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THE

ANGLEB AND THE LOOP-BOD

PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR

THE ANGLER

THE LOOP-ROD

BY

DAVID WEBSTEE

Forty Years a practitioner in this Art."

—Robert Howlett (1706).

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS

EDINBURGH AND LONDON

MDCCCLXXXV

All Rights reserved

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2007 with funding from

Microsoft Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/anglerloop-rodOOwebsrich

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PKEFACE.

TN the following pages I propose to record some
of the results of my experience in the art of
angling, and especially in that most delightful
branch of the art known as fly-fishing.

The work is a small one, though the field which
it covers is wide. It does not pretend, therefore,
to be exhaustive; its only aim is that it may be
found exact. It begins at the beginning. It takes
the angler to the river-side, puts the rod into his
hands, and shows him both how to fish and where
to fish. It treats in more or less detail of angling
for trout, salmon, grayling, and pike, and of the
various lures that are employed in different con-
ditions of water and at different seasons of the
year.

Fly-fishing for trout, however, receives the first

MS42731

vi Preface.

and fullest treatment ; and although one would
suppose that surely nothing remained to be said
on this well-worn theme, it is believed that sev-
eral facts of importance, especially in regard to the
influence of the wind on the success of the sport,
appear here for the first time.

Into the list of flies I have admitted only those
which, from close observation and actual trial, I
have proved to be most worthy of the angler's
regard. All of them, with the exception of the
sand-fly (which attains its maturity in the sand
and gravel at the side of the water), are hatched
in the bed of the stream, and constitute the ready
and natural food of the fish. The remarks under
this head are more particularly applicable to the
Clyde and the Tweed ; still I believe they will hold
good for all rivers and streams in this country, for
the common natural flies are found more or less on
all alike, and differ merely in the times of their
development. No apology is offered for intro-
ducing into the text a few facts concerning their
natural history and habits ; for while there is no
need that the angler be an entomologist, it goes
without saying that he who takes an intelligent
interest in all that relates to his craft, will both

Preface. vii

do greater things in it, and derive greater pleasure
from doing them.

The instructions offered regarding the dressing
of the artificial flies are based on the practical
experience of years, and are directed towards
securing in each case as perfect an imitation of
the natural prototype as materials and skill can
produce. In this connection I have endeavoured
to meet the arguments of those who hold that a
close imitation of the natural insect is not only
unattainable in any appreciable degree, but, even
if it could be attained, would be both unnecessary
for all the purposes of the angler, and inimical to
his success. Whether I have entirely succeeded
in theoretically demonstrating the unsoundness of
these views, I will not presume to say ; for failure
in this, as in other pleas, may be due quite as much
to a poor advocate as to a bad cause, and it has
been my fate all life long to deal more in experi-
mental tests than in logical proofs. But the facts
are against them; and if my friendly opponents
will permit me to choose as our weapon the rod in
place of the pen, I shall be quite prepared to pit
my practice against their theory, and stake my
reputation as an angler on the result.

viii Preface.

Some space is devoted to night-fishing as followed
during June and July ; for though I respect, I do
not share, the opinions of those " honest anglers "
who regard it as little better than poaching. With
legitimate lures, and under proper regulation, it may
yield good, and withal true sport, at a time when
day-fishing is utterly barren.

But the distinctive features of the book are the
prominence which it gives to the art of fishing with
what may be styled the loop-rod and line, and the
pre-eminence which it claims for such over the
ordinary appliances of jointed-rod and reel. Not
that these latter should be entirely discarded —
indeed, in certain circumstances they alone are
admissible — but my experience of both has gone
to show that, for the most part, in ordinary trout-
fishing, the loop-rod and line are immeasurably
superior in everything that makes for skilful and
successful angling.

For more than forty years, from early spring
until the close of autumn, I have followed this
method of fishing, chiefly on the Clyde and the
Tweed, not only with the keen relish of the sports-
man for his sport, but with the zeal born of neces-
sity. For, as in the fishing season my livelihood

Preface. ix

was entirely dependent on the success of my rod,
I have been wont to regard the net result of the
day's exertion with a pardonable amount of interest,
if not of anxiety ; and it may therefore be safely
assumed that I would adopt that method which
promised the greatest results. In more recent
years other "brothers of the angle" in the south
of Scotland have admitted the claims of the loop-
rod, and attested its superiority ; but I am inclined
to believe that to the large majority of fishers in
these days it will prove at least novel. And if
neither its novelty nor its success should be alone
sufficient to recommend it to the true Waltonian
who would see the artist in the sportsman, I can
confidently add that the angler who gives the loop-
rod a fair trial, and attains to even a moderate
degree of skill in its use, will be in little danger
of regarding fly-fishing as being merely or primarily
an ingenious method of filling a creel, but will be
led to admit that it may rise to the dignity of an
art whose pursuit is its own chief charm.

One word more. This little work was under-
taken at the solicitation of an old friend, himself
a skilful and enthusiastic angler; and to him my
grateful acknowledgments are due for his kind

x Preface.

assistance in giving expression to my views and
form to my facts. Whatever may be its value as
a contribution to the already extensive literature
of angling, or whatever practical hints the young
angler may derive from this record of the observa-
tion and experience of an old " hand," I trust that
my humble efforts may at least be recognised as a
tribute of my devotion to an art which, in spite of
their many foibles and crotchets, has ever linked
its disciples, both old and young, in the free-
masonry of a genial brotherhood.

D. W,

Lanark, April 1885.

CONTENTS.

CtlAf.

THE ANGLER'S TACKLE AND EQUIPMENT,

PAGE
1

II.

TROUTING-FLIES, ....

16

III.

FLY-DRESSING,

64

IV.

ARTIFICIAL-FLY FISHING,

69

V.

NATURAL-FLY FISHING

THE MAY-FLY, ....

. 131

THE GREEN DRAKE,

. 142

THE BLACK ANT, ....

. 148

VI.

INSECT-BAIT FISHING

THE CREEPER, ....

. 152

THE CADDIS, ....

. 158

THE GRUB,

. 162

VII.

WORM-FISHING,

. 165

VIII.

MINNOW-FISHING, ....

. 190

IX.

NIGHT-FISHING,

. 217

xii Contents.

X. GRAYLING-FISHING, 233

XI. SALMON-FISHING, 252

XII. PIKE-FISHING, 301

APPENDICES —

I. CLOSE-TIME FOR TROUT, . . . 332

II. SUMMARY OF LURES, .... 337

III. PRINCIPAL OPEN REACHES OF THE
CLYDE AND THE TWEED, WITH THE
WINDS THAT BLOW UP - STREAM ON
EACH, 339

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

COLOURED PLATES.

PLATE PAGE

I. TROUT-FLIES, 42

II. MINNOW-TACKLES, 196

III. SALMON-FLIES, 261

IV. DO. 263

ANGLES AT WHICH TO CAST, . . . . 99

MINNOW-BAIT, 197

DO. 212

THE ANGLEE

THE LOOP-KOD.

CHAPTEE I.

THE ANGLER'S TACKLE AND EQUIPMENT.

" You see the ways a fisherman doth take
To catch the fish, what engines doth he make.
Behold how he engageth all his wits,
Also his snares, lines, angles, hooks, and nets."

— BUNYAN.

" Y TELL yon, scholar, fishing is an art; or, at
-*- least, it is an art to catch fish." So said old
Izaak Walton ; and his cautions limitation has been
abundantly justified in the experience of many who
have found that, while it may be given to all to
fish, it is certainly not given to all to catch fish.

The forest of rods seen at our railway stations
on a Queen's birthday or a bank holiday, might
lead one to suppose that, if fishing be an art, there
must indeed be many artists. Every day, too,

A

2 The Anglers Tackle mid Equipment.

seems to add to their number, while the cry is
" still they come." In this increasing crowd of
votaries the true angler will find no cause for
alarm ; for whatever leads to greater wariness on
the part of the fish, will call for only a higher
degree of skill on the part of the fisher. Al-
though the multiplication of rods can hardly be
said to be the only reason why trout are scarcer
now than they were forty years ago, it is at all
events sufficient to assure us, and delight us with
the assurance, that the innocent and healthful joys
of angling are no longer confined to the few who
caught the big baskets of former days, but are
now being more universally recognised and more
ardently pursued.

Nor is this throng of disciples likely to suffer
from lack of instruction, or at least from lack of
instructors. For, from the days of Dame Juliana
Berners until now, there have issued from the press
about six hundred works on angling, and these
chiefly in English, — a collection ample enough, it
might be supposed, to contain every principle of
the fisher's art, and every rule for its practice.
Much, however, I am convinced, remains to be
discovered or explained before the angling frater-
nity can be said even to be in full possession of
every fact which bears upon their art, much less
to have attained to the highest perfection therein.

Things not attempted in this Work. 3

Observation and experiment alone must lead to
further progress here; and in the hope that my
long experience as an angler, differing as it does
from that of most authorities in several important
particulars in regard both to tools and methods,
may reveal a few facts to stimulate or direct the
intelligent practice of others, I have ventured to
take advantage of the proverbial long-suffering of
the brethren of the rod, and to inflict upon them
another book on angling.

I promise, however, not to trespass so far upon
their good-nature as to attempt to give a history
either of the fish to be caught, or of all the various
means of catching them that have obtained in the
world, from that distant time when the divers of
Antony adopted the mean method of fastening the
fish on to his hooks to ensure him success in his
contest with Egypt's dusky queen, until these days
of truly scientific angling and highly educated fish.
Neither shall I be at pains to set forth for the
hundredth time the joys of angling, and the enthu-
siasm of the angler, as he sallies forth to the dales
and to the uplands, his spirits in full accord with
nature in her spring-time, and his heart beating
high in anticipation of his triumphs. I shall dare
to dispense even with an apostrophe to the tutelary
deities of the stream, and this, too, when an apology
would be more fitting from one who makes bold to

4 The Anglers Tackle and Equipment.

venture within the precincts of their temple, and
sacrilegiously rob them of their scaly treasures.
And although no work on angling would be con-
sidered complete without an allusion to the ill-
tempered sally of Dr Johnson, regarding "the fly
at one end of the line, and the fool at the other,"
I can afford, in the presence of anglers, to dismiss
the Doctor with " the retort courteous," that I sus-
pect he must have tried the gentle art himself,
and in his chagrin at the poverty of his "take,"
uncharitably based his definition of angling in gen-
eral on what it had proved to be in his own case
in particular.

But I have no desire to be hard upon the
Doctor, for I could not accept his description as
correct even of unsuccessful angling. Indeed, in
the case of not a few, it is the pleasurable pursuit
of health, rather than of fish, that brings forth rod
and basket. In view of the fact that many of
those who, when occasion offers, leave town for
a day's " fishing," and hie to the breezy river-side,
are confined to the stuffy office or the shop for
months together, I am constrained to exclaim,
Would that all "fools" were as wise!

" Trust me, there is much 'vantage in it, sir ;
You do forget the noisy pother of mankind,
And win communion with sweet Nature's self,
In plying our dear craft."

Attractions of Angling. 5

Without the fatigue which accompanies the more
violent exercises of hunting and shooting, angling,
as a sport, possesses more than their attractions ;
for the less engrossing character of the pursuit per-
mits of a greater enjoyment of the fair scenes amid
which it is followed, and fosters a closer acquaint-
ance with life in water and in air, which is not
only in itself a source of pleasure, but an aid in the
further prosecution of the sport ; while as an art
angling demands higher powers of intelligence and
caution, decision and patience, with quite a host of
resources and cardinal virtues. Yet the angler
need be no slavish follower of his craft. It may
be to him no more than a sport which furnishes an
outlet for the exercise of his wits, a rational way
of enjoying his holiday, and a restorative of his
exhausted power. But surely the recreation will
be all the more rational, and the enjoyment none
the less keen, if the sport is pursued with some
degree of skill and with some chance of success.
Of the success, indeed, even the accomplished
angler cannot be always sure, but every " honest
angler " will admit that the skilful pursuit alone
deserves it. In this art, as in others, it is practice
of course that makes for perfection. But the prac-
tice, to be effective, must be with good tools and
after good methods ; and in so far as a competent
knowledge of tools and methods is conducive to

6 The Angler's Tackle and Equipment.

success, this little work, I trust, will not be entirely
without value. And first, then, as to the angler's
tools.

The, Bod. — The trouting-rod which I am in the
habit of using is a two-handed spliced rod, meas-
uring from 13 feet 6 inches to 13 feet 8 inches.
It consists of three pieces. The butt is made of
ash, the middle piece of hickory, and the top of lance-
wood. When greater lightness is desired, lime-
tree may be used for the butt : what the rod gains
in this respect, however, is lost in durability.
Attached to the extremity of the top piece is a
strong loop of twisted horse-hair, through which is
passed the loop of the hair-line used in casting. If
the rod be well balanced, nicely tapered, and neatly
and firmly tied together, its sweep and action in
casting will be smooth and even throughout its
entire length. But it is as well to have the middle
piece somewhat stiff when one is using the loop-
liue. For undue suppleness in a rod — and in the
middle piece lies the test — is just as fatal to good
casting as too great rigidity. A spliced rod of this
kind is much lighter than the ordinary brass-jointed
rod, and casts a much better line.

The butt, middle piece, and top may be made
of equal length, but I frequently use a short middle
piece and a long top ; and this arrangement, I think,
improves the spring. The following measurements

Advantages of a Spliced Rod. 7

will give a good spring : butt, 4 feet 8 inches; middle
piece, 3 feet 7 inches ; top, 5 feet 5 inches. This
form of rod, however, is not so convenient for carry-
ing about, as the top projects somewhat beyond the
other pieces, and is therefore more liable to be
broken, unless care is used, especially in railway-
travelling.

Any one who has never handled a well-balanced
spliced rod of this description can have no concep-
tion of its immense superiority to the ordinary
jointed rod as regards lightness and elasticity. The
angler who gives it a fair trial will never, I believe,
exchange it for any other; and should he still prefer
to use a reel, notwithstanding the manifold advan-
tages of the loop-line system of fishing, which I
am about to describe, he may have the rod fitted
up in all respects in the same way as the jointed
rod, minus the joints. In artificial fly-fishing, where
the true and prompt action of the rod is a matter
of the utmost importance, the spliced rod, as afford-
ing the best means of obtaining a combined and
easy play of all the parts from the butt to the
tip, is without any rival. From its inestimable
advantage of responding at once to the action of
the wrist, it enables the angler to cast with the
utmost delicacy and precision, and to strike with
all requisite promptness and certainty. Thus any
dexterity and skill in casting which the angler may

8 The Angler's Tackle and Equipment.

possess, are turned to the fullest advantage when
he employs the spliced rod ; and, with it in his
hands, he will be ready to admit that the good
results of his hard day's fishing, especially if the
trout have been "taking" well, were in no small
degree attributable to the superiority of his tools.

The Casting-Line. — This line is made of horse-
hairs, not too firmly twisted — the lengths of hairs
being knotted at their junction, and the ends neatly
tied with well-rosined silk thread. It tapers grad-
ually from the loop to the gut. The number of
hairs composing the thickest part of the line at the
loop ranges from thirty-six to forty-five, according
to fineness, diminishing gradually to five or six at
the point where the gut-line is attached. The
length of the casting-line should be from 18 to 20
feet. The loop at the top is about three inches
long, and is passed through the corresponding loop
of smaller size attached to the rod.

The Gut-Line. — The gut -line, as distinguished
from the casting-line proper, measures from 16 to
17 feet, and so the total length of line from the
loop to the trail-fly is from 34 to 37 feet. The
gut should be tapered as well as the hair-line —
the strongest lengths being selected for the por-
tion next the casting-line, and the finer for the re-
mainder, so as to preserve the tapering of the line
throughout its entire length from loop to fly.

Varieties of Gut. g

I am thoroughly opposed to the use of dyed
gut, so much vaunted by almost every writer on
angling. Natural gut, if sufficiently transparent,
round, and even in substance, is undoubtedly the
best for all angling purposes. This, however, is
not always to be obtained in the shops, and drawn
gut is frequently substituted for it. The great
variety in the stains recommended — some anglers
advocating a red water-stain, others a slate tint,
others again a "blue or a walnut tint, and so on —
proves, at all events, that there is no agreement as
to the precise stain least likely to be seen by the
fish. I maintain that natural, transparent gut —
not the white glistening material that is so fre-
quently sold — is less visible to the eye of the wary
trout in clear water than any coloured gut can
possibly be. This any one may prove for himself,
by placing two hairs of gut, the one dyed and the
other in its natural condition, in a crystal vessel of
pure water, and looking at them carefully from all
positions. He will find that even when the hairs
are suspended a short distance from the surface of
the water, and viewed from below, the pure trans-
parent gut is scarcely visible, while the dyed
material is detected at once. The greater part
of the gut sold in shops is really unserviceable
for fine fishing in clear water, on account of its
coarseness and irregularity. Fine colourless gut is

io The Angler s Tackle and Equipment.

indispensable for angling in clear water, and the
rounder and more regular it is the better. On the
other hand, when it is reduced and drawn out, as
it often is, till it resembles nothing so much as
gossamer, it will make neither a strong line nor a
good "cast."

The threads of gut which have been carefully
selected to form a perfectly tapered line, are first
well soaked in cold water to render them more
pliable and to prevent their breaking, and then
united by means of the double slip-knot, which is
the safest, and for all practical purposes the best.
Remembering that the strength of a chain is the
strength of its weakest link, the angler will take
care that no faulty hair find its way into the line.

I always use nine flies on my cast, and as they
are all tied on very fine looped gut, the droppers
are easily attached by bringing the loops over the
knots of the line. I place one over every alter-
nate knot, thus allowing a space, according to the
general length of the hairs, of 20 or 22 inches from
fly to fly. The length of the droppers need not
exceed 2 inches, and ought to be the same for
each. Some authorities on angling recommend
that they should hang from 2 J to 3 inches, in-
creasing in length in proportion to their distance
from the trail fly. But experience will prove to
any angler that this is a mistake, as the fly on the

The Fishing-Book. 1 1

long dropper then comes in contact, and even gets
entangled, with the line, and deprives the trout,
which has risen to feed, of the proper facility for
working its own destruction. Prejudice also exists
against the system of fixing the droppers by means
of loops, on the ground that it is a clumsy and
inartistic method. But if fine gut is used, and the
loop drawn tight, the connection can be formed as
securely and as neatly as in any other way ; and
when occasion requires that one fly be replaced by
another, the dropper can be immediately detached
by inserting the point of a pin between the loop and
the line.

The, Fishing-Booh — I recommend a full-sized
fishing-book, well provided with pockets and divi-
sions. In addition to the ordinary tackle of cast-
ing and gut lines, the book should contain a small
pair of scissors, pins, white wax, two or three
varieties of silk thread, and some spare gut. The
angler will also provide a spare fly-cast or two and
some spare flies, similar to those on the gut-cast, so
that damage to tackle may be repaired without loss
of time ; for every moment is valuable, and should
be utilised to the utmost when the " take " is on.
Of course, several bait-lines and hooks, with some
sinkers and swivels, should also find a place in the
book. Some authorities, or would-be authorities,
evidently of the opinion that if trout refuse the

1 2 The A ngler's Tackle and Equipment.

flies that are on the water, they may be induced to
accept imitations of others with which they have
never formed any previous acquaintance, advise
the angler to have beside him several casts, with a
different selection of flies on each, not only of such
as might possibly be in season or out of season, but
of others whose prototypes have at no time been
seen on this earth, at least since the Flood. Now
this is hardly a scientific method of going to work ;
and the error, though common, is not likely to be
committed by any practical angler. Casts of flies
are not made up by selecting flies of various sizes
and colours at random, on the bare chance of their
proving acceptable to the fish. Every observant
angler knows what kind of natural flies are " on
the water" during any particular portion of the
fishing season, and makes up his cast accordingly,
feeling assured that if trout will not "take" the
imitation of the fly that is in season, it is useless,
in general, to offer it, as a more tempting bait,
any imitation of other flies which have at that time
no existence. The failure to secure a basket in
that case will not, I suspect, be found to lie with
the flies.

Fishing-Creel. — Notwithstanding its somewhat
pretentious appearance, I recommend a large pan-
nier capable of holding from 20 to 25 lb. of fish.
It is not much heavier than a smaller basket —

The Basket 1 3

unless when it is full — and it is quite as handy.
While it affords room for a good "take" of fish,
when one is fortunate enough to get it, such a creel
gives facility for stowing away all that an angler
can possibly require in the way of tackle-book,
minnow-tackle-box, bait-bag, lunch, and last, but
not least, the flask. As an improvement on the
ordinary basket, I would suggest that a division be
inserted to separate the fish from the fishing gear ;
or, what is better, that the basket carry inside, and
attached thereto, a waterproof bag, in which both
gear and lunch might be kept. The best baskets
are those made of round willows. The belt should
be broad, so as not to press unduly on the shoulder,
and a strap might be fitted to the outside of the
basket to hold a waterproof. Bags for holding fish
are worse than useless. Through pressure on the
back the closely packed fish get soon heated and
destroyed, assuming the appearance of having been
caught some days before, while the bearer is sub-
jected to great discomfort, especially in hot weather.

The Angler's Equipment. — As to dress, a grey
tweed suit of good strong material, with several
side-pockets, win be found the most serviceable.
Trout do not like loud colours, and the angler will
do well to avoid anything likely to render him a
conspicuous object in the water.

The wading-stockings should be made the full

14 The Angler's Tackle and Equipment.

length of the legs, and be carefully adapted to the
feet ; for they are equally uncomfortable when too
long as when too short. If the material is thor-
oughly waterproof, the lighter it is the better, as
the weight will necessarily be considerably in-
creased in the course of a long day's wading.
Before putting on the stockings, pass an elastic
band round the ankle and over the trousers, to
prevent the latter from being disarranged; and
over the wading-stockings put on a pair of strong
worsted socks of large size, to keep the boot, and
the gravel which insinuates itself into it, from
abrading the fishing-stocking. The socks are held
up by elastic garters. The boots are made specially
for the purpose, a size or two larger than ordinary
walking-boots. They should come well up the
ankle, be strong but not too heavy, and have a
few nails in the soles to prevent slipping.

After a day's fishing, turn the wading-stockings
inside out, and dry them slowly before a fire during
the night, if they are to be required next day.
Where this is carefully attended to, they will last
much longer than they would otherwise do. It is
advisable, however, to have two pairs, and to use
them alternately. The angler should, if practicable,
put on his fishing-stockings before starting for the
day, so that on reaching the river he may be ready
to commence operations without loss of time. He

Hints at Starting. 1 5

will thus also save himself the trouble of carrying
his walking-shoes in his basket all day, as well
as the labour of transporting a dead weight of
fishing stockings and boots to and from the river-
side. If the start has to be made from town, how-
ever, it is sometimes inconvenient to go forth fully
equipped. In these circumstances, straps may be
attached to the outside of the basket, both on the
front and on the bottom, in such a way as to carry
the boots and wading-stockings without interfering
with the proper use of the basket or the free move-
ments of the angler.

16

CHAPTER II.

TROUTING-FLIES.

" So just the colours shine through every part,
That Nature seems to live again in Art."

—Gay.
" Wei cowde he dresse his takel yemanly."

— Chaucer.

nnHEEE are two considerations which guide me
-*- in the selection of my trouting-flies. First,
that although trout may feed more or less on a
great number of natural insects, they have a decided
preference for certain flies at certain seasons ; and
secondly, that seeing they take an artificial fly for
a natural, the more closely that artificial resembles
its prototype, the more likely are they to take it.
These statements, though wide and general, are not
mere assumptions, the principles of some visionary
theory of the angler's art, but the well-grounded
beliefs of most practical fishers, and, in my own
case, the product of a close observation of insect-
life and long study of the habits and whims of fish.

Selection of Flies. 17

Following their guidance, I select for each season
those flies which have been proved to be in greatest
favour with the trout at that season, and endeavour
to have in each case as perfect a representation of
the natural insect as art and materials will allow.

The fault which I have to find with most writers
on angling is, that though they do not offer to
contest the position that all flies are not equally in
demand with the trout, the principle of the selec-
tion of the fittest seems to have no place in their
works. Their lists are crowded with insects which
are rarely seen on the water, and still more rarely
accepted by the trout. Indeed the number and
varieties given by some authors are almost endless,
and can only prove as bewildering to the amateur
as they certainly must be useless to him for obtain-
ing sport. Should he be persevering enough, he
may find that they will all kill now or again ; but
this, I fancy, is not the assurance that he seeks.
What he needs to know is — Have all these flies
been shown by actual trial to be equally acceptable
to the fish? That is— Will they all kill equally
well ? And if not, which are the best ? It is in
answer to these most legitimate questions that the
subjoined lists of flies have been drawn up ; and
it is with the confidence which their practical
success has inspired that they are submitted to
his notice.

B

1 8 T routing- Flies.

Though authors most frequently err in recom-
mending too many flies, it is quite possible to
have too few. A recent writer on angling, Mr
Cholmondeley-Pennell, who has entered very fully
into this subject, and propounded a remarkable
theory of his own, gives a collection of artificial
flies which certainly cannot be said to be either
too large or too varied ; for the conclusion to which
he comes, after much disquisition and not a little
speculation, is, that six flies — "three for salmon
and grilse, and three for trout, grayling, and dace "
— are amply sufficient for all the angler's needs.
Whether they may satisfy the prevailing tastes and
habitual cravings of the fish, is quite another ques-
tion, though to me it seems the chief one.

But not only do I maintain that the selection
should include only such flies as the trout most
commonly prefer, but that the artificial imitations
of these flies should be as nearly as possible the
exact counterparts of the natural insects. It is the
latter position which has been most frequently and
most vigorously assailed. It has been attacked, too,
on all points, and each successive assailant having,
to his own satisfaction, scored a signal success and
fairly demolished the theory, considers himself
bound to set up in its place a new one of his own.
The result is, that the opinions of the theoretical
anglers who write on this question bid fair to equal

Opinions regarding Artificial Flies. 19

in number the writers themselves ; and ere long
the statement that anglers differ, though not per-
haps fraught with such eventful issues, will become
quite as proverbial as the trite one that doctors
do. In the interests of a successful career as fly-
fishers, let me hope — as I in truth sometimes
suspect — that however much they may differ
in their theories, they may, even at the expense
of their consistency, be more uniform in their
practice.

Some philosophers — possibly those who, as
" Ephemera " suggests, " read insect nature through
the glass cases of museums " — assert that there is
no resemblance whatever between the natural fly
and what appears to be the best artificial imitation
ever dressed. Others, such as a writer in 'The
Angler's Souvenir,' take up a different standpoint,
and assure us that, whether possible or not, it is
at all events needless to make a good imitation of
any fly, as " the greatest number of trout is caught
with flies which are the least like any which fre-
quent the water." Stoddart, Stewart, and others
of a more sober frame of mind, hold that " a neatly
made natural-looking fly will, where trout are shy,
kill three trout for one which a clumsy fly will;"
but that, to kill at all, "it is only necessary to
make the artificial fly resemble the natural insect
in shape," as " it is not likely that trout can see the

20 T routing-Flies.

colour of a fly very distinctly." 1 I shall take only
another, and, so far as I know, the most recently
advanced theory — that of Mr Pennell. The views
of this author on the character of the artificial flies
an angler should use are much more startling than
his conclusions, already given, in regard to their
number; and as some of his positions have been
maintained by others who are considered authori-
ties in angling, and all of them involve the errors
of the theories stated above, I may be excused if I
examine his propositions in some detail, and endeav-
our to bring them to the infallible touchstone of
experience ; for angling is necessarily a practical
art, and the evidence of experience must in this, as
in weightier matters, have precedence of plausible
theories and a priori arguments.

After dividing trout fly-fishers into two classes,
which he names respectively the " colourists," or
those who consider " colour " everything and
" form " nothing, and the " formalists," who hold
" that the natural flies actually on the water at any
given time should be exactly imitated by the arti-
ficial fly used, down to the most minute particulars
of form and tinting," Mr Pennell proceeds to state
what, in his view, are the arguments by which the
opposing theories are maintained, and then to
show that he occupies a position quite distinct

1 Stewart's Practical Angler, pp. 74, 75, and 80.

Mr Pennell on Artificial Flies. 2 1

from either and superior to both. To quote his
own words : 1 —

" The position of the ' formalists ' is as follows : —
" ' Trout take artificial flies only because they in
some sort resemble the natural flies which they are
in the habit of seeing : if this be not so, and if
colour is the only point of importance, why does
not the " colourist " fish with a bunch of feathers tied
on the hook " promiscuously " ? why adhere to the
form of the natural fly at all ? Evidently because it
is found, as a matter of fact, that such a bunch of
feathers will not kill : in other words, because the
fish do take the artificial for the natural insect. If
this be so, it follows that the more minutely the
artificial imitates the natural fly, the better it will
kill ; and also, by a legitimate deduction, that the
imitation of the fly on the water at any given time
is that which the fish will take best/

" To the above argument the ' colourists ' reply : —
" ' Your theory supposes that trout can detect the
nicest shades of distinction between species of flies
which in a summer's afternoon may be numbered
actually by hundreds, thus crediting them with an
amount of entomological knowledge which even
a professed naturalist, to say nothing of the angler
himself, very rarely possesses; whilst at the same
time you draw your flies up and across stream in a

1 The Modern Practical Angler, p. 67 et seq.

22 T routing- Flies.

way in which no natural insect is ever seen, not
only adding to the impossibility of discriminat-
ing between different species, but often render-
ing it difficult for the fish even to identify the
flies as flies. The only thing a fish can distinguish
under these circumstances, besides the size of a
fly, is its colour. We therefore regard form as a
matter of comparative indifference, and colour as
all-important/ "

Now the division of the great fly-fishing frater-
nity into " colourists " and " formalists " is neither
a scientific nor a happy one, not only because,
according to our author's own showing, the " for-
malist " argues for both colour and form, but also
because, if it be adopted, no place in the brother-
hood will be found for Mr Pennell. Passing this,
however, I hold that the so-called formalist occu-
pies a perfectly safe position in affirming that trout
" do take the artificial for the natural insect," and
that " the more minutely the artificial imitates the
natural, the better it will kill." But, says Mr Pennell,
the argument of the "colourist" that "from the
way the artificial fly is presented to the fish it is
impossible they can distinguish minutiae of form
and imitation, equally commends itself to common
sense and common experience." Now I hold that
trout not only can, but actually do, detect the
nicest shades of distinction between species of flies

A good Imitation essential. 23

presented to them ; bub not, indeed, if we " draw
our flies up and across stream in a way in which
no natural insect is ever seen ; " for then, undoubt-
edly, it would not only be impossible for the fish
to "discriminate between different species, but it
would be difficult for it even to identify the flies
as flies." Mr Pennell says that this is the point
in which the entomological theory entirely breaks
down. No doubt it is ; but this so-called entomo-
logical theory is not the theory of any practical
angler with whom I am acquainted, although it
may be an antiquated method of alarming fish by
report. No one now with the slightest pretensions
to the name of angler would in any circumstances
ever dream of " drawing his flies up and across
stream," as Mr Pennell himself advocates, in the
hope of concealing the defects of his imitation by
an unnatural mode of presenting it.

I maintain that where the imitation is good, the
trout will take it, and that, as a general rule, the
more closely any artificial fly resembles, both in
form and colour, its natural prototype, the better
will it kill; in other words, that trout can, and
do, distinguish " minutiae of form and imitation."
During night-fishing in June, I use six flies of
different colours or shades of colour ; and I have
times innumerable found that nearly the whole of
my trout, amounting from 10 to 20 lb. and fre-

24 Trouting-Flies.

quently more, were got with a particular fly, while
scarcely a fish was killed with any of the remaining
five, and this, too, in the darkest nights. The same
fly, it is true, did not kill on every occasion ; but a
certain and single shade of colour, representing a
particular species of fly, seemed to take their fancy
one night, and another and different fly another night,
to the almost complete exclusion of those presented
with it. If fish cannot, as our author says, dis-
criminate between different species even during the
day, how would he and his " colourist M account for
their selecting a particular fly during the darkness
of night, and this not on one occasion, but on
hundreds of occasions?

As an analogous case I might cite the following:
When double-rod fishing was in vogue many years
ago, it was the practice to place from forty to fifty
hooks on the line, which extended across the stream
from bank to bank. Fish would on certain days
select certain flies, all of the same form and tint —
imitations of the same species — and reject almost
every other during the whole of the day's fishing.
Again, during the season of the sand or gravel fly,
which comes out in the early part of May, and, if
the weather be favourable, is seen on the water
till the middle of June, it has been my experience
that for every fish that can be killed with any
other artificial fly, ten will be killed with the sand-

Mr PennelVs Experience. 2 5

fly if properly imitated in size, shape, and colour.
So with the March brown ; in April the success of
the angler will be measured almost entirely by the
extent to which he avails himself of a good imita-
tion of the natural fly.

In combating the " legitimate deduction " of the
" formalist," that the imitation of the fly on the
water at any given time is that which the fish will
take best, Mr Pennell says, — "The experience of
every fly-fisher teaches him that when a particu-
lar natural fly is on the water in abundance, trout
will commonly take better an artificial fly imita-
tive of any other species." It is now nearly forty
years since " Ephemera " x held this doctrine up to
scorn, and apologetically assured his English readers
that " some Scotch writers were the first promul-
gators of it, and that they had carried it to ridic-
ulous extravagance." But however excusable it
might be in a " Scotch writer " so long ago, com-
ing from an English authority on angling of to-
day, and of " twenty years' experience " to boot, is it
not enough to take away one's breath, and tempt
another " Scotch writer " to ask where Mr Pennell
obtained his experience? At all events it has
not been my experience, and I have fished seven
months in the year during a period double that
over which the researches of Mr Pennell have ex-

1 Handbook on Angling, p. 84.

26 Tr outing- Flies.

tended ; and many other practical anglers fully bear
me out in my conclusions. No doubt when the
natural flies, such as the March brown and the
sand-fly, come on the water in abundance, the an-
gler will usually find that the fish do not take his
imitations of these insects so freely as when the
natural flies are passing off — which is indeed the
time when his artificial fly becomes most deadly.
What is asserted is that, even in those less favour-
able circumstances, the fish will prefer the imita-
tion of the insect which happens to be on the water
to every other imitation. And the explanation of
the fact that the angler is not so successful in cap-
turing fish at the time when the natural flies are on
the water in swarms is simply this: his eight or nine
flies bear a very small proportion to the myriads of
natural flies among which they are cast and with
which they compete, and so the chances of a trout
being attracted by his flies are in the same degree
proportionally small. But let the March browns
or the sand-flies become scarcer, or better still, let
them pass off for the time being altogether, then,
in the absence of their rivals, the angler's flies, if
closely resembling them, will have little difficulty
in securing the prompt attention, and with it the
portly person, of the trout, This desirable result
will not be attained, however, as our author ima-
gines, by dangling the flies in the water, and draw-

Mr PenneWs Views criticised. 27

ing them up and across, but by casting up-stream
and allowing them to float gently down.

" Because trout," says Mr Pennell, " take the
artificial for the natural fly, the ' formalists ' argue
that the one should be the exact counterpart of the
other, ignoring the fact that the two insects are
offered to the fish under entirely different condi-
tions. The artificial fly is presented under water
instead of on the surface ; wet instead of dry ; and
in brisk motion up, down, or across stream, instead
of passively floating. Thus at the very outset we
find ourselves compelled to simulate life instead
of death in our flies, and for this purpose impart
to them a wholly unnatural motion whilst swim-
ming ; and as it is found that a naturally propor-
tioned insect is deficient in movement, an unnatural
quantity of legs (hackles) are added to it."

Now our position is, that just as in our imitation
of the fly we endeavour to approach as nearly as
possible to an exact counterpart of the prototype,
so in our mode of offering it to the trout we main-
tain the " dear deceit," by presenting the artificial
fly under conditions corresponding as closely as
possible to those under which the natural fly would
appear. With this intention we adopt the method
which the English school of anglers condemns, and
fish up-stream. The manifold advantages of this
method will be described farther on j but one of

28 Trouting-Flies.

them is, that thereby our artificial fly is presented
to the fish in circumstances the most favourable
for luring it to destruction. When fishing up-
stream, our artificial fly, if deftly cast, will at the
moment of its fall appear to the trout as a living
insect alighting on the surface of the water ; and, if
allowed to float gently down with the current, will
not cease to prove an attraction to the fish, for it
will then have the semblance of an insect fairly in
the stream and unable to resist it. In both cases
the appearance and conditions are perfectly natural ;
and in the latter they are none the less natural,
though they may not be so alluring, if the fly do
not maintain a position exactly on the surface,
but slightly under it. It will of course be " wet,"
as an insect helplessly borne along by the stream
would be ; but with proper tackle and skill it will
not sink much beneath the surface before the next
cast is made ; and though, to the fish, the fly is
deprived of some attractive features when slightly
under the surface, the angler reaps several advan-
tages from so presenting it. These considerations,
however, belong to another chapter. What we
argue here is, that even if there be something less
alluring to a fish in a fly under the surface, there
is nothing which it would regard as unwonted or
suspicious. For, are not the vast majority of river-
flies hatched in the bed of the stream, and must

Mr PennelVs Views criticised. 29

they not therefore be often seen and seized by the
fish under water, as well as on the surface ? How,
then, can our author say that flies presented under
water are in an " abnormal condition " ?

But even granting that the artificial fly is, as it
appears to the trout, in an unnatural condition, I
do not see how matters are to be mended by adding
to its unnaturalness in dragging it up and across
stream. Mr Pennell says, "We must simulate
life instead of death in our flies, and therefore we
must impart to them a wholly unnatural motion
whilst swimming." How does Mr Pennell make
out, that in order to " simulate life " we should be
" unnatural"? Is this the theory of an artist? Or
would any one, while attempting to deceive a cat
by an artificial mouse, atone for the imperfection of
the imitation by arranging that the mouse should
move backwards or walk on its hind legs ? Is
a trout less likely to take a perfect imitation of
a fly passively, though, mark you, naturally going
with the current, half drowned to all appearance,
or wholly drowned if you will, than an admittedly
defective imitation of a nondescript, frantically
endeavouring to keep up a false appearance of
exuberant life by what are acknowledged to be
" unnatural movements " ? Is it not at least just
as likely that the fish will detect an unnatural
movement as an unusual appearance ? At all

30 Trotiting-Flies.

events, does it not seem impossible that the one
defect can cover the other ? To " simulate life "
in a fly is a very worthy aim indeed; only it is
not to be attained by making it unnatural in its
movements, — but first, by constructing a lifelike
imitation of the natural insect down to minute
particulars of form and colour — and secondly, by a
skilful cast up-stream presenting this imitation in
the most natural manner possible. If life is to be
" simulated " at all, let it be for any sake the life
of a fly, not of a monstrosity. Certain natural
movements the angler may imitate ; unnatural ones
he had better not devise. The hovering and flitting
of the insect over the surface of the water is a
natural movement he cannot copy; to attempt it
by a jerking motion of the wrist will only result in
exciting the suspicions of the trout, if not in filling
them with alarm. But what natural motions are
within reach of the angler's imitative art — the
alighting of the fly on the water, and its floating
gently down as if carried by the stream — these let
him attempt by fishing up-stream, and he will dis-
cover that his imitation insect will be " unmistak-
ably identified as a fly."

Mr Pennell, in his criticism of Mr Stewart's
argument for fishing up-stream and allowing the
fly to come gently down, says that it is founded on
"the analogical fallacy that because the natural

Mr PennelVs Views criticised. 3 1

dry fly usually floats passively dovm-stre&m, the
artificial — wet — should do the same." Well, why
shouldn't it ? If we are not able to make our art
compete successfully on all points with nature, let
us not on that account outrage nature. The fallacy
lies with Mr Pennell ; for as we imitate a fly in
the stream and helplessly carried along by it, the
analogy is not between a dry fly and a wet one,
but between a natural fly — wet — and an artificial
fly — wet. Let both be placed on the water, and let
us see which floats "briskly up."

Mr Pennell is as indifferent to the size of his
flies as flies, as he is to their form and colour. For
he says, " Size is a matter of no moment as regards
the flies themselves, though of the utmost conse-
quence in another point of view. For nothing is
more certain than that some waters — usually large
ones, whether rivers or lakes — require large flies ;
whilst small ones, almost equally universally, have
to be fished with small flies. This necessity cannot
be ignored by the ' formalists ' any more than by
the 'colourists'; and the result, as regards the
former, is that they are obliged frequently to use
a fly professing to be an exact imitation of the
March brown, for example, and having no other
advantages but such supposed resemblance, which
is only about half, or a third even, of the natural
size ! This one fact, which is undeniable, is of

32 Tronting-Flies.

itself almost a sufficient refutation of the 'exact
imitation' theory."

I am astonished. Surely the author of 'The
Angler Naturalist ' does not imagine that all flies
of one species are of one size, any more than all fish
are — or even all " formalists," for that matter. It is
true that, however long an insect may live, it never
grows after it has attained its perfect form ; yet
the growth in the larval state is not always uni-
form, and in the same species it is quite common
to find larvae of very different sizes ; and so, when
full development has been reached, the diversity
in bulk is wide enough. This is the case, more
or less, in all flies ; but in the green drakes, some
instances appear in which one fly of the species
is found more than double the size of another.
The stone-flies, too, furnish conspicuous illustra-
tions of such diversity; and moreover, in many
species of this family, as the Eev. J. G. Wood in-
forms us, though " there is great similitude in shape,
there is great difference in size between the sexes,
the males being scarcely one-third as large as the
females." * In regard to the March browns, there
are both large and small specimens on the water,
and therefore it is difficult to understand what Mr
Pennell means by their "natural size." I use an
imitation of a March brown of a "natural size,"

1 Insects at Home, p. 266.

Sizes of Flies. 33

and yet it is not so large as the largest, nor so small
as the smallest, of those which frequent the stream.
In all these cases, and in others, we can scarcely
be credited with practically furnishing " a sufficient
refutation of the exact-imitation theory," when we
dare to have some diversity in the size of our imita-
tions of flies of the same species. It is quite open
to the " formalist," so long as he does not " o'erstep
the modesty of nature," to have, if he so please, his
green drakes or his March browns of various sizes
to suit various circumstances. Younger dressed
his March brown on a No. 6 hook, and Stoddart
used a No. 4, while Eonalds gives three different
hooks ; and yet they one and all fished with flies of
the "natural size." It would be quite needless,
however, even if it were possible, to have an imita-
tion of all natural-sized flies, and therefore I select,
as most generally suitable under all conditions, an
average specimen, and dress it on a No. 3 hook.
I am led to adopt this one because, in represent-
ing the largest sizes, there are produced a bulky
dressing and a clumsy fly, which, in alighting on
the water, is more apt to disturb than allure, espe-
cially if the river should be low and clear. On
a "big" heavy water the larger imitations might
possibly be the more deadly, but I prefer a fly
of a medium size, as being, all round, the most
advantageous.

34 Tr outing-Flies.

In summing up the arguments, or rather such
arguments as Mr Pennell adduces, on both sides,
he gives what he calls his own " true rationale " of
the matter in these words : —

" 1. Trout certainly take the artificial for the
natural fly.

"2. But as the artificial fly is necessarily pre-
sented in an abnormal condition — namely, wet
instead of dry, sunk instead of floating, and as the
resemblance which wet feathers and silk under
water bear to dry insect-down, fluff, and wings on
the water, is imperfect, — (3) it is necessary, for the
purpose of hiding the counterfeit, and partly also
to hide the hook, to give the fly an unnatural, life-
like movement in the water, adding to it also an
unnatural quantity of legs (hackles) which open
and shut, and move with the movements of the

fly-

" 4. These movements and alterations, however,
make it quite impossible for trout to discriminate
minutely between the various unnatural imitations
of natural flies, whether in form or tint, (5) and
render it doubly important that the imitation
insect should be as characteristic and ' fly-like ' as
possible in shape, lest the fish should fail to per-
ceive the resemblance altogether.

" 6. General shape, general colour, and size, are
all that can be distinguished by the fish. These

Mr PenneWs " true rationale " criticised. 35

are the points, therefore, to be kept in view in the
construction of artificial trout-flies."

Mr Pennell then goes on to state his conclusion on
the whole matter — that " it would be better to select
two or three of the most favourite and distinctive
families of flies, and imitate them only ; not in their
varieties or even in their species, but, as it were, in
their types, — using those colours only which repre-
sent the prevailing tints in the families selected."
Following out this idea he selects the Ephemer-
idse and the Phryganidae as the families from
which these typical flies are to be drawn, employ-
ing in their construction only the colours green,
yellow, and brown, as these are the tints which
predominate in the families.

Eeverting to this " true rationale," I should state
it thus : " Trout certainly take the artificial for
the natural fly ; " but to induce them to do so the
more readily —

1. Select as your prototype not any one natu-
ral fly, but an ideal fly — a creation of your own,
a nondescript.

2. Of this ideal nondescript make an imperfect
imitation both in form and colour.

3. Present this imperfect imitation in an unnat-
ural condition — not as floating passively down,
but as swimming vigorously up.

4. Conceal both the imperfect imitation and the

36 Tr outing-Flies.

unnatural condition by furnishing the " fly " with
an " unnatural quantity of legs," and by making it
perform equally unnatural evolutions.

5. These legs and evolutions rendering it impos-
sible for the trout to distinguish the "fly "either
by form or tint, make the imitation " as character-
istic and fly-like as possible, lest the fish should
fail to perceive the resemblance altogether," for
" trout certainly take the artificial for the natural

fly-"

There is very great danger indeed that the trout
will " fail to perceive the resemblance altogether "
of such a fly to the natural insect, but the danger
will be considerably increased if the angler adopt a
further recommendation which our author hastens
to give ; for, to make " confusion worse confounded,"
after telling us that the fly should be " as charac-
teristic and fly-like as possible in shape," and that
" wings are an unmistakable characteristic of flies,"
he adds on the next page, "wings are therefore
merely an encumbrance to the artificial trout-fly,
and should be entirely rejected." Doubtless wings
will be found an encumbrance and a snare to
flies that are already provided with " an unnatural
quantity of legs," and that are expected to perform
such wonderful evolutions on the water to disguise
their imperfections ; but it must surely be the dim-
ness of vision in some aged trout, or the blind

Diversity of Opinion. 37

appetite of some young one, that would induce
either to dine on flies without the " unmistakable
characteristic."

Thus the whole theory carries with it its own
refutation, and, like the fly which it advocates,
requires "an unnatural quantity of legs" to sup-
port and render it acceptable. These, however, are
still undeveloped ; and therefore, while it may be
only a graceful panegyric on our theory for Mr
Pennell to say that it cost him " a pang of regret
to write what may eventually prove its epitaph,"
we fear that he has thereby deprived us of the
opportunity of reciprocating his good offices, for he
has all the while been unwittingly, though we can-
not say prematurely, performing that last loving
labour for his own.

The position that, since trout take the artificial
for the natural fly, they will be most readily de-
ceived by an imitation as perfect as may be in all
points of form, colour, size, and motion, has been
assailed not only by those who say, with Mr
Pennell, you cannot present such an imitation, but
also by those who say, you need not. I have tried
to show the possibility of doing so ; and now a few
words as to its advisability.

The idea that trout can detect the nicest distinc-
tions of form and colour in flies, is held by some
authors to be incompatible with the so-called defec-

38 Tronting-Flies.

tive structure of the eye in the fish, and by others
to be inconsistent with its limited knowledge of
entomology. But this is mere theorising. The
eye of a fish is certainly peculiar in its structure,
and, as the editor of 'Cuvier's Fishes' says, is
" only an indifferent representative of the beautiful
and animated eye of man." The crystalline lens is
extremely dense and almost spherical ; the iris can
neither be dilated nor contracted, and therefore the
pupil cannot be regulated to the degree of light.
While all this is true, we must remember that we
are not likely to ascertain what fishes can see with
their eyes, by simply comparing them with our
own ; that they must be in this, as in other parts
of their structure, perfectly adapted to the medium
which surrounds them; and that what may be a
defective eye for an animal on earth, may be the
best possible for a fish in water. My belief in
the economy of Nature's power leads me to sup-
pose that they have no more than they need; my
faith in her goodness assures me that they have
no less.

Mr Erasmus Wilson, in "Ephemera's" 'Handbook/
sums up a minute consideration of this subject in
the following words: "Whether, therefore, we re-
gard the mechanical or the vital apparatus of the
organ of vision, or whether we pursue the inquiry,
by anatomical investigation, or by observation of

Sight of Fishes. 39

the habits of the animals, we have the clearest
evidence before us that the faculty of sight in fishes
is one of their highest sentient endowments." 1

Dr Giinther, in his ■ Study of Fishes,' while ad-
mitting that in the range of their vision and acute-
ness of sight fishes are very inferior to the higher
classes of vertebrates, says : " At the same time it
is evident that they perceive their prey or approach-
ing danger from a considerable distance ; and the
discrimination with which they sometimes prefer
one colour or kind of artificial fly to another, affords
sufficient evidence that the vision, at least of cer-
tain species, is by no means devoid of clearness
and precision." 2 The recent researches of Mr Dal-
rymple reveal the existence of particular muscles
controlling the "position of the lens of the eye of
many fishes, and thus modifying the angle of vision
for varying distances, precisely as the ciliary muscle
of the human eye regulates the form of the lens,
and adapts it to the required focus.

Much easy satire and some cheap raillery have
been expended on the angler who, in insisting on an
exact imitation of a fly, would seem to credit trout
with an extensive practical entomological know-
ledge of its natural prey. But mere theorists are not
very likely to discover what amount of entomological

1 Handbook of Angling, p. 292.

2 Pages 111, 112.

40 Trouting-Flies.

knowledge trout possess, any more than they are
likely to settle the once vexed question as to how
many angels can dance on the point of a needle.
The knowledge possessed may be extensive or other-
wise, but it is certainly sufficient and eminently
practical. The tastes of fish may be variable, and
even whimsical, but the angler will only ascertain
what these are by studying them. Experience
alone is the guide ; and my experience, as already
given, points to the conclusion that trout do dis-
criminate between fly and fly even under the most
unfavourable conditions ; and I am quite content
to accept this fact with all that it implies.

Mr Stewart, in his excellent manual on Angling,
and Mr Stoddart before him, say that anglers who
hold the view that successful fly-fishing requires
the use of an imitation of one or other of the natu-
ral insects on the water, are therefore necessarily
obliged to have an infinite variety of flies. I have
already hinted that this is not my opinion. Very
few varieties are really necessary, but those selected
at any one time should be facsimiles of flies that are
in greatest favour with the trout then. I have my-
self fished with flies of every form and colour, and
have caught fish with all of them. But I would
not recommend them all on that account as equally
deadly: many of them, indeed, are practically of
no value for good sport. The angler may catch

Few Varieties of Flies necessary. 41

trout with an imitation of a fly with which the fish
have had previously no acquaintance ; he may catch
them with flies that have not the remotest resem-
blance to any natural fly seen on water or in air ;
he may even catch them with a frog for that mat-
ter. There is no accounting for the vagaries of
fish, any more than of folk ; for there are " queer
fish " on land as well as in water. Yet eccentricity
here and there is not taken as the prevailing taste,
and what a foolish or frolicsome young trout may
do occasionally is no criterion of the usual habits of
the genus. All that is contended for is — and this,
I suppose, is what an amateur would wish to be
assured of — that an exact imitation of those flies
which observation has proved to be most to the lik-
ing of the trout will kill better, vastly better, than
an imperfect imitation of such flies, or even an
imitation, however perfect, of any other flies.

Having premised thus much on the principles
which regulate my choice of flies, I shall now
present the angler with my list, classifying them
according to the seasons in which their prototypes
appear.

FLIES FOR FEBRUARY, MARCH, AND APRIL.

1. The February Beet — This fly, the first of any
importance to the angler, makes its appearance in

42 Trouting- Flies.

February, should the weather be bright and genial,
and continues in season until the end of March. It
is a small insect with a dark-brown or reddish-black
body, two sets of light mottled wings (of which the
posterior are the larger), and legs of a reddish tinge.
Though Father Walton says that " no man should,
in honesty, catch a trout in the middle of March,"
his collaborates Cotton begins his fly-fishing in
January, and leads off with a " red brown," for which
he substitutes the " lesser red brown" in February.
I fancy that the angler's " honesty " is not so much a
barrier to the enjoyment of the sport in February
as the late seasons which are now the rule in this
country, and which prevent the flies from making
their appearance in any numbers during that month.
On a fine day, however, good sport is occasionally
got with the red ; and I have seen a basket of
twenty pounds taken with it in February.

It is dressed as follows : Body — A thread of
black and one of pale-red silk twisted together, with
black and red cock's hackle. Wings — The light
side of a feather from the hen-pheasant wing, tied
on a No. 2 hook.

It may be as well to state here, once for all, that
my flies are dressed on Adlington's hooks, which I
consider by far the best that are made.

2. The Blae, or Blue Dun of English anglers. —
The blaes are a very numerous genus, and one

Pl. I.

Trout Flies

page 42.

4a

4b

$\J

15

18

21

Flies for Febrtiary, March, and April. § 43

variety or another, differing simply in shade, is to
be found in the water during the whole of the
season. The earliest representative comes out late
in February or early in March, and continues to be
a special favourite till June.

This species of the blae is dressed with the star-
ling-wing and black hackle, tied with black silk on
a No. 2 hook.

3. The March Brown. — With the exception of the
sand or gravel-bed fly, there is perhaps no more
deadly artificial lure than the March brown. In an
open season it makes its appearance in March, but
if the weather be cold, its advent may be delayed
till April. It generally lasts till the beginning of
May. When it is said that a fly is " in season," the
reader is not to understand that he will find a rep-
resentative of it on the water at all times during
the fishing months. For the temperature of the
water is always an important factor in the develop-
ment of flies. Thus the blaes come out on what
we should call a warm day in early spring; but
when the season advances, and the temperature
generally is raised, a comparatively cold day is
more favourable for their appearance. The sand-
flies, on the other hand, appear on the water only
when the day is hot, with bright sunshine. If the
morning be warm, the March browns may fre-
quently be found on the water as early as nine

44 Trouting-Flies.

o'clock, but in colder days they may not appear till
mid-day. In balmy weather they may be seen
flitting o'er the surface of the stream in myriads,
while the trout " in speckled pride " literally rise to
the occasion, the water seethes from bank to bank,
and the fun grows fast and furious. A " rise " of
trout on Clyde or Tweed under the potent influ-
ence of this March charmer is a sight sufficient to
disabuse the prejudiced mind even of a Johnson,
and convert the most persistent detractor into an
enthusiastic lover and " constant practiser of our
art." It reaches its full development in the great
red spinner, which is also a favourite fly with some
anglers.

The brown is dressed thus : Wings — The dark
side of the feather of the partridge-wing. Body —
The reddish-brown of the hare's breast, mixed with
a little of the hair from the ear, tied with yellow
silk on a No. 3 hook.

4. The Teal Drake. — This is a small, slender-
bodied fly, which makes its appearance in April or
May, according to the season. The body and legs
are of a dark colour, and the wings are mottled
white and black. Though many anglers do not
set much store by this fly, I find it an excellent
lure till the end of May. As in other members of
this order, the upper pair of wings forms a sheath
or case for protecting the under pair when the

Flies for May. 4 5

insect is at rest, and then the wings are incumbent ;
but to give the fly the appearance of alighting on
the water, I adhere to the plan I adopt in all other
imitations, and make the wings expanded.

It is dressed with a mottled feather from the
teal drake (which, however, is rather lighter in
colour than the wings of the natural insect, but is
as close an imitation as possible), and black hackle
tied with black silk on a No. 2 hook. At the end
of May a red hackle is substituted for the black,
and tied wTith yellow silk.

FLIES FOR MAY.

5. Tlie Sand-Fly, or Gravel-Bed Fly of English
authors. — This fly " comes on " in the beginning of
May, usually about the 6th (later, if the season be
cold), and lasts till the beginning of June. It
belongs to the Tipulidse family or crane-flies — so
called from their having long legs. Unlike the
other flies enumerated, the sand-fly is not hatched
in the water, but in the sand and gravel-beds
on the banks of the river. And this is the ex-
planation of the fact mentioned without comment
by both Eonalds and Francis, that "it is not
found upon all waters," and that "none are to
be seen on sedgy rivers which flow over a loamy
or muddy bed." Whenever the sand and gravel-

46 Trouting-Flies.

beds become heated by the sun's rays, the in-
sects, bursting from their larvse, attain their
full development as flies, and may then be seen
skipping in thousands over the stream, to the
intense delight and satisfaction of the hungry
trout. This applies especially to the Clyde, as,
for a great part of its course, it flows over a gravelly
bed with sand-banks on each side. As the March
brown is unquestionably the most effective fly from
the middle of March till the beginning of May, so
the sand-fly stands pre-eminent as a " killer " from
that time until the beginning of June, when the
May-fly makes its appearance. Should the weather
in May be bright and hot — for then only are the
conditions favourable — the sand-fly, closely imitated
and properly used, will afford more sport than any
other artificial fly that I know. At all events, in a
" small " clear water during bright sunshine, and for
days together, I have got heavier baskets with it
than with any other artificial fly, or even with all
the others combined, with the exception of the
blae, which, occurring under many forms, is always
represented on my cast in one variety or another
throughout the entire season. A cold day, how-
ever, being unfavourable for the development of the
natural flies, is unfavourable for the success of their
imitations. The fly is a small one, with dark body
and legs, and light brown and black mottled wings.

Flies for May. 47

It is dressed with a tail-feather of the hen pheasant,
with black hackle, tied with black and blue silk on
a No. 2 hook.

6. TJie Black Blae, or Iron Blue Dim of some
authors. — This is a small dark fly of the same
order and family as the blae or blue dun. It is in
season from the early part of May till the latter
end of June. It generally comes on the water on
cold days, and then, from the absence of the sand-
fly, it is a good killing lure. To imitate every
species of the numerous genus of duns would be
a fruitless task. What the angler requires is a
selection of the best representatives of this ex-
cellent fly ; and among the many varieties of it
which crowd the streams throughout the season, I
consider there is none more deadly than the black
blae. After some days' existence in the stage rep-
resented, the insect dons a brand-new dress-coat
with a long tail, and attains his full development
in the well-known "spinning Jenny." In this
form also it is doubtless a great favourite with the
fish, but the difficulty of imitating perfectly the
wonderful delicacy and transparency of the wings
is the principal reason why so many anglers dis-
card it. For, as I have stated before, an imitation
to be thoroughly effective must be perfect ; and
the angler had better use a close imitation of a
less alluring fly than a poor imitation of a favourite.

48 Trouting-Flies.

The black blae is dressed with the wing of the
hen blackbird and a little down from the back of
the water-mouse, or a small black hackle mixed
with a little yellow mohair, and tied with black
and yellow silk on a No. 1 hook. For the wing,
" Ephemera " prefers a tomtit's wing-feather ; Ron-
alds, a cormorant's wing, or the breast of the water-
hen ; Jackson, a wing of the water-hen : and these
may make good imitations, for the wings of the
natural insect vary slightly in depth of colour.

7. The Green-Tail or Grannom. — This is one of
the numerous species of the caddis-fly. It appears
early in May if the weather be warm, and lasts a
little longer than the sand-fly. The body has a
slight yellowish tinge, the upper part being black-
ish, and the segments edged with whitish grey.
The wings are shining; the upper pair are pale
brown, and the lower are pearly in hue and slightly
iridescent. Since the caddis family, both in their
larval and winged states, furnish the angler with
some of his deadliest lures, a few words on the
development of this fly may not be considered out
of place.

As in the case of the stone-flies, the female caddis
collects her eggs and carries them about in a cluster
at the extremity of the body. The green tint of
this cluster gives the popular name to the fly.
When about to deposit her eggs, she crawls down

Flies for May. 49

the stem of some aquatic plant a foot or so below
the surface, and by means of a gelatinous secretion
fastens them to the stem. There they remain till
hatched. When they reach the larval stage the
little creatures attach to themselves, by a glutinous
cement, fragments of leaves, sticks, grass stems,
shells, and grains of sand, until they have formed
hard tubular cases ; and in these remarkable habita-
tions they pass the whole of their larval and pupal
existence. In some species the caddis-cases are
carried about by the larvae ; in others they are
affixed to stones. When about to pass into the
quiescent and helpless pupal state, the caddis for-
tifies its dwelling against the predatory hordes of
the water by spinning a wonderful network across
each end, which sufficiently protects it till the final
stage is reached. In assuming the perfect form the
larger species burst this network, and crawling up
the stems of plants, find their way to the banks ;
while the smaller make use of their cases as rafts,
on which they stand and spread out their bright
new wings to the sun.

The green-tail is not a particular favourite with
anglers, especially if the banks of the river are well
wooded, as the insects find their nourishment in
the leaves of the trees, from which they issue forth
in swarms, to be in their turn nourishment for the
expectant trout ; and as said trout exercise a wise

D

50 Trouting- Flies.

discrimination in preferring the genuine article
when they can get it, the angler's imitation in
such circumstances will bring him little success.
If the banks are destitute of trees, and the day be
wet, it sometimes affords good sport.

It is dressed with hare's ear for the body, with
light side of a feather from the wing of the partridge
or cock pheasant, tied with brown and yellow silk
on a No. 2 hook. I prefer the pheasant dressing.

8. The Yellow Bun. — This is a small yellow fly
which comes on the water towards the middle of
May, when the days are warm and sunny. It lasts
for several weeks ; and during that time the trout
show such a predilection for the natural fly that
the imitation is not of much account. For my part
I seldom use it.

Dress with straw-coloured silk, yellow hackle,
and canary-wing on a No. 1 hook.

9. The May-Fly y or Stone-Fly of some authors, or
Green Brake of others. — There are many pretenders
to the title of the May-fly. Cotton enumerates four
— the green drake, the stone-fly, the black fly, and
the little yellow May-fly, — " all of which," says he,
" have their champions and advocates to dispute
and plead their priority, though I do not under-
stand why the two last-named should — the first
two having so manifestly the advantage, both in
their beauty and the wonderful execution they do

Flies for May. 5 1

in their season." If there is anything " in a name,"
the title of May-fly should certainly not be given
to the green drake, seeing that it seldom appears
on the water until the beginning of June. This
Mr Francis admits, and yet he subscribes to the
claims of the green drake. The stone-fly, our May-
fly, comes out on Scottish rivers about the 20th of
May, and remains in season for about three weeks.
In its immature or larva state it is known as the
creeper, crab, or gauger, and is, under certain con-
ditions, nearly as deadly, a lure as the fully de-
veloped insect. It is found in abundance under
the stones and pebbles by the river-side, where it
reaches its maturity. It will thus be readily under-
stood that on those rivers which flow over a sandy
or a fine gravelly bed — the home of the sand-fly
— the May -fly is scarcely to be found ; and even
on the same river they may be plentiful in some
reaches, and entirely absent in others. The insect
attains a large size, and although clumsy in its
flight, it is very active with its legs, which it uses
with surprising effect in paddling its way through
the water. The colour is generally described as " a
fine brown, ribbed with yellow, and yellower on
the belly than the back ; " but my observation has
shown me that in the early morning the body has
a fine yellow hue, which deepens and passes into a
brown as the day wears on ; and further, that in the

5 2 Trouting- Flies.

early days of their brief existence, the insects wear
their brightest coats. I always capture them in the
morning, as I find that in their yellow attire they
possess the greatest fascination for the giddy trout,
as is evidenced by the literally " devouring affection"
which the finny tribe display towards them. The
May -fly, indeed, is the most tempting and most
deadly natural insect known to the angler. I
seldom use the imitation when I can get the nat-
ural fly, seeing the trout have a like preference.
But in places where the insect cannot be found at
all during its season, or on waters from which it
has just passed off, a good imitation may work
some destruction.

I make one thus : Body — A piece of cork cut the
same shape, and ribbed with yellow and brown
silk. Wings — Whalebone scraped as thin as gauze.
Hackle stained yellowish brown. A No. 5 hook is
tied on at the tail, and another at the shoulder of
the fly. The object in making the body of cork is
to get a large fly of this kind to float. It is fished
down-stream in the same way as we use the natural
insect. The method will be explained in a sub-
sequent chapter.

June Flies. 5 3

JUNE FLIES.

10. The Black Mote — This fly comes on the
water in June, and lasts till August. It is a very
small insect, with black body and dark dun wings.
Born of the water, it is found all over the surface
on bright sunny days, but disappears in rain or
cold. In windy weather the angler may look for
it in sheltered situations.

Dressing: Body — Herl of black ostrich-feather.
Wings — Light side of a feather from the wing of
the hen blackbird, tied with black silk on a No. 0
hook.

When the trout are rising well at this fly, it is
useless to have any other imitation on the cast,
especially during June and July. The angler
should then make up a special cast of the finest
gut.

11. The Yellow Fly, or Green Drake of English
authors. — This large fly appears on the water about
the beginning of June, and continues as long as
the May-fly. As in the case of the March brown,
its appearance during the season is accelerated by
warm weather, and retarded by cold. In its larval
condition it is an inhabitant of the muddy banks
of rivers, where it burrows for itself a home of
safety, in which to pass the two years of its im-

54 Tr outing-Flies.

mature existence. When it comes out of the pupa,
it takes to the reeds on the river-side, and is always
found on that bank towards which the wind blows.
Its habitat is thus chiefly on sluggish streams,
bordered by rushes, where the May-fly is not to
be met with. After a few days' existence as the
green drake, it reaches a still further development ;
the male fly becomes the black drake, and the
female the grey drake. In these later stages, how-
ever, it is not so valuable a fly as when it first ap-
pears— the bright colours, as in the case of the May-
fly, being most in demand. And, as Mr Wood in his
' British Insects ' remarks on this fly, " the angler
need care only for the female insects, because the
fish prefer them, laden as they are with eggs, to
the males, which have little in them but air."

When the natural fly cannot be had, I have re-
course to the artificial, which is made up thus : The
wing is dressed with a feather from the breast of
the wild drake, dyed a pale yellow by means of
fustic in a weak solution of alum ; the body, with
hog's-down dyed pale yellow, sparingly put on, and
ribbed with brown silk. A light-yellow hackle is
wound over it. Hook No. 7 or 8.

12. The Black Ant — This is a somewhat large
fly, with a black body and a light dun-coloured
gauze-like wing. It appears in June or July, ac-
cording to the season, and lasts till the end of

July and A utumn Flies. 5 5

August. It loves the sunlight, and takes best on
warm bright days.

Dressing : Body — Black ostrich herl. Legs —
Black and red cock's hackle tied under the wings.
Wings — Light side of a feather from the starling-
wing, tied with black silk on a No. 4 or 5 hook.

The natural insect makes an excellent lure. The
method of using it will be described subsequently.

JULY FLIES.

13. The Partridge Tail or Frog-hopper. — This is
one of many species. It is found on bright sunny
days hopping about the slender spires of grass. In
taking its long leaps it sometimes alights on the
water, when it falls an easy prey to the trout. The
species I prefer is dressed with the mottled feather
of the partridge - tail, and light ginger - coloured
hackle tied with yellow silk on a No. 2 hook.
Let it be the end fly of the cast.

14. The Blue Dun or Blae, already given as
No. 2.

AUTUMN FLIES.

15. Autumn Bed. — This is another species of the
caddis-fly, and, along with those now to be men-
tioned, is found on the water during the months of
August, September, and October. It is dressed

5 6 Trouting- Flies.

thus : A feather from the tail of the hen pheasant,
and light ginger-coloured hackle, tied with yellow
silk. Hook No. 2.

16. Autumn Musk-Fly. — This is a smaller species
of what is known in England as the cinnamon-
fly, and closely resembles the English sand-fly.

Dressing : A feather from the light side of the
cock-pheasant wing, and a ginger-coloured hackle,
tied with yellow silk. Hook No. 2.

17. The Blue Dun or Blae, as before described.

18. The White Tip. — This is one of the numer-
ous small flies with variously coloured tips, to be
found on the water on warm evenings before dark.
Larger flies, also with light tips on the wings, make
their appearance at night. Dressing : Feather from
the back of the starling- wing, and starling hackle
tied with black silk on a No. 1 hook.

19. The Hare's- Ear Dun. — Another represen-
tative of this well-known and favourite genus.
Dressing : Starling- wing with down from the outside
of the hare's ear, tied with yellow silk. Hook No. 2.

20. The Autumn Brown. — This fly may be best
represented by dressing a March brown on a No. 2
hook.

21. Pale Autumn Dun (Willow Fly).— The
"little pale blue dun" of Konalds. This fly
appears about the end of August, and lasts until
the close of the fishing season. It is very abun-

Gloamifi or Evening Flies. 57

dant, and is a good fly for both trout and grayling.
Dressing : Starling-wing, and the light down from
the inside of the hare's ear mixed with a little
yellow wool for the body, or a small yellow hackle,
tied with yellow silk on a No. 1 hook. A favour-
ite fly in August and September on a black water
is dressed thus : Orange-coloured feathers from the
wing of the thrush — two feathers being necessary
to form the wing ; black hackle and a No. 2 hook.
Tie with black silk.

GLOAMIN OR EVENING FLIES.

During the months of June and July capital
sport is sometimes obtained on warm evenings
at dusk. Several species of the yellow and the blue
duns come on the water at that time, and in their
artificial forms often prove very deadly. The follow-
ing are most effective : —

1. The Evening Blue Dun. — Dressed with star-
ling-wing and black hackle tied with yellow silk
on a No. 2 hook.

2. The Gloamin' Bed Hackle. — This is the " pale
evening dun " of Eonalds, but the representation
of it in that authority is somewhat faulty. Dress
thus : Light starling-wing with a light ginger-col-
oured cock's hackle, tied with yellow silk. Hook
No. 2.

5 8 Trouting- Flies.

3. Light-Red Dun. — This is dressed like No. 2,
substituting the light side of a feather from the par-
tridge-wing for the starling- wing.

4. Evening Teal is one of the sheath - winged
order of flies, somewhat resembling the teal drake
already described. It is dressed with a mottled
feather from the teal drake, with a light ginger-
coloured hackle, tied with yellow silk on a No. 2
hook.

5. Light-Yellow Dun. — This fly appears during
cold nights in June. Dress with canary or corn-
bunting wing, and a light-yellow hackle, tied with
pale straw-coloured silk on a No. 2 hook.

NIGHT-FLIES.

The following flies come into use after sunset
during the months of June and July. They are
imitations of those large moths that are seen to-
wards nightfall flitting about the meadows in warm
weather ; and the angler whose enthusiasm for
the sport is sufficient to take him to the water-
side instead of to his bed, will often with their
assistance score a big success ere the day dawn.
The method of fishing will be explained further on,
but meantime the flies are given.

1. The Large White Tip. — This fly is costumed
thus : A white-tipped feather from the wing --of

Night- Flies. 59

the wild drake or teal drake, with mixed red and
black wool for the body. A black hackle tied with
yellow silk on a No. 5 hook.

2. Night Yellow Fly. — This fly is similar to the
green drake which appears during the day in
June. The same dressing will do as is given for
the drake ; but as the night-fly is smaller, a No. 5
hook should be used instead of a No. 7.

3. Pheasant- Tail Fly (Black Hackle). — Dress the
wing with a feather from the hen pheasant ; the
body with white tinsel, and a black hackle tied
with yellow silk on a No. 4 hook.

4. Pheasant-Tail Fly (Eed Hackle). — Dress with
hen-pheasant tail and a light ginger-coloured hackle
with yellow silk. Hook No. 4.

5. Large Night Brown. — This fly closely resem-
bles the March brown, and is dressed somewhat
similarly. Wing — The dark side of a feather from
the partridge-wing. Body — The down from hare's
breast, tied with yellow silk on a No. 5 hook.

6. Large Blue Dun. — It is dressed, like other
blue duns or blaes, with starling-wing and black
hackle, tied with black silk. Hook No. 4.

7. TJie Night Teal. — This is of the same family
as the other teals already described. Dress with
teal-drake feather and a light ginger-coloured hackle,
with a little reddish hare-down underneath. It is
tied with yellow silk on a No. 5. hook.

60 Tr outing-Flies.

8. The Doivn-looker, or Oak-Fly. — This fly is gen-
erally found on trunks of trees or posts near the
water- side, and is so named from the fact that
whenever it alights it turns its head downwards.
Dressing : Light side of a feather from the wing of
the cock pheasant, with down from the hare's ear,
and a grey hackle wound over it, tied with yellow
silk on a No. 5 hook.

9. Pheasant- Wing. — Dress thus : Light side of a
feather from the cock - pheasant wing, black and
brown wool with black hackle over it, and tied
with brown silk on a No. 5 hook.

10. The Musk Brown. — This is a caddis-fly, and
receives its name from the odour which it emits
when handled. Dressing : Wing — Very light-brown
common hen or brown-pigeon feather. Body — The
down of a hare's breast, wound over with light
ginger-coloured hackle, tied with yellow silk. Hook
No. 5.

Should the water be dark-coloured, all the above
night-flies might be dressed on hooks of a larger
size.

SPIDER-FLIES.

Spider-flies — or, as they are often called, hackle
or buzz flies — are held in high repute by a large
section of the angling community; and it is un-
deniable that on hot sultry days in June and July,

Spider-Flies. 61

when the winged fly is not on the water, they some-
times prove a very attractive lure, and even excel
their winged competitors. For myself I have always
preferred the winged insects, and have no doubt
that, in the proper fishing season, they are by far
the most effective. Besides, owing to the softness
of the materials with which they are dressed,
spiders do not last so long as the ordinary flies ;
and the angler will often find that after catching
a dozen or so of trout, there is very little left of
the " spider " to conceal the hook. This, of course,
necessitates a change on the cast, with consequent
loss of time, and, it may be, of temper. Now we
would advise the angler to "taste life's glad mo-
ments" ere they pass, and avoid all unnecessary
trials of temper and tackle at the very time when
the lure is most taking and the sport most keen.

1. The Black Spider. — Dress with a small feather
from the shoulder of the starling j or, if this cannot
be had, a feather from the shoulder of the rook.

2. The Red Spider. — Use a small feather from the
shoulder of the corn-crake or land-rail ; failing this,
a light ginger-coloured hackle. A

3. Golden Plover Spider. — This is dressed with a
black and yellow mottled feather from the golden
plover, and as the season advances, with a small
feather from the neck to suit a smaller hook. This
spider is a great favourite with many anglers.

62 Trouting- Flies.

4. Grouse Spider. — Here is another favourite,
dressed with a mottled feather from the grouse.
I know of some anglers who use no other lure
than this spider during the whole of the fishing
season.

5. Partridge Spider. — Use a small mottled fea-
ther from the breast of the partridge, and tie with
yellow silk.

As the season advances the hooks are reduced
in size.

FAVOURITE FLIES OF SOME ANGLEKS.

In the preceding lists will be found all the flies I
use, and the dressing I consider best adapted for
each. Of course there are many other flies given
by good authorities ; but to enumerate them all
would be, as I have already said, an endless task.
All I can do here is to give one or two different
dressings of flies already described.

As a fly for May, the body made of down from
the hare's ear may be dressed with a variety of
wings. In the green-tail, I have used the partridge-
wing ; but a good fly may be dressed with the wing
of the starling, corn-bunting, jay, woodcock, or
teal.

The sand-fly or gravel-bed fly might be dressed
with a small brown and black mottled feather from

Dressing of Sand-Fly. 63

the root of the partridge-wing close to the back, or
with a feather from the back of the grouse just
above the tail; but the feather from the hen-
pheasant tail I prefer to the others, as it more
closely resembles the natural fly, although, at the
same time, it is more difficult to dress.

64

CHAPTEE III.

FLY-DRESSING.

" Thou, Nature, art my goddess : to thy law
My services are bound."

— King Lear.

A LMOST every writer on angling since the days
■*-*- of old Izaak, has prefaced his chapter on this
subject with the observation that it is nearly if
not quite impossible, by merely printed instruc-
tions, however explicit, to make any one an expert
or even a tolerably fair fly-dresser. Certainly the
art did not come to me through any such instruc-
tions; and a practical fly-maker myself, I am at
one with others in the belief that a volume of
details would fail to impart it to any. For fly-
dressing is an art — a humble art, if you will, but
still an art as much as painting is. In both we
set ourselves to represent nature in form and tint,
and equally in both we must follow nature as our
guide. The principles of the art may be given, but

Fly-Dressing an Art. 65

the art itself, in the application of these principles,
must be acquired. And should the tyro ask, How \
I am inclined to answer him, as Opie answered
his pupil who wished to know with what the great
painter mixed his colours, " With brains, sir ! "

But, postulating the "brains," I can instruct
the beginner in the materials for fly-making, and
tell him, as far as words can, what he is to do with
them. I may tell him, too, that he must train
his eye to discern the features of the natural fly,
and his hand to reproduce these features in all
their delicacy and grace. But I cannot give him
the true eye and the delicate touch ; they come not
by instruction. They may come, however, through
close observation and constant practice in intelli-
gently following the natural model after a good
method. "Practice makes perfection," says the
proverb. Yes; but until we reach perfection, we
shall never know how much practice leads thereto.
There is no finality in this art, any more than in
any other; and even our best imitation is, after
all, only the " cunning'st pattern of excelling na-
ture." And though the pattern must be submitted
to the critical eye of the fish before I am able to
boast its cunningness, I can, even in these days
of secondary education of trout, always approach
sufficiently near to the perfection of nature as to
deceive the critics and fill the basket. And to

66 Fly-Dressing.

encourage any angler who has the "ambition to
become one of the greatest deceivers," I can only
say to him, as Cotton said to his disciple, " A trout
taken with a fly of your own making will please
you better than twenty with one of mine."

I subjoin a few hints as practical in their nature
as possible, in the hope that the beginner may be
saved some needless trouble through following a
wrong method.

There are several ways of dressing flies. Some
dressers clip the feather to avoid breaking the
fibre, and tie the wings on separately. I cannot
commend this plan. A fly so dressed is very easily
injured, and soon gets beyond identification by
either fisher or fish ; while from the very first the
wings lie flat on the back when the fly is placed on
the water, and thus rob the imitation of much of
its attractiveness.

Another method consists in taking off the fibre
in small sections, and placing them evenly and
closely together until the dresser has sufficient to
form both wings. These he ties upon the hook
with four or five turns of the silk, and then, with
a needle dividing the fibre, and so forming the
wings, he whips the thread a few turns between
them, reversing it each time as if describing the
figure eight. The number of turns required depends
upon the fineness of the silk.

Author's Plan. 6 J

But the plan I adopt is the following : —

1. Take the fibre from the feather in small
portions until you have what will form the wings,
moisten each portion with saliva, and place them
evenly together.

2. Take now the gut, with the teeth render it
flat at the end so as to give a secure hold in the
tying, and having made two turns of the thread
round the middle of the hook, place the gut along
the under side of the wire, and wind the thread
firmly until within four or five turns of the bend.

3. Lay on the fibre to the metal, whip to the
end of the hook, and make two turns back to the
root of the wings.

4. Split the fibre with the point of a needle,
apportioning to each wing an exactly equal amount.

5. Eoll the thread between the wings, taking
care to keep them apart with the finger and thumb,
and set well back at each turn of the silk.

6. If the fly is to be a hackle, work back with
the thread a few turns and fasten the hackle ; wind
to the tail of the fly, and thence back to the wings ;
and lastly, roll on the hackle up to the wings, and
finish off.

7. If you are making a fly bodied with dubbing,
work back with the silk as far as the body is to
extend, wind on the dubbing with waxed silk
thread, and finish off at the root of the wing.

68 Fly-Dressing.

Many fly-dressers finish off at the tail, but the
result is unsatisfactory. The fly won't be long in
use till the trout have torn open the fastenings
and exposed the cheat. When it is finished at the
wings, the work stands much longer. I always use
floss silk folded to the thickness required, slightly
twisted, and well waxed. Some dressers use scissors
to remove the surplus fibre ; but by placing the nail
of the left thumb under it, close to the end of the
hook, and cutting it off with a sharp penknife, a
much neater finish is made. Flies dressed in the
way I have described, may be crushed or ruffled in
the book or pocket almost to any extent without
detriment to their killing qualities ; for whenever
they are placed in the water, they at once assume
their original form, the wings set themselves widely
apart, and stand out on the surface of the stream
with all the appearance of life. The only possible
objection to the method is its tediousness ; but
though this objection may have some weight with
dressers who are not anglers, it can have no weight
at all with the enthusiastic fly-fisher who dresses
his own flies.

69

CHAPTER IV.

ARTIFICIAL-FLY FISHING.

" Mark well the various seasons of the year,
How the succeeding insect race appear ;
In this revolving moon one colour reigns,
"Which in the next the fickle trout disdains."

—Gay.
" Give me mine angle : we'll to the river : there

I will betray

Tawny- finned fishes."

— A ntony and Cleopatra.
"With the well-imitated fly to hook
The eager trout, and with the slender line
And yielding rod solicit to the shore
The struggling, panting prey."

— Armstrong : Art of Preserving Health.

A LTHOUGH in sheltered districts and in a
~- favourable spring fair sport may be obtained
with the artificial fly early in March, in Scotland,
at least, where for too many years past winter
has " lingered in the lap of May," it would hardly
be safe to set down in the angler's calendar that
fly-fishing begins in earnest before the middle of
April. At this time the natural flies generally

70 Artificial-Fly Fishing.

begin to appear on the water in considerable num-
bers, to the evident satisfaction of the trout, that
speedily and joyfully hail them with more than
the familiarity of an "auld acquaintance," whom
even a whole winter's enforced abstinence had not
suffered them to forget.

In exposed and high-lying districts the flies are
later in coming out, and it is not unusual for the
angling season on one part of the river to be a
fortnight later than on another. In April and
early May the good baskets which may be got
on Clyde below Lamington, or on Tweed below
Peebles, will be looked for in vain on the upper
reaches of those rivers, where circumstances are
not so favourable for the early development of
the flies.

From the commencement of the fishing season
till the end of May, the angler may rely on obtain-
ing better sport with the artificial fly than at any
other time during the season. I admit the fact,
and have elsewhere endeavoured to account for it,
that even during this, " the height of the season,"
the angler's " take " is poor compared with the bas-
kets of twenty or thirty years ago ; but even in
these altered and degenerate times, I should consider
any day's fishing a failure were I to kill less than
from ten to fifteen pounds of trout between ten in
the morning and four in the afternoon.

Advantages of the Loop- Line, 71

I have stated that for artificial fly-fishing I pre-
fer, and constantly use, the spliced rod and loop-
line. A reel is of course dispensed with here, and
the connection between rod and line is formed by
simply passing the loop attached to the line through
the corresponding hair -loop at the point of the
rod. The length of the hair-line should be regu-
lated by the size of the stream. For such a river
as the Clyde I employ one of 18 or 19 feet,
though some anglers use a considerably longer
one. A combination of the two methods of loop-
line and reel-line fishing is sometimes effected by
using an ordinary jointed rod with reel, and attach-
ing the loop-line to the end of the line wound off
the reel. This answers very well in large rivers
where big fish are abundant ; but for ordinary
trouting purposes, the simple loop-line and rod
system is much to be preferred.

The advantages which such a line possesses over
the ordinary line are manifest, and have been
already alluded to. By its more gradual taper and
greater weight, a longer line can be thrown, and
this with much more ease and precision, than is at
all possible with a reel -line, and consequently a
larger number of flies may be used, and a wider
stretch of water commanded. The direction and
strength of the wind are always important ele-
ments in the success of a day's fishing, and. the

72 Artificial- Fly Fishing.

angler cannot afford to ignore them; but so far as
mere facility in casting is concerned, the loop-line
possesses a marked advantage over the ordinary
line in rendering the angler much more independ-
ent of the assistance of the wind, and much less
impeded by its opposition. The greater weight
and consequent momentum of his line enable him
to cast his flies to within a few points of the wind
if necessary, where, with a lighter line, much good
water might be lost, and much time spent in cross-
ing and re-crossing to get a favouring breeze ; while
in the entire absence of wind he can take full ad-
vantage of the great length of his line, and cast
with unerring precision. Unless in exceptional
circumstances of wind and weather, the angler
with the loop-line ought to be able to lay his flies
on the water within a few inches of any given
point — and this, too, from a distance of 40 or
50 feet. The value of such a cast in clear water
can scarcely be overestimated, especially when it
is remembered that the line carries three times as
many flies as the advocates of the short-line sys-
tem use when fishing up-stream. Every part of
the river may thus be most favourably and easily
reached without the necessity of deep wading, and
the concomitant evil of unduly disturbing the
water.

It should be noted that these advantages are

Advantages of the Loop- Line. 73

claimed for the loop-line only when applied to fly-
fishing, and that when so applied the line has its
truest action only in conjunction with a spliced
rod of perfect taper and even sweep ; for by no
other arrangement can there be combined and
homogeneous action of all the parts from butt to
fly. Angling with such a rod and line is scientific
angling. Every impulse of the arm imparted to
the rod is transmitted directly to the cast of flies,
and the response is true and prompt ; the nicest
calculations can be made for distance and direction
with almost perfect accuracy ; and it becomes as
possible to cover a rising fish under overhanging
trees, or straight up-stream within an inch or two
of the bank, as to sweep the river in its broad
expanse.

The novice will not, of course, expect to become
an adept on first handling the rod ; but with a
little expertness, the results will astonish him : and
not the least part of the astonishment will arise
from the gradual discovery of the vastly superior
capabilities of such a rod and line. If the excel-
lence of the instrument has anything to do with
the excellence of the performance, the angler may
rest assured that in the loop-rod and line he is
furnished with a guarantee that whatever skill he
acquires in casting will be abundantly answered in
the issue. In fact, with this rod and line, true

J 2 Artificial-Fly Fishing.

angler cannot afford to ignore them ; but so far as
mere facility in casting is concerned, the loop-line
possesses a marked advantage over the ordinary
line in rendering the angler much more independ-
ent of the assistance of the wind, and much less
impeded by its opposition. The greater weight
and consequent momentum of his line enable him
to cast his flies to within a few points of the wind
if necessary, where, with a lighter line, much good
water might be lost, and much time spent in cross-
ing and re-crossing to get a favouring breeze ; while
in the entire absence of wind he can take full ad-
vantage of the great length of his line, and cast
with unerring precision. Unless in exceptional
circumstances of wind and weather, the angler
with the loop-line ought to be able to lay his flies
on the water within a few inches of any given
point — and this, too, from a distance of 40 or
50 feet. The value of such a cast in clear water
can scarcely be overestimated, especially when it
is remembered that the line carries three times as
many flies as the advocates of the short-line sys-
tem use when fishing up-stream. Every part of
the river may thus be most favourably and easily
reached without the necessity of deep wading, and
the concomitant evil of unduly disturbing the
water.

It should be noted that these advantages are

Advantages of the Loop- Line. *]i

claimed for the loop-line only when applied to fly-
fishing, and that when so applied the line has its
truest action only in conjunction with a spliced
rod of perfect taper and even sweep ; for by no
other arrangement can there be combined and
homogeneous action of all the parts from butt to
fly. Angling with such a rod and line is scientific
angling. Every impulse of the arm imparted to
the rod is transmitted directly to the cast of flies,
and the response is true and prompt ; the nicest
calculations can be made for distance and direction
with almost perfect accuracy ; and it becomes as
possible to cover a rising fish under overhanging
trees, or straight up-stream within an inch or two
of the bank, as to sweep the river in its broad
expanse.

The novice will not, of course, expect to become
an adept on first handling the rod ; but with a
little expertness, the results will astonish him : and
not the least part of the astonishment will arise
from the gradual discovery of the vastly superior
capabilities of such a rod and line. If the excel-
lence of the instrument has anything to do with
the excellence of the performance, the angler may
rest assured that in the loop-rod and line he is
furnished with a guarantee that whatever skill he
acquires in casting will be abundantly answered in
the issue. In fact, with this rod and line, true

y6 A rtificial-Fly Fishing.

fishing down or across the water, let them match
themselves for a day with fishers who fish up the
water, and on comparing baskets, the follower of
* old saws ' will gape with due wonder and dumb
astonishment, when he finds how much he is out-
stripped by the follower of ' modern instances.' " x

Whence, then, this difference in the results ? or
wherein has the up-stream fisher the advantage ?
The first, and indeed the chief advantage is, that
when the angler has raised and hooked a fish, he
pulls it down-stream into water over which he has
already fished ; and thus the water above, where
his next cast will be made, remains undisturbed.
Whereas, should he be fortunate enough to hook
a trout in fishing down-stream, he must, to ensure
its capture, take it still farther down, thus dis-
turbing the water which he has not fished, and
throwing away any chance of fishing it to profit.
Though this fact is undisputed and indisputable, a

1 Though not a consistent advocate of fishing up-stream, Mr
Richard Penn, in his 'Maxims and Hints,' published as early as
1833, enumerated two of the advantages claimed for this method.
He says : "When you are fishing up-stream, you have a better
chance of hooking those which rise at your fly, because the dart-
ing forward of a fish seizing it has a tendency to tighten your
line, and produce the desired effect. If you are in the habit of
catching a fish sometimes, there is another great advantage in
fishing up-stream — viz. , whilst you are playing and leading (ne-
cessarily down-stream) the fish which you have hooked, you do
not alarm the others which are above you, waiting till their turn
comes. "

Captain Dick's Views criticised. J?

recent English writer, Captain St John Dick, at-
tempts to minimise its importance ; for he tells us
that "in all ordinary rivers it is a matter of very
little importance the small amount of water that
may be disturbed when killing a fish in fishing
down-stream."1 Well, if in the case of one fish
only, perhaps so. But if this be the angler's in-
variable style of angling, and if he multiply the
number of fish he intends to kill by "the small
amount of water" disturbed in killing each, he
will, unless he has "thrown away ambition," re-
quire more than the Captain's "ordinary river,"
and much more than an ordinary day, either to
fulfil his expectations or derive any satisfaction
from the contemplation of his basket.

Our author says that "there might be some
reason for fishing up a stream in which trout lay
every two or three yards." Now it is precisely
because trout are not nowadays to be caught in
any stream " every two or three yards," that the
angler must be all the more careful to fish up those
places where he may expect to catch them ; for if
the capture of one scare the others, he will be
guilty of extravagance in the now small mercies
that remain to him in over-fished and depopulated
streams. And when, as often, while " the take is
on," in that " small amount of water " lie his main
1 Flies and Fly-Fishing, p. 24.

?8 Artificial-Fly Fishing,

chances of securing a good basket for that day, he
will be advised to cast his flies up-stream, so as
most effectually to utilise every inch of the water
and every moment of his time. The fact is, that
when the water is "small" and clear, trout are
principally to be found in the necks of the streams
— indeed, when the May -fly appears, they crovjd
the streams j and if the angler should hook a fish
there while fishing down, it must needs bulk more
largely in his imagination than in his eye, ere he
can contentedly accept it as the only trophy from
that water, which to the up-stream fisher might
have yielded a goodly company to grace his basket
and attest his skill.

The second advantage claimed for up-stream
fishing was alluded to in a former chapter, where I
urged the necessity of presenting the fly to the fish
in the manner most likely to deceive it. This is
certainly attained by casting up-stream, and allow-
ing the fly to float gently towards the fish with all
the appearance of a natural insect being carried
down-stream.

But thirdly, not only is the trout then most
likely to believe that he sees a real fly, but he is
also then most likely to be hooked should he rise
to it, as the slackness of the line at this critical
moment gives the fish the most favourable oppor-
tunity for seizing the fly, and the angler the most

Captain Dick's Views criticised. 79

favourable opportunity for striking against and
securing the fish. In fishing down a clear stream
these advantages are in great measure lost. For
then the fly hangs against the current, if, indeed, it
does not appear to the fish to be frantically en-
deavouring to stem the current ; and even should
the trout overcome his well-grounded doubt as to
its nature and attempt to seize it in this position,
the angler will, in two cases out of three, lose the
fish through the necessity of striking up-stream.
Captain St John Dick tries to escape the force of
this argument by affirming that, "although fish
always lie with their heads up-stream, they never
by any chance take a fly in that position, but
always make a decided turn in the act of rising,
and take the fly with their heads pointing down
stream." Now every observant angler can have no
hesitation in characterising this statement as not
only hypothetical but fabulous. The trout, seeing
the fly coming down towards him, rises to meet it,
and in doing so his head is up-stream towards the
fly. He certainly makes a " decided turn " in the
water ; but, luckily for the angler, it is not " in the
act of rising and taking the fly," but after having
seized the fly, he turns to descend. Captain Dick
himself thinks it necessary to qualify his statement,
for he says, " It must be borne in mind that when
trout are gnatting they do not follow this rule ; "

8o Artificial-Fly Fishing.

and — shall I add ? — it is only when naming that
they do. Even with this reservation, however, I
fear that the Captain is straining out his gnat only
to swallow his camel.

Lastly, as the fish all lie with their heads up-
stream, the angler who fishes up approaches them
from behind, and is consequently outside the range
of their vision. To fish down in clear water brings
him more under the observation of the trout, and
thereby lessens his chance of catching them ; for if
a fish get but a glimpse of the fisher, it will require
more than a deftly cast fly to reassure it that all's
well. Of course the angler is more conspicuous
on the bank than when wading ; but even in the
latter case, he should remember that the sharp eye
of the fish serves it well, not only by direct vision
to see the angler's feet in its own element, but
also, through the influence of refraction, to discern
strange appearances above it. In a black water
the trout cannot, of course, see so well, and in that
case the angler may fish down with less risk of
being observed.

The reason why so many anglers prefer to fish
down in all conditions of water is simply that they
find it easier to do so. And no doubt fishing up-
stream is more difficult than fishing down. Even
if we take no account of the greater physical exer-
tion required to wade against the current, success-

Down- Stream Fishing. Si

fal up-stream fishing implies more knowledge of
the habits and habitats of the fish, more nicety and
precision in casting, greater dexterity in managing
the line when cast and in bringing it properly home,
a quicker eye in detecting a rise, and a readier
hand in responding thereto. But surely these at-
tainments will follow intelligent practice ; and the
beginner will be less disposed to shirk the diffi-
culties than to face them, when he remembers the
dictum of Plato, that "what is good is difficult,"
and is assured on the wrord of many an "honest
angler" that, be the difficulties what they may,
they are not more real than the success which
attends their overthrow.

There are circumstances, however, in which fish-
ing down-stream may be practised ; indeed there is
one in which no other method will suit, and that
is, of course, when the wind is too strong to permit
of fishing either up or across. But should the
element of wind not enter into our calculations, we
have still to consider sometimes the condition of
the water ; and though generally in all conditions
fishing up is the most profitable, there are one or
two cases in which good sport may be obtained by
fishing down.

The angler may adopt this method with some
success when the water is black, or when full and
heavy though clear. In a full black water, with a

F

82 Artificial- Fly Fishing.

strong current, fish are to be got only at the bank
or channel/ and not in mid-stream. In this case,
should the angler be on the channel side, it is
advisable to fish the water from that side, casting
across and slightly down-stream towards the bank,
and allowing the current to bring the flies slowly
round. When on the bank-side of a full water,
black or clear, fish up only those banks where fish
are rising and where the current is easy. Fishing
down here would disturb the water below too
much. If the river be heavy, fish down and across,
selecting the gentler runs and ebb-waters. To
fish up in these circumstances might bring the
flies down too rapidly for the trout to be able to
see them, for their vision is not so acute in a heavy
water as in a low clear one. Another considera-
tion that determines the angler to fish down here
is, that thereby he is enabled to cover more water
and catch more trout in a day's fishing than would
be possible were he to adopt the slower and more
fatiguing process of wading up a heavy stream;
while, the water being full and heavy, there is not
to the same extent that disturbance to the fish
below which would follow on fishing down a low
clear water.

1 This word, in the angler's vocabulary, signifies the shelving
gravelly side of the stream, as opposed to the higher grassy
bank.

The Beginner's First Lesson. 83

But I promised to take the beginner to the water
and give him his first lesson in fly-fishing with the
loop-line and spliced rod. On arriving at the river-
side with all the implements of your craft, the first
act in the day's drama is to place the loop-line,
with the cast of flies attached, in the water, so that
it may be thoroughly soaked, for the purpose of
straightening the line and rendering it more tough
and pliable. Never fish with dry gut j it is always
brittle, and apt to snap when subjected to any strain.
With a length of shoemaker's thread, well-rosined
and doubled to make it sufficiently strong, tie to-
gether firmly the pieces of the rod, beginning with
the spliced ends of the middle and top, and finishing
off with the butt. By the time this is completed
the line will have been sufficiently steeped, when
you may connect it with the rod by passing the loop
of the line through the corresponding loop at the
point of the rod ; and then, with the rod in your
right hand, carefully unwind the line with your
left till the trail-fly is reached.

At first sight it might seem that the operation
of tying the rod would be both slow and tedious.
In reality, however, it is neither. With properly
prepared lengths of thread, a few turns only are
necessary to make all fast ; and as the line and cast
are all in one, no time is lost in making connections
between them. With a little practice, the whole

S 4 Artificial- Fly Fishi?ig.

process may be accomplished almost as quickly as
any angler could fit up a jointed rod with its reel
and attach his fly-cast.

The fisher is now fully armed for the fray —
unless, indeed, in view of catastrophes, he requires
to be fortified internally as well, — in which case,
of course, the "pocket-pistol," with the regulation
number of barrels, will be in urgent request. It is
not advisable, however, at any time to discount a
catastrophe; and I should not recommend the
angler to vote urgency till he has either landed a
two-pounder or lost one. In the former case " death
and glory" may well go hand in hand; in the
latter, thus may grief most fittingly be "crowned
with consolation." And yet, when the " take is
on," the fisher will find it perhaps more profitable
not to spend much time in either exulting over his
gains or wailing over his losses, but to draw from
both alike, instead of from the flask, the incentive
to redoubled efforts, till the lull of battle leave
him space to count the slain and celebrate the
triumph.

Until he attains to some degree of expertness in
casting, the beginner should use a short rod of ten
or eleven feet, with a hair-line of twelve or fifteen
feet, and a length of gut in proportion, carrying not
more than half-a-dozen flies. To simplify matters
a little at first, let him select for practice an open

Casting. 85

stretch of water, free from bushes, trees, or whatever
else would endanger his tackle or w7reck his hopes ;
and, getting the wind in his favour, endeavour to
cast out from the channel side towards the bank.

His efforts at this stage are more likely to be
successful if directed to the gently running streams.
For, although Mr Stewart is of a different opinion,
it is much more difficult to cast with nicety and
effect over pools than over streams. The trout
detect the deception more readily on a calm, un-
ruffled surface, — which is often, moreover, as clear
as glass, — so readily, indeed, that fishing a pool is
generally an unprofitable employment, unless the
angler be aided in his efforts by a breeze. Here no
current imparts to his flies their natural motion ;
this must be left for his skill to supply. Here
he must cast with greater frequency to keep his
flies afloat, with extreme delicacy lest he disturb
the placid surface of the pool, and with consummate
art to allure the trout from its haunts below. It
may be true, as Mr Stewart says, that " on account
of the roughness of the water in streams, it is not
so easy to see a trout rise." But there are other in-
dications of a trout's " rise " besides the appearance
of his fin j and the " very roughness of the water,"
which is said to render it difficult to detect the
"rise," is just that which will aid the young angler
in getting a rise at all. For here the artificial

$6 A rtificial-Fly Fishing.

character of his fly is not so readily discovered ;
and even should he not get a " rise " when his fly
alights, his chances of success are often just as
good when the stream is carrying his flies gently
and naturally down. Hence it is that I recommend
the beginner to take his first lessons in the gently
running streams, and leave the pools till he has
acquired an amount of facility and precision in
casting to which a tyro may not reasonably lay
claim.

In casting, the rod should be grasped with both
hands — the left near the butt, and the right about
eight or nine inches higher up. There being no
reel on the rod, the hands can be so placed as to
secure the amount of leverage necessary for a good
cast. The upper parts of the arms are kept close
to the body, and only the wrists and forearms are
brought into play; so that anything like "thrashing"
the water is avoided. Having made his first cast
over the water mainly to get his line out in front
of him, the young angler must now raise the point
of his rod a little to bring the line round in a curve
sufficiently near him, and so much under command
as will enable him to lift it gently from the water
and to make the next cast. This movement is
effected by raising the rod gradually towards the
perpendicular, and causing the point of it to de-
scribe something of a horse-shoe curve, when the

Casting. 87

line will be brought gently round in a correspond-
ing sweep overhead, and derive, from this motion
and its own weight, sufficient momentum to urge
it forward to its full length. The point of the rod
should not be carried much behind the body, and
the line should not be sent out to its full length
behind, but brought round in a curve, following
the motion of the rod until fairly on the forward
movement, when a slightly quickened action is im-
parted, and the rod is brought nearly to the hori-
zontal. The line is thus gradually straightened
in its forward course until it measures its full
length over the stream — first touching the water
near the middle point of the hair-line, when the
droppers will fall gently, and almost simultaneously,
with the trail-fly. When the line is fully extended
on the water and no fish rises, the rod begins the
return movement. As the stream carries the flies
down, the point of the rod is gradually raised so
as to keep the line perfectly under control in case
of a " rise," otherwise the angler will soon find the
whole cast in the most u admired disorder " at his
feet. When the line has been carried down two
or three yards towards him, this cast may be con-
sidered spent ; and he should then prepare for the
next by bringing the flies gently towards him, pre-
vious to raising them from the water, in the same
manner as before.

88 Artificial- Fly FisJiing.

I am aware that, in much of what has been said
here, I am running counter to the expressed opin-
ions of many anglers — perhaps of most anglers —
who use the ordinary rod and reel line. Mr Stewart,
for instance, advises the angler to " make the line
go to its full length behind, and then pausing for
a moment till it has done so, urge the rod for-
ward ; " and again, " not to urge the flies forward
till they have gone the full length behind, or he
will be apt to crack them off;" and again, "to
employ considerable force in casting, and never
allow the rod to make a lower angle with the
water than from 40° to 45° ; " and lastly, to " let
the flies fall first upon the water, and as little
of the line with them as possible."

Now I am not greatly concerned at present
either to support these statements or to controvert
them, but simply to point out that, whether correct
or not as regards the ordinary rod angling, in fly-
fishing with the loop-line they are not applicable.
With a light untapered line on a reel greater force
is required to cast than with a loop-line, and this,
as has been urged, is one of the disadvantages of
the reel-line in a long day's fishing. The effort
necessary to extend the loop-line over the water
will depend very much on the strength and direc-
tion of the wind, an opposing wind necessitating
greater effort, a favouring one scarcely any; but

Casting. 89

certainly in all cases much less than a reel-line
would require. Indeed, in an adverse wind, even
the greatest efforts would fail to extend an ordi-
nary reel-line, and consequently there would be
loss, both of much good water and valuable time,
in getting into the most favourable positions for
its use. Moreover, with a reel-line there is greater
danger of " cracking off the flies " from the greater
force employed in urging them forward; and with
any line this undesirable result is just as likely
to follow from making the sweep too rapidly,
and "after a pause impelling the line" forward
too suddenly, as from allowing it to double be-
hind. The motion imparted to the loop-line is
continuous, but it is gentle ; the flies in this mo-
tion lag somewhat behind the thicker portion of
the cast, but there is no pause and no doubling
back; and the line from its greater weight and
better taper is gradually extended to its full length
as it is brought round to the front by the forward
motion of the rod, and this, too, without the em-
ployment of any "considerable force." And so I
rather advise, with Mr Francis, that this forward
motion should be eased half-way, than with Mr
Stewart, that it should cease suddenly and alto-
gether, when the rod is at an angle of 45° from
the water. In the latter case, the line would
fall in folds, and the flies in a swarm, to the

90 A rtificial-Fly Fishing.

terror of all the fish in the neighbourhood. The
forward motion given to the rod is altogether a
little swifter than the backward one, simply be-
cause the line is to be extended in front and not
behind ; but if the force employed in urging it
forward be too great, the result, though different,
will be just as disastrous as if a less force be sud-
denly arrested half-way. It will be an assistance
to the angler in determining the amount of force
necessary for the cast, if he direct his aim to an
imaginary point two feet or so above the surface
of the stream. The line will then reach the water
without disturbing it, and the flies will alight
gently and naturally thereon.

The precise angle — always a small one — which
the rod makes with the water when the flies alight,
will depend on the amount of wind-pressure which
has to be overcome ; the stronger the wind the
lower do we hold the point of the rod, and conse-
quently the greater length and weight of line will
reach the water to bring down the flies upon the
surface and keep them there. Mr Stewart's object
in " never allowing the rod to make a lower angle
with the water than from 40° to 45°," is, he says,
to secure "that the flies shall alight first upon
the water, and as little of the line with them
as possible." But it will never secure that they
alight at the proper place, or, in wind, that they

Casting. 9 1

even alight at all. Too much of the line is in such
a case suspended over the stream to impart to the
light cast sufficient steadying power, or ensure
promptness and precision in the fall of the flies ;
and even if the angle vanished altogether, the light-
ness of the ordinary line might still quite effectually
prevent this. Whereas, in my style of casting, the
heavy hair-line promptly responds to the action of
the rod, and brings down the lighter portion fully
extended on the surface of the water; the tapering
line falls gently and more gently till the gut is
reached; and the trail and droppers alight almost
simultaneously, with all the delicacy of gossamer.

The beginner will probably find it easier to cast
from the right shoulder than from the left; but
with increasing practice he will be able to cast
from either side, according to circumstances of wind
or position. Success in angling will demand from
him much more than this ; but nothing will min-
ister more to such success than a masterly style of
handling the rod. The angler of to-day, compared
with his brother of thirty or forty years ago, has
so many disadvantages in over-fished, polluted, and
impoverished streams, and in highly educated trout,
that he cannot afford to dispense with any benefit
which improved skill in casting is calculated to
bring him. The primitive " clothes-prop- and-line"
style will not do now ; and it has often been ques-

92 Artificial- Fly Fishing.

tioned whether Izaak himself, were he to revisit
his former haunts and fight his battles o'er again
with his own old weapons, would be able to kill
one fish now where he was wont then to kill twenty.
To meet the exigencies of the case now, the fly-
fisher must learn to cast at any angle to the wind,
and at any angle to the bank, to cover a rising fish
with certainty in stream or pool; to cast under
banks and overhanging trees, from pebbly channels
and from ledges of shelving rook. In a word, he
must be emphatically the man of resources, able
from his knowledge and his skill to adapt himself
and his style to the circumstances of the moment,
and to meet with prompt and proper action every
varying condition and sudden emergency. For his
increased experience will have taught him that
trout are to be found in other spots than those
which he can reach with ease, that the biggest fish
often lie in seemingly unlikely quarters, and that
many a pounder breathes unmolested in waters
passed over by most anglers in the belief that
casting there would be impracticable.

But I have advised the beginner to try his skill
first in the most favourable conditions of water and
weather, on a gently running stream, with the wind
blowing up. Let him wade in from the channel
side and fish up, casting out towards the opposite
bank. His object being to lay his flies as near the

Casting. 93

bank as possible, where the fish are lying in wait,
the angle at which he should cast will depend very
much on the width and depth of the stream. If
the stream be both wide and deep, and the water at
the bank can only be commanded with difficulty
from the channel, the angler may make the first
cast nearly straight across — say at an angle of 10°
from the right angle, and allow his flies to sail
down as much below that angle. His next cast
should cover fresh water a few yards farther up-
stream at about 60° from the channel, and should
cease at the point where the first cast commenced.
In this second cast the flies will not, of course, fall
so near the bank as in the first ; but still they will
cover water that may yield a fish. A third cast
might be made at about 40° from the channel, and
spent where the second began. Though in such
a condition of the stream the beginner may thus
make the most of his position on the channel side,
he is not likely to make the most of the water.
For when, from the depth of the stream or the
strength of the current, the angler is unable per-
fectly to command the bank where the trout are
rising, his best plan is to cross to the opposite
side somewhere farther down, and fish up from
the bank.

If the river is not so wide or deep as in the
former case, and the bank can be reached more

94 Artificial- Fly Fishing.

easily, the casts are made at more acute angles up-
stream— the first at about 60° from the channel, the
second at 45°, and the third still higher up, at say
33°. The first cast must be considered spent before
the line makes a right angle with the bank, the
second when it has reached a point a short distance
below that at which the first began, and the third
a little below the starting-point of the second. In
the best style of fishing up-stream the flies are
never allowed to sail down opposite the angler, but
are raised from the water while the line is yet well
in hand, so as to command the next cast.

When the nature of the stream will admit, the
angler should always endeavour, when fishing from
the channel, to get nearer the bank than we have sup-
posed possible in the two previous cases, — so near,
indeed, as will enable him to reach it by casting at
a more acute angle than before — that is, the more
truly to fish up stream. Before entering the water,
and as a preliminary venture, he should make a cast
right up-stream over that part of the water which will
be disturbed by wading, to secure any fish that may
be lying there. Then let him wade well in towards
the bank to command it with greater facility and
success, and take his first cast at an angle of 28°
or so with the channel. Considering it spent when
it has reached 45°, he may make his second cast
at 18° or so with the channel. In his third, which

Casting. 95

is made still more directly up-stream — almost
straight up, in fact — the rod must be skilfully
handled as the flies sail towards him, or disaster
will be the only result. Since the line cannot come
round with a sweep as in the other cases, but will
bear almost directly down upon him, he should not
allow the flies to cover more than two or tree yards
of water before moving farther up to cast afresh.

If the trout are rising close to the bank, and
cannot be readily covered from the channel, the
most deadly mode of fishing is, as I have said, to
cast up-stream from the bank. In this case the
first cast is made about a foot or so from the side —
it may even be straight up-stream within an inch
of the bank, if fish are rising there ; the second cast
a yard or two farther out; and a third cast still
farther into the stream, should a rising trout sug-
gest it.

Acting on these hints the angler may, from one
position or another, sweep every yard of the stream
where fish are likely to be, his line radiating out
from him at varying angles to bank or channel,
and covering fresh and undisturbed water at each
cast. If he be a novice, however, ignorant alike
of the nature of the stream and of the habitats of
the trout at the season, he may waste valuable time
by fishing water that after all may prove unre-
munerative, if not utterly barren, unless he take

g6 Artificial- Fly Fishing.

a hint from the fish as well as from a brother
fisher; for, if the trout are rising at all, they them-
selves will afford him sufficient indications of the
proper spots over which he should cast. As a gen-
eral rule, the moderately deep water near the banks,
and the stream from its tail to its head, are the
favourite haunts of trout; but they will also be
found throughout the season in water where the
shallow merges into the deep, in reaches where the
stream is divided by an island or other obstruction,
in quiet water beyond a stream or between two
streams, in eddies behind stones, and in the main
current itself.

The season of the year and the condition of the
water will determine very much where trout will
be found. But another and very important con-
sideration is the direction of the wind. With the
wind from the channel the angler may rely on
finding the trout at the bank side, feeding on the
flies which have been wafted thither ; but if the
wind blow towards the channel, he need not fish
that portion of the water, but should pass on, and
fish the bends where the wind blows towards the
bank. There will always be reaches in the river
where the angler will get the wind in this most
favourable direction. A wind blowing directly up
stream will be greatly to his advantage; for then
the flies, acted on by the two opposing forces of

Hoiv the Wind affects F is J ring. 97

wind and current, remain almost stationary on the
surface and tempt the trout to rise at them. On
the other hand, a strong wind blowing down-stream
will combine with the current to hurry them along
too rapidly for fish to seize them as they pass. In
the former case, the flies will be wafted into the
eddies, banks, and necks of pools, and it is over
these that the casts ought to be made. In the latter
case, it can only be in sheltered reaches where any
flies will be found ; the most of them indeed will
be blown off the water altogether. In the absence
of wind, and in a " small " water, the angler should
fish the streams off the channel side, passