, and feeds largely on water 
 plants ; and while the weeds are in a flourishing state during 
 the summer, it is difficult to get the larger roach to come out 
 and feed freely on other matters ; but when the winter frosts 
 have rolled away the weeds, and made them sour and inedible; 
 the big roach come out, and, if the water be in good condition, 
 feed fairly, and then is the roach fisher's paradise ; and in the 
 metropolitan and midland districts, there are more large roach 
 killed in February, March, and even part of April, than during 
 any other month. As a rule on the Thames, and in waters which 
 adopt the Thames rules, roach fishing with all other bottom fishing 
 is closed to the angler in March. I cannot help thinking that 
 this is a mistake, for throughout March they are, as I can testify, 
 in the very prime and height of tip-top condition ; a March roach 
 of a pound, from a good gravelly bottom, is, barring the bones,
 
 THE EOACH. 25 
 
 as good a fish as need be cooked ; they do not spawn till the 
 middle or latter end of May, so that even fishing out March 
 they have still six weeks at least before they commence spawning ; 
 which is more than enough protection in all conscience, par- 
 ticularly as the best of them do not come out of the weeds, 
 as a rule, much before January. There are thousands of 
 big roaches in the Thames which probably never see an angler's 
 line, while in the weeds, if a clear space can be found, 
 a few may be taken with silk weed, that is the long, slimy, silky 
 looking weed, which is found on the bottom. A lump of this 
 being wrapped on the hook, as I am told, (for I never tried 
 it) attracts the fish, and good takes have often been made with it. 
 The best baits for roach are, during the summer, gentles, with a 
 change to red worm or greaves (in Trentshire, " scratchings,") 
 which may be used, but in the winter either paste or pearl 
 barley carries the palm, or a little bit of the brown of a 
 crusty loaf. These are the best baits, but there are a great 
 variety of others : insects various, as ant flies, or eggs, caddis- 
 bait, blood worms, boiled wheat and barley, green wheat, and 
 many other matters. The best ground bait for roach is that used 
 by the great majority of the Thames fishermen, and this in the 
 summer consists of bran and carrion gentles mixed up with clay 
 into balls ; and when the summer is passed and carrion gentles 
 cannot be obtained, scalded bread, bran, and boiled rice, mixed up 
 either with clay or by itself, forms by far the best ground bait. 
 If no clay is used, a small stone (as big as a walnut) should be in- 
 closed in the ball to make it sink. This kind of ground bait, 
 however, is very soon carried away by the stream, and is more suit- 
 able to an eddy or a roach hole by the bank than to the wide open 
 stream. Barley meal and pollard is a favourite bait on the 
 Trent, and some people use brewers' grains, bullocks' blood, and 
 a host of similar matter. One thing should always be observed 
 carefully, viz., having got your fish together, be very careful not 
 to overbait or overfeed them, or the fish will soon get gorged and 
 refuse the hook. This is a great fault with many of the 
 Thames puntsmen : they will throw in ground bait enough in one
 
 26 ANGLING. 
 
 day to last for four if the fish are feeding, and many a promising 
 day is thus destroyed ; a little now and then, just enough to 
 attract attention and to keep the fish on the look out is all that 
 is needed. The skilful angler knows that his object is to keep 
 the fish on the watch and eager for the book, not to fill their 
 bellies and make them capricious and dainty. There is a 
 method of ground baiting which, in low clear water, is some- 
 times very effective, and not only for roach, but for bream and 
 other fish, and that is termed " blowing the trumpet " a long tube 
 of zinc is used deep enough to reach the bottom of the water. This 
 is sunk and fixed to the side of the boat or punt. The upper end 
 has a bell or trumpet shaped mouth, in fact it is a long-spouted 
 funnel. A large tub of mud or clay and water, with bran, &c., 
 and sometimes blood and any debris that can be easily got and 
 will attract roach is then mixed all up together until it becomes 
 slush. A pint or two of this from time to time is thrown into 
 the bell of the funnel and emits a stream of mud at the bottom 
 of the water, which discolours the water and much attracts the 
 fish. The angler, of course, fishes as much as he can in the 
 clouded stream that issues from the fissure, and I have known 
 capital takes made in conjunction with this apparatus. On the 
 Trent the red worm, called there the cockspur, is held to be the 
 best bait ; but the Trent fishers, though the best barbel 
 fishers perhaps in the world, are not equal to the cockneys at the 
 roach. The bank fisher for roach often employs what is called 
 a "Lea " rod, that is a light cane rod some 20ft. or 22ft. long or 
 even more. With this rod no reel is used, and only enough 
 line to allow a couple of feet or so above the float. When the 
 angler hooks a good fish the long rod enables him to follow its 
 movements about over a good deal of ground; and, as the fish 
 tires he gradually pulls off and drops joint after joint on the 
 ground until only three or four joints are left, a process which 
 brings the fish at last within reach of the landing net. In punt 
 fishing, of course, the usual 1 1ft. or 12ft. light cane rod is used. 
 Some people use a rather longer rod in order to give an extra 
 yard or so of swim, but a very slight increase in the length of the
 
 THE KOACH. 27 
 
 rod tells most heavily on the muscles of the arm and hand in the 
 course of a long day's fishing. The Trent fishers use a light 
 12ft. rod, not quite so stiff as our punt rods, with upright rings, 
 and with this, which is called a " dacing rod," and with a light 
 Derby twist line they pull tha line back from between two of the 
 upper rings by the left hand, and holding it as far back from 
 the rod as convenient, with a gentle swing and by releasing the 
 line so held simultaneously, they can cast their bait and float out 
 into the stream at any reasonable distance from the shore ; the 
 light line lies on the surface of the water, and although there 
 may be 15ft. of line out it does not swell or hang, and the stroke 
 on the float is instantaneous and free. Thus they obviate the 
 necessity of using those long Lea rods, which are cumbrous in the 
 extreme and require two hands to hold them. But it is also 
 certain that they cannot strike so accurately, and thus lose more 
 fish and bites. But whatever rod or style the angler adopt, this 
 tackle must be of the lightest and neatest ; you cannot have it 
 too fine for roach fishing, and I quite agree with the Eev. James 
 Martin whose "Angler's Guide," published in 1854, contains 
 the best directions as regards roach fishing ever published that 
 you cannot be too nice or particular on this head. Over and 
 over again have I seen single hair beat the finest and most deli- 
 cately stained gut ; and though at one time I was rather sceptical 
 on this point, I am now a complete believer that the finer the 
 tackle you can conveniently use the better, and that nothing goes 
 down so well with shy roach as single hair. You must keep 
 yourself out of sight, too, as well as your tackle. You need not 
 get behind a tree, but it is as well to have one at your back when 
 you are fishing from a bank. I have often noticed the difference 
 evinced by the movements of the fish when the angler was 
 visible from the bank and when he could put himself in front of a 
 tree, and the difference would scarcely be credited. I have running 
 through my field one of the finest roach rivers within fifty miles of 
 London, and where the roach are unusually fine and good. I 
 have fished at all times of the year, and under all kinds of cir- 
 cumstances for years, and have full experience of what I state. In
 
 28 ANGLING. 
 
 coloured water, of course, less caution is necessary, though, even 
 then fine tackle will tell on the catch, but in clear water, unless you 
 can keep out of sight, you will not catch a fish, and at the best you 
 will not catch many. The size of the hook must be regulated by 
 the bait you use. A somewhat larger hook may be used for 
 paste than is used for gentles or worm. Some anglers like hooks 
 with very short shanks, but I do not think it a good plan, as they 
 do not strike truly, they are more apt to spring, and many 
 fish are lost by them. When the roach are biting shyly, 
 a small hook with one gentle will often do better than 
 a larger one with two. Eoach vary a good deal in their 
 method of feeding. Sometimes the float dabs down with a 
 sharp pluck. I do not like to see that, for either the fish are 
 small, and when the small fish are " on " the big ones are not, 
 or they are rather more sporting than feeding. Sometimes they 
 niggle at the bait, and the float goes "tip, tip, tip," just dipping 
 to the surface with short sharp jerks. That is not a good sign 
 either, as you have to wait till the float goes under, and very 
 often it does not. But when you see the float sink down steadily 
 and gravely in a way that there is no mistaking, then be sure 
 that the big ones are at work and the fish are well on ; and if 
 there are plenty of them and you do not overfeed them, and no 
 change comes over the weather, happy fellow you are in 
 for a good day. Then waste no time, ground bait sparingly, 
 and conduct yourself quietly. As soon as you have hooked 
 a good fish get him down out of the swim as soon as you 
 can and with as little noise or splashing as possible. The 
 best floats for light work are straight porcupine quills. 
 Some people like those jointed quill floats ; I do not, they 
 are apt to get out of order and take in water just when you 
 don't want them to. A very thin cork case may be set upon the 
 porcupine if a heavier float is wanted. The running line should 
 be as fine as need be. I have seen some of these fine silk-dressed 
 lines, which are perfect if the dressing does not, as it too often 
 does, weaken the line too much. Keep as little of the running 
 line in the water as possible when fishing, so that the strike may
 
 THE BUDD THE DACE. 29 
 
 come as directly as possible on the float ; play your fish lightly 
 but firmly and always use the landing net to a pretty good fish. 
 Beyond all be quiet and unobtrusive and likewise patient. 
 
 THE EUDD (Cyprinus eryophthalmus). 
 
 This fish is often confounded with the roach, but it differs in 
 several particulars. The dorsal fin is further back in the rudd, 
 while the upper lip is more prominent in the roach, the roach 
 being over and the rudd underhung. It is, as a rule, too, thicker 
 p,nd deeper, and is of rather a more olive colour, and it grows to 
 a much larger size, roach rarely reaching 2^1b., while rudd some- 
 times run up to 41b. Eudd are sometimes caught in the Thames. 
 In Osterly Park and Hatfield they are abundant. In Slapton 
 Ley they reach a large size, and in Norfolk they are plentiful. 
 They take much the same baits as the roach, and may be fished 
 for in the same way. They are very good table fish it is said, 
 though I have never eaten them. 
 
 THE DACE (Gyprinus leuciscus). 
 
 This pretty fish may be often found in the same streams and 
 caught in the same swims with roach, nevertheless, as a rule, 
 they prefer somewhat sharper and shallower streams, feeding as 
 they do more upon the surface. The dace is frequently found in 
 trout streams ; indeed there are few trout streams where they are 
 not more or less found. In such places they are decidedly a 
 nuisance, and it is desirable that they should be kept down by 
 the net as much as possible or in time they will interfere with 
 the trout. On the Thames and its tributaries in suitable places 
 dace take the fly well at times, and in a good day the angler may 
 capture several dozen of them. They require quick striking, how- 
 ever ; indeed, many of the most successful fly fishers for dace keep 
 on casting quickly and strike every time whether they see a rise 
 or no, allowing the fly to dwell but a short time on the water ;
 
 30 ANGLING. 
 
 for they take and reject the fly very quietly, and have a nasty 
 habit of following the fly without taking it. It is a common 
 practice to tip the fly with a natural gentle or a bit of thin 
 under-rind of bacon, or even a scrap of washleather to make the 
 fish take a better hold. Although the fly should be small, it is 
 as well to have a pretty good-sized' hook as they contrive to get 
 off very often. Any small bright, red, black, blue, or yellow fly 
 does, and a couple of turns of tinsel improves it. 
 
 For float fishing much the same plan must be pursued 
 as is used for roach, though in the summer a shallower 
 and sharper stream will often be found desirable. The 
 dace too has less liking for paste and farinaceous baits 
 than the roach, preferring first the red worm, and next 
 the gentle. They bite rather quicker than the roach and 
 require quicker striking. They rarely run above |lb. in the 
 Thames, though in some of its tributaries as the Colne and 
 elsewhere they reach fib., and sometimes close on lib. The 
 best take I ever had on the Thames was thirteeen fish that 
 weighed 7lb., and this was after my companion had had his pick 
 of the take. They were taken with lob worm when barbelling 
 at Eichmond. There are large dace in some of the southern 
 rivers ; and I shall never forget my dismay, many years since 
 at Downton, when a keeper promised to get me a pailful of dace 
 for jack bait for spinning, when he brought me a lot with 
 scarcely a fish under half-a-pound ; one would have needed to 
 substitute a punt pole for a rod to be able to cast and work 
 them properly. High up the same river, when getting greyling 
 for spawn once near Lady Herbert's, I took out a cartload of 
 the finest dace I ever saw at one turn of the net. In fact, they 
 are often in such rivers a great nuisance, as interfering with 
 the trout and trout fishing. They are very good for the table 
 if fried nicely and crisply, with a squeeze of lemon and cayenne 
 over them, or marinaded. To do this they should be cleaned, 
 then trimmed, and placed in layers in an open baking dish ; boil 
 some vinegar, with salt, mace, and pepper in it, and a few bay 
 leaves, and pour it over the fish ; then bake for a short time,
 
 THE CHUB. 31 
 
 and in two days you will be able to eat them, bones and all, 
 without difficulty, and they are piquant. 
 
 THE CHUB (Cyprinus cephalus}. 
 
 The logger-headed chub, called by the French tin villain, because 
 he is not good for the table, though when up the river and short 
 of provisions one may do a deal worse than eat a fresh-killed 
 chub. The chub, I think, first opened to me the magic realms 
 of piscatory literature at a very early age. Who does not 
 recollect that chub with the white spot on his tail in Walton, 
 and with which he purchased the milkmaid's song ? Little 
 thought the modest kindly old man, how future ages would 
 reverence that little brown book of his, and that what he then 
 sold for Is. Qd. might in course of time come to be sold for 
 from 10/. to 20/. sterling. But to return to our muttons, or 
 rather chubs : the chub is a handsome-shaped, gallant-looking 
 fish ; and a basket such as I saw lately, of eight weighing from 
 21b. to 41b. each, all caught with the fly, forms a very 
 satisfactory afternoon's chubbing, because it argues many smaller 
 ones turned back again to grow. I never take, or at least keep 
 a chub under lib., and more often if the fish are running well, 
 not under 1-^lb. They are very little use, though on the upper 
 parts of the Thames the people gladly buy them at fourpence a 
 pound, coast fish not often reaching them. 
 
 Chub may be taken in various ways, they will take either 
 float or leger freely, they take the fly greedily, and at times 
 both live and spinning bait, though these latter are not always 
 certain. When roach fishing you will often get hold of a 
 few chub quite at the end of the swim ; and if you let out 
 a few more yards, and make a somewhat longer swim, you 
 will often pick up a chub or two when barbel fishing, 
 both with float and with ledger ; the chub are nearly sure to 
 be handy to the swim in larger or smaller numbers. Though 
 a shy fish, there are few bolder biting fish than the chub, 
 when it does bite, and whether it be at bait, fly, or fish,
 
 32 ANGLING. 
 
 he lets you know that he is at the hook unmistakably. At the 
 fly he makes a rush and a dash that you cannot fail to see 
 and hear too ; and when he does get the lure within his big 
 leathern chops he holds on, and is easily hooked, and unless he 
 gets to weeds does not easily get away. The first rush or two 
 of a big chub is very fierce and determined, but he does not 
 make so long a resistance as the barbel. If the angler desires 
 to fish specially for chub with a float, the best way is to plumb 
 the hook to about two-thirds of the general depth of the 
 stream, and to fish with a travelling float tripping just outside 
 the boughs where chub are supposed to be, and casting in an 
 odd fragment or two of bait every now and then to attract 
 the chub, and draw them from their holes. Large takes of 
 chub are made thus : In Nottingham, bullock's brains and 
 pith are fished with ; the pith is simply the spinal marrow, 
 this is used for the hook ; the brains are chewed and sputtered 
 out into the water for groundbait rather a repulsive notion, but 
 there are many other baits, as cheese cut into square bits of goose- 
 berry size, rotten cheese and suet beaten to a stiff paste. 
 Greaves, and even worms or wasp grubs, answer nearly as well 
 and the tail of the fresh-water crawfish boiled is a choicely 
 good bait for " big uns." The chub is very carnivorous, and 
 will eat a variety of things, and beetles, grasshoppers, cockchafers, 
 humble bees, &c., do well for dibbing or daping ; or a very 
 small live frog, only a bit of the skin of the back being taken 
 on the hook so as to preserve his life without injury, is a 
 capital lure. Chub holes or bushes are generally pretty well 
 known, and the angler in getting to one to dape, must keep 
 out of sight, and even make as little motion with his rod point as 
 possible, moving it slowly and circumspectly; for though the 
 fish bites boldly when not frightened, he is easily alarmed, 
 and you rarely catch more than two, or at the outside three 
 chub out of the same hole, without giving the others twenty 
 minutes' rest to recover. The hook used, both for float fishing 
 and daping, should be suited to the bait and the size of the 
 fish but a No. 6 will usually be small enough. In fly-
 
 THE CHUB. 33 
 
 fishing for chub you may use artificial beetles, humble-bees, 
 wasps, chafers, &c., &c., &c. The flies used are chiefly palmers,* 
 red, black, and green of large size, and with a little silver 
 twist on the bodies, and if a bit of wash-leather is used as a 
 tail it is more attractive ; while if you can keep three or four 
 gentles on the bend of the hook it adds greatly to the value 
 of the fly. I have found a silver tinsel body, with brown 
 turkey wing, and a furnace hackle kill well. A sandy red 
 palmer with a yellow orange body kills well, too ; all the flies 
 should be of grilse size, or even small salmon size. A strong 
 rod is wanted to fly-fish for chub, as the sport is chiefly pursued 
 under boughs, among stumps and roots, and in holes among 
 rushes where weeds abound, and if you get hold of a 41b. chub 
 as you often do, it wants a strong rod and strong tackle to 
 prevent him from getting into the weeds or roots. I always 
 use a grilse rod and grilse tackle ; that is, a double-handed 
 rod of about fifteen or fifteen-and-a-half feet, and No. 2 salmon 
 gut ; and I hardly ever remember losing a fish by hanging 
 up in weeds, whereas, I have heard of persons losing them 
 by the dozen with single-handed tackle, and they are always 
 the largest fish. Another thing, too, is, if you get hung in a 
 flag or rush, you can break it without going in with the boat 
 and spoiling the cast. In casting under the boughs it wants 
 a capital sculler, one who is an adept at whipping the boughs 
 himself, and who knows just where the fisher wants the 
 boat put without telling. It does not require any light casting 
 for chub ; the bigger and louder flop the fly makes on the water; 
 the more certain it is to attract the notice of the chub ; but it 
 is desirable to cast as close in under the boughs as possible, and 
 to do this habitually without getting hung up requires skill and 
 judgment. If you do get hung up, always try mild measures 
 first, as persuasion really is better than force, and often saves a 
 breakage, or much trouble. Of all the artificial flies, &c., I find 
 nothing do so well as the artificial cockchafer. It will cast to 
 any reasonable distance, and is hugely fancied by chub, as there 
 
 * For how to dress a palmer, see "red palmer" or " hackle" in "Trout Flies." 
 
 D
 
 34 ANGLING. 
 
 are very few that will not move at ifc ; and to insure their taking 
 it, put about three or four tough gentles on the end of the hook 
 (they will stand some whipping before they wear off), and this 
 renders it almost irresistible. The silver-bodied fly, with turkey 
 wing, comes next in my estimation, then the humble-bee, the 
 orange palmer, the black palmer, and so on, but none of them 
 are the worse for a gentle or two on the hook. The ledger is not 
 a chosen method of fishing for chub, but it frequently kills 
 them when fishing for barbel. Nor is either live-bait or 
 spinning a recognised method, though both of these styles take 
 them at times. Chub are frequently taken in the Thames 
 between [41b. and olb. in weight, occasionally between olb. and 
 61b., and now and then between 61b. and 7lb. ; above that they 
 are very rare, though they have been known in other waters to 
 run up to Olb. 
 
 THE BAEBEL (Cyprinus larbatus). 
 
 Next to the roach, perhaps, the barbel is the most popular fish 
 with London bottom fishers ; while on the Trent it takes the 
 first place. It is a handsomely shaped fish, and well formed for 
 the water it inhabits. Its rounded, compact body, pointed head, 
 and large fins being peculiarly adapted to these rapid and heavy 
 waters ; the roughest water in a river being frequently the 
 most favourite haunt of the big barbel, while the swifter and 
 heavier streams are nearly always their chosen resort. 
 
 Barbel are taken with the ledger or with float tackle, either 
 while roach fishing or with the traveller in the Nottingham 
 fashion for which purpose the slider float is chiefly used, as it 
 accommodates itself better to any slight variation in the depth 
 of the swim than any other. They are also taken by very 
 expert fishers with a very light pistol bullet and no float, the 
 bullet being fixed a yard above the hook, and the tackle and 
 bait allowed to trundle naturally along the bottom ; when a bite 
 is felt at the rod point, or seen by the stoppage of the tackle 
 any slack line being gathered up a smart backward strike,
 
 THE BAEBEL. 35 
 
 well over the shoulder, usually succeeds in fixing the hook. The 
 ledger for barbelling should always be as light as it is possible 
 to hold the bottom with, a moderate-sized pistol bullet often 
 being quite heavy enough, though in some heavy streams a much 
 heavier lead is needed. There should be at least three or four feet of 
 tolerably fine but sound gut below the bullet, so as to give the 
 bait plenty of play, and as fine a running line should be used as 
 is possible, as it holds less water, and enables a lighter lead to 
 be used. The rod should not be too heavy, as the lighter it is 
 in reason the easier it is to feel the bite. A rod somewhat 
 bigger than an ordinary punting roach rod, but somewhat stiff er, 
 and made of solid wood, is best. The hook should be of the 
 long-shanked, round-bend sort, and not larger than No. 4 or 5, 
 and tied on tolerably fine gut. Do not strike at the first touch, 
 but when the tug is repeated once or twice, strike smartly up- 
 wards. The best baits for ledgering are, firstly, worms ; secondly, 
 greaves ; and, thirdly, a bunch of gentles, though some people 
 occasionally catch barbel with raw beef or ham ; and I believe 
 that shrimps would make a capital bait if the fish were well 
 ground-baited with them once or twice, so as to get used to them, 
 and they are easier and cheaper to get. The fishing with 
 traveller float has already been described. The hook used should 
 be a No. 6 for this purpose, and the tackle comparatively fine, 
 and shotted with a few tolerably heavy shot. The rod should 
 be about twelve feet long, moderately stiff, but not too stiff ; 
 the rings upright, and the line fine Derby twist, while the float 
 must be chosen with respect to the weight and rapidity of the 
 swim, and should never be heavier than is necessary. A barbel 
 swim for traveller fishing is often from thirty to fifty yards long, 
 and the float must be allowed to travel over that distance with 
 as little check as possible. Whenever the float dips suddenly, 
 strike firmly, and back over the shoulder ; and if you hook your 
 fish, keep on winding him up to the boat whenever you can, and, 
 by the time he comes up within reach, he is usually (unless he 
 is a big one, or unusually vigorous) pretty well done. Whep 
 the fish are well on at this style it is very pretty fishing indeed. 
 
 D2
 
 36 ANGLING. 
 
 In fishing from the bank, the angler must refer back to what I 
 have said on the Nottingham method. The only difference between 
 it and traveller fishing from the punt is that you often have to 
 cast the float some little distance out into the stream, and that 
 it is much more difficult to guide it well down the right swim 
 for any distance, particularly if it happens to be a windy, rainy 
 day. Indeed, rain is the worst enemy you can have in traveller 
 fishing, as it makes the line hang in the rings, and checks the 
 float constantly, and this is much worse in bank fishing than in 
 punting, as it drags the float out of the swim. The roach tackle 
 and method have already been described, and barbel often give 
 capital sport with them, particularly when the big ones take a 
 single hair hook, as they are prone to do. Then the angler must 
 prepare for a long fight, extending to one, two, or even three 
 or more hours, as I have experienced, and it generally ends in 
 the fish getting away after all, as I have 'also experienced. I 
 once hooked a barbel on single hair, and played him for three and 
 a half hours, and, when I got him in, he only weighed 61b. ; but 
 he was hooked in the back fin, and though I was much dis- 
 appointed in the size, it was almost equal to killing a fish of 
 double the weight hooked fairly; and I count it the greatest 
 angling feat I ever did, as the stream was strong, and at least 
 half the struggle was carried on in the darkness of a November 
 evening, as the care required, and the delicate handling of so large 
 a fish, hooked foul (and very badly so to), in a sharp stream, with a 
 single horsehair, was by no means an easy matter to administer. 
 My arm was stiff for a day or two from the strain. This happened 
 at Hampton Court, just below the weir, in 1846. I could not do it 
 now, I am sure, though I have landed bream of the same weight in 
 my own stream with single hair ; but the fish are very different in 
 their powers, the stream is easy, and you stand well over your fish. 
 The clay ball already mentioned is also a capital method of 
 taking the barbel. When they are shy, and the water is low 
 and clear, a small triangle and a bunch of gentles should be 
 used. Barbel sometimes take the spinning bait early in the 
 spring at the weirs, when the angler is spinning for trout,
 
 THE BEEAM. 37 
 
 but it is not a recognised method of fishing for them. 
 Barbel run up to 161b. in weight, but are not often taken over 
 lllb. or 121b. The largest I ever got was 121b., and that was 
 with lampern bait, which they are fond of in the Thames late 
 in the season, when the lamperns are running. Ground-bait 
 with the head and entrails of the lamperns, and fish with a bit of 
 the fish about gooseberry size. The ledger is best for this work. 
 Barbel are veiy capricious, at any rate in the Thames ; some 
 years they bite very badly, and only a very few decent takes are 
 made. Often they will not bite for weeks, and then they come 
 on well for a week, and numbers are taken everywhere. This 
 more often than not happens after a moderate flood, when the 
 water is clearing. In the thicker water use ledger ; and as it 
 clears try the traveller. A hundredweight and more is often 
 taken in a good swim in a day, and I have known 3cwt. or 
 4cwt. taken out of a good swim in two or three days' fishing. 
 The barbel, though he is not given to make desperate and 
 quick rushes, like the salmon or trout, often makes a longer and 
 more stubborn resistance, and if he gets near the boat will often 
 double round the punt pole. An angler with a good fish round 
 a punt pole is an instructive sight, and it not unfrequently causes 
 him to utter naughty words. They are poor eating, though the 
 fishermen use them by splitting them up, taking out the back- 
 bone, and frying them. I have tried them, but they are watery, 
 bony beasts, and, unless you belong to a club or want to show 
 them, they are hardly worth bringing home. I generally return 
 all under 41b. unless I have someone to give them to who wants 
 them ; and I wish everybody did the same, it would be better for 
 sport. Barbel are a widely distributed fish, and are found 
 throughout the south of Europe, in France, Spain. Germany, and 
 Prussia, many being found in the rivers of the Crimea. 
 
 THE BREAM (Oi/prinus brama). 
 
 The French say that " he who has bream in his pond may bid 
 his friend welcome." I was sceptical on this for a long time,
 
 38 ANGLING. 
 
 having once tasted some that were by no means desirable, but 
 since then I have tried them from a gravelly reach of the 
 Thames, and found them very palatable, and no doubt with 
 French cookery they might be made very good indeed. The 
 bream usually prefers a deep hole or eddy to a stream, though 
 occasionally they are taken in both, and it is not unusual to take 
 bream and barbel in the same swim, and I have more than once 
 seen a bream and a barbel on two rods side by side at the same 
 time. They are fond of a deep hole under a shady tree. In 
 the Norfolk rivers and broads, which are the great head-quarters 
 of bream, they abound in great profusion, and the takes there 
 are counted by the stone instead of the pound. Though the 
 bream in Norfolk rarely exceed 41b. in weight while in the 
 Thames they sometimes run up to 61b., and in my little stream, 
 the Crane, a tributary of the Thames, I have often taken them 
 of 6]b. and larger in the Irish lakes, where they sometimes 
 abound greatly, bream have been taken up to 9lb. The bream 
 is a very slimy fish, and often when hooked will bore head 
 downwards and rub the line with his side, so that it comes 
 up sometimes quite coated with slime for a foot above the hook. 
 The same methods of fishing for bream as I have given for 
 barbel should be adopted, viz., by the ledger, the roach float 
 fishing, and the traveller float. The hook used should be a 
 size or so smaller than that used for barbel. On the Thames 
 they ground bait with worms and gentles, and for the hook 
 nothing beats brandlings or red worms. In Norfolk boiled barley 
 or grains is the favourite ground-bait, but I do not think they 
 would be found insensible to the worm. Grains and barley, however, 
 have the merit of being cheaper and much easier to get. On the 
 Thames, at any rate, the finer the tackle the better it pays, as 
 the bream there are often shy in biting. They are also capricious, 
 like the barbel, and may be caught later than the barbel, 
 an open week in mid- winter often giving good sport with them, 
 which it rarely does with the barbel. I have caught them up to 
 the second week in April, when they began to get rough for 
 the spawning, as, indeed, do the roach nearly about the same
 
 THE CAEP. 39 
 
 time, and both these fish might well be taken till the end 
 of March March being one of the best months in the year 
 for both ; while June, when they, as well as the barbel, have 
 hardly ever quite done spawning, and are never in condition, should 
 be made a fence month in the Thames for these fish. In quiet 
 eddies or ponds, the bream will sometimes raise the float when they 
 bite, instead of pulling it down. I think this is owing very 
 much to the shape of the fish when it picks the bait off the 
 ground and resumes its natural position. Bream make a smart 
 run at the first start, and fight boldly for a time ; but the shape 
 of the fish is not cut out for a very prolonged resistance, and as 
 soon as he gets the worst of it he turns on his side, making 
 but a clumsy wobble of it, and gives in. Much depends, however, 
 on the strength of the tackle ; strong tackle soon beats him, but 
 he will play very gamely for some time on light. I fancy that 
 bream are rather a wandering fish, and that they are apt to 
 move about a good deal from spot to spot. I have known them 
 do so in my river. 
 
 THE CARP (Cyprinus carpio). 
 
 There are all sorts of suggestions as to how the carp came 
 to England ; but, like the birth of Topsy, there is an obscurity 
 about it, and I " 'specs they grow'd," and didn't come at all; at 
 any rate it does not much matter what does, nowadays, when 
 as the modern sage says, "There's nothing new and nothing' 
 
 true, and it don't matter ? " However, there the carp is 
 
 very often occupying water that is fitter and would be more 
 worthily and remuneratively occupied by his betters. Though 
 how good a carp could be made, we moderns, I fancy, do 
 not know, because we do not attempt to treat them as our 
 forefathers did ; and if we catch one out of a muddy pond, we 
 proceed, without further delay or preparation, to eat him, when 
 we are horrified at the fearful flavour of mud he gives forth. 
 Now, I cannot help doubting that a fish which can be so 
 pervaded with an outside flavour, like this, by association, must
 
 40 ANGLING. 
 
 be a very delicately organised fish, and should be capable of 
 a very different result. 
 
 Carp, when they grow to a large size, or are much fished for, 
 soon become very wary, particularly in ponds. I am inclined to 
 think that they bite much better in rivers ; and in rivers with 
 a gravelly bottom, like the Thames, they are far better, even 
 for the table. As they do not spawn till about June, they 
 are in season through March and April, and therefore I have 
 advocated the increase of them in the Thames, as they would 
 afford good sport when the ordinary Thames fish are out of 
 condition. To fish for carp, the angler requires to be very 
 quiet and unobtrusive, particularly when they are in ponds. 
 Carp grub for their bait along the bottom, and if the angler 
 keeps quiet and out of sight, he may often see them within 
 reach of his rod, routing along in quiet and shallow water, 
 with their tails or back fins above water. I have often taken 
 them when thus occupied by softly casting my float and tackle 
 out a yard or two ahead of them, in the direction they are 
 travelling, and allowing the bait to lie on the bottom, when 
 I have frequently managed to capture the rover. Carp will take 
 both worms and gentles well at times, but farinaceous baits are 
 more in favour with the carp fisherman of the present day ; 
 for if there happens to be a lot of small roach, perch, or 
 eels in the same pond as there too often is these will, if worms 
 or gentles be used for ground bait, hasten to the spot and eat 
 up most of it before the carp can find it out ; and, added to 
 this, when you begin to fish, the first miserable little eel or 
 perch you take will drive many of the best carp away ; and 
 after you have taken two or three, there will hardly be a 
 carp left. Carp will take a variety of baits, as worms, gentles, 
 wasp grubs, plain and sweet paste, boiled green peas, and 
 potatoes. The last is the best bait that can be used, particularly 
 with big carp ; it should be about three parts, or rather more, 
 boiled rather a waxy sort being chosen and the best way of 
 baiting with it is to use a small triangle on a single thread of gut, 
 with a small loop to the other end of it, having a good big loop
 
 THE CAKP. 41 
 
 in the line to loop it on to. Then take a baiting needle, and, 
 hitching it on to the loop of the triangle, draw the gut through 
 the middle of the potato and pull the triangle up so as just 
 to bury the hook points in the potato. Then cut the potato 
 round with a knife neatly till it is about the size of a good 
 sized gooseberry, and loop it on to the line the big loop 
 allowing the bait and all to be passed through easily. The 
 best way of fishing this bait is with a very light ledger, a small 
 pistol bullet being quite heavy enough. The gut should be 
 fineish, but strong and sound, as a big carp is a doughty 
 antagonist, and his first rush is not to be sneezed at. I have 
 been broken in it many a time, when I have been at all 
 in difficulties ; and carp, as they often run up to lOlb. or 
 121b. weight, and even larger, and have very powerful fins, want 
 careful managing at first. They are, too, pretty cunning, and 
 will run you into a mass of weeds if they can. In fishing a 
 pond in this fashion it is best to attach a very light float to 
 the line, above the pistol pullet, allowing enough line to permit 
 the bullet to rest easily on the bottom, and the float to lie 
 on the surface. It is as well, if you have any plumbing of 
 the depth to do, to do it the night before fishing, so as not 
 to disturb the bottom. Two or three pieces of rush make an 
 efficient float for this purpose, a half hitch or two being taken 
 at either end of them ; and, as this is a very common object 
 on ponds, it does not challenge the observation that a brilliant 
 red, green, and white float does. Casting the bullet and bait 
 out to the required spot, draw the float and bullet gently along a 
 little, so as to tighten the line and to extend the bait straight 
 out along the bottom from the bullet. You may then lay 
 the rod down on a forked stick, as you will easily see by the 
 float any nibble, and have plenty of time to recover the rod 
 before the bite takes place. Never strike while a carp only 
 nibbles. Wait till he drags the float steadily under, and appears 
 to be going away with it; when, seeing all clear and in order 
 about the line and reel for a rush, you may hit him smartly, 
 and if he is a big one "look out for squalls" as his mouth
 
 42 ANGLING. 
 
 is very tough and leathery, you may play him firmly. 
 Get him away as soon as possible from your pitch, so as 
 not to frighten the rest, and land him as far from the 
 pitch as you can. Then come back to the pitch, quietly 
 throw in a handful or two of ground bait, and follow up with 
 the hook as before, and probably in ten minutes or a quarter 
 of an hour, if the fish are well on, you may see your rush 
 float " niggle-niggling " again. The best ground bait, of 
 course, for this work is boiled potato. If fishing a pond, 
 always bait two, or even three spots, if you can ; so that, 
 when the fish are rather alarmed at one, you can rest it 
 and go to another casting in a few handfuls of bait 
 before you leave, to draw them back again. Always fish from 
 the shore, too, if you can, as carp are shy of a boat, and any 
 motion of the water easily alarms them. In fishing with the 
 ledger in a stream you would discard the float, and fish as for 
 barbel, by the feel. In this case, when you feel a nibble, you 
 must yield some inches of line and wait for the tug that 
 announces a bite. This is held to be, by experienced carp fishers, 
 the best and most killing method of carp fishing, particularly for 
 big fish. The great thing is to let the bait and line rest on the 
 bottom for a foot or two. In this way the carp sees neither the 
 line nor the hook, as he cannot fail to do if he is curious in float 
 fishing when the depth is exactly plumbed and the bait only just 
 touches the bottom. I have heard a haricot bean, or even a 
 small broad bean well boiled, spoken of as a capital bait, but I 
 never tried it. It seems, however, a very likely bait. I have 
 no doubt, too, that a lump of pearl barley, such as we use for 
 roach, would be a good bait, using half-a-dozen corns ; and it 
 would be a nice bait to ground bait with. 
 
 In float fishing use as light a float as you can, and have the 
 shots or sinker as far from the hook as you conveniently can ; and 
 here, too, if you can do it, I always find that if 4in. or 5in. 
 of the hook gut rests on the bottom it pays best. A worm or 
 other bait only just touching the bottom, with a row of shot Gin. 
 or Sin. above it, is very likely to challenge the attention of the
 
 THE CARP. 43 
 
 carp, who at once sees something he is not accustomed to, and 
 becomes suspicious. To show how different it is when the line 
 rests on the bottom, I once took a 7lb. carp on an eel line 
 with a coarse strong snood and worm bait. Carp always nibble 
 a good deal at the bait before they take it, and will often nibble 
 off the tail of the worm, or suck off your paste and leave the 
 hook showing without taking the hook at all. In using paste 
 I prefer sweet paste, made up with honey or brown sugar, to plain, 
 and I have heard of paste made of pound cake being greatly 
 affected by the carp. Old Bill Kemp, a capital old carp fisher 
 at Teddington, used to put on a lump of this as big as a large 
 gooseberry, and fish it with ledger tackle ; and he used to take a 
 great many fine carp. He was a wily old fellow, and many a 
 good day's sport I had with him in days gone by, but poor old 
 Bill went the way of all flesh, though he left many good fisher- 
 men of his own name behind him, who still keep up their calling 
 at Teddington. 
 
 The rod used for this work should be about 12ft. or 13ft. long 
 for pond fishing, light and stiff, with upright rings somewhat 
 like a Nottingham traveller rod, only a bit stiffer. In punting 
 use the same as for bream and light barbelling ; the line, a fine 
 dressed one, sound and strong, to run easy and stand a good 
 strain, and yet not be too heavy in the water. The gut should 
 have as much play through the bullet as the longest strand of 
 gut you can get will give it, so that there should be no check 
 against the bullet when the carp is nibbling. I always like, if 
 possible, to bait a pitch or a swim for two or three nights in 
 succession before I go to fish it, so as to draw the fish well on, as 
 in ponds particularly it may take some time before the fish found 
 the bait. If there is any shelter on the bank, as a bush or tree, it 
 is as well to take advantage of it, as the carp is very quick 
 sighted. If there be nothing of the kind it will pay well to 
 stick a hurdle up on end, supporting it with a couple of sticks 
 fixed in the ground. You do not need to get behind it ; it is 
 sufficient if you have it behind you. The carp will soon get used 
 to it, and be careful not to stump about or shake the bank at all,
 
 44 ANGLING. 
 
 or you will see some long waves going out into the depths of the 
 pond. In fact, you cannot be too quiet and unobtrusive with so 
 wary a fish, for though you may at times catch a few fish, par- 
 ticularly small ones, when disregarding these precautions, in the 
 long run you will find it well to observe them. The monks, who 
 particularly cultivated the carp at many of their monasteries, had 
 regular succession ponds for breeding and feeding them ; clear pure 
 water, and plenty of it, running over a sweet gravel bottom being 
 the last stage they went through before being tabled bread 
 and milk and other farinaceous diet being used to fatten and 
 sweeten them. Carp can be rendered very tame, and will take 
 their food from the hands of their attendant in time, being called 
 by a bell, or whistle, or other signal. They have a species of carp 
 in Germany called the spiegel, or mirror carp, which has a singular 
 row of large brilliant scales running along the side. In this 
 country the Prussian and the Crucian carp are often found, 
 though they are much inferior both for table and angling pur- 
 poses to their superior congeners. The gold and silver fish are also 
 carps. The carp has been taken over 201b. in weight in this 
 country, but half that weight is a very large one, and not so very 
 common. Carp live to a very great age. 
 
 THE TENCH (Oyprinus tinea). 
 
 The tench is often found in the same ponds and places as the 
 carp, and they thrive well together. They spawn about a fort- 
 night or three weeks later than the carp, as a rule, and do not 
 reach the same size. A tench of 41 b. is a large one, though I 
 have seen plenty of 51b. or 61b., and they have been known to 
 reach 8lb. or 91b. ; but this is a very unusual size ; a 21b. or 31b. 
 fish is a very good fish. They are even more capricious in their 
 biting than the carp, August and September being, perhaps, the 
 best months for them. They prefer worms to any other bait, 
 though sometimes a bunch of gentles will be found to tempt 
 them ; a red worm, however, is their favourite bait, and, with a 
 No. 7 hook and a couple of red worms neatly strung on,
 
 THE TENCH. 45 
 
 the angler should take tench if they are inclined to feed at 
 all. I remember formerly to have read that it was a good 
 plan to dip the red worm in tar, but I cannot believe it, as 
 tar is usually death to fish of all kinds, and utterly abhorrent 
 to them ; but the old writers were fond of strange theories 
 many of which I have proved to be utterly false. I once 
 spoilt a capital day's trouting by keeping my worms in fennel 
 by the advice of some old writer perhaps he had our friend 
 Greville in his mind, and not the herb of that name which 
 did not agree with the fish at all ; for they no sooner took it 
 in their mouths than they spat it out again in apparent disgust, 
 and I lost scores of good bites, till I had at last to hunt for 
 others in a pelting rain, when I did better bad as the 
 substitute was. The tackle for tench should be a light float, 
 fineish gut, and No. 7 hook. The rod and line should be similar 
 to those noted for carp fishing. Plumb the depth so that the 
 worm may just touch or rest on the bottom, and ground bait with 
 chopped worms and gentles, as the tench does not affect farina- 
 ceous food. When the tench bites, like the carp he nibbles a 
 good deal before he takes, and will often, after niggling the float 
 up and down for a minute or two, turn away from it, and even 
 leave it altogether. When he does this, I have often quickened 
 his appetite by drawing the worm slowly away from him, when, 
 thinking he is going to lose it, he will often rush at it and bolt it 
 at once ; this would probably frighten the carp, but it frequently 
 has the opposite effect on the tench ; when the float slowly sinks 
 and streaks away towards the middle of the pond, you may 
 strike and do your best. Tench are very fond of weeds, and will 
 often abound in small ponds which are quite full of them and 
 impossible to fish. In such cases I have often had good sport 
 by setting a man to work to rake away a clear space of some 
 twenty or thirty or more feet square ; bait this well once or twice, 
 and you may chance to get a good day's sport in it ; and do not 
 be in a hurry to leave off, for as long as you can see your float 
 the tench will keep on biting, particularly on a warm, still 
 evening and often better then than in the broad daylight.
 
 46 ANGLING. 
 
 Tench are a very slimy fish, and when cooked this slime should 
 be wiped or scraped off ; but they are a much better fish for the 
 table in an ordinary way than carp, being succulent and nourish- 
 ing food. The old story of the tench being gifted with medicinal 
 properties is, of course, pure nonsense, his slime not being an 
 equivalent for "parmacetti" for any wound "inward" or 
 outward. Both carp and tench are remarkable for the long 
 time they can live out of the water, if only kept a little damp ; 
 and in cool weather they may be transported almost any reason- 
 able distance in damp moss. The stories of the endurance of 
 tench under these circumstances are endless. I once carried one 
 160 miles in only a damp cloth, and he was quite lively at the 
 end of his journey. The golden tench, or gold schley, a remark- 
 able species of tench of a bright yellow gold colour, was brought 
 to this country years ago by Mr. Higford Burr, of Aldermaston, 
 and has bred and thriven well with him, and may be seen in 
 many of our aquariums, where it is a conspicuous object. Like 
 the carp, tench abound in many of the ponds and reservoirs 
 round London, capital takes being often made in the Welsh 
 Harp waters by the frequenters of the place. The largest I have 
 seen are in Sir John Gibbons's water, near Staines, where they 
 are plentiful and very large likewise shy. 
 
 THE PEECH (Percafluviatilis). 
 
 The perch has been called a bold biting fish, and, as a rule, I 
 think he is ; though there are times when a big perch is 
 anything but rash in his proceedings. When full fed, towards 
 the middle or end of summer, and king of his favourite eddy, he 
 will inspect with perfect caution and care any bait that may be 
 offered him ; and though, at the same time, if you happen upon 
 a warm corner, you may haul out a dozen or two chubby fellows 
 of three or four to the pound, your two-pound perch exercises 
 a nice discrimination in the selection of his food ; and though 
 you may even see him chevying the minnows and small fry 
 about in all directions, yet, if you intrude yours in his
 
 THE PEECH. 47 
 
 way, his taking it is anything but a certainty. Wait till the 
 winter, when there have been floods and frost, when food 
 has been short, and he, in common with fifty others, is sharp 
 set; then truly you may come to terms with him, and his 
 biting will be as bold as you can desire. 
 
 There are various ways of fishing for perch, viz., by the pater- 
 noster, which is the best way ; by float ; by putting live bait on a 
 ledger, in which way I have taken many while reaching or gudgeon- 
 ing ; and by spinning a minnow or spoon, which last way will be 
 described hereafter more particularly ; it is sufficient to say 
 here that the bait is put on to a tackle, and in such a way that 
 it revolves rapidly when drawn through the water, and many 
 perch are thus taken by trailing with a long line behind the boat 
 when rowing slowly over a lake or against stream on a river. As 
 regards the paternoster, it consists of a plummet or bullet at the 
 end of about oft. or 6ft. of gut ; just above the plummet a hook is 
 fixed on about 5in. or Gin. of gut ; about lOin. or a foot above 
 this is fixed another, on Gin. or Tin. of gut, and at a like 
 distance above, if necessary, a third. These hooks are about 
 No. 4 or 5 in size and short in the shank. The gut should be 
 moderate, not too fine nor too coarse, but a shade or two finer 
 than the main line of the paternoster. The paternosters sold at 
 the shops, with big shots, gutta-percha cylinders, and hogs' 
 bristles, are simply rubbish. The best way to make one is to 
 take 2yds. of gut, loop on your lead, then tie a loop on the gut 
 about 3in. or 4in. above, into which loop your first hook, and 
 repeat the process as directed with the other hooks, and the less 
 lashing or whipping, shots or gutta-percha about the tackle the 
 better, as, though the perch is a bold-biting fish, he is not quite 
 a fool. Loop this on to the running line, and hook a minnow, or 
 small gudgeon, or any other small fry, on to each hook, through 
 the lip, and you are all ready for action. Some people like a 
 worm on the bottom hook for a change ; it is not a bad plan, as 
 it affords a choice. If there are pike about, it is a good plan to 
 substitute for the top hook a small triangle tied on gimp, and 
 to use a rather larger bait on it, hooked through the back fin.
 
 48 ANGLING. 
 
 In this way you will avoid losing your gut hooks and often take 
 good pike. When you fish, drop the plummet into the water and 
 let it find the bottom, and keep a tight line, so as to feel the 
 slightest bite. If no bite comes in half a minute or so, draw 
 the plummet gently to the right or left about a yard ; fish 
 the water within reach all round you ; having finished that, 
 swing the plummet a yard or two further away from you, and 
 fish that line of water in the same manner, and so keep on 
 casting further and further until you have fished all the water 
 you want to, when go on to another spot. In punting you do 
 just the same choosing the likely spots, of which the eddies are 
 the best just off the edge of the stream. When these are large, 
 as on the Thames after floods and frost, many perch will 
 frequently be found congregated ; the head " or first turn or two 
 of the eddy and close to the stream will always be found the 
 favourite spot, as it is there that the food is first driven in from 
 the stream. When you have to make longer casts beyond 
 the command of the rod, you work the line back a foot at a time 
 until the plummet is under the rod point once more, when cast 
 again but not twice to the same spot, unless you have a bite or a 
 fish there, then stick to that spot as long as the fish bite. It 
 requires a good puntsman, who is well up to his work, to 
 manage his punt properly and manipulate the baits. The 
 best plan is, if two anglers are engaged, for them to stand 
 side by side in the stern, each bringing his fish round on his 
 own side to the puntsman, who lands them, takes them off, 
 and rebaits. In this way, with a friend, I have often taken 
 a bushel of fine perch in a day on the Upper Thames, in 
 February. When you feel a bite do not strike at the first 
 touch, but when it is repeated strike smartly, and take care 
 you do not scratch and lose your fish, as, if you do, you will 
 too often find that the story that a scratched perch frightens 
 the rest is no fable, and though it does not always hold 
 good, it very often does ; and if you lose two or three it is 
 pretty nearly a certainty. Where the water is not deep and 
 is pretty clear, two hooks will be enough ; but in coloured water of
 
 THE PERCH. 49 
 
 six or eight feet, I like three. Perch choese a quiet eddy, not 
 a wild one, and the big ones always rest nearest to the edge 
 of the stream, as the best feeding place, and a big perch prefers 
 a fat little gudgeon to a small minnow he has an eye for 
 size when hungry. I like the bottom hook pretty close to 
 the bottom, as the bait always strikes up towards the surface ; 
 and if the hook is fixed high up, it will not easily be seen 
 by the perch which happen to be on the bottom, and which are 
 always the majority. You may take hold of a few more 
 weeds, but that cannot be helped. The loss of a perch hook 
 or two is not of much consequence, and is nothing to the 
 loss of a score or two of perch. When gudgeon fishing, a 
 paternoster laid out beside the swim is often very effective. 
 The gudgeon congregate to feed on the larva and worms, 
 and the perch congregate to feed on the gudgeon, and, if you 
 are on the look-out, you will feed on the perch. 
 
 The next best method is to fish with a float and two hooks, one 
 near the bottom and one a foot higher, the lower baited with 
 worm, the upper with minnow ; and there are times, in the 
 summer, when the fish are shy, that they will take float 
 tackle better than paternoster. There is little to be told of 
 this style : when the float bobs, which it does usually smartly, 
 give the fish time and you cannot miss him ; a somewhat 
 smaller hook does for float tackle, as you give more time. 
 In the summer the streams are the best place for perch ; 
 with the autumn they get into the eddies, and near old 
 locks and hatches. In lakes, the shallow weedy-bottomed bays 
 are the home of the perch. Trailing is often the best plan 
 here, but if you can find a clear bottom the float or paternoster 
 may do. Perch take the spoon well, but they take the 
 artificial bait known as the otter better. This is a triangular 
 bit of metal, silvered on one side, copper on the other, 
 and revolving o n a spindle. There are numbers of artificial 
 baits and minnows, but none better than this I think 
 it even beats the natural minnow, as it both shows and spins 
 better. I have taken hundreds of perch in the Irish lakes with
 
 50 ANGLING. 
 
 them, and it beats the spoon two to one at least, that is my 
 experience. Some people paint it red on one side instead of copper, 
 and attach a small bunch of gay feathers, but I do not know 
 that it much improves it. I have no doubt, also, that Mr. 
 Hoarder's plano-convex spinner, which is contrived on a 
 somewhat similar principle, would be an excellent perch lure, 
 as it is for all kinds of other fish that take spinning baits, 
 both in fresh and salt water. Perch sometimes take a gentle, but 
 worms and small fish are their favourite food, and they will 
 often take an artificial fly, but, save in one place, where it was 
 often used, I never knew it to be a recognised way of fishing for 
 them. Perch often abound so in ponds that they never grow 
 above half a pound weight, and few, perhaps, reach that over- 
 crowding and want of food, no doubt, is the reason. Perch occa- 
 sionally reach three and four pounds weight and even bigger, but 
 are not so very common of that size ; a two-pound fish is a very 
 handsome fish, and not to be despised. There are plenty of that 
 size in the Thames. They have been known to reach eleven pounds 
 in this country ; but a five or six pound fish is decidedly rare. The 
 rod for paternostering should be about ten or eleven feet 
 long, with upright rings, pretty stiff and strong, as it often has 
 heavy weights to stand. A friend of mine on the Kennet once 
 had three perch on his paternoster at the same time. He 
 estimated them at close on seven pounds together ; one got off, 
 but he landed the other two. The line, too, should be moderately 
 strong eight-plait dressed silk.
 
 THE PIKE. 51 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE PIKE (Esox Indus). 
 
 THE pike has a widish range, being found all over Europe, and 
 having two or three representatives in America. In this country 
 we have all sorts of stories extant of the enormous size at which 
 they have been taken ; but somewhere about seventy pounds seems 
 to be the outside that we may take it has really been captured, 
 and an angler may count himself fortunate if in the course of 
 his life he ever gets on equal terms with one half that size. 
 Twenty-pounds pike are now sufficiently common much more 
 so than they were formerly ; but every pound above twenty-five 
 adds more and more to their rarity ; while thirty or over are by 
 no means common. The Lillieshall pike story has many of the ' 
 elements of fable about it, and all the elements of gross 
 exaggeration ; while the Manheim pike reached much of his 
 length by supplementary vertebrae which never belonged to him. 
 Pike may be caught 1st, by spinning ; 2ndly, by live bait ; 
 3rdly, by trolling these being the three chief ways of taking 
 him. The most sportsmanlike, as well as the most attractive 
 and lively, is undoubtedly by spinning, and next to that the 
 dead gorge or trolling comes in, and lastly the live bait. 
 Besides this, pike are sometimes taken with a huge fly made of 
 peacocks' and other feathers, which resembles more a sort of 
 glorified gilded duckling than anything else. 
 
 The art of spinning consists of placing a fish bait on a set of 
 hooks in such a manner that when the bait is drawn through the 
 
 E 2
 
 52 ANGLING. 
 
 water it revolves rapidly, and to this end tbe body is either bent, or 
 the tail crooked, so as to give a sort of Archimedian screw principle 
 to the whole apparatus. The tackle used is of two parts the trace 
 or line to facilitate the spinning, and the flight of hooks on which 
 the bait is to be hung. The trace consists of two lengths 
 (each about two feet long) of gimp, twisted gut, or single 
 gut, with a swivel at either end, and one between the 
 two lengths. Just above the second swivel (from the bait) 
 the lead or sinker should be attached. This is sometimes 
 a chain of shot, &c., &c., but there is nothing so good 
 as a pipe lead threaded on a bit of copper wire, as this can 
 be put on or taken off the trace at any moment, and heavier 
 or lighter lead substituted ; and if the lead be made rather 
 flat on one side, and pot-bellied on the other, as in the 
 adjoining cut it will prevent the tackle from twisting above 
 the second swivel, and so prevent hanking or snarling of the 
 line, which is sometimes very troublesome to the spinner. 
 
 The flight of hooks is a matter which has caused great 
 consideration. They must allow the bait to spin well, and 
 they must be placed so as to take the best hold of the fish ; 
 and they should be as little visible as possible to the squeamish 
 pike ; for pike often are mighty squeamish, and will follow a 
 bait for yards without taking it if they see anything suspicious 
 about it. Now, the old-fashioned three-triangle tackle with 
 a sliding lip and a reversed tail hook is that which obtains 
 the most general favour ; at Plate 1, Figs. 6 and 7, this may be seen 
 plain and baited. The tail triangle should be inserted in the middle 
 of the tail, the tail drawn up into a crook, and the reversed hook 
 inserted to keep it so. The next triangle should be inserted some- 
 where under the end of the dorsal fin, and the third at the shoulder ; 
 two or three turns of the tackle are taken round the shank of 
 the lip hook, so as to bring it to the right place, and it is then 
 hooked through the lips of the bait (through the lower lip 
 first), and the bait is armed. The great object is to let all 
 the hooks lie evenly, easily, and in a line, for if the 
 line in which they lie be crooked, or the space between

 
 THE PIKE. 53 
 
 each hook and triangle be not justly apportioned, the bait 
 will not spin properly, and the hooks must be re-adjusted 
 till it does. If the young fisherman can get half-an-hour's 
 counsel from an old Thames puntsman, he will learn more 
 from seeing it done than he will by reading about it to any 
 extent. At Plate 2, figs. 1 and 2, will be seen plans of two 
 other tackles. No. 1 is Mr. Fennel's, and No. 2 is mine. The 
 method of baiting the last is shown at Fig. 3. I give the prefe- 
 rence by far to my own plan, as it spins a bait admirably, particu- 
 larly with small and moderate sized baits ; and when once the 
 bait does spin well it prevents it from ever getting out of spinning, 
 and it preserves the bait for double or treble as long as any 
 other tackle does, and when baits are scarce that is no slight 
 consideration. I have fished a whole day for large Thames 
 trout with two baits, and they never got out of gear till 
 they got a tug from a fish. The tackle has this further 
 advantage, that it shows less than any other, and the chief 
 triangle stands out so well that it cannot easily miss the fish. 
 For large trout or moderate sized pike baits, to my mind, 
 it is better than any other. I once killed ten pike at Lord 
 Craven's with it, which averaged 131b. each, and I did not 
 lose a fish. When I need to use larger baits, I prefer Mr. 
 Wood's adaptation of the Chapman spinner, as more satisfactory 
 in every way. I shall refer to this presently. However, every- 
 body does not hold my opinion, so I have given plans of the 
 other tackles. There are many other arrangements of hooks, 
 but these are much the best. The directions given for putting 
 a bait on refer to fish such as the dace, gudgeon, or any small 
 fish of like rounded shape ; with a bleak or roach the method 
 slightly differs. The body of the fish must be set on the hooks, 
 not straight with a mere crook to the tail, but in something 
 of a bow like the outline of the bowl of a spoon. (See Plate 2, fig. 3.) 
 The Nottingham spinners get a very good spin out of a roach by 
 means of only two good-sized triangles and a lip hook. They 
 hook the lowest into the back, behind the dorsal fin, give the 
 body a slight bend, then hook the second into the shoulder
 
 54 ANGLING. 
 
 of the bait, pass the thread of gimp through the gills, and 
 out of the mouth, fix the lip hook, and the bait spins well. 
 
 Of all the artificial aids to spinning there is only one which 
 I think worth notice, and that is the Chapman spinner ; and 
 until Mr. Wood devised his method of arming it, which over- 
 comes the objections to it, I had but a small opinion of that. 
 The Chapman spinner is a piece of brass wire with a lead 
 cast on to it, and a pair of Archimedian fans at the head, 
 and two sets of triangle hooks hanging from either side, but 
 in the original Chapman these were fixed, as was the gimp 
 with which it was attached, to the trace. The wire and 
 lead were thrust into the belly of the bait, the hooks 
 hooked on either side. The result was that after some 
 little use the hooks worked loose, and the mouth of the bait 
 originally close up to the fan of the apparatus dropped 
 away from it, and there was a gap between the head of the bait 
 and the fan ; and as the lead and wire got play the whole thing 
 worked more and more loose, and the spinning became affected, 
 besides the fan being half an inch or more apart from the head. 
 Mr. Wood's improvement was to make a loop of the gimp on 
 which the two sets of hooks were fastened, which slid through 
 the eye of the wire as shown in Plate 2, fig. 4 ; thus when 
 the spinner was baited, the loop sliding always kept the 
 mouth of the bait close to the fan. This is now a capital 
 method, as it preserves the baits wonderfully well, so that you 
 may often catch two, three, or more fish with one bait. All you 
 have to do is to graduate your fans to the size of your bait, 
 increasing the size of them as you use a larger bait. I also 
 flatten the lead and widen it as much as I can to prevent any 
 turning round in the belly of the bait. 
 
 Having now described the tackle and the method of baiting it, 
 I proceed to the rod and line, and then to the modus operandi. 
 The rod used by the London fishers, who are perhaps the best 
 pike fishers in the world, is a rod about 12ft. or 13ft. long, 
 pretty stout, being capable of standing plenty of wear and tear 
 and a good pull, with upright rings to let the line pass easily
 
 THE PIKE. 55 
 
 and tops of two stiffnesses and lengths, one to take heavier baits 
 and larger fish, and, therefore, shorter and stiff er than the 
 other which is for ordinary work. Many anglers like these rods 
 to be made of strong bamboo, as being somewhat lighter in a 
 long day's work ; I, however, much prefer solid wood, either of 
 hickory or greenheart, as the weight, not falling on any one 
 set of muscles, and being a good deal thrown on the thigh or hip 
 while spinning, is of no consequence ; while, I think, solid wood 
 stands long and heavy work better than bamboo, and if you 
 chance upon a heavy fish of from 121b. to 201b., or even more 
 (as one may sometimes), you feel more at home and more safe 
 with him. I think, too, that a solid rod, if properly made, 
 has a better spring and casts a better bait than cane. The 
 rod should have a large button on the end of the butt to rest 
 against the hip comfortably ; those of rubber are best as they 
 do not slip. The line should be of eight-plait dressed silk, not 
 too coarse or thick, as it does not run so freely through the rings, 
 and not too fine, or it will not stand the work, and is apt not 
 only to wear out speedily but to tangle and kink when it gets 
 wet. This kinking in pike spinning is sometimes a great nuisance. 
 It comes from the swivels not working properly, and the spin- 
 ning being continued up the running line ; and the best way to 
 prevent it is to have most of your swivels below the lead, and to use 
 a Field lead, the balance of which, being all on one side, prevents 
 all the line above it from turning round or spinning. Always after 
 using your lines and this applies to all lines before putting 
 them away, unreel them and wind them round the back of a 
 chair to dry thoroughly, or they will very soon rot. In choosing 
 a line pick out one that is not too hard in the dressing, or you 
 may find the dressing crack at intervals in using, and your line 
 become a sort of chain, in links as it were, with soft places every 
 foot or two. Neither should it be damp or sticky, or in a very 
 short time you will find the dressing wear off. Choose one that 
 feels dry and firm in the grasp, but not wiry, and always give it 
 a trial by a strongish tug before purchasing, as these dressed lines, 
 owing to some bad material either in the substance or the
 
 56 ANGLING. 
 
 dressing, are not unfrequently rendered utterly rotten by the dress- 
 ing. Some people when they have worn off the dressing have their 
 lines re-dressed, but they are very seldom worth it. Choose a 
 line about 50yds. or 60yds. long, so that when one end begins 
 to wear you can turn it end for end and use the other. When 
 both are worn, if the line has been a good one and has been 
 fairly treated, it does not owe you much, and you had better, for 
 your own comfort and satisfaction, buy another ; a winch with a 
 light check action is the best. 
 
 We now come to the modus operandi. Having run your 
 line through the rings, fastened on the trace and hooks and 
 baited the latter, raise the rod with the butt resting against 
 your thigh or hip, the bait hanging down to about half 
 the length of the rod. Draw off the reel as much line as you 
 think you can cast, and let it lie at your feet (usually on the left 
 side) in loose coils, but so that there may be no catch or tangle. 
 Then holding the line to the rod, with the right hand above the 
 reel and grasping the rod with the left below the reel, wave the 
 rod backwards to give the bait a swing, and having done so 
 reverse the motion and wave it forwards more smartly, giving it 
 a heave at the same time towards the point you want your bait 
 to reach, and release the line held tight to the rod by the right 
 hand at the same moment. The bait will fly towards the spot 
 you aim at, carrying the line which was on the ground beside 
 you out through the rings to its fullest extent, and, if you have 
 managed it properly, will fall into the water with a slight splash 
 twenty, thirty, or forty yards away ; then giving the bait a 
 moment or two to sink, according to the depth of the water you 
 are fishing, lower the point of the rod till it is about parallel with 
 the surface of the water. The butt of the rod should be rested on 
 the hip or thigh, and then with the left hand draw the line home 
 through the rings about a yard at a time, and let it fall at your 
 side, raising and plying the rod at every pull to make the bait 
 shoot and dart in the water ; and if this be done properly it should 
 come spinning and darting along in a way very attractive to the 
 pike, who, if inclined to feed, will often dash at it and single it
 
 THE PIKE. 57 
 
 out among a crowd of baits. When the pike seizes it you will 
 feel a check or a drag, more or less pronounced, at the rod top. 
 Strike directly and smartly, and then hold him hard for a minute 
 or two if you can, so as to be sure that the hooks work home over 
 the barbs ; for a pike's mouth is very hard and gristly, and if two 
 or three hooks chance to stick in, it requires much force to make 
 them penetrate over the barbs ; and if they do not so penetrate, 
 the first time the pike opens his mouth and shakes his head, 
 away come the hooks and you lose your fish. When this happens 
 cast again directly without losing a second if your bait is still on, 
 no matter whether it spins or no, and it is not more than 
 about three to one that he will not seize it again directly. If, how- 
 ever, you give him time while you are adjusting the bait, &c., 
 reflection will probably make him wary. 
 
 There are all sorts of theories as regards striking, but 
 none of them are infallible, and none can always be done 
 so as to have the desired effect. The alteration in the 
 position of the fish makes all the difference, and, as there 
 are about fifteen or twenty various points of the compass 
 whence a fish may come at the bait, and every one 
 alters the position, and consequently the result of the strike, 
 perhaps one way is as good as another ; so strike as is most 
 convenient to yourself, strike hard, and hold on, and with all 
 that and every improvement in tackle, nothing will prevent you 
 losing fish at times. If fish are taking well, the hooks are 
 large, and the tackle sound, and you hit 'em hard, you will lose 
 very few, if the reverse obtains you may lose a good many. As 
 to how to play him, do your best, hang on to him, and give no 
 line unless you can't help it ; a slack line is the abomination 
 of desolation and usually produces desolation. Beyond all, if 
 you can, keep your fish deep in the water, and as far as you 
 are able and that is not very far don't have any of that ill- 
 judged tumbling or shaking on the top of the water. When a pike 
 grins and flies and barks at you, like Mr. Briggs's, on the surface, it is 
 dangerous ; drop the rod point and drown the line as much as you 
 can, and don't, whatever you do, pull at him ; let him have his
 
 58 ANGLING. 
 
 head free, or it is about ten to one you pull the hooks out with 
 his assistance. The shakers are the worst sect among pike, 
 and the jumpers the next ; particularly big ones will often 
 go to weed. They rush head first into a bank as big 
 as a horse or perhaps an elephant, and grip fast hold of 
 a big bunch with their teeth, and leave you to pull at the 
 weed. It is about a hundred to one here that they do you. 
 All the best pike I ever hooked, say a dozen perhaps, got 
 off in that way. I imagine that with the help of the weed they 
 chew the hooks into it, and out of them, for you always find weed 
 on the hooks after one of these feats showing that they have had 
 it in their mouths. "What are you to do in such a case?" 
 Well, as I couldn't tell then, I can't tell now ; if a twenty-five or 
 thirty pound pike will go into weed you may break your rod over 
 him or your line, or both ; but you won't prevent him. In fact 
 there is no " statute in that case made or provided," and as 
 the Yankees say, "you must just do your darndest, I calc'late ;" 
 whatever that may be. Be careful in landing your fish ; get him 
 in the net as soon as you can, but do it carefully and cleanly, 
 no bungling or dashing, but a big steady scoop and a lift up, 
 and take care he does not jump out or tumble out and leave the 
 hooks in the net. I had that happen once to an eight-pound fish, 
 and my poor old friend Frank Matthews, the actor, caught the 
 same fish a quarter of an hour after, and his head is grinning at 
 me now from the opposite wall in memoriam, and that was 
 twenty-seven years ago. Dear me! My phiz has altered more 
 than yours, I expect, old acquaintance, for I can't get Coopered* 
 like you were. When you land your fish, unless you want to 
 put him in the well or keep him alive, knock him on the head at 
 once before he tangles your tackle into twenty heaps in the net, 
 or breaks it in his flounces. Then extract the hooks carefully, 
 and mind your fingers, a pair of stout tweezers and Eolfe's pike 
 gag are useful here ; in default of the latter, stick a bung 
 
 * Alluding to my old acquaintance, Mr. Cooper, the fish stuffer, who 
 " set him up " now, alas ! gone from amongst us. P. P.
 
 THE PIKE. 59 
 
 in his mouth to keep it safely open during the extraction. 
 A disgorger (see Plate 2, fig. 5) to push out the hooks is also useful. 
 Look the tackle over carefully to see that there are no breaks or 
 injury, and then re-bait, and at it again. Take 'em while they're 
 in the humour, as that doesn't happen all day long with 
 pike, but often only for an hour or so, when all your work 
 must be done. In the chief season for pike fishing, viz., 
 from November to February, inclusive, the best time runs 
 from eleven to three in the day. You may, of course, catch 
 fish before and after that, but that is when the cream rises, 
 so mind you skim it carefully. In spinning, fish the water 
 nearest to you first, and then lengthen the casts, and having 
 fished over all the water within reach, move on. The rate 
 at which you spin will be a good deal determined by the 
 depth of the water. In deeper water you must spin more 
 slowly than in shallow, so as to give the fish more time 
 both to see and to secure the bait ; and the lead, of course, 
 must be suited to the depth of the water. It will often happen 
 that you have water to fish over where the weeds often approach 
 very near the surface, and when, consequently, you need to 
 spin as near it as possible over the top of the weeds. In 
 this event, of course, you use no lead at all, the weight of 
 the bait and line being quite enough ; and you must also 
 get the draw on the line as soon as possible, before even the 
 bait makes to the weeds, or you will certainly have to make 
 a fresh cast. Pike big pike, especially only feed at intervals of 
 a day or two, or even longer, when they take a big meal, and then, 
 like boa-constrictors, take time to digest it ; the angler should re- 
 member this ; it may sometimes save him from disappointment 
 when going for some special "big 'un." All sorts of artificial 
 spinning baits are used for pike. Spoons, otters, phantoms, gutter- 
 percha fish of all sorts, glass baits, plano-convexes, and kill devils : 
 their name is legion. A good-sized spoon is often as good 
 as any. All or any of them may be had at most of the 
 fishing-tackle makers, and the angler can take his choice. 
 After spinning, the next method of taking pike is that called
 
 60 ANGLING. 
 
 trolling, with a dead gorge bait. The dead gorge hook is 
 composed of a piece of twisted brass wire, with an eye at 
 one end and a pair of hooks at the other ; and from the 
 hooks to some distance up the wire there is cast on to the 
 apparatus a long plummet of lead (see Plate 2, fig. 7). To the eye 
 of the wire is fastened ten inches or so of gimp. When this hook is 
 to be baited, a baiting needle is used (Fig. 6), the loop of the gimp 
 being slipped into the eye of the needle, as shown in the 
 cut. A gudgeon, dace, or other small fish, suitable to the 
 size of the hook, is then selected, the point of the needle 
 inserted into the mouth of the bait, passed down along the 
 backbone of the fish, and out at the tail. The gimp is 
 then pulled through, the apparatus following it until the 
 lead is buried in the body of the bait, the hooks remaining 
 outside in either side of the mouth. The tail is then lashed 
 round with a piece of thread so as to secure it from slipping 
 down (Plate 2, fig. 8), the needle is then disengaged, and the bait 
 looped on to the trace, which is usually about a yard of gimp, 
 with one biggish swivel attached. The trace having been pre- 
 viously knotted to the reel or running line, all is now 
 ready for action, the same rod and line as is used 
 for spinning sufficing. This tackle is more often used in weedy 
 places than not, as it does not catch in the weeds like a spinning 
 tackle. Drop the bait into the water to the full extent of the 
 rod, letting it go almost to the bottom, which it will do with a 
 shoot, then pull it up with short irregular jerks to the surface, 
 making it rise and fall, and shoot hither and thither, which it 
 will do ; and having fished all the water within reach, pitch it 
 a yard or two further out, and so on till you have tested 
 thoroughly all the water within your reach. When you get a 
 bite you will feel a sudden snatch drop the line and the point of 
 the rod instantly, and let the fish do what he pleases and go where 
 he likes with the bait, giving out line freely to him, for if you 
 check him he will probably spit out the bait and you will lose 
 your run. When the fish has taken the bait he will require 
 from seven to eight minutes to swallow or pouch it, and you
 
 THE PIKE. 61 
 
 must let him have that space of time accordingly as you think 
 him large or small, as the large one will probably get your bait 
 down sooner than a small one, but you must beware of striking 
 too soon ; one thing is sure, that if you do not at first you will 
 soon learn to by losing your fish. When the time is up raise 
 your rod point smartly and hold on as well as you can, as being 
 probably in the midst of a lot of weeds the less line you give 
 the better. Sometimes when a fish takes he will not go two 
 yards from the spot, but will lie still and pouch at his ease ; 
 sometimes, however, he will go away twenty yards or more, and 
 in the midst of pouching even will move off again, hauling your 
 line through masses of weeds, which is not pleasant but has to 
 be endured. Then you must do your best not to check him, 
 nor if you can help it to get entangled in the weeds. No advice 
 can be given on this head. You must just do the best you can. 
 and be guided by circumstances. If after the fish has been only 
 five or six minutes pouching he begins to move off, he has 
 probably already swallowed the bait and you may chance 
 striking him if you like to risk it, and often will land your fish ; 
 but now and then you will lose him, which, when he moves like 
 that, you may aiblins do whether you strike or no. The most 
 aggravating part of the process is when you have waited 
 patiently for the regulation ten minutes every minute seeming 
 ten at least to strike and find that your fish has left you pro- 
 bably some eight minutes and a half or so. Indeed the 
 waiting is a great trial, and it is not a method of pike fishing I 
 hanker after, though in very weedy places it is not only the best 
 but often the only method possible. The worst of it is that you 
 must kill all the fish you hook whether they are big or little ; 
 and you often thus are obliged to kill small undersized fish, 
 which is very objectionable. 
 
 The last method of pike fishing, and perhaps the most killing 
 of all, is angling with the live bait. This may be done with 
 the paternoster, as already described. For this one or at most 
 two hooks are held to be sufficient. The lowest hook should be 
 almost a foot above the plummet, and the upper according to the
 
 62 ANGLING. 
 
 depth of the water, from one foot to eighteen inches above it. 
 
 Some persons use a stoutish single hook for this purpose, a size 
 
 or so larger than that used for perch, and of course tied on 
 
 gimp, the trace or tackle to which the hooks are fastened being 
 
 of three-ply twisted gut or gimp. I like the former, as being 
 
 less visible. As regards the hooks, however, instead of single 
 
 hooks I prefer moderate-sized triangles, as, the pike's mouth 
 
 being rough and gristly, one hook is apt to give out where two 
 
 hold firmly. The bait should be either a small gudgeon, roach, 
 
 or dace. They must not be too large, as the object is to get the 
 
 pike to take the whole of the bait into his mouth at a gulp, 
 
 which he will not do if it is too large, when you will lose your 
 
 fish. In small baits it is best to hook them on through the lip, 
 
 as they live longer, and are more lively so ; but in baits a size or 
 
 so larger you should hook them on through the root of the back 
 
 fin. The method of using a paternoster- for pike is just the 
 
 same as that used in perch fishing, only it is best when you get 
 
 a bite to give the pike a little more time before striking if 
 
 possible ; and when you do strike him take care never to slacken 
 
 line more than you can help, or he gets off too easily. When 
 
 pike come into your swim while barbel or roach fishing, you 
 
 may often put a bait on the ledger hook with effect ; but it is as 
 
 well to put a gimp hook on before doing so. The most common 
 
 method of fishing with the live bait, however, is to use a float 
 
 and a single bait. This float should be a big-bellied one, made 
 
 of cork, and shaped like an egg. They are made from the size 
 
 of a bantam's egg for small baits up to a common hen's egg for 
 
 large ones, and the tackle must be leaded sufficiently to keep 
 
 the bait down in the water ; and to prevent its coming up to the 
 
 top a small pistol bullet generally suffices for this purpose, or an 
 
 ordinary spinning lead, equal to the work, is better still, as less 
 
 liable to catch in weeds ; this being threaded on the tackle about 
 
 a foot above the bait, is either plugged or compressed at the 
 
 ends, so as to secure it on the line, and keep it in its place. If 
 
 painted green it is less remarkable in clear water. The tackle 
 
 used is either that known as live snap tackle or live gorge
 
 PLATE 3.
 
 THE PIKE. 63 
 
 tackle. The first is arranged so that the hooks may hang 
 beside and about the middle of the belly of the bait, so that 
 when the pike seizes the bait which he usually does cross- 
 wise the head and tail of the bait lying to either side of his 
 jaws, the belly and the attendant hooks are inside his 
 mouth, and you can then strike at once as soon as your 
 float goes well down without further delay, and about 
 seven times in ten you will hook your fish. In the other 
 three it will mostly happen that the hooks are outside his 
 mouth, or that in seizing them he has so disarranged them 
 that they do not take a fair hold. There are various snap 
 tackles. The best of them, as I think, is the single hook 
 and triangle. In the Figs. 1 and 2, Plate 3, the tackle is shown 
 unbaited and baited. In this one the single hook is fixed, but 
 some persons prefer a single hook that slides on a single eye like 
 the lip hook in spinning tackle. The distance, then, being judged, 
 two or three turns of the gimp are made round the shank to fix 
 it. The hook is put through the lips of the bait, and the triangle 
 is hitched up with a slight hold behind the dorsal fin. This 
 method is thought to keep the bait alive longer. Those who 
 prefer it can adopt it ; but if the fish will take the snap 
 tackle at all I find the other quite effective enough. All 
 that you want to bear in mind is not to use any more rough- 
 ness, nor to make longer throws, than is necessary, so that 
 the bait may not be knocked about too much. But in 
 the Thames, and other waters like it, where the fish are much 
 fished for, they get oftentimes very shy, and the appear- 
 ance of so many large hooks about the bait will often deter pike 
 from taking it in this case the method of fishing with live 
 gorge tackle is employed. I give illustrations at Fig. 3, 
 Plate 3, of this tackle, baited and unbaited. To bait it you 
 take a baiting needle, and, slipping the loop of the gimp into 
 the eye, insert the point of the needle into the skin at the 
 shoulder, and, pushing the needle along under the skin, 
 bring it out near the tail; and then drawing the gimp 
 down until the pair of hooks are arrested by the skin, take
 
 64 ANGLING. 
 
 off the needle and loop the gimp on to the trace. With 
 this tackle you can make longer throws without losing your 
 bait than you can with the snap hooks. When your float 
 goes down you must give the pike time to pouch ; and wherever 
 he goes you must let off line so as not to check him in his run 
 in the least, or he will leave the bait. Indeed, he will often do 
 so whether checked or no, and not unfrequently with snap 
 tackle will cut the bait off, and leave your hook or line fast 
 in a weed, which is trying to the feelings. When he has 
 pouched, which will be in from five to eight or ten minutes, 
 strike, and get out your fish as well as you can. I confess that I 
 am not much enamoured of this style of fishing, and 
 seldom adopt it, as it is not only the cause of much suf- 
 fering to the bait, but as the hooks are always down the 
 fish's throat when you hook him, you must kill every fish you 
 hook, and many pound and pound and a half fish fall victims to 
 it, which caught on snap tackle you would return to the water. 
 Still it is a method largely adopted, particularly on the Thames, 
 and I am compelled to notice it. The trace for live baiting 
 should be either of gimp or treble gut, and should have a 
 swivel at each end of the tackle. The lower one, to which the 
 hook link is appended, should be a hook swivel, so that the loop 
 may easily be taken off or put on. On the running or reel line, 
 about a yard or so above the float should be fastened a bit of 
 cork to prevent the line from sinking and entangling with the 
 tackle or bait. The float should be set so that the bait may be 
 a foot or two from the bottom. Of course the presence or 
 absence of weeds will in some measure regulate this matter. In 
 live baiting it is very desirable that your bait should be lively 
 and work well ; when it gets dull and dead in its motions take it 
 off and put on another. If it be a dace or gudgeon, lay it aside 
 for spinning, for which it will do as well as the best. When 
 fish cannot be got for bait, frogs and other things are sometimes 
 used. To bait a frog you want a largeish long shanked hook, 
 and, putting the hook through the under lip, draw it down till 
 the bend reaches the hind leg, when tie the bend on to the frog's
 
 THE PIKE. 65 
 
 thigh with a bit of silk. Artificial frogs, mice, rats, &c., are 
 sometimes used in default of better baits. The head and tail of 
 an eel, too, is used in some places for a rough method of spinning, 
 but no one would use these means who could procure fish ; even 
 the artificial fly is sometimes employed for pike, though perhaps 
 an artificial bird would be the proper name a huge two hooked 
 thing with the eyes of a pair of peacock feathers for wings, and 
 a big fur body well tinselled, is the proper lure ; and when the 
 fish will take it fairly it is by no means an unpleasant method 
 of fishing. Cast it and work it like a salmon fly, of which more 
 anon.
 
 66 ANGLING. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TROUT FISHING WITH BAIT. 
 THE TEOUT (Salmo fario). 
 
 THE trout is very widely distributed, Africa being the only 
 quarter of the globe where it is not found, and as a fish for 
 table or for sporting purposes it is second only to the salmon. 
 Indeed, it is a question whether on the whole, taking into con- 
 sideration the means employed, the trout does not furnish as 
 much or more sport than the salmon ; if nicety and skill 
 are any measure of sport it certainly furnishes far more. 
 
 Every means yet named of fishing for other fish can be 
 employed against the trout bottom fishing with bait of all kinds ; 
 middle fishing, both with spinning and live bait ; and surface 
 fishing, both with natural and artificial fly. In bait fishing 
 the worm, of course, takes the chief place, and there are two 
 ways of worm fishing, one by dropping the worm into the 
 stream, and letting it travel along the bottom while you 
 follow it ; the other by casting up and letting the bait come 
 down towards you. The first method is more generally adopted 
 in thick water after rain. The tackle used is generally a 
 yard or so of gut a No. 4, 5, or 6 round bend hook, with 
 a No. 2 shot, about a foot above the hook, to be increased 
 to two if the stream requires it. The worm used in this 
 fishing is usually a small lob or dew worm being nice and 
 tough it stands some knocking about, and having to travel 
 along the bottom and meet all sorts of obstructions, it requires
 
 TKOUT FISHING WITH BAIT. 67 
 
 that the worm should be big enough to thoroughly cover all 
 the hook, and to leave a bit of the tail beyond the point. The 
 angler, in a large stream, has nothing to do after baiting his 
 tackle, but to drop it into the stream he has selected, to let 
 it find the bottom, and travel along by the weight of the 
 stream unchecked. If the line stops suddenly, or he feels a 
 slight pluck at the line, he probably has a bite. He must not 
 strike directly, or the trout, having only just seized the worm, 
 will not have the point of the hook within his mouth, and the 
 strike would be abortive ; but give him a little line, and let him 
 have a gulp or two, and you can then strike smartly. If at 
 the bite you feel a smart "tug, tug" at the rod point, in all 
 probability the fish will feel it too, and will drop the worm, 
 and will not come again. If the fish are capricious, you will 
 probably lose a good many bites in a day ; for this kind of 
 fishing is by no means the certainty that some people who know 
 nothing about it consider it to be, and you lose as many or more 
 fish in bites at the worm than you do in rises at the fly. When 
 you have had a bite and missed your fish, you will probably 
 have to put on a fresh worm, as the bait will be more or less 
 torn, which trout do not much like, a fresh lively bait always 
 having the call over a stale one. Sometimes when the line 
 stops it has taken hold of a twig or root ; in that case, if you 
 strike, you will probably get so fast hold that a breakage will 
 be needed. The slightest tightness of the line will tell you 
 at once whether it is a fish or no, but this " feeling" a fish 
 is a very delicate ticklish operation, and the fish is very apt to 
 reject the bait when he feels there is something attached to it. 
 This style of fishing is much practised in small brooks, and you 
 may often pull out lots of little speckled fellows from brooks 
 not a yard wide in places ; the small pools caused by falls and 
 rapids being certain finds, and it requires a good deal of skill 
 to guide the line under banks, and past stones, and close by 
 every sheltering tussock bush, or fern, where a trout may make his 
 home ; and to my mind it is a very pretty amusement, which 
 does not require much preparation or tackle and a scramble up 
 
 P2
 
 68 ANGLING. 
 
 a mountain beck after a day's rain is frequently a most 
 delightful expedition. The most deadly way perhaps of worm 
 fishing, is that pursued with the Stewart tackle so called because 
 it was first written about by my late lamented friend the 
 author of " The Practical Angler," who was in his day one 
 of the best all-round trout fishers in Scotland. Instead of one 
 hook of larger size, you use three small ones, tied on at short 
 intervals above one another. I append a sketch of the tackle, 
 Fig. 4, Plate 3 ; the sketch will relieve me of any necessity 
 for explaining the method of baiting, the head of the 
 worm is stuck on the top hook, and a turn being taken round 
 each hook, the tail comes on to the lowest ; the size of the 
 worm must be suited to the hooks. In fine work a good sized 
 brandling suffices. The advantage of this tackle is that you can 
 strike the instant the fish seizes the bait, and you rarely miss 
 your fish. 
 
 In fishing up stream with worm, which is by far the most 
 skilful and killing method, you more often than not are obliged 
 to wade. The tackle used in clear water is of the finest ; a long 
 light rod a very little stiff er than a two handed fly rod for trout 
 is useful. The hooks may either be Stewart's tackle, or a mode- 
 rate sized single round bend. The brandling is the worm more 
 generally used. You enter the stream, making as little dis- 
 turbance as possible, and, letting out as much line as you can 
 conveniently cast, throw the bait as you would a fly, straight up 
 stream, and let it travel down towards you, raising the point of 
 the rod so as to feel the line as it comes home. When the bait 
 has come within reasonable distance, pull it out with a smart, 
 steady drag (no jerking) over your shoulder, as you would a fly, 
 only make the sweep behind less direct and more circular so as 
 to avoid damaging the worm by flicking or sudden checking of 
 it. A good worm fisher can thus cast about twice the length 
 of his rod, and his worm usually touches the surface of the 
 water behind him at nearly every cast. It is not easy to get well 
 into this cast so as to avoid damage to the bait ; when once it is 
 1 earnt, however, it is simple enough ; but, whenever you see the
 
 TEOUT FISHING WITH BAIT. 69 
 
 line stop in its downward course towards you, you must strike, 
 as the bait is often taken in this kind of fishing while still in 
 mid water. If you have to wade, make as little splash or wave 
 as possible, taking a step at every cast, and pitching the bait up 
 into every run and channel that seems likely to hold a trout. 
 Very large bags are often made in this way of fishing. As to 
 whether worm fishing, or for the matter of that any other kind 
 of fishing, is sportsmanlike or not, I don't enter upon it, as 
 these things are governed chiefly by feeling, and the custom of 
 the country, and there is a time-honoured old motto, which says, 
 "What is one man's meat is another man's poison." So much 
 for worm fishing. 
 
 BEETLE, CRAB, or CREEPER FISHING is conducted in precisely the 
 same way as this last. The crab or creeper is the larva of the 
 stone fly, and is found in many sandy, gravelly rivers, up to 
 about the middle of May. Having collected a sufficient stock 
 of them for your fishing, put them in a tin box with wet weeds 
 to keep them moist. I generally use a fragment of bristle on 
 tha shank of the hook, leaving a quarter of an inch or so point- 
 ing upwards and outwards a little, so that when the creeper 
 (which is very soft and easily damaged) is drawn up on to the 
 shank of the hook, it prevents it from slipping down on to the 
 bend, and keeps it in its place. Use a 7 or 8 hook on fine gut, 
 put the point in at the thorax, and bring it out at the tail, draw 
 the creeper upon the shank, which should be just long enough 
 down to the bend to hold it. Use one or two shot on the line as 
 the streams may require, and cast and work it just as you would 
 a worm casting up stream. It is a troublesome bait to fish, it 
 being so often necessary to renew it, owing to its softness, but it 
 is very deadly at times. Always strike whsn the line stops, no 
 matter what causes it, your bait will be spoilt, so you may as well 
 take the benefit of the doubt. The moderate streams are best for 
 the creeper, and even pools ought not to be neglected. In every 
 other respect what has been said of worm fishing applies here. 
 
 DiBBiNa or DAPING (called also SHADE FISHING) for trout 
 resembles the same operation for chub, only you run more on
 
 70 ANGLING. 
 
 flies than you do on insects, beetles, &c., for bait. A big fat 
 greendrake or a couple of big alders, cr even bluebottles being 
 selected in preference the hook being smaller. The method 
 is precisely the same as is given for chub. It is a very deadly 
 way of fishing when pursued skilfully, many big fish which 
 cannot be got at in any other way being captured by it. It is 
 needless to say that the angler must approach the bank with 
 every possible caution, and when he hooks his fish he will often 
 have to hang on to him, as his whereabouts will probably be rooty. 
 Often, too, he will not be able to see the rise at his flies, but 
 will have to trust to his ear or to the sight of some slight 
 dimple on the water caused by the rise or the slightest motion of 
 the line for it need hardly be remarked that if the angler can 
 see the rise of the trout the trout can see him. 
 
 EDDY FISHING, with a small quill float and a wasp grub, or a 
 couple of gentles, caddis, or meal worm, .or any other grub, is 
 often practised with great success when the water is thick, a 
 few fragments of bait being now and then cast in to attract the 
 fish. 
 
 SINKING AND DRAWING, by tying a pair of wings on the head 
 of a hook, baiting the hook with a gentle or two or some other 
 grub, biting a shot on the line, and then casting it like a fly up 
 stream, and raising and falling the point of the rod as the bait comes 
 down, so as to make it rise and fall in the water, is another 
 deadly method of fishing. I never practice any of these 
 methods myself, for I think the trout deserves fairer treatment, 
 but as others do, and think no scorn of it, I am bound at the 
 least to mention them, though I do not enter at length on them. 
 Lastly comes 
 
 SPINNING FOE TROUT. Pursued in large rivers like the Thames 
 the method followed differs very little from that practised in 
 pike fishing, save that you use a smaller and lighter tackle/ 
 employ gut instead of gimp, and fish the sharp turbulent 
 streams instead of the dead reaches or quiet eddies. In the 
 days when trout fishing was worth following in the Thames, it 
 was a pretty sight to see an adept spin a weir how, standing on
 
 TEOUT FISHING WITH BAIT. 71 
 
 the weir beam, with a fierce stream, ready to swallow him up at 
 the least false step, at his feet, with scarcely an effort he pitched 
 his bait hither and thither, and worked it by some twist of the 
 wrist and knowledge of the eddies into and out of every hole and 
 corner likely to hold a trout, gathering up the line like a 
 weaver working his shuttle with one hand, and working the rod 
 with the other ; it was almost as masterly a performance, when 
 contrasted with the splashings and dashings of the ordinary 
 bungler, as one could well see in all the range of angling. But 
 though the Thames will always be the head school for 
 learning the art of spinning, I doubt if the present genera- 
 tion come up in point of neatness and skill to the old masters 
 The Tags, the Wisdoms, the Purdeys, and Eosewells, now, alas 1 
 passed away. The greatest requisite for success in Thames trout 
 fishing is everlasting and unswerving patience, combined with a 
 smartish turn of luck and, unfortunately, the latter will often beat 
 the former out of the field. How often have I seen a Thames trout 
 of which I knew every spot and scale, with whom I had the 
 most intimate acquaintance, and whose society I had cultivated 
 for months with the nicest and most insidious art, go and throw 
 himself away on some coarse jack fisher with a gimp hook, and 
 a 6in. gudgeon. Some chance barbeller coming in for a 
 rechauffe of someone else's sport, or some poaching brat with 
 a foul unsecured worm, a whipcord line, and a float like a peg- 
 top, who never saw him before in their lives. No ; I cannot say 
 that I am now at all given to Thames trout fishing. I worked 
 at it hard for years ; few professionals could do the trick more 
 neatly, yet my fortune was filthy. I got worn out upon it. 
 Now I never go out for Thames trout. The game is not worth 
 the candle Perseverance, and patience, and luck, then, are the 
 best ingredients, but it also good to have the first go over them 
 in the morning before the boats and punts are on the move, and 
 many a good trout has been taken when the sun begins to air 
 the waters. If you hook a trout keep a hold on him, but don't 
 be too rough; remember that the stream is sharp, the fish 
 heavy, and the hooks (mostly) small ; and beware of pulling at
 
 72 ANGLING. 
 
 him when he is head to you down stream, as that is how six 
 trout in ten are lost. If you are fishing in open water keep 
 below him if you can. If you are fishing a weir, always, if 
 possible, have your boat below it, and having hooked your fish 
 drop into your boat and hand your rod down, and, if you can, get 
 your fish out of the rough water. One never knows what there 
 may be in the eddies of a weir, but weirs under the new 
 management are not so much in favour with trout as of old. 
 The old weirs always had a plank apron at the foot, under which 
 the fish rooted and burrowed for often yards in extent. They 
 were splendid trout lodgings. These are all done away with. 
 and concrete and stone, which would not give a hiding place to 
 a minnow, stand in place of them. This, with the filling of 
 deep holes, the pulling out of old stumps, the abolition of old 
 campshots, &c., has much injured the Thames generally as a 
 big-trout river. The houses and homes are gone, and the fish 
 with them. You may keep on breeding trout by the thousand, 
 but you will have no more good trout in your water than you have 
 homes for. 
 
 My tackle, shown at Fig. 2, Plate 2, is, I consider, the very 
 bast invention for Thames trout, as it spins a small dace beauti- 
 fully, keeps him in condition for a long time, and is very 
 unobtrusive to the view ; and if the big tail hook does chance to 
 get on, good bye to Trouty ; unless there is a flaw in the gut he will 
 have to come ashore. As I have already said, the directions I 
 have given for pike spinning answer here. 
 
 In spinning for small trout with a minnow a different kind of 
 tackle is used. The rod is lighter, and capable of being swung 
 and used with one hand. The spring should be something 
 between that of a bait rod and a fly rod. The rings upright, of 
 course, as is the case with all spinning rods ; the line the finest 
 dressed silk ; the trace of moderate trout gut, and two or three 
 swivels, and the tackle suited to the size of the minnows you are 
 likely to use. This does not vary much, and a very little 
 manipulation is required to accommodate the bait to the tackle. 
 Some people like one kind of tackle and some another some
 
 TROUT FISHING WITH BAIT. 73 
 
 like small hooks and some large. The old three triangle pattern 
 is not unfrequently used ; but this again is often modified by using 
 pairs instead of triangles, leaving only a single hook projecting. 
 I do not care about these tackles, but incline to the larger 
 hooked species. The earliest of these was one large round bend 
 long shanked hook, which was passed in at the mouth of the 
 minnow, and so on down along the spine till it was brought out 
 at the tail, the tail being crooked on the bend of the hook 
 but above the shank of the hook ; there was a small hook, used 
 as the lip hook, to hold the minnow up on the big hook, 
 and this being passed through the lips of the minnow, the tackle 
 was baited ; but I found that this arrangement often allowed 
 fish to run and take hold of the bait lightly between these two 
 hooks, and to escape being hooked at the strike, and so a large 
 percentage of runs were lost unless the fish were very hungry. 
 I therefore added a small triangle on a thread of gut r to be 
 inserted midway (as shown in Fig. 5, Plate 3). For many 
 years I used this tackle and no other, and found it in streams 
 all I could wish ; but when I came to fish on the Scotch lakes 
 I often found that my minnow would get out of spinning, 
 and that I either had to be constantly hauling in some forty or 
 fifty yards of line to see how it worked, or I had to chance its 
 wabbling, when perhaps for half an hour no fish would look at 
 it, until it was corrected. Thereupon I set my wits to work. 
 I had by me a fan made of German silver, which was sent to 
 me by some tackle maker, and which worked on the gut, and 
 slid up and down so as to jam tightly when pressed down on 
 the head of the hook. I made me a tackle somewhat like the 
 one last depicted, only the big hook was a bit smaller and 
 shorter in the shank. The hooks being baited, the tail is not 
 crooked, but comes out about two-thirds down, as shown in the 
 next Fig. 6, and then the fan is pushed on down to the 
 shank of the lip hook, and jammed tight there. This form 
 of tackle not only spins beautifully, but it always spins and 
 never gets out of order. For trailing, in lake fishing, no tackle 
 can beat this.
 
 74 ANGLING. 
 
 Now suppose that your rod is ready, and your tackle baited, 
 the ordinary plan in a largish stream is to wade, if you cannot 
 command the stream without, and to cast down stream towards 
 either bank of the river, drawing across stream, in a bend round 
 towards the opposite side, and then repeating the cast in the 
 opposite direction ; look at Fig. 7, Plate 3, thus a man standing 
 at " a " casts first towards " b," and draws round the dotted 
 line to about "d," then he casts towards "e," and draws 
 round towards "f." Some persons, particularly if fishing with 
 an artificial minnow, which cannot be deranged, cast over head, 
 fly-fashion, as they can cast more line that way ; but with the 
 natural bait this is apt to derange it, and spoil its spinning. 
 The casts, therefore, are chiefly made underhand. These, from 
 the nature of things, in the ordinary way cannot fail to be 
 rather short. You cannot, when walking on rough banks, or 
 wading, have loose line hanging about ; .but you may get a 
 much increased length of cast by employing the Nottingham 
 mode of casting a light dace float, already explained and 
 depicted at Fig. 4, Plate 1. By this means any reasonable 
 length likely to be needed can be commanded. Some anglers 
 prefer to spin upstream and draw down ; but the bait must 
 spin very well to do much execution at it ; still, I have seen 
 fish killed in very clear water thus, which would hardly 
 have come to bag fishing down. The method of casting, &c., 
 is precisely the same as that for down fishing, the draw being, 
 of course, somewhat more rapid. 
 
 The necks of the sharp streams in rough, rapid, or even 
 white water are the best spots to spin for trout. In open 
 and moderate water the trout soon learn to grow shy of the 
 minnow, and constantly come provokingly short at it. When 
 you see a trout come at the minnow, and follow it, don't 
 be flurried, but spin steadily on, or any sudden stop or change 
 will probably frighten the fish altogether ; whereas, just as 
 the bait enters the bend, and as it rises towards the 
 surface at the end of a draw, he is very likely to make a 
 dash at it or if he declines that cast he may take it the
 
 TEOUT FISHING WITH BAIT. 75 
 
 next ; strike smartly, but not too heavily, when you feel a 
 touch, and not before indeed feeling should supersede seeing 
 in this matter, and the less you see the better. I once saw 
 a seven pound trout come at my bait at Sunbury ; I saw his 
 great white mouth open, and the bait disappear, and I struck. 
 I felt nothing at all, the bait uninjured came one way, and 
 the trout of course went another. If I had not seen that 
 fish, I most likely would have waited till I felt him, when I 
 should have hooked him. But to this day I never can make 
 out how it was I did not hook, or even touch him, when I 
 saw a bait with ten or eleven hooks on it disappear into 
 his cavernous mouth. When you have hooked your fish, take 
 oare that you do not let him have any slack line ; this 
 advice, though good for all kinds of fishing, is extra good 
 in spinning. 
 
 When the water is rising after rain is always the best 
 chance for the spinner for small trout. The fish are all then 
 on the look out for stray food, and will snap at the minnow 
 freely. Minnows are often difficult to get fresh at the time 
 they are wanted, and if you have no tank or corfe to keep 
 them in, the only way left is to preserve them. Some persons 
 salt them ; but, though I hold the opinion that fish like the 
 taste of salt, it destroys the colour of the bait, and makes it 
 so soft that it will hardly stay on the hooks at times. The 
 best way is to get a pickle bottle, fill it with minnows, and 
 then pour in spirit up to the bung. It will not require very 
 much, and the very best spirit you can employ is pure spirits 
 of wine. It keeps the bait bright and well coloured, 
 toughens it, and has comparatively little smell to it, which is 
 not always the case with some spirits. I have seen them 
 kept in good spirits of wine in fine order for a twelvemonth and 
 more. To carry a few minnows out with you alive, a soda 
 water bottle with a quill through the cork is a very good plan, 
 you may easily accommodate and keep a score or more thus, 
 now and then changing the water. Always kill your minnow 
 and see that it is quite dead before putting it on the hooka ;
 
 76 ANGLING. 
 
 take care of this, not only t6 avoid needless cruelty, but as 
 long as there is any life in the bait it will probably interfere 
 with its spinning. If you throw the minnow smartly on the 
 hard ground death is instantaneous. 
 
 Some one of the various methods of using a live bait for pike 
 and perch may be applied to the trout. A paternoster, or a float, 
 which latter should be a fragment of cork sufficient to carry the 
 bait. Not more than one hook should be used, and this set a 
 little below midwater (a small triangle perhaps is better than 
 a single hook). Hook the bait through the lip, as it lives 
 longer and is more lively thus. Minnows, small gudgeons, or 
 dace are the best live baits.
 
 FLY FISHING FOE TKOUT. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FLY FISHING FOR TROUT. 
 
 FLY FISHING. I now come to not only the most sportsman- 
 like, but the most delightful method of trout fishing. One not 
 only endeared by a thousand delightful memories, but by the 
 devotion of many of our wisest and best men for ages past; 
 and, next to my thanks for existence, health, and daily bread, 
 I thank God for the good gift of fly fishing. If the fishes 
 are to be killed for our use, there is no way in which they are 
 put to so little pain as in fly fishing. No minnow is dashed 
 on the ground, no worm impaled upon a hook. The fish 
 rises, takes your fly as though it were his ordinary food ; the 
 hook fixes in the hard gristly jaw, where there is little or no 
 sensation. After a few struggles he is hauled on shore, and a 
 tap on the head terminates his life ; and so slight is the pain or 
 alarm that he feels from the hook, that I have over and over 
 caught a trout with the fly still in his mouth which he has 
 broken off in his struggles an hour or even half-an-hour pre- 
 viously. I have seen fish that have thus broken off swim away 
 with my fly in their mouths and begin to rise at the natural fly 
 again almost directly. I might ask, what becomes of the 
 "agonies and pangs," &c., &c., which humanitarians are so fond 
 of inventing ; and in all reverence I would ask, if the hook were so 
 cruel in its application, would Our Lord have ordered Peter to 
 cast a hook into the sea in order to catch a fish, and take the 
 tribute money therefrom. It would have been as easy to Him to
 
 78 ANGLING. 
 
 tell the fish to come to the bank and deliver up the coin. I have 
 put this point to many soft hearted persons, and I have never 
 known one who could answer it yet. Then I am told that I do it 
 for sport solely, and not for any necessity. This is not altogether 
 true. I like trout myself, and so do many of my friends. The 
 trout are meant to be eaten. The sport appears to me harmless, 
 cheerful, healthy ; and why should I not catch my own or my 
 friend's breakfast or dinner if it suits me to do so, and I find 
 a great advantage (as I do) by doing so ? Not that fly fishing 
 requires any support or extenuation from me ! 
 
 Fly fishing for trout is carried on either with a single or a 
 double handed rod, by far the larger number of its votaries using 
 the former. The single handed rod is usually a rod of from nine 
 to twelve feet in length ; it may even be a few inches longer 
 or shorter in exceptional cases, a good medium rod being from 
 ben to eleven feet. They are made of various woods, hickory, 
 greenheart, and split bamboo being the chief. The lighter a 
 rod is, combined with sufficient power for its need, and the better 
 balanced it is in the hand, the less it tires the arm that wields 
 it, and though a rod will only weigh from ten to fourteen ounces, 
 yet even that weight, with the leverage exercised by the line in a 
 long day's fishing, makes the muscles of the hand and arm very 
 glad of a rest or change. Greenheart, as the heaviest wood, 
 might be supposed to give the heaviest rod, but the wood is so 
 close in the grain, and so hard, that it requires less bulk to 
 produce the same result. Perhaps the lightest rods of all are 
 the split bamboo, which are made of lengths of bamboo glued 
 together and bound every two inches. But though light to 
 the hand they are heavy to the pocket, and when anglers 
 can get a fairly good rod which answers all their needs for 
 25s., few of them will give 6/. or SI. for one, however superior 
 the workmanship. There is a new wood, called washaba, which 
 has come up lately : it is a very good wood, and almost equal or 
 a little inferior to hickory. 
 
 When buying a rod, the intending purchaser should always 
 put the reel on, as it greatly alters the balance of the rod, and
 
 FLY FISHING FOE TROUT. 79 
 
 if he could thread the line and try a cast or two he would do 
 better still. 
 
 Having selected a rod, the next thing is to choose a line. 
 Some people like dressed silk; I, however, prefer plaited or 
 twisted horsehair and hemp, nicely tapered, and not too long in 
 the taper ; as half the lines are. But the great thing in 
 choosing the line is to chose one which the rod will carry 
 to the best advantage without straining. Too light a line 
 is a perfect nuisance in windy weather, you cannot get it 
 through the wind a bit, and even without wind it does not cast 
 properly ; while if it is too heavy it falls with a splash and 
 strains every splice and joint in the rod. It requires some know- 
 ledge and familiarity with a variety of fly rods to be able to pick 
 out a suitable line for one ; and if the angler is not equal to it he 
 had better go to a respectable tackle maker and let him choose 
 it. The winch should be a plain check winch, just strong 
 enough in the check to prevent the line over-running, but not so 
 strong as to make it hard to run out when a fish happens to pull 
 on it one capable of holding thirty yards or so of line is large 
 enough. Having suited himself with rod, line, and winch, and 
 passed the line through the rings, the angler must tie or 
 loop on to the reel or running line, a collar of single gut, 
 moderately stout at the upper end, and fining down to the end 
 to which the artificial fly is to be fixed. Some people have a 
 loop in the line here, and having another on the fly link, loop the 
 fly on, but this makes a thick place with double lashing or knots 
 some two inches long about eight or nine inches above the fly, 
 and in fine water becomes very visible. I always knot the fly 
 link on to the collar, or casting line, as it is usually called, just 
 as though it were a part of the line itself. Sometimes the 
 angler uses a dropper, or even two or three : these are flies tied 
 on to the -casting line at intervals of eighteen inches or two feet. 
 I seldom use more than one dropper under any circumstances, as I 
 find I can kill quite as many fish with two as I can with three or 
 four flies, and more than two are apt to tangle or catch in weeds 
 or twigs. When I use a dropper I pick out a good sound knot
 
 80 ANGLINO. 
 
 about two feet or two and a half above the tail fly or stretcher, 
 and having reduced the gut on the dropper fly to about five 
 inches in length, and tied a knot firmly at the extreme end so 
 the gut shall not slip, I tie or knot the fly on just above the knot 
 in the casting line one tie is usually enough, but two make it 
 very secure and, drawing the tie home above the knot, the 
 tackle will usually stand any fair strain that is put on the 
 dropper. 
 
 Now, having suited himself with tackle and flies, the angler 
 should draw off rather more running line than the length 
 of the rod, and waving the rod back smartly over his right 
 shoulder, having given the line time to extend itself to the 
 fullest in the air behind him, he should wave the rod forward 
 somewhat more smartly, with a cutting or flogging action 
 towards the spot where he wishes his fly to fall, and if he has 
 followed my counsel accurately, the line will fall straightly upon 
 the water in the direction desired. When he has brought the rod 
 forwards so that it stands at about an angle of forty-five degrees, 
 he should check it, and as the line falls, lower it gently another 
 twenty or thirty degrees, so as to allow the fly to fall softly on 
 the surface, and to travel lightly and unchecked down the 
 stream. In making the forward impulse of the rod after having 
 sent the line back behind him, the angler should be careful to 
 give the line time to fully extend itself. If he does not he will 
 probably hear a crack like the faint flick of a whip, only sharper, 
 and if he then looks at his gut he will find that he has 
 cracked his fly off. In order to avoid this as much as possible it 
 is desirable not to throw the line straight back, and then 
 straight forward, but, when the line has extended, to make a 
 slight sweep or curve with the rod point so that the fly may also 
 travel in a curve instead of a sharp angle. Some anglers make 
 this curve away from the face or shoulder, others towards it, I 
 prefer making it away from the face, as the more upright the 
 rod is when you withdraw the line from the water the better 
 and quicker it comes off it. Windy weather, particularly if the 
 wind is in your favour, greatly facilitates the flicking off of flies,
 
 FLY FISHING FOR TROUT. 81 
 
 as it prevents the line from thoroughly extending itself behind 
 before the cast is made. In such a wind special care should be 
 takeniif the angler does not want to lose his fly. The outline 
 of a long jargonelle pear starting from the stem round over 
 the eye and so back to the stem again, will give some notion of 
 the sort of curve the rod point should travel over, particularly in 
 windy weather with a wind in your favour. Some people in 
 fly-fishing like a ripple, and the wind this or that way. This 
 may be very wejl in a lake, or in a mill head, or any similar still, 
 quiet water, but on streamy water, if the day is cloudy, I can 
 do very well without any wind at all my experience of fly 
 fishing being that nineteen-twentieths of your successes depend 
 upon how you put your fly to the fish, and you cannot have full 
 command over your fly, and put it where you please, if you have 
 much wind in any direction. I do not at all object to a good 
 rough upstream wind in a still mill head, but in such cases you 
 do not fish the rises or the fish, you fish the water and chance 
 what may come of it, and sometimes a good deal comes of it, 
 but that is a very different thing from putting your fly neatly 
 over a rising fish and inducing him to mistake it for the brother 
 of the one he has just swallowed. That is the acme of fly 
 fishing. But I am leading my pupils to run before they can 
 walk, and I must return on my steps. Having thoroughly 
 mastered the length of line he first put out, so as to be able 
 to throw it in any direction he desires straightly and truly, the 
 angler may let out more and more line until he reaches the out- 
 side of his capability, which, with a ten foot or eleven foot rod, 
 will be something more or less under twenty yards. Say fifty 
 feet, and that is from four and a half to five times the length of 
 the rod, which will perhaps be as much as he ever will master. 
 But throwing a line is one thing, and having full command of it 
 after you have thrown it, is quite another. How often, when I 
 have hurled out a tremendous line, have I seen my fish come up 
 fairly, only to be scratched or boggled ! moral, the angler should 
 only cast so much line as he has perfect command over not a 
 foot more. Such line as he can raise off the water cleanly, 
 
 o
 
 82 ANGLING. 
 
 smartly, and without drag or effort, lie will probably be able to 
 command a fish well with in the water ; but when it comes to 
 tearing the line out of the water by the roots, as it were, 
 the length of line out is unmanageable and bad. When a 
 fish rises, much depends upon the position the angler occupies 
 with respect to the fish, as to how he must strike. If the 
 fish be below him down stream the line will probably be 
 fully extended, and will weigh on the rod top. At such a 
 time a very slight twitch indeed of the -rod top is enough 
 to fasten the fly. A heavy tug will probably result in a 
 break, and the fish will go off with the fly in his mouth. 
 When the fish is upstream, and the line coming home, it is 
 sure to be more or less in a bag, and the angler must strike 
 more or less smartly to overcome the slack line. Experience 
 and practice alone can tell him how hard he ought to strike, 
 and often when he knows this full well his hand will not 
 second his desire ; but on a sudden and unexpected rise he 
 will hit too hard the more particularly so if he is addicted to 
 salmon fishing, and the various methods used in coarse fish, 
 when the tackle is much less fine, and the striking usually 
 much harder. To be a perfect trout fisher, to my mind, a man 
 ahould follow no other branch of fishing. It spoils his hand if 
 he does. I myself, from the practice of striking so hard in 
 both salmon, pike, and other fishing, lose numbers of fish and 
 flies in the course of the season ; and what makes it the 
 more vexing is that they are nearly always the best and 
 heaviest fish. If I have been fishing for some time without 
 a rise, or a fish comes up unexpectedly, I am certain 
 to hit him too hard. I can't help it; though when 
 fish are rising pretty well, and taking fairly, I don't 
 lose one in a dozen. At Winchester they have a sort of 
 proverb about me. " Why, he loses more fish than any man in 
 Winchester, John," said a severe critic one day to old John 
 Hammond, that most artful old provider of fishing requisites. 
 " What did you say, sir ? " says John, putting his hand up to his 
 ear for he very often can't hear anything he does not want
 
 FLY FISHING FOE TEOUT. 83 
 
 to. The criticism was repeated. " Ah," said the sly old being, 
 with a couple of nods of the head, and two taps on the lid of 
 his snuff-box, "But then he hooks more!" After which a very 
 bad fit of deafness came over him for a minute or two, till a 
 little boy came in for a " 'apeny 'ook and a withy," and 
 turned the conversation. When you are given to too heavy 
 striking, the best provision you can adopt is to lighten 
 your rod and tackle : have a lighter, more flexible rod. and a 
 lighter line. Between the extremes up and down stream 
 there are all sorts of graduations. When the line is extended 
 straight across the stream, and the fish takes it broadside on, it 
 is nearly as bad as when he is straight down, and requires quite 
 as light a touch. When the fish are small, as in some lochs and 
 burns, you require much sharper and quicker striking than is 
 the rule in our heavier southern rivers ; but experience must 
 teach the angler all this, and will do so better than all the 
 precepts in existence. Having struck your fish, keep his head as 
 tight as you can without being too rough, and don't let him get 
 into weeds if you can help it, for there are times when neither 
 you nor any one else can help it. For any fish from three 
 pounds weight up for the first five minutes or so will take you 
 just where he pleases, let you be ever so clever ; for you won't 
 hook him without pretty fine tackle, and you can't pitch him 
 over your head with that. Still, you will often be able to get a 
 fish out of a dangerous locality by prompt measures, which you 
 would lose without ; for I generally regard a fish hung up on 
 weeds as about two-thirds gone, for you don't save one in three. 
 I don't know how it is, but I believe they hang on to the weed 
 with their mouths, and let you pull against the weed if you do 
 pull, and if you don't in time the weed gets round the line, and 
 there you are ! Polling out or cutting out is very risky work. Yet 
 que voulez vous? If the fish are much given to "weeding" a 
 long light fir pole with a hook knife on it, kept somewhere 
 within 50 or 100 yards off you, would no doubt enable you to cut 
 the weed close off to the roots, for less than that is dangerous, 
 as you may cut the line. The only thing to do with the rod is 
 
 a 2
 
 84 ANGLING. 
 
 to go down stream, put a steady but not heavy strain on in the 
 same direction the weed lies. The fish may (if he does not get 
 free) get tired and let go, or the weed clear itself. The chance 
 is not much of a one, still it is the only one. When a fish is 
 first hooked, if he be in a weedy place, get a strong pull at him 
 at once before he knows where he is or what you are about, and 
 lug him out of it. If you leave him there, he will be sure to go 
 into the weeds sooner or later, so you may as well try con- 
 clusions with him at once. I have often lugged a pound fish 
 over a bed of weeds a yard wide, and more, by taking the 
 initiative. Where a fish bores determinedly in a weed root or 
 hole you must try and slant his head another way, and if that 
 does not do just hold on and let him do his worst. You may as 
 well lose him at first as last after half an hour's roking and 
 poking, loss of time, and aggravation. Don't pull hard at a 
 trout when he is down stream, more particularly if he lies head 
 up towards you. It is a dangerous thing to do. If you can, 
 always keep below your fish, and coax him down. In the first 
 place he won't disturb the water so much, and in the next it is 
 the safest way to deal with a fish, and the quickest method of 
 tiring him. When you are going to land your fish, don't be in 
 a hurry nor in a flurry ; bring the fish steadily round within 
 reach, let the netsman stand with the net under water, so that 
 the fish may, almost as it were, be led into it, and until the fish 
 is almost within the ring the less obtrusive or active the 
 netsman is the better. When he sees the fish within his power 
 a steady upward sweep will do the business. More fish are 
 lost by dashing at them, and more aggravation also caused, 
 than by almost any other means. The Irishman who, having 
 dashed at a salmon with the gaff, and scratched him, after his 
 master had with incalculable patience and skill humoured the 
 fish in out of most dangerous ground, and when another minute's 
 patience would have safely secured the fish, and who stood 
 exclaiming with pride and' delight, " Begorra, I hot him that 
 toime !" may or may not be a satisfactory picture, but the feelings 
 of the master who sees his fish go clean the other side of that
 
 FLY FISHING FOE TROUT. 85 
 
 particular rock, which the less said about the better is a 
 picture also, which likewise perhaps the less is said about the 
 better. If you have a man who is a bungler, take the net and 
 land your fish yourself, and when you get him home at night, 
 you may call him " Cassio" if you please, and you may even 
 "love him well," but be sure that "he never more be officer of 
 thine." Having got your fish on shore, your operation is 
 complete, knock the fish on the head, and put him in the basket, 
 never let the poor wretch die of slow suffocation even as a 
 matter of economy for it spoils the fish, and he won't keep 
 nearly as long. 
 
 If I have advised the angler to be as unobtrusive as 
 possible when fishing for other fish, this caution is needed 
 ten times more in fishing for so wary a creature as a trout 
 even small trout soon get to know their way about when 
 they have tasted steel ; but a good fish, and particularly a 
 veteran, is I do believe, next to a red deer, one of the wariest, 
 downiest, artfullest things within civilized creation. Where 
 they are very little fished for of course they are unsuspicious, 
 but they very soon learn to know when they are fished for, 
 and the more you fish the better they know it, until at length 
 the bare sight of a man's head thirty yards away, is quite 
 enough to send every fish within hail scudding to his hide. 
 When fish are as shy as they are in some of the Hampshire 
 waters, you can't be too circumspect ; and at times it is 
 almost desirable, if you want to catch fish, to swarm along 
 on your stomach as you do in deer stalking ; when the water 
 is at all open, you must go down on your knee, or get the 
 stump of a tree or a bank at your back, which will often serve 
 you well with the wariest trout. 
 
 There is an old controversial matter among fly-fishers, 
 whether you should fish up or down stream, and, like everything 
 else in fishing, it depends on circumstances. For example, at 
 night you would almost always fish down, because, having to 
 trust very much to feeling, you want a tight line ; again, if 
 you are fishing with the dry fly, and the wind is dead down
 
 86 ANGLING. 
 
 stream, you can't fish up, particularity if you are fishing the 
 floating drake or dry May fly ; but even when you are obliged 
 under these circumstances to cast down stream, you don't drag 
 your fly up against it only when fishing at night, or in very 
 small streams where the trout are small and unsophisticated, 
 would you do this. No ! though you cast down you let your fly 
 travel down with the stream as far as you can, just as you do- 
 when fishing or casting up stream, you merely cast rather short, 
 and, letting the fly fall in the water, with the rod pretty upright, 
 so as to have a good supply of line in hand ; lower the rod slowly 
 until you can let no more, and under these circumstances this 
 very often (if you can keep well out off sight) answers as well or 
 better than fishing up to fish, because the fly, and not the line, 
 comes over his nose first ; but the great bulk of the casting is 
 made rather across, than either up or down. You see a fish 
 rise, and you cast across and above him, and let the fly travel 
 down so as to come over his nose, but to let as little of the 
 line do so as possible. The first and last object of the fly 
 fisher is to show as much of his fly to the fish as possible, and 
 as little of anything else. Let that be his constant and 
 unvarying study if he desires to catch fish, for it is the backbone 
 of fly fishing. In fishing with the wet fly in the early months, 
 you fish down stream if the wind is adverse, but you cast across 
 and let the fly sweep round ; at such times, however, you do not 
 wait to see rises but fish the water on the chance of one. 
 
 Always pay particular attention to the fish which you see 
 rising under the banks ; and don't be deluded into the notion 
 that because you see a fish make no more break on the water 
 than a minnow would, that he is a minnow, for he is quite as 
 likely to be a three pounder. It is strange how quietly a big fish 
 will often take fly after fly, close to a bank, only just his upper lip 
 put to the surface to suck in the victim ; you think him " trash" 
 and make a careless bungling cast, and " whoosh ! " Who would 
 have thought it ? Off he goes, with a furrow like a four-oar. 
 Fish taking under banks, whether in your own side or opposite, 
 always take much better than fish rising in the open stream ; they
 
 FLY FISHING FOE TEOUT. 87 
 
 are close at home, and have shelter at hand, and have more con- 
 fidence. It requires great nicety of casting often times to get fish 
 out from under your own or an opposite bank ; they lay there 
 almost touching, and rising within an inch of the bank, and 
 you must cast within an inch of the bank too. It is of no 
 use to cast six or eight inches or more this or that side of it 
 dozens of flies pass along out there which the trout never 
 notices for he knows that enough will pass within an inch above 
 his nose to afford him a good full meal without any need of 
 his swimming a foot for it ; and, if you want to rise him, your 
 fly must come over him too. In a fish of this kind, too, it is not 
 safe to drop your fly within much less than a yard of him, about 
 four feet above him is perhaps the proper thing ; and if it comes 
 fairly to him, and no twig or spine of grass, or bunch of weed 
 outside, catches the line and causes the fly to do queer things, 
 and the fly happens to appear to be of the same sort that his 
 worship is devouring, or there is nothing objectionable about it, 
 you will see that magic dimple as your line is passing the spot, 
 and find that you have an interest in that performance if you 
 tighten the line. I need not say to the angler cast lightly and 
 don't splash, for if he does, he will very soon find out the 
 importance of these instructions for himself ; nor need I further 
 add that it will be conducive to sport to present your fly to the 
 trout as like a fly as possible, either alive or dead it matters 
 very little, perhaps, which. I won't enter on the argument as 
 to why one should imitate nature in his flies as closely as pos- 
 sible. If any one wishes to learn why this should be done, 
 they can find it set out at length in my "Book on Angling ; " but 
 I have no space for that, or many other matters, here. I recom- 
 mend the angler to imitate nature, myself. If the angler is 
 content to take his advice and instruction from me, well and 
 good, if not, let him go elsewhere. Accidental flies and general 
 flies, no doubt, catch fish, and often abundantly at times, but 
 there are dozens of times, when the fish are feeding on some 
 particular fly, and when, if you happen to have a good imitation 
 of that fly, you can fill your basket ; and, if you have not, a bare
 
 88 ANGLING. 
 
 fish or two will be all your take, and often you will not catch 
 even that. Only last season I fished down about three-quarters 
 of a mile of water, trying two or three duns I got four or five 
 rises, and caught one fish. I came back to the top (the fish 
 were rising incessantly all the time I fished), I changed the fly 
 for an exact imitation of the one on the water, and, going over 
 the same water a second time, I got over thirty good rises, and 
 hooked seven or eight brace of fish. Of course the first time 
 you go over a water in the day is by far the most favourable 
 time. 
 
 Now there are two ways of fishing your fly, the one, and 
 the most common one, is with the wet fly ; the other, and the more 
 scientific, is with the dry. The wet fly is cast upon the water 
 time after time, and usually sinks, more or less, beneath the 
 surface, and it can only be taken for a drowned fly. In this 
 case you will often not see the rise of the. fish, and you must 
 have one eye on the line, and when you see it check or stop 
 strike instantly. There are waters in many parts of the 
 country, however, where, after about the middle of May, 
 unless you happen on a very rough and wet day, the fish 
 will not take a wet fly. They get suspicious and well edu- 
 cated. The weather is fine and moderate, and they really 
 see very few drowned flies about, and, consequently, they look 
 pretty closely at one when it comes along, and their quick sight 
 soon detects the peculiar blue curly barbed tail which the 
 drowned fly possesses. At such times they feed freely on the 
 live insect sitting up and floating on the surface of the water, 
 and you have, therefore, to imitate that as closely as possible, and 
 by whipping the fly backward and forward four or five times (or 
 more if needed) between each cast, all the wet is shaken out, and 
 the line and fly are so far dried that they float on the surface for 
 some distance, until the draft of the stream submerges and wets 
 them again. In casting the dry fly, send the line as straight as 
 possible and without any waves or curls in the water, and allow 
 it to float down over the head of the fish as like the natural 
 fly as possible, and without any pull or guidance. If you pull
 
 FLY FISHING- FOR TROUT. 89 
 
 at it at all, the line will make a streak on the surface, and will 
 certainly frighten the fish. In fishing the wet fly, it is often a 
 good plan, in deep waters or holes, to let the fly sink as deep as 
 you can ; you may even facilitate its sinking by biting a shot on 
 the line at the head of the fly ; and by jerking it through the 
 water with short jerks it will often tempt the fish which are 
 not feeding on the top, as they will mistake it for some larva. 
 Therefore, the code of regulations as regards wet, dry, and sunk 
 flies, comes pretty much to this : in the early part of the 
 season, or on rough and rainy days, you may fish with the wet 
 fly ; but in the latter portion, and fine weather, use the dry. 
 In hatch holes, deep mill heads or tails, or such places, where 
 the fish are big, and feed more on minnows and larva than flies, 
 sink your fly. As general directions, these will be found pretty 
 reliable. 
 
 Though I do not like night fishing, and indeed would never 
 allow it on any good water, yet you go at times to places where 
 it is practised, and where your only chance of catching a good 
 fish is at night. Fish by sight if you can, that is, if the light 
 shines enough on the water to detect the circles made by the 
 rise ; but if you cannot see, then you must fish down, and, keeping 
 a tight line, fish by feeling the rise, and you cannot be too quick 
 in your strike when you do feel a touch, as the trout reject the fly 
 as quickly as they take it ; but it is pokey work at the best. 
 You fish with a short line and a stout ; you cannot see where 
 your fish is going, and you hang on and get him out anyhow. 
 There is no nicety in throwing, and if you happen to be 
 wading, and do not make any disturbance, the fish will rise 
 within a yard of you.
 
 90 ANGLING. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TROUT FLIES. 
 
 AND now we must say a word or two as to that important 
 subject, flies. The best flies to use are imitations of those 
 which are born on the water ; for, though trout will often 
 take land flies, and indeed almost any insect you can throw 
 on the water, yet it is on the water-flies which he chiefly 
 depends for his sustenance, and these are "the flies which, for 
 the most part, fill the following list : 
 
 LIST OF FLIES FOB EACH MONTH. 
 
 March. The blue dun, hare's ear, the March brown, the 
 coch-y-bonddhu, and the olive dun. You rarely want more than 
 these flies, though sometimes the little willow fly, known as the 
 Spanish needle or needle brown, is found in some rivers. 
 
 April. All the last month's flies, with the olive dun, red 
 spinner, and on bright days the yellow dun. 
 
 May. Many of the old flies are good still, though the 
 March brown begins to give place to the alder ; and the blue 
 dun only shows now and then in cold days. The black 
 gnat often shows up strong. The duns now vary from yellow 
 or almost green to the palest lemon, and where it is found 
 the little iron blue dun or watchet, as it is called in the north, 
 does well. 
 
 June. Most of the old flies will still come in at times, 
 and you may add the sedge, very slight variations of which 
 will also include the sand fly, the cinnamon, and the mushroom,
 
 TEOUT FLIES. 91 
 
 It is a capital fly on very many waters. Early in June, the 
 celebrated green and grey drakes appear, and the fish have 
 their great gorge of the season. The quill gnats are excellent 
 flies now. 
 
 July is a bad month as a rule, and few new flies come in. 
 The duns and quill gnats will be found the best day flies, 
 with sedges, alders, &c., for the evening ; green, black, and blue 
 midges now and then are useful. 
 
 August. The old flies still prevail ; the August dun and 
 the cinnamon being the only new flies of any account which, 
 come in. 
 
 September. Add to all the old flies the whirling blue dun, 
 and the willow fly, and that is all that is new in September. 
 
 General Flies. To these ordinary natural flies there are 
 certain flies called general flies, which, bearing a general or 
 fancied resemblance to various flies, are taken by the fish. 
 These are the Francis, the Governor, Hammond's Adopted, 
 Hojfland's Fancy, the Coachman, the Wickham, the Partridge and 
 Grouse Hackles, and the Caper er. 
 
 With the above collection of flies, which is pared down 
 as close as it may well be for general work, the angler ought 
 to be able to do good service on any stream, regard being 
 had to the size of the flies, which must be a good deal 
 smaller on some streams than on others. There are special 
 flies suited to special streams, or flies that are only partial, 
 as. for example, the grannam, the spider fly, &c. very 
 useful for particular rivers here and there, but I do not deal 
 with particular rivers here ; and for any extension in that 
 direction the angler must consult the "Book on Angling " as to 
 the dressing of the various flies named. The duns come 
 first, and here hooks from 11 or 12 up to 8 or 9 will be 
 used. I need hardly counsel the use of fine gut for the 
 smaller flies, as if the angler does not use it he will have 
 few fish to shew. On some rivers they use not only flies 
 but collars or casting lines of single horsehair ; and they 
 are all very well in moderate weather, but do not do in a
 
 92 ANGLING. 
 
 wind, nor where the fish run over half a pound or so. The 
 duns are the grand stand-by of the fisherman. These are of 
 all colours, from a dark slatey blue to the palest possible 
 ash, and from a deep yellow to the faintest lemon almost 
 white, apple green, olive, and dark iron blue. 
 
 The blue dun should have a slate blue coloured floss silk 
 body, legs of a dun freckled cock's hackle ; some use a dark 
 honey dun hackle with yellowish tips and a smoky blue centre, 
 with two strands of the same for the tail wings from the 
 starling's wing, more or less dark. By lightening the shades of 
 all these feathers and the body you may carry the fly on to the 
 representation of the ashy and silver duns which come in later 
 on in the season. 
 
 The yellow dun. The same process is followed here. Taking 
 a yellow silk body and medium honey dun hackle with moderate 
 starling wing, you get them lighter and lighter till you get 
 the body the faintest lemon or straw colour, the hackle the 
 lightest honey dun, and the wings of the pale blue feather 
 of the sea-swallow or rosy tern, which is Mr. Aldam's dressing 
 for one of the best summer flies you can put on, and hitherto 
 almost impossible to imitate. The above two series will give 
 some seven or eight different shades of duns which come on 
 during the season under different names, and which are 
 invaluable to the angler. 
 
 The olive dun is another very useful fly used a good deal 
 through the season. The body should be dressed of a dark olive 
 silk, with a turn of gold tinsel at the tail end some rib it with 
 yellow silk, or even fine gold wire the hackle darkish blue, 
 stained olive, with two strands of the same for the tail; the 
 wings of starling, darker or lighter; hooks 10 and 11. 
 
 The hare's ear is merely another way of dressing the blue and 
 yellow duns. For the blue dun, the body and legs are made of 
 hare's ear, dressed darkish, with a bit of starling, darker or 
 lighter to fancy, for the wing. The whole fly dipped in onion 
 dye forms a rough olive dun, and the lighter part of a hare's ear, 
 warped with yellow silk towards the tail and a lighter bit of
 
 TKOUT FLIES. 93 
 
 starling's wing, makes a rough yellow dun. If you are fishing 
 with a wet fly, these hare's ears are often very useful. Then 
 there is the 
 
 Little iron blue a dark slate body, a dark blue feather from the 
 cormorant's wing, the tomtit's tail, or the moorhen's breast, for a 
 wing, hackle a shade or two lighter than the body, with a couple 
 of short strands for the tail. Later editions of this fly come 
 out as the season goes on, but they are mostly lighter in colour, 
 and with a fine yellow silk ribbing. It changes to the 
 
 Jenny Spinner, a fly which fish take voraciously at times, but 
 which is so hard to imitate that it is almost useless to try it ; a 
 watery whitish floss silk body, with a turn of brown at the head 
 and tail, and a pale silvery blue hackle for legs and wings, is as 
 good as anything. 
 
 The red and brown spinners are the changes undergone by the 
 blue and yellow duns. The red spinner should be dressed with 
 a deep brownish red, a sort of burnt sienna floss silk for the 
 body, ribbed with fine gold tinsel ; a red hackle for legs, and two- 
 strands of the same for the tail, a very light bit from a young 
 starling's wing for the wings. I have used dun freckled hackle 
 points for these, and very successfully. The brown spinner is a 
 somewhat similar fly, dressed two or three shades paler. It is- 
 less useful than the red. 
 
 The March brown kills more fish than any other fly. It comes 
 thickly out on most rivers, and at a period when the fish are 
 hungry. The body is made either of crewel or hare's fur, lighter 
 or darker, according as you wish to vary the fly from male to- 
 female, ribbed with straw coloured silk ; legs, a partridge's back 
 feather; wing, the mottled feather from a hen pheasant's wing, 
 woodcock, or the wings of a game hen ; tail, two strands from 
 the same ; hooks, from 7 or 8 to 10 or 11. 
 
 The alder, another very useful fly, comes in as the March 
 brown dies out. It is dressed with a mixture of peacock herl, 
 and black ostrich herl, for the body with a turn of mulberry silk 
 at the tail ; a rusty black or dusty iron blue hackle ; wing from 
 a brown hen's rump ; hook 8 to 10.
 
 94 ANGLING. 
 
 The Sedge, a famous fly through Hampshire and the midland 
 districts : body stoutish and of buff crewel ; sandy red hackle 
 from head to tail, ribbed over the reverse way with fine gold 
 tinsel ; under wing, a little starling ; upper wing, landrail. 
 Make the body slender, and of a brownish hue, and do away with 
 the tinsel and the under wing, and you get the sand fly. Make 
 this again more creamy in the body, and you obtain the cinnamon. 
 
 The quill gnat. This is a very useful fly, and is found on the 
 water previous to and throughout the Mayfly season and even 
 later. The body is made of a strip of the bluish quill of the 
 starling, which forms a natural ribbing ; legs, a red hackle ; 
 wing, lightish starling ; the tail being two whisks of silver dun 
 hackle. Another kind of quill gnat is dressed with a medium 
 blue dun hackle, and a slightly darker wing and tail. Hooks 
 10 to 12. 
 
 The black gnat. The smallest possible hook, lapped round with 
 a few turns of short black ostrich herl for body, two turns of 
 small black hackle for legs, and a little slip of light starling for 
 wing, form the best representation of it. But when it is at all 
 thick on the water any imitation is nearly hopeless ; still the fly 
 is a good deal used, particularly in small beck fishing. 
 
 The willow fly. This is a curious fly which may be found on 
 the water of different sizes at different times of the year late and 
 early. It is a flat winged fly, the wings of which it has two 
 pairs lying one over the other flat down the back. The body 
 may be made of starling quill; the hackle, freckled dun. The 
 wings are exactly the colour of an alder's, and the rump of a red 
 hen, or a bit of clear speckled hen pheasant might do. Hooks 
 Nos. 10 and 11. The little needle brown may be dressed on the 
 same lines, but smaller. 
 
 The whirling dun, a useful late August and September fly. 
 Body, a couple of strands of blue heron hackle, or back feather 
 warped like herl ; buff silk ribbing, brown red hackle, darkish 
 starling wing. Hooks Nos. 10 and 11. 
 
 The green drake. This very noted fly is dressed in a hundred 
 different ways. It varies in shade and colour a good deal on
 
 TKOUT FLIES. 95 
 
 various rivers ; on some the wings are the palest yellowish green, 
 or greenish yellow, and they vary from this down to a dark 
 bluish olive, the legs, bodies, and tails, even, varying equally. 
 It is difficult, therefore, to give any particular dressing that will 
 suit more than a few rivers of a certainty. I shall give the 
 fly which I use the most of, and I shall leave the angler or 
 dressers to vary it as much as he chooses. First whip on the 
 tail three strands of a cock pheasant's tail feather, and then tie in 
 by the tip on the back of the fly an olive hackle, half way 
 down the hook, leave it hanging. The colour of the green 
 drake's body is in nothing so well represented as in a slip of 
 straw or a bit of maize leaf, such as is used by Spaniards for 
 cigarettes. I therefore make most of my May fly bodies of this, 
 by cutting off a slip just big enough to roll on the hook for 
 the body ; as the tail end is pointed, a wedge or two should 
 be cut out of the lower end to enable it to be drawn to a point, 
 which is done by two or three laps of burnt sienna-coloured 
 silk, which is then touched with varnish to secure it, and 
 give it the colour which is seen at the tail of the natural fly 
 in a splotch of brown. The straw, being secured at the tail 
 end, and the edges brought neatly together up the back, should 
 then be bound on firmly by ribs of the brown silk, carefully 
 avoiding the olive hackle which is left hanging; and having 
 secured the straw body, wind on the olive hackle, and fasten 
 it off just above the straw, and tie on the point of a bustard, or, 
 as some prefer it a bittern hackle ; I like the bustard best, as 
 being more like the Mayfly legs ; in winding this on, the last 
 turn is given so that one side of the hackle points turn upwards, 
 representing the fore legs of the May fly, which always point 
 in that direction. This is not a sine qua non, but it is an 
 additional simiiarity and is easy to do. The wings are two 
 small drake feathers stained to the right colour, and here the 
 angler may suit the colour to his fancy, greenish-yellow with 
 a slight olive tinge, or a darker bluish olive tinge. It is as well 
 to have both shades ; some prefer the feathers of the Egyptian 
 goose, and I like them if stained of the right colour; some
 
 96 ANGLING. 
 
 like the summer duck, but I do not care about them. There 
 are a few feathers on a drake which are nearer to the dark back 
 feathers, more of dingy freckled sort, and less regular in their 
 markings, which I prefer to any, but there are only a few 
 of them, and they are not easy to get ; but, whichever be chosen, 
 they must be tied on nearly upright and back to back, so as 
 to spread out and support the fly upright on the water. The 
 head may be made of two or three turns of bronzed peacock 
 herl. This is the best pattern for a green drake I know of, 
 and for floating, if the hook be not too heavy, cannot be beaten. 
 Hammond, of Winchester, an excellent judge of flies, uses the 
 speckled white partridge hackle instead of bustard, and a sandy 
 red one below instead of olive, and a yellow or lemon coloured 
 crewel body, though he has lately adopted straw on my re- 
 commendation, and his Mayfly, which he calls his " champion," 
 goes all over the country. The hooks are the difficulty, how- 
 ever ; for floating flies they are nearly always too heavy on most 
 of the best streams, now that the floating fly is used in the green 
 drake season. Now, slight as the difference may be in hooks, a 
 very little increase of iron indeed in the hook makes the fly sink 
 when the feathers get at all damp. The object, therefore, is to 
 get a hook sufficient for the purpose, with the least iron 
 in it. If you select (as it has been the fashion of fly fishers 
 to do), say, a hook of No. 7 or 6 bend, you must have the wire 
 thick enough to resist the tug of the strike on so wide a 
 bend, and this makes it too heavy, and besides this, the large 
 bend, standing so much farther out, is constantly catching the 
 wings of the fly, and holding them down in a lump during 
 the flicking to and fro for the purpose of drying, which 
 bundles the fly all up in an unnatural heap, and prevents the 
 wings drying. What you want, then, is a hook with a No. 8 
 or 9 bend, but with an elongated shank long enough to take 
 the fly ; this enables you to use a finer wire and to get rid 
 of much iron ; a hook of that bend is strong and large enough, 
 and it does not catch the wings nearly so often. The round 
 bend is the best hook for this purpose, as the twisted point
 
 TEOUT FLIES. 97 
 
 is more apt to catch, the wings. The angler should also have 
 two sizes of his flies, as the flies come out small on some days 
 and large on others. For floating purposes, too, the gut should 
 not be too fine, or it will not stand the popping and flicking 
 required to dry it, and if it is stained of a pale neutral tint 
 (sky colour), it will not readily be seen by the fish when 
 lying on the top of the water ; at any rate, one had better not 
 rise a fish when the only effect will be, perhaps, to leave 
 the fly in him, owing to the gut being extra fine and bruised 
 at the head of the fly, as constantly happens with too 
 fine gut. 
 
 The grey drake is the change undergone by the green drake 
 when it casts its skin and becomes a perfect fly, and it is 
 often a most capital change for the fish towards evening. The 
 body, head, and tail, should be made as before; the hackle 
 should be a sandy red, the wings of the grey speckled drake's 
 feather. 
 
 The black drake, which is the perfect male fly, is, I think, even 
 a better fly still, it should be dressed a size smaller than the 
 grey drake body, tail and head as before, but the hackle should 
 be a silver grey with a black streak in the middle, and the wings 
 should be of the close barred feather of the teal. I have had 
 good sport with this fly toward the end of the Mayfly season. 
 
 I must not forget the midges. These are tied buzz or hackle 
 wise on the smallest hooks, and have small slate-coloured, green, 
 or black bodies, with two turns of a very light small silver- 
 grey dun hackle. 
 
 There are several other natural flies which are useful in 
 various rivers ; but, as I seldom use them myself, I don't give 
 the dressing, but the angler can get them at the tackle maker's 
 if he wants them. Among the best there is the oak fly, the 
 cowdung, the fern fly, the brown bent, the ant flies, the gravel 
 bed, the grannom, &c., &c. I shall now give a short list of 
 
 GENERAL FLIES. 
 
 The Francis may be made of any size from No. 6 to No. 10. 
 
 H
 
 98 ANGLING. 
 
 Body, peacock herl, ribbed with copper coloured floss silk ; legs, 
 blue dun hackle ; wings, two points of the same (freckled). It is 
 a very good evening and rough weather fly. I have made great 
 takes with it, and have heard of others from all parts. 
 
 The Governor. A capital fly, that kills all over the kingdom 
 from May out. Body, bronze peacock herl, with two turns of 
 yellow orange floss silk at the tail ; red hackle and a bit of hen 
 turkey wing for wings. From 6 to 10. 
 
 The Coachman. A very useful evening fly, kills well at dark 
 in many places. Body and legs as before ; wings, two slips of 
 white goose or any fine white feather. Hook 8 to 11. 
 
 Wickhams fancy. An excellent all day and nearly all season 
 fly, not only in Hampshire, whence it sprung, but in many 
 other streams. Body, gold tinsel ; red hackle from head to tail, 
 starling wing, light and dark, two shades. Hook 9 to 12. 
 
 Partridge and grouse hackles. Two small flies, very useful at 
 times, particularly on northern or moorland streams. A lemon 
 silk, or orange silk body, with three turns of partridge or grouse 
 hackle. Hooks 10 to 12. 
 
 The red and black palmers. Very common and well-known 
 flies, and very useful, particularly the former. They should have 
 either peacock or black ostrich bodies, and red or black hackles. 
 The black palmer sometimes is ribbed with silver. If, instead of 
 a common red hackle, you substitute one with a black centre, 
 you make 
 
 The Coch-y-bonddhu. A noted fly in Wales, and useful in very 
 many streams. These flies may be dressed of any size, from the 
 largest to the smallest. 
 
 The Soldier palmer I have found a capital fly in many rivers, 
 particularly when thickened with rain. It is often a good lake 
 fly too. Body scarlet crewel ribbed with gold tinsel ; red hackle. 
 Hooks from 7 to 10. 
 
 With this list of flies the angler should kill anywhere. I 
 myself use chiefly the duns all round, the spinners, the Governor, 
 the Wickham, the alder, the sedge, the March brown, the quill 
 gnats, the Francis, the Coch-y-bonddhu, the Coachman, the black
 
 TKOUT FLIES. 99 
 
 gnat, and the drakes. I have different sizes of some of them, 
 and I rarely want any other fly, unless, driven to a fit of 
 desperation, I descend to the midges ; but it rarely pays well, 
 though you may pick up a stray fish and scratch one or two, 
 for though a fish may be rising madly at the real midge, he 
 knows the artificial one too. Last year the fish were rising at 
 the midges, and I put on a midge which was a fair imitation. I 
 rose seven fish in succession to it, all good fish, and I never 
 touched one. It is astonishing how fish will nose the artificial 
 fly at times without taking it, and I know nothing so exaspe- 
 rating. 
 
 Though they dress their flies somewhat differently in Derby- 
 shire, Cumberland, and the north, in some places tying them all 
 with hackles only, &c., yet, if you observe them closely, you will 
 find that they are very fair imitations of the duns, spinners, &c., 
 which we use ; still, the angler will always do well, if he comes 
 into a new neighbourhood, and finds a pretty good local tyer, who 
 is a fisherman too, to give his flies a trial. Long experience of a 
 stream must teach a man something. If he cannot get on with 
 them, then he can resort to his own, or he can try his own for a 
 change. In mountain becks, the small red, black and soldier 
 palmers, the black gnat, small March brown, blue and yellow 
 duns, sand fly, with the partridge and grouse hackles, will kill 
 from year's end to year's end. 
 
 For lakes I give a few flies which, with a slight variation, 
 will kill all over the country. The bodies are nearly all crewel, 
 or pig's wool, and the standard colours are red, yellow, orange, 
 claret, black, and green, some of them ribbed with gold, and 
 some with silver twist. The hackles commonly wedded to these 
 are red, black, coch-y-bonddhu, and grouse, no others being used ; 
 the wings are teal, mallard, woodcock, and jays' wing, or a bit 
 of black wild duck with a white tip. One of the best Scotch 
 flies is known as 
 
 The Heckum-peckum. The body is scarlet crewel, ribbed with 
 silver twist and red hackle, and the black feather with a white 
 tip from the wild mallard for wing. The same body and hackle, 
 
 H2
 
 100 ANGLING. 
 
 with either teal or brown mallard, makes an excellent fly. A 
 green body, with a grouse or black hackle, with a teal or mallard 
 wing, and gold twist is good. 
 
 Yellow or orange bodies, with gold tinsel, red hackles, and 
 woodcock wing are also excellent. 
 
 Black bodies, silver twist, black hackles, and teal wing 
 slaughter many. 
 
 Claret bodies, black hackle and jays, or teal, or woodcock wing, 
 makes a serviceable change. The March brown and hare's 
 ear, and hare's ear and yellow are also very useful on lakes. 
 These flies should be kept of two or even three sizes for 
 favourites, to suit deep or shallow, rough, or smooth, the largest 
 about a No. 6, down to No 8. In lake fishing a good boatman 
 is not only half, but two-thirds of the battle. If the lake 
 be of the usual character, with shallow shores and a deep 
 centre, you drift along, with an occasional paddle from the 
 man, in a moderate breeze, casting shorewards as you go. If 
 the breeze be heavy, you either row head to it, or, drifting, 
 you find it useful to have a rope or chain with a big stone, 
 which, throwing over and dragging along the bottom, checks 
 the too rapid pace of the boat. In lakes where there are 
 shallow bays, like Loch Awe, and where the water all over 
 over them is not more than from six to eight or ten feet 
 deep, you may make two or three drifts or courses at different 
 depths. As a rule, the water from six to twelve feet deep is 
 the best place for the fish, though I have caught fish more 
 than once with the fly in lakes where there was, perhaps, 
 a hundred feet of water beneath them, but this is not done 
 every day. In lakes like Loch Leven, where there are very 
 large shallow portions of the lake, you can make very long 
 drifts without much trouble. If there is not wind enough 
 for the fly by casting, you will often get a few fish by 
 trailing your flies with thirty or forty yards of line out, 
 and a spinning minnow at such times gives a better chance 
 than the fly. Eow slowly, so as to keep your minnow or 
 flies deep in the water. In some of the big Irish lakes they
 
 TKOUT PLIES. 101 
 
 use cross lines for the trout. I cannot approve of it. You 
 scratch and scare no end of fish ; and as for sport, half the 
 sport consists in disentangling your flies. I tried it once for 
 curiosity, but didn't like it and didn't approve of it. 
 
 The one great ingredient in successful fly fishing, as in most 
 other fishing, is patience. The man whose fly is always on 
 the vacer has the best chance. I am a great sticker myself, 
 and never like to give it up. There is always a chance of a 
 fish or two, no matter how hopeless it looks. You never 
 know what may happen in fly fishing. I have, scores and 
 scores of times, seen, a bit of luck at the last moment, which 
 turned a bad day into a good one. The very last day that I 
 fished last season was one of the best instances of this that 
 has happened to me for a long time. There had been rain, 
 and the water was coloured, and it was a cold blusterous 
 day. A few small fish rose under the banks, of which I got 
 a brace about fib. each. Evening came on ; I went to the most 
 likely part of the stream a corner below a mill ; there I found 
 the best rod in our club, who hadn't a fish. He had fished all 
 the corners carefully, and had done nothing. It was getting 
 towards dark, and he left it for home. I walked with him for a 
 chat for about half a mile, when I returned to the mill, my way 
 lying in a different direction. When I left my friend I took 
 down my cast and reeled up the line, though the rod was still 
 together. I had a companion with me, who urged me to have 
 another cast below the mill, as he knew there were some good 
 fish there. It was the most hopeless chance to look at I ever 
 saw almost dark, bitterly cold and blusterous. I would 
 have bet 50 to 1 against even a rise. I put up the line 
 again and rose a fish at the first cast, and hooked him at the 
 second. I hooked three fish at that corner in about twenty 
 minutes, two of which were about l^lb., and the other 31b., 
 besides rising and scratching two or three more. It was 
 marvellous. 
 
 Don't be in too great a hurry to change the fly, and if 
 your flies are a bad imitation of what is on the water, use
 
 102 ANGLING. 
 
 some totally different fly. It is more likely to give you a 
 fish or two, as it does not challenge comparison and suspicion, 
 When you get hung up in a bush or tree, always try persuasion 
 and gentle means first ; an attachment can often, in that way, 
 be done away with, which force would only make firmer. 
 When you must break, shorten your line as much as you can and 
 pull steadily, and if your tackle and line be properly constituted 
 you should only lose a fly, A stout bit of cord, some half-a- 
 dozen yards long, coiled in the basket, is often very useful. 
 You may either tie a small leaded grapnel or hook on to one 
 end, or even a stone may do if you have not one. This thrown 
 over a bough, that is out of reach will often be found useful in 
 saving flies. Trout grow very rapidly when the water and provi- 
 sion to be obtained are suitable to them, and they grow to a larger 
 size in ponds, millheads, and such still, quiet, deep waters, than 
 they do, as a rule, in rapid and shallower -waters ; and there are 
 hundreds, and even thousands, of ponds in England, which now 
 only carry a few worthless carp and roach, which, with a very 
 little trouble, could be made to produce the finest possible trout. 
 I have known many instances where this change has been 
 advantageously made, and I have not, as yet, met with a single 
 failure ; and I hope that the time will come when trout will be as 
 common as roach are round London.
 
 GREYLING FISHING. 103 
 
 CHAPTER IX. ' 
 
 GREYLING FISHING. 
 
 THE GREYLING (Salmo thymallus). 
 
 THIS fish, too, is not nearly so widely distributed as it deserves. 
 Seeing how delightfully it prolongs one's fly-fishing season, even 
 up to Christmas if the water be in order and the weather open, 
 and when the fish themselves are in the finest condition, it has 
 always appeared to me a most desirable fish to have in most of our 
 trout streams. Greyling take a fly well, the same flies as are used 
 for trout being suitable for greyiing. The addition of a turn of gold 
 tinsel, or a little tag or tail of red or orange floss silk, being a great 
 additional attraction to greyiing. There is a famous fly in 
 Derbyshire called " the bumble," which succeeds admirably with 
 greyiing. The bodies are made of different coloured silks, orange 
 or red, with spirals of peacock herl up them, and hackles of silver 
 grey or light blue dun, or of sandy red, and no wings. Eaton, of 
 Starkholmes, is the best man to go to for a selection of bumbles, 
 and, as they vary a good deal in the bodies, I cannot give a close 
 description of the dressings. Greyiing may be taken, and a good 
 bag even made when none are seen to rise at the natural fly. At 
 such times the angler should try the deep still reaches, and fish 
 well under the banks. Greyiing rise very quickly from the 
 bottom in such places. Greyiing will often rise, and refuse even 
 two or three times, and then take after all, which trout rarely 
 do. The play of a greyiing differs much from that of a trout. 
 He tumbles and rolls about head over heels, and in a way that is
 
 104 ANGLING. 
 
 often very trying, to the hold of the hook particularly, as he is 
 much softer in the mouth than a trout. Greyling will often 
 take the fly under water, rising so quietly that you will scarcely 
 see any rise or break of the water at all. It is desirable, there- 
 fore, to watch the line narrowly, and to strike whenever you 
 think it stops or checks, and you will no^ and then be surprised, 
 although there is no break in the water, to find a good greyling 
 on the hook. For, as is often the case with trout, the big 
 ones are very quiet risers. All that has been said in fly fishing 
 for trout may be more or less applied to greyling, and you 
 may use two, and even three flies, more safely for greyling 
 than you can for trout. They are less of weed runners, and> 
 indeed, in their best season, there are much fewer weeds to 
 get into. I have found a sandy red hackle, with a blackish 
 but, a dirty buff body, and a short tag of bright red floss silk 
 with an olive dun for the first, and a willow, fly for the second 
 drop about as good a cast in October as you could put in 
 on Teme and Lugg. A Wickham's fancy too would do well, and 
 a silver bodied fly with blue hackle and light wing. 
 
 The most slaughterous way, however, of fishing for greyling, 
 particularly on the Shropshire streams, is with what is called 
 the grasshopper. This is a pear-shaped lump of lead cast on to 
 the shank of a No. 4 hook. This is twisted over with rows 
 of green and yellow, and sometimes red wool ; five or six 
 gentles are then stuck on the hook, and the thing is cast into 
 the water in a favourable eddy, and allowed to go to the 
 bottom, when it is jerked up and down in a succession of short 
 jumps all over the eddy, never being allowed to remain still- 
 The moment you feel a touch, or the least obstruction, you 
 strike smartly, and you ought, if well up to your work, to catch 
 your fish. When the bottom is first found, a very small quill 
 float is fixed on to the line, to show the depth, as a guide to the 
 angler in his jumpifications. A pretty stiff cane rod is used, 
 and the gut is tolerably stout the hook so large that no time 
 is wasted in playing the fish ; as soon as he is hooked, you 
 put a heavy strain on, and quickly haul him ashore. Prodigious
 
 GKEYLING FISHING. 105 
 
 takes are sometimes made in this fashion. I have heard of 
 as much as 901b. falling to one rod in a day. It is a coarse 
 business altogether. Greyling spawn in April and May, and, 
 I think, ought not to be taken much before the end of August. 
 The largest greyling in the kingdom are found in the Itchen 
 and Test, where I have caught them up to 41b. weight, though 
 they are not so plentiful there as in the Shropshire streams.
 
 106 ANGLING. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SALMON FISHING. 
 THE SALMON (Salmo solar'). 
 
 SALMON fishing is justly considered the highest branch of the 
 angler's art, and when we know that salmon occasionally are 
 to be taken by the rod up to between oOlb. and 601b. in weight, 
 we may well wonder what sort of tackle is needed to subdue 
 and draw to shore a fish of such size and power ; and when 
 we consider the nature of the water which the salmon constantly 
 inhabits, the wonder ma} 7 even be increased tremendous 
 currents, obstructed by huge rocks, bsing their common habitat. 
 There is little need to dilate on the history of the salmon, 
 but we must give a short sketch of it. So far as we know 
 it, it leaves the sea and runs up the rivers to deposit its 
 spawn, which it does from November to the end of January 
 chiefly. The eggs, which are buried in the gravel, hatch 
 in about eighty or ninety days, or thereabout. The small 
 fry, in about a month or five weeks, when they have absorbed 
 the umbilical sac which is appended to them at their first 
 hatching, make their way out, and begin to seek for food. 
 From this time they grow more or less rapidly, and during 
 the ensuing winter, a large proportion of them become smolts ; 
 up to that time they have been nice little fish of five or six 
 inches in length, and called parrs, having certain blotches or 
 marks, called parr marks, on their sides, then they begin to 
 change their scales, and put on a new silvery coat, which
 
 SALMON FISHING. 107 
 
 hides the parr marks, and makes the little fish appear the 
 miniature salmon it is. These fish are then called smolts, and 
 they migrate down the river to the sea about the month 
 of May. Here they stay for a longer or shorter time, and 
 grow very rapidly, being very eager feeders, and finding abun- 
 dant food among the molluscs and fish fry of the ocean. At the 
 end of three or four months some of these fish, increased to 
 31b. cr 41b. in weight, come back to the river as grilse, and 
 push their way up to the spawning beds, where they spawn 
 for the first time. Many, however, do not return the same 
 year, but stay another period of eight, ten, or twelve months^ 
 or more, in the sea, and come back greatly increased in size, 
 often reaching 91b., lOlb., or even lllb. in weight. But all these 
 fish, on their first return from the sea, are what are called grilse. 
 They are more slender in shape, have a more forked tail, and 
 their scales are more easily detached than is the case with 
 mature salmon. Some of the parr, however, do not always 
 become smolts and migrate so soon. They remain in the river 
 for another year, and a portion of them have been found to 
 remain even two years before they make their first move. The 
 grilse, having spawned, goes down to the sea again as a kelt, 
 or spent fish, thin, and much deteriorated. And here, again, 
 there is some irregularity about its return, some coming back 
 mature salmon in a few months, and some staying on another 
 season in the sea, when they come back mature fish, much 
 increased in size. But the periods of these migrations are now 
 known to be more or less uncertain. Formerly it was believed 
 that there was a regular stated time for them in all instances 
 and this led to much confusion and misunderstanding. Experi- 
 ment, however, has taught us better. The salmon deposits 
 a vast number of eggs, from 10,000 to 20,000, or more, and 
 were it not for the number of enemies it has, and the reckless 
 and improvident way it is dealt with by man, our rivers would 
 literally swarm with them ; as it is, however, scarcely a mature 
 fish survives out of every thousand of eggs deposited. Salmon 
 fishing commences on some rivers as early as February, and
 
 108 ANGLING. 
 
 on some it continues as late as the end of November ; most of 
 these late fish, however, are -very much out of condition. 
 
 The chief method of salmon fishing practised in Britain 
 is with the fly ; though minnow and even worm are used, 
 and kill a large number of fish. We will, therefore, take % 
 fishing first. The rod and tackle used for the salmon is, of 
 course, much larger and stouter than that employed for the 
 trout. When the angler first takes to salmon fishing, he should 
 take care not to overburthen himself with his rod, and, unless 
 he is unusually strong, he will find a rod of 16ft. or 16^-ft. 
 long and heavy enough to commence with. After a season or a 
 few months' practice, he may be able to use a longer and heavier 
 one, and may go on to 19ft. or 20ft. or even more, but 
 unless it be in exceptional water, he will very rarely need one 
 of more than 18ft., and even 17ft. will be found large 
 enough for any fish. The reel must be large enough to 
 take 120 or 130 yards of eight plait dressed salmon line easily, 
 so that there may be plenty of room in winding up ; a plain winch, 
 not too wide between the plates, and with a moderate check, 
 just heavy enough to prevent the line over-running, is the best. 
 Multipliers are to be avoided in salmon fishing, and, for that 
 matter, in all fishing ; the principle doesn't work, and, as in the old 
 rhyme, it will be found that 
 
 Multiplication is vexation, 
 
 and, if it doesn't cause a division in practice, it will certainly 
 make you mad. Eight-plait dressed silk line is the best, and of 
 these lines none equal the London ones. Many other manu- 
 factures have been tried, but they none of them stand so well as 
 the London lines. Most of the other lines are plaited too 
 tightly and closely, and the result is either that the dressing 
 does not soak into the line, but, merely adhering to the outside, 
 soon rubs and wears off, when they soon wear out ; for few 
 salmon lines will stand with advantage a second dressing, or the 
 line has to be soaked so long in the composition, and dries so 
 slowly that it becomes half rotten before it is dry, and full half
 
 SALMON FISHING. 109 
 
 its strength is lost and destroyed. The London lines, however, 
 are more loosely plaited, so that the composition used for dressing 
 not only penetrates quickly throughout the fibre, but dries 
 quickly too ; and thus, though the outside may wear, the inside 
 still retains sufficient for all purposes, and the line is less 
 damaged by the immersion. These lines, however, are expensive, 
 3d. a yard being the ordinary price ; and this has induced other 
 makers to fabricate lines of cotton, hemp, and other materials on 
 the same plan, but at a much cheaper rate. Some of these lines 
 are found to answer well ; but, if I can get a good trustworthy 
 London eight plait silk line I prefer it to all others, and do not 
 think the extra expense thrown away. I have had lines of 
 this sort which I have used for many years, and which are as 
 strong and trustworthy as they were when I bought them. 
 When a line begins to go, however, it should be well tested 
 when wet, as lines are often much weaker when they are wet 
 than when they are dry, and all that is at all unsound should 
 be broken off and cast aside. Any line of from eighty yards 
 long and upwards may be turned end for end when one end 
 begins to show signs of weakness, but even then the weaker 
 portion should be broken off, as it is always unsafe ; and it is 
 better to lash it on to a length of common undressed stuff, 
 which will answer all the purpose in a long run, which will 
 happen now and then with a salmon, than to trust to any weak 
 part. Thus in a line of that length you get two lines or 
 rather two lengths which you could hardly get out of a shorter 
 line, as in the run you would so soon get into the worn part 
 with' a shorter line. It is as well to have the cast eight or 
 ten yards tapered so as to meet the casting line, as this makes 
 perfectly straight casting so much easier and more certain. If 
 more than this is tapered, as is too often the case, it makes 
 the line too light to go well through the wind. 
 
 Rod, reel, and line being settled on, we next come to the 
 casting line : I usually employ for this about one yard of 
 treble-twisted and one of double-twisted gut, and about two 
 yards or two and a half of good round sound carefully tied
 
 110 ANGLING. 
 
 single salmon gut. You cannot be too particular in looking at 
 all the joints and junctions in your casting line. Every knot 
 should be regarded with scrupulous care, as if the gut is new, 
 sound, and good as it ought to be, if a salmon breaks away it is 
 nineteen times out of twenty one of the knots that gives. The 
 " double barrel " knot shown at Fig. 2, Plate 4, in tackle 
 making is the best and most safe for salmon casting lines ; it is a 
 little bigger and coarser then the single, but with stout gut the 
 single will sometimes slip, and the double may be made fairly 
 neat if the threads of gut are arranged so as to lie flat and level 
 and not ride over one another. It is as well to have a sound 
 well-lashed loop at each end of the casting line ; one for the 
 running line tobe fastened on to, which should be done with a single 
 hitch knot ; at the other end the fly should be looped on, a loop 
 being also made for the purpose in the thread of gut fixed to the 
 fly. Salmon flies are mostly tied on loops or eyes, either of 
 single or twisted gut, or in some instances a loop or eye is made 
 in the end of the shank of the hook. The simplest and easiest 
 way is to tie a long loop with a double or a single slip knot, which- 
 ever the angler prefers. I find the single secure enough if 
 properly soaked, but some prefer the double. Push the' bight of 
 the slip loop through loop or eye on the hook so far as to be able 
 to pass the whole of the fly through the loop ; then draw the 
 slip knot home down to the eye and jam it tight ; and, having 
 looped the fly on to the cast, you are all ready to begin. On 
 reaching the river side the casting is done exactly as in the case 
 of a double-handed trout fly rod. If you are fishing with your 
 left shoulder to the stream, you should cast from your left shoulder 
 left hand uppermost ; if with the right from the right. This 
 is desirable as you hang the fly better in the stream, and that is, 
 as old fishers will tell you, a point of no slight importance, a very 
 little practice makes it immaterial which you use. You must 
 cast across the stream and somewhat down stream, allowing the 
 fly to go down stream until it is straight down from the top of 
 the rod, and working the fly more or less by alternately raising 
 and dropping the point of the rod as you do so. This makes the
 
 SALMON FISHING. Ill 
 
 fly advance and retreat giving to every feather a life-like motion, 
 and precisely the sort of motion evinced by the shrimps and 
 other marine creatures on which the salmon feed largely in the 
 sea, and it is supposed to be very attractive to the salmon. When 
 the line comes straight down it should be withdrawn after two or 
 three jerks, and another cast made. 
 
 Never use too much power in casting ; it is not only not neces- 
 sary but it is injurious, you cast the line with the top and half 
 the second joint, and very little force suffices to bring this into 
 play. If you use more all the effect is to bring the lower part of 
 the rod into action, which has very little spring compared with 
 the top of it. Try how little force you can use (not how much) 
 to get the line out, and you will be surprised how little is really 
 needed to send a straight line out. The tremendous " whoosh" 
 that one often hears from a salmon rod is quite unnecessary and 
 even objectionable. 30 yards is a very good cast ; the most I 
 could ever manage was 34^ yards, and I have done that two or 
 three times and measured it. The most I ever saw cast was 38 
 yards, but Pat Hearns has cast 42 yards. I never heard of anyone 
 else doing it. It is never necessary to fish over the same cast 
 twice, unless you have some special reason for it. Take a short 
 step between each cast so that you leave from two to three feet 
 between every cast, and thus you will not miss an inch of the 
 water. Though you may now and then once in a way cast up 
 stream and work down it is a very rare case to get a rise from a 
 salmon thus. Here and there you may seem to do so and get a 
 rise, but you will frequently find that there is a great eddy at the 
 spot where the stream really is working up ; and the salmon 
 always lies head to the stream, so that you will have been 
 fishing in the proper direction to rise him. Enough attention is 
 not paid to this, as eddies, particularly below waterfalls or at 
 the head of heavy streams, are very common, and their direc- 
 tion is not sufficiently borne in mind. 
 
 When a salmon rises there are three ways of knowing it, you 
 either see a part or nearly the whole of his body, as he rolls over 
 at the fly, or you see a large break or boil in the water as he turns
 
 112 ANGLING. 
 
 at it ; or you see nothing at all, but feel a touch more or less 
 
 smart ; this is often very gentle indeed, for a 201b. salmon will 
 
 frequently come so softly and gently at the fly as scarcely to 
 
 move the point of the rod, and you would think that it was 
 
 hardly a three-ounce troutling. When you see the aforesaid 
 
 body of the fish, or the big break or boil, you may raise the 
 
 point of the rod pretty steadily and leisurely ; but, when you 
 
 feel the touch under water, you must strike instantly and pretty 
 
 smartly, as the fish is a shy one, and has taken the hook very 
 
 gingerly, and if not hit at once will drop it directly. Many 
 
 people say that you should never strike till you feel the fish, 
 
 because it will often happen that a fish in his eagerness misses 
 
 the fly, when, if it is not pulled away from him, he will turn 
 
 and seize it ; whereas, if you snatch it away, he will get 
 
 alarmed, and go down sulky, and will not rise again ; and I must 
 
 say that I have seen this happen on several .occasions* But it is 
 
 by no means easy (for a young hand more particularly) to avoid 
 
 striking when he sees the head and shoulders or the break of a 
 
 good fish. But there is another point of view to be considered, 
 
 and that is that fish very frequently rise false, and come at the 
 
 hook with their mouths shut, or roll over, or smack at the fly 
 
 with their tails. These fish do not mean taking ; they rise for 
 
 frolicsomeness, or from some other reason, but they will not 
 
 take ; and yet it frequently happens that if you strike at such 
 
 fish the hook comes over or against some part of the head, body, 
 
 or fins, and hooks them foul, and you get the best runs and 
 
 most obstinate fights out of foul-hooked fish, though I would 
 
 only whisper the fact ; and these fish you certainly would not 
 
 hook at all if you didn't strike or waited till you felt them, and 
 
 it is quite certain that the number of fish is much greater 
 
 which you hook in this way than of those which take the fly 
 
 after missing it if you don't strike. On the whole, therefore, 
 
 in the long run, the angler will find that it pays better to strike 
 
 than not to. As to the theory about pulling the fly away from 
 
 a fish before he can take it, or has time to do so, that is only 
 
 possible when you are standing on a high bank, or rock, or
 
 SALMON FISHING. 113 
 
 bridge, and see the fish coining from the bottom, at such times 
 you are very apt to do it "; but as for doing so when you see the 
 rise or break from the level, it is all nonsense. The fish has the 
 fly by that time (bar bungles, of which as I have said, there 
 are but few) if he means to have it. If fish are rising very 
 shyly, fish slow, and sink the fly many a fish will take a foot 
 under water who will only make a boil at a fly on the surface. 
 If the water is very clear and fine, plenty of single gut of sea- 
 trout size with small flies may answer. In trying a shy fish, 
 go slowly over him ; go quickly ; go with big violent jerks ; go 
 with very slight ones some like a steady draw without any, 
 and Mr. Colquhon recommends simply winding up the line over 
 the throw as a last expedient. All these and any other plans 
 you can think of may be tried over a dull fish, and oftentimes in 
 vain ; he has tasted steel before, and is mistrustful of toppings. 
 
 If you do not know a river it is always most desirable to have 
 someone with you who does. It is not always easy to tell 
 which are salmon casts and which not on a biggish river ; and 
 you may waste much time on the part of a cast which is of 
 little value, and scamp that which should be fished inch by 
 inch. If you see any stones or sticks stuck in any unnatural or 
 unusual position, or any cuts in the turf, &c., on the bank of a 
 salmon pool, go gingerly opposite that ; ten to one it is a mark to 
 note some fish that has risen to some former angler, and which 
 has not yet been accounted for. When you hook a salmon play 
 him as well as you can. For some minutes he will play you most 
 likely ; but when he begins to calm down you may begin to 
 alter the role a little. It is of no use trying to check a salmon 
 in his first two or three runs ; but as his trips become shorter 
 and more laboured, let the line go out grudgingly, so that he 
 may have a good dead weight to pull against. In the earlier 
 part of the struggle all you can do perhaps is supposing the 
 fish is running up or down, and there be danger ahead to take 
 it in time, and by a little pressure, and a gentle slant of the head, 
 to run him clear of it. To this end the instant you hook your 
 fish, if you do not know the pool well, look round and take
 
 114 ANGLING. 
 
 stock of all the difficulties you have to contend with, so as to 
 know well beforehand what you want to do. Always keep a tight 
 line ; never let any slack hang about anywhere. If a fish airs 
 himself or jumps, drop the point of the rod, and give to him all 
 the line you can, so that it may be slack when he falls in the 
 water again ; but as soon as he is under water once more 
 recover your strain. Always keep level with or opposite to your 
 fish, and do not let him get further below or above you than 
 you can help, as it is apt to drown the line ; and if the fish 
 turns suddenly, you may have a lot of loose line in the water, 
 and the fish careering about at his pleasure. When he begins 
 to run short look out for a suitable landing-place where you 
 can bring the fish close in, and where he can be either netted or 
 gaffed from ; never dash at a fish in gaffing, but wait until he is 
 well within reach, extend the gaff beyond him (as near the tail 
 as you can make sure of, so as to spoil .the fish as little as 
 possible), and with a quick stroke and a drag, send the point 
 well into him, and haul him out at once, letting him hang a dead 
 weight on the hook (the gaff being held perpendicularly) as you 
 lift him out of the water, get him in a safe place, and knock him 
 on the head at once. If you have not a gaff or net, you must 
 tail him out. Find a shelving, sandy, gravelly bit of shore, 
 and as the fish turns on his side beaten, draw him gently 
 up into the shallow water, when your assistant should go behind 
 him, grip him firmly by the small of the tail, and "run 
 him in." If you have no basket nor bag to put your fish 
 in get a piece of stoutish string, tie one end tightly round 
 the small of the tail, put the other end through the gills, out 
 through the mouth, drawing the fish up to the best part of a 
 circle, with about a foot of string between head and tail, and tie off. 
 If you then take four inches of a round stick, and take a turn of 
 the string round it ; you can carry the fish very conveniently 
 and without cutting your fingers with the string, any distance. 
 Although it is desirable to be able to make long casts at 
 times, you should never use an inch more line than is 
 absolutely necessary, or you throw over and beyond your
 
 SALMON FISHING. 115 
 
 cast, and so lose power, having more or less a bagged line 
 when you come on to it, and if your rod is upright, and 
 your line bagged, and a fish happens to rise, as they will sometimes 
 at the last moment, you cannot strike your fish, and the chances 
 are a scratch and a lose. Always fish your best, and cast 
 as if you were expecting a fish to rise at every cast. If you 
 get listless and out of heart sit down and smoke till you 
 grow keen again, but don't fish carelessly. It is ten to one 
 that you lose your chance if you do. You have been fishing 
 all day perhaps, and have not touched a fin. You are tired, 
 out of heart, and careloss. You've fished the best of the 
 pool. The lower bit is never very good, only giving a fish 
 once in a way. You have pitched your fly out, however, and 
 your cigar being out, you take the opportunity to strike a fuzee 
 while holding the rod for a moment in your left hand, or you 
 are doing something else equally imprudent, when suddenly you 
 feel a touch at the rod point. You look up from the all-absorbing 
 
 fuzee. " Ah ! confound it, there he was just as I was Oh, 
 
 dem, dem, dem ! he's gone ; and, having had a good taste 
 of the fly, will not come again for a day or two, and what 
 a thundering big boil he made. I'll lay a sovereign that's 
 the twenty-pounder Jones saw ; and he said it was in this pool, 
 too, but I thought it was further up. Oh, dem, dem, dem!" 
 Why will you do two things at once ? Isn't salmon fishing 
 enough for anyone ? There is nothing more common than 
 to fish all day and do nothing, and to get your fish, or even 
 two, towards evening. 
 
 Don't wade if you can do without, as, at the best, it is more 
 or less rheumatic. If you must wade, use waterproofs and worsted 
 under, and always turn them down when not wading to let the 
 air in and perspiration out. Don't wade a pool unless you know 
 it well, or have someone with you who does, and always " gang 
 warily ; " a round stone or an unseen boulder may, if it does no 
 worse, give you a hearty ducking, and if you are five or six miles 
 from home, and no inn or house near, that is not worth while. 
 
 i2
 
 116 ANGLING. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 SALMON FLIES. 
 
 I NOW come to salmon flies. Of these I shall give a list of 
 fourteen, which will suffice for all general work, and with which 
 regard being had to the size, depth and colour of the water, 
 and the consequent size of the fly fish should be killed 
 anywhere. There are hundreds of varieties of flies ussd on 
 the different rivers in Great Britain, and every river has its 
 peculiar varieties. I always use the flies which are said by 
 the local fishermen to kill best ; but I have no space to 
 give here a complete list of all these flies for each river. 
 Salmon fishermen who are so far interested in their pursuit as 
 to desire this, may find complete lists for every river and lake 
 fully set forth and described in my " Book on Angling." But 
 the labour and drudgery of compiling such a list is so great 
 and so tedious that having done it twice I have no desire ever 
 to go through it again. I here give a list of the flies under the 
 names they are known by. The method of dressing them 
 follows. 
 
 FOURTEEN SALMON FLIES. 
 
 THE BUTCHER. 
 THE JOCK SCOTT. 
 THE BLUE DOCTOR. 
 THE SILVER DOCTOR. 
 THE BLACK AND TEAL. 
 THE ORANGE AND GROUSE. 
 THE CLARET. 
 
 THE PARSON. 
 THE NAMSEN. 
 THE POPHAM. 
 THE WASPS. 
 THE HIGHLANDER. 
 THE CHILDERS. 
 THE RANGER.
 
 SALMON FLIES. 117 
 
 With these flies in his book, suited in size and brilliance to 
 the water, the angler need not fear to encounter any river. 
 It will be seen, too, that, with slight modifications of dressing, 
 which I have suggested, perhaps double the number of patterns 
 could be made. I will now give a brief description of the 
 dressing of each fly. 
 
 THE BUTCHER is, perhaps, one of the most general favourites 
 with slight variations. It is dressed in many ways. The body 
 is made of rough pig's wool. Beginning at the tail we have 
 almost one-fifth of the whole body composed of claret, then the 
 same quantity of medium blue ; ditto ditto red, and the rest of 
 the body of dark blue ; a reddish claret hackle with gallina at the 
 shoulder ; fine gold tinsel ; an under wing of golden pheasant's 
 ruff and rump, and a mixed upper wing of mallard, bustard, 
 wood duck, dyed swan, &c., &c : a topping for the tail ; and the 
 same may be added to the wing if you wish to make it extra 
 gay. This fly may be used of any size. 
 
 THE JOCK SCOTT has grown greatly in favour of late years. 
 In Scotland there is hardly any river which it will not kill on. 
 The tail, one topping and a short Indian crow feather ; the 
 body is made of floss silk in two joints the tail joint of golden 
 yellow, the upper one of black. At the joint are tied in two 
 or three small toucan points, with two turns of black ostrich 
 herl ; silver twist over the black joints, gold wire over the yellow ; 
 a black hackle with gallina over it ; a mixed wing of white tip 
 turkey, pintail, bustard, mallard, and dyed swan, with one 
 topping ; a short kingfisher feather on either shoulder ; and 
 blue macaw points. This fly ranges from a largish medium 
 size downwards to sea trout size. 
 
 THE BLUE DOCTOR, another capital fly. Tail, a topping ; 
 over this a turn of bright scarlet crewel ; body, very pale blue 
 silk ; silver tinsel : on large flies double the tinsel or use silver 
 twist alongside it ; hackle, either a blue some shades darker, 
 or a blue jay feather may be used, and over this, at the 
 shoulder, a grouse, or a bustard hackle ; mixed wing of bustard, 
 dark turkey, Argus pheasant, and dyed swan ; head, scarlet
 
 118 ANGLING. 
 
 crewel. Some people omit the scarlet crewel at head and tail, 
 and use the ordinary black ostrich herl ; it is matter of taste 
 and fancy. I don't think it influences the salmon much one 
 way or other. This fly is dressed large at times. I have 
 seen very large ones used in the heavier casts in the Tummel, 
 where it is the best fly by far that can be used ; and they 
 run down to sea trout size. 
 
 THE SILVER DOCTOR. There is another fiy somewhat similar 
 to this called "the Wilkinson," which kills well in the Tweed 
 and elsewhere. The doctor has a body of silver tinsel, with a 
 topping for tail, and red crewel at the butt, as in the Blue 
 Doctor ; blue hackle, speckled gallina at the shoulder ; and 
 a wing chiefly of pintail with dyed swan, mixed fibres, a topping 
 or two over, and red head. The " Wilkinson " has a similar body 
 ribbed with silver thread ; hackle and tail as in the Doctor, 
 with a lake coloured hackle at shoulder; a mixed wing of 
 bustard, wood duck, pintail, red and blue macaw, a topping 
 over, and two kingfishers at the shoulders; with a black instead 
 of a red head. The only real difference is in the wing and 
 the shoulder hackle, which, possibly makes the fly a little more 
 brilliant, and perhaps improves it. From medium to a moderate 
 grilse size. 
 
 THE BLACK AND TEAL is a capital fly, and kills almost 
 anywhere. In small flies I make the body of black silk, and in 
 larger ones, as it gets towards the shoulder, I throw in some 
 black pig's wool ; a topping for tail ; with silver twist for small, 
 and tinsel for larger flies ; a black hackle on half the body, and 
 gallina (the large spotted feather) at the shoulder. In small 
 flies I make the wing simply of a slip of teal ; in larger ones I 
 add doubled, or a long and short jungle cock on either side of 
 it as well ; and a small teal or black partridge feather for the 
 under wing. You may add a topping if you like. This fly runs 
 from something above medium size down to sea trout size. It 
 is a good sea and lake trout fly also. 
 
 THE ORANGE AND GROUSE. This is a capital Irish fly, and 
 will kill in more places than Ireland. Tail, a topping and small
 
 SALMON FLIES. 119 
 
 kingfisher feather ; body, orange coloured floss silk, with a turn 
 or two of lake floss at the tail end, silver tinsel ; hackle, grouse 
 with a bit of blue jay at shoulder. The hackle is usually 
 clipped on the breast, and left long for the wing ; but I do not 
 like this plan, and prefer a wing of brown turkey of the same 
 colour as the grouse hackle, with one topping, and blue macaw 
 points. You may vary the blue jay at shoulder with any other 
 colour ; a long fibred black heron hackle, with a coch-y- 
 bonddhu, instead of grouse, makes a good change, and you may 
 put a bit of tippet in for an under wing. This fly should be 
 dressed from a small medium size down to sea trout. The 
 orange must not be too deep a red. 
 
 THE CLARET. This fly is sometimes called the fiery brown. 
 The colour of the body may be varied from a sort of brownish 
 claret to reddish and almost to plum colour. The reddish or 
 ordinary claret is the best, however. Tail, a topping ; body, 
 claret mohair, or seal's fur, with two or three turns of orange 
 floss at the tail ; gold twist ; a dirty reddish claret hackle (a 
 darker one for the darker bodies), with a black hackle at the 
 shoulder ; vary this with a blue jay ; wing, a golden pheasant 
 tippet feather for under wing, the upper wing, mixed gold 
 pheasant tail, brown turkey, pintail, and bustard, with a few 
 fibres of red and green parrot, and blue macaw points. This is 
 a very useful fly, and may be dressed from over medium size 
 down to grilse size. 
 
 THE PARSON. This is a very gay fly indeed, and is rather a 
 name for any fly with a number of toppings in it than for any 
 particular fly. It hails from the Erne in Ireland, one of the 
 most charming salmon rivers I know of, and where I have had 
 many a delightful day's sport ; but if a striking showy fly 
 is required, this is almost as good a basis as can be selected : 
 Tail a topping, some tippet sprigs, and a short kingfisher feather ; 
 body, golden floss about three turns, then pig's wool of the 
 same colour, changing into orange ; silver twist ; a golden oh' ve 
 hackle with a turn or t\vo of orange over it, and lastly, a 
 lake hackle or blue jay in the shoulder, or in very showy
 
 120 AJS'GLING. 
 
 flies a few short toppings are tied in at the breast. The wing 
 varies according to the brilliancy of the fly in very bright flies 
 a single tippet, with cock of the rock (not the square feather), 
 on either side, two strips of pintail and a lot of toppings as 
 many as the fly will carry with two short kingfishers at the 
 shoulders, and blue macaw points. In less showy flies, two 
 golden pheasant saddle feathers over the tippet and less 
 toppings, with a few sprigs of gold pheasant tail over the 
 pintail, and no cock of the rock does well the toppings are 
 sometimes tied on so as to curve upwards. Tie it about medium 
 sizes. 
 
 THE NAMSEN. This fly is remarkable chiefly for the beautiful 
 way in which the colours of the body are graduated from the 
 tail to the shoulder. Taking that body for a basis, you may 
 put any hackle and wing to it you like, but I do not think 
 you can improve the body. Tail, a topping and a bit of red 
 ibis ; body, two turns of golden yellow pig's wool, changing into 
 orange, and then into claret, and lastly into darkish blue ; 
 and you may add a twirl of black. The upper part of the body 
 should be roughish, and picked out to serve as a hackle ; silver 
 and gold thread side by side, a black hackle on the shoulder ; 
 wing, slips of dark turkey, well marked bustard, bittern wing, 
 and dyed swan fibres, various. Size medium. 
 
 THE POPHAM. This is a curious fly, but it has become a very 
 general favourite of late years. The body is made in three 
 equal joints of floss silk, the lowest of bright yellow, the middle 
 one of medium blue, and the upper one of orange ; at each 
 joint is tied in two or three Indian crow feathers, with a turn 
 of peacock herl over ; fine gold twist ; blue jay hackle at 
 shoulder ; tail, a topping and a mixed wing of golden pheasant 
 tail and tippet, bustard, teal, and dyed swan fibres various, 
 and one topping. From medium to grilse size. 
 
 THE WASPS. These are flies so named on the Tay, but 
 they are merely the type of the old almost universal Scotch 
 fly, which formerly, with a slight variation in the wing, was 
 used, and is now, not only all over Scotland, but Wales as well.
 
 SALMON FLIES. 121 
 
 Varied slightly, they are the most useful flies the angler can 
 have in his book. The body is the main point, it is made 
 of pig's wool, the lower half yellow, the upper of either 
 medium, blue, black, or claret pig's wool, or you may graduate 
 it with a few turns of orange or claret above the yellow ; the 
 hackles are mostly either coch-y-bonddhu or black, with or 
 without a bit of gallina, jay, blue or claret, at the shoulder ; 
 tinsel, either silver or gold at will tail d discretion. The 
 wings are either of cinnamon coloured turkey, or brown 
 speckled turkey, or peacock wing, or (and this is a modern 
 innovation) mixed, of gold pheasant tail and ruff, bustard, 
 wood duck, and dyed swan. These flies may be dressed of 
 any size, from three inches long down to sea trout size. With 
 the black and yellow body, coch-y-bonddhu hackle, and brown 
 turkey wing, I beat every fly I could put on the Usk last 
 autumn, killing every fish I did kill with it though I used 
 many other flies. It is now called there the Usk Francis, 
 though the fly is as old as the hills, or at least as salmon 
 fishing. 
 
 THE HIGHLANDER. This is a very useful fly in the north 
 of Scotland, and from the look of it, I fancy that wherever green 
 is a favourite colour it would do well. Tail, a topping ; body, gold 
 coloured floss, half way up the body, for a small fly (for a large 
 one a turn or two of floss or thin yellow pig's wool), above this 
 olive green pig's wool ; silver tinsel ; and a pea-green hackle 
 from head to tail, and blue jay at the shoulder ; mixed wing 
 of gold pheasant's tail, and tippet mallard, pintail, a long and 
 short jungle cock on either side, and one topping. Size less than 
 medium down to grilse size. 
 
 THE CHILDEES. This is another capital Scotch fly, I never did 
 a great deal with it, but that is because I have used it but little. 
 On all the northern rivers, however, it is indispensable. Tail a 
 topping with some teal and tippet fibres ; body yellow, orange, 
 and dark reddish lake (it is a difficult colour to describe) pig's 
 wool ; broad gold tinsel ; a reddish claret hackle and lightish 
 blue or jay at the shoulder ; wing darkish turkey, bustard, and
 
 122 ANGLING. 
 
 gold pheasant tail, with dyed swan fibres, various. From above 
 medium size down to grilse. 
 
 THE BANGER. There are two Bangers, the black and blue. 
 The first has a topping for tail. Body two or three laps of 
 bright yellow floss, then bright red and black pig's wool, silver 
 twist and tinsel ; or dark blue hackle with black at the shoulder ; 
 wing doubled jungle cock feathers, some tippet, a topping blue 
 macaw horns, and kingfisher's at the shoulders. ". Substitute blue 
 pig's wool for the black and a gallina for a black hackle, and you 
 have the blue Banger.
 
 ON TACKLE MAKING, ETC. 123 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ON TACKLE MAKING, &c. 
 
 TACKLE MAKING. The first thing in tackle making is to be able 
 to tie a hook and gut together. Take some fine tolerably strong 
 waxed silk, using either cobbler's wax or white wax. If the 
 colour of the silk is a matter of any moment, the white wax 
 will be found the best. Select the hook and gut, lay the gut 
 along the shank of the hook until it nearly, but not quite, 
 reaches the bend, and lay the end of the wax silk along with it 
 and. holding both gut and silk in its place on the inside of the 
 hook, twirl the silk round and round, laying every coil evenly and 
 firmly side by side, until the whole of the gut is covered, when 
 fasten off with a couple of hitches drawn tight. Touch the 
 silk with varnish, and put it aside to dry. A little practice will 
 enable the angler to do this with great quickness and certainty 
 but, before laying the gut to the shank of the hook, it is as well 
 (particularly in smallish hooks) to bite, or indent with the teeth, 
 the gut to be lashed over, as it gives an irregular surface to the 
 silk and prevents it from slipping. The next thing is to tie two 
 ends of gut together so as to be able to make or lengthen a 
 casting line or other tackle. On tying gut together you should 
 always soak it first in lukewarm water if you do not the knot 
 never draws so close home, and is very apt to slip. If you have 
 no warm water at hand place the ends in your mouth and keep 
 them there for some minutes. There are two or three ways of 
 tying strands of gut together, the first and simplest is by what
 
 124 ANGLING, 
 
 I call the single barrel knot, as given in the first knot in Plate 4. 
 Lay the ends of the gut alongside of one another for an inch 
 and a half or two inches, take a coil round and pass the ends 
 through : shorten the useless ends as much as you can so as to 
 waste none, draw the knot as tight as you can and cut off the 
 ends, unless you 'contemplate lashing them to the line with fine 
 silk as some people do, when leave about the sixth of an inch, 
 and lash that, torching with varnish of course. I sometimes do 
 this with the upper side of such a knot, when I want to tie on 
 over it a- Cropper fly ; in other cases I find it quite enough, with 
 moderately fine gut, to pull tight when moist, to allow the knot to 
 dry, and then having cut off the ends, touch it with varnish. It 
 is ten to*one against its slippingn any ordinary trial ; but with 
 stout salmon gut submitted to heavjfe gtrajns such knots will some- 
 times slip unless the ends are lashed. The stouter the gut the more 
 liable it is to slip. Many persons then, to make quite sure, use 
 the double barrel knot. This is the same fashion of knot, only 
 the ends are passed twice through the coil, as shown in Fig. 2. 
 and when drawn tight you must be careful to arrange the coils so 
 that they lie nice and even, and no one rides over the other. 
 There is another knot and a very good one the double tie knot. 
 Lay the gut ends together as before, take hoid of one end and tie 
 it round the opposite gut, then take the other end and do the 
 same ; pull the tie's home, and then draw the ties together until 
 they are quite firm and strong, and cut off the ends. This 
 is shewn in Fig. 3. Some people use this knot for fixing 
 droppers : they tie a knot at the end of the gut of the dropper, 
 put it between the gut strands between the ties before they are 
 drawn home together, and then when drawn home the knot in 
 the dropper holds it: I don't approve of t the plan. The only 
 other knots or hitches worth notice are the single hitch, by 
 which a running line without a loop can be fastened very quickly 
 and simply to the casting line : when drawn home this is very- 
 secure. (See Fig. 4.) A double hitch can be made by returning 
 the knot at the end of the running line again through the eye, 
 so as to leave a bight of the line on one side of it and the knot
 
 PLATE, 4.
 
 ON TACKLE MAKING, ETC. 125 
 
 end on the other. When this is drawn tight, the hitch can 
 be undone instantaneously by a pull at the knot. The double 
 slip, which is given at Fig. 5, is the double slip loop mentioned 
 in fastening on salmon flies, the bight is pushed through the 
 loop of the fly so far that the whole fly can be turned through 
 it, the slip is drawn home and the end cut off. It is usually 
 easy thus to take the fly off and put on another in the same way, 
 though now and then the loop gets so jammed that it is not 
 very easy to do so. These are all the knots that are really 
 required by the angler. 
 
 The next point is how to tie a trout fly. The simplest form 
 of trout fly is not difficult at all to learn. Of course practice 
 is required to be able to do it neatly. The simplest form of fly 
 is that of the plain hackle or palmer fly. It is fitted with more 
 or less body, which has a hackle rolled over it till it resembles a 
 small section of a bottle brush. In the north, where hackle 
 flies are largely and in some instances almost exclusively used, 
 only a few turns of the hackle are made at the head of the fly. 
 In other flies take chub flies for example they are rolled 
 thickly all up the body from tail to head. In most of the winged 
 flies, however, only about two or three turns are taken at the 
 shoulder or breast, though there are several exceptions to this ; 
 but suppose we want to make a full dressed palmer of the chub fly 
 pattern, we take two or three strands of herl. either of peacock, 
 ostrich, or other feather, or a fragment of silk, wool, or other 
 matter, and having whipped on the hook to the gut, and left a 
 good end of silk hanging, we tie one end of the herl, &c., on to 
 the lower end of the hook, just above the bend, tying in at the 
 same time the tip of a hackle of suitable proportions. See 
 Fig. 6, Plate 4. Then we roll the silk up to the head of the 
 fly, as that is where we now want it ; we then take hold of 
 the herl silk or wool and roll it round the shank of the 
 hook, coil after coil, till we reach the shoulders or head, where 
 the lashing silk is, and with this we take a turn over the herl, 
 &c., and a hitch to secure it ; cut off the surplus herl, &c., and 
 there is the body complete. (Fig. 7.) Then we take hold of
 
 126 ANGLING. 
 
 the butt end of the hackle, and roll that on likewise in rather 
 more open coils, taking care that the points of the hackle are 
 kept clear and free, and not doubled up anyhow, all of a 
 heap ; and having in like fashion reached the head or shoulder, 
 tie off the stump of the hackle with two or three tight turns 
 and hitches ; cut off all the refuse hackle, neatly press the 
 fibres down in the direction they should point, pull out any 
 that may have got doubled, so that they stand in their proper 
 place, with a dubbing needle this is a blunted carpet needle, 
 fixed in a handle blunted that it may not cut the silk ; 
 touch the head of the fly where the tying silk is with 
 varnish, and there is your hackle or palmer fly complete. (Fig 8.) 
 If you want a winged fly, you must leave a fragment of the 
 hook unoccupied at the head, and pinching or pulling off a 
 fragment of feather from the wing of a starling, thrush, or 
 other bird of the requisite size, and, holding the feather between 
 the left finger and thumb, fit it carefully to the hook, so that it 
 may not be too long or too short, and, having nipped in the butt 
 end of the feather in the place where the tying silk should come, 
 take three or four turns of it over that spot, and fasten off ; and 
 if you have managed it well, you will find the wing of the fly 
 sit up well, and open in shape like unto the wing of a fly. If 
 not, and the wing be askew or broken, you must humour it as 
 well as you can, and make the best of it. Practice alone will 
 put you on velvet here. Many tyers use a pair of wings. In 
 this case you should pull pieces from both the bird's wings, so 
 that they may sit well right and left. Having tied your wings on 
 separate, then, with the dubbing needle, cut off stumps, touch with 
 varnish, and all is finished. (Fig. 9.) In about eight or nine-tenths 
 of the winged flies, however, the hackle is not carried all up the 
 body. In this case, when you are carrying your silk up to the 
 head, after tying in at the bend of the hook the end of the 
 material which is to form the body, you do not tie in the tip 
 of the hackle with it, but wait till the silk reaches half or two- 
 thirds up the shank of the hook, and tie the tip of the hackle 
 in there, when two or three turns suffice after the body is on,
 
 ON TACKLE MAKING, ETC. 127 
 
 which is worked up to the head and past the hackle, carefully 
 avoiding it in the process. If a tail is wanted, it usually 
 consists of two or three points or strands of some hackle or other 
 feather ; they are whipped on above the bend of the hook, after 
 it is lashed to the gut, before any other process is taken. If a 
 spiral of tinsel be required, it is tied in at the bend at the same 
 time as the body ; and after the body is wound on, the tinsel is- 
 wound over it in open spirals, and tied off at the shoulder 
 similarly. 
 
 There is one more process, and that is in case of a fur 
 body being required, pick out your fur enough and to spare, 
 lay it along the palin of your hand, as if you were depositing 
 the tobacco for a cigarette ; then roll it to and fro in just the 
 same manner until it incorporates in a long thin roll. Then 
 lay this against the waxed thread, and twirl the thread so as to 
 whirl the fur round it, roll on silk and fur together up to the 
 shoulder till the body is formed, when pull off the refuse fur, 
 and fasten off the silk as usual. Then, with the dubbing needle, 
 pick off all that is not needed, and work the body to the 
 proper size and form. If the tyer wants his fly to be lightly 
 legged, he can, by stripping one side of the hackle, and rolling 
 on the other, have it as light as he pleases ; but he must be 
 careful to strip the right side of the hackle. A little experience, 
 however, on all these points, and a few bungles, which he is sure 
 to make, will soon teach him the right method, and there is 
 nothing else he will learn so quickly or so soon from. The only 
 lesson I ever had in fly tying was seeing a schoolfellow tie a 
 palmer (such as it was, and it was rough enough in all 
 conscience) from forty to forty-five years ago all the rest I 
 puzzled out myself. Since I knew how to tie flies particularly 
 salmon flies I have picked up a hint here and there, but the 
 general method is much the same throughout. The great skill 
 quickness and precision of professional tyers is acquired from the 
 habit of tying large orders of particular flies. For example, a man 
 has an order for three or four dozen of ''clarets." First he looks 
 or fits out three dozen hooks with loops ; then three dozen small
 
 128 ANGLING. 
 
 toppings or the tails. Then he looks out for a good quantity of 
 claret seal's fur, with tinsel to match. Then three dozen claret 
 hackle, three dozen jays, or black, or what-not for shoulders, 
 and then he makes up three dozen piles of assorted wings. 
 Having his various materials sorted out before him on the 
 table, he begins and whips on his three dozen tails, one after 
 the other ; then three dozen bodies ; then three dozen strips 
 of tinsel and hackles to match ; and, lastly, three dozen 
 assorted wings. In this way, if any difficulty or error occurs 
 in one body hackle, or wing, &c., it is corrected by experience in 
 the next, and the constant doing of the same thing gives 
 wonderful dexterity and certainty. Now, one great object in 
 tying a salmon fly is to leave nothing but the feathers, &c., 
 it is tied with, visible ; all lashing and fixing materials should 
 be concealed until the extreme head of the fly, when the loop is 
 reached when the least bit of the hook may be left to finish 
 off the lashing. Consequently, as you finish off one operation, 
 you cover the lashing of that finish with the material of the 
 next operation. With the salmon fly, you begin as in the 
 trout fly, at the tail. Very many flies have what is called a 
 tag. This is a turn or two of fine tinsel or thread, and the 
 same of floss silk. First, you tie on the end of the tinsel, 
 and work the tying silk back. Take two or three turns of 
 the tinsel, and tie it off, tying on the end of the floss at the 
 same time, and work that off in the same way. Then you 
 tie on the tail, making it set as well as you can in a straight 
 line with the hook, and curving delicately upwards. Having 
 tied that on securely you may touch it with varnish. Then 
 take a bit of the strongest ostrich herl you can find (black 
 is usually employed), and tie the end of that in over 
 the stump of the tail. Take about three turns of that, 
 taking care that the fibre of the herl points towards the 
 tail. This is called the butt. It is not used in all flies by 
 any means ; but in many, and particularly where the bodies 
 or the lower part of them are made of floss silk, it gives an 
 elegant and brilliant finish to the fly. It is not at all indis-
 
 ON TACKLE MAKING, ETC. 129 
 
 pensable, however. In tying or fastening off the butt, it is 
 usual to tie on the floss or other material for the body ; 
 likewise the tinsel ; and, if it runs all up the body, the hackle 
 likewise. Work the silk back up to the shoulder of the fly, 
 leaving a portion of the hook for the wing and head to be 
 fitted on. The process then followed is just the same as in 
 a trout fly. You roll on the body and tie it off at the shoulder. 
 Then the tinsel, and then the hackle, following the spiral of 
 the tinsel with the quill of the hackle, and fasten off at the 
 shoulder. If the hackle is only needed at the shoulder or 
 half way up the body, the tip must be tied on as you work 
 the silk back ; and it must, of course, be avoided in rolling 
 on the body and tinsel. Having now got on body, tinsel, and 
 hackle, it often happens that you Want a shoulder hackle. 
 This is composed of some short feather, as a grouse, jay, 
 bustard, or other hackle. You never want much of this ; 
 at most, not more than two or three turns. Now to make 
 the hackle run even, you must compare the length of the 
 fibres, and match them, cutting off all that is too short, then 
 nicking the feather where you want to tie the quill in, and 
 cutting off most of the hackle fibre, so as not to have too big 
 a bunch of stuff to tie in the point you have thus fashioned. 
 Work the silk back to the head, roll on the hackle two or 
 three times round, taking care to make the fibres point 
 straight and even with the others ; then tie off the stump 
 firmly, and cut off all refuse, and touch the tie with varnish. 
 If you use grouse, jay, or hackles of that class, it is best to 
 strip off one side. Be careful that you take off the right one. 
 In the jay hackle you will probably have to shave off some of 
 the quill with a sharp penknife, as it is too thick at the 
 stump to roll neatly. This is a delicate operation. It is 
 always as well to let your varnish dry before fixing on the 
 wing and head. If you have what is called an underwing, 
 which usually consists of one or two tippet or saddle feathers 
 of the golden pheasant, or some other short showy feather, 
 you must tie that on first, and the main wing you tie on 
 
 E
 
 130 ANGLING. 
 
 over it. This will either be strips of some feather or a 
 mixed wing of many fibres of various feathers. The 
 strips you tie on right and left of the under wing, and 
 it is by no means an easy thing to make them all set straight 
 and well always. In the mixed wing you either select 
 the various fibres and put them together before tying 
 on, and then tie them on in bulk, or you tie on a few at a 
 time. But all this experience will teach better than precept. 
 Make a few bungles, my dear pupil, and try to rectify them, 
 that is the way to learn ; and beyond all you need not throw 
 away your bungles in disgust. They will probably kill quite 
 as well as the most perfect works of art. One of the most 
 successful fishermen I ever knew was one of the worst fly tyers, 
 and he always fished with his own monstrosities. Awful things 
 they were " quite too awful " in the Lingua Haut-tonica of 
 the period. His hackles buzzed in all directions. His tails 
 skewed, and his toppings stared enough to give a neat tyer the 
 cold shivers, but the salmon liked 'em well enough somehow. 
 There was a novelty about 'em, and my friend was a very 
 eminent sticker. I've known him stick for two or three hours 
 over a fish, and work him with fly after fly till the fish, in 
 desperation and to get rid of the nuisance, took it at last. My 
 old friend was particular about colour and size however ; moreover 
 he used a long stretch of single gut, and that was all that he 
 required, and I am inclined to think he was not far out. 
 Having got your wing on to the best of your ability, you may, if 
 you please, mount it with a topping, or even two or more, and 
 you may put what are called ribs, horns, or feelers of macaw 
 points, or you may put cheek or shoulder feathers which are 
 short feathers of kingfisher, blue chatterer, or jungle cock at the 
 side ; all these are mounted after the bulk of the wing is on ; 
 all these aids are more difficult to tie on straight and true 
 than the other part of the wing, and nothing but practice 
 will enable a fly tyer to put his wings on neatly. Having bound 
 your wing on firmly, varnish the tie well, and lay it aside till 
 dry ; then take a bit of her], crewel, or chenille, the last is the
 
 ON TACKLE MAKING, ETC. 131 
 
 strongest, and preserves the fly best, tie the end on, wind it 
 round over the stump of the wing once or twice, and tie it off to 
 last fragment of hook, and this forms the head ; take a turn or 
 two on to the loop to make all secure, fasten off, and, finally, cut 
 off the silk, varnish, and lay the fly by till it is wanted. If by 
 that time the wing stands pretty firmly on the fly, and cannot 
 be wobbled to and fro when handled, you may be satisfied, If 
 you want to see how any particular salmon fly is tied, you must 
 cut it up, beginning with the head, and having got to the silk 
 under it, cut by cut until you work down to the tail, and you 
 will then see pretty clearly how it is done. These directions on 
 reading them over appear to me so clear and understandable, 
 that I think the reader, if he has any taste or appreciation of 
 tackle making, can hardly miss his mark or lose his way. 
 Some tyers use a vice, some trust altogether to their fingers. 
 Where the fly is at all beyond the simplest, I generally use a 
 vice myself, as it gives more freedom, and another pair of 
 fingers as it were, and with two pair of spring pliers to hold the 
 silk on the tackle in place, one ought to be able to get on in 
 time once master the method, however, and all the rest is a 
 matter of practice. 
 
 RECIPES. I have mentioned 
 
 WHITE WAX. This is made with a lump of resin, about one- 
 sixth the quantity of beeswax, and one-eighth of tallow ; melt 
 them together in a pipkin ; then pour out into cold water,, and 
 then work the mass about till it becomes quite pliable and tough 
 in the fingers ; lay it by for use. 
 
 VARNISH is made of the best spirits of wine put into a 
 bottle, and about half the quantity of broken up shellac ; let it 
 stand till all is taken up by the spirit, and when you use it, let 
 it be quite dry before you put your tackle into the water, or it 
 turns white and crumbles. 
 
 COBBLER'S WAX, when it becomes too hard and brittle in 
 cold weather, may be worked up before the fire with the 
 smallest fragment of tallow, and will soon become quite soft and 
 usable.
 
 132 
 
 ANGLING. 
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 I HEBE add a very useful little table compiled originally, or at 
 any rate put forth, by Messrs. EATON and DELLEB, of Crooked- 
 lane. It may not be strictly accurate always, but it gives a fair 
 approximation to what fishes of various lengths should weigh. 
 
 A TABLE OF APPROXIMATE WEIGHTS OF FISH ACCORDING TO THEIR 
 
 LENGTH. 
 
 Length. 
 
 Weight 
 
 
 Salmon. Trout. 
 
 Grayling. 
 
 Pike. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 Ib. 
 
 oz. Ib. 
 
 oz. 
 
 Ib. oz. 
 
 Ib. oz. 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 4* 
 
 41 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 6f 
 
 61 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 9J 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ill lOf 81 
 
 13 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 n 
 
 13J 
 1 1 
 
 11 
 13f 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 1 5 
 
 1 <*> 
 
 16 
 
 
 | 1 
 
 101 
 
 1 91 
 
 1 41 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 15f 
 
 1 141 
 
 1 81 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 2 5 
 
 1 13 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 121 
 
 2 101 
 
 2 2 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 3 11 
 
 2 71 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 121 
 
 3 91 
 
 2 13f 
 
 22 
 23 
 
 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 51 
 151 
 
 4 2 
 4 111 
 
 3 - 4i 
 3 121 
 
 24 
 
 5 " 
 
 "t 
 
 5 
 
 10| 
 
 5 51 
 
 4 41 
 
 25 
 26 
 
 6 
 6 
 
 13} 
 
 6 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 4 131 
 5 71 
 
 27 
 
 7 
 
 
 8 
 
 n j 
 
 .. 
 
 
 6 11 
 
 28 
 
 8 
 
 gA 
 
 8 
 
 15 
 
 .. 
 
 
 6 13 
 
 29 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 1-4 
 
 
 
 7 9 
 
 30 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 .. 
 
 
 8 6 
 
 31 
 
 11 
 
 9f 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 3f 
 
 32 
 
 12 
 
 I*i 
 
 
 
 .. 
 
 
 10 21 
 
 33 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 .. 
 
 
 11 2f 
 
 34 
 
 35 
 
 15 
 16 
 
 51 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 2} 
 13 41 
 
 36 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 14 71 
 
 37 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 15 Hi 
 
 38 
 
 21 
 
 61 
 
 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 39 
 
 23 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 18 6 
 
 40 
 
 24 
 
 15* 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 20 
 
 41 
 
 26 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 42 
 
 28 
 
 141 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 43 
 
 31 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 33 
 
 3f 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 45 
 
 34 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 46 
 
 37 
 
 15J 
 
 
 

 
 A 000108601 6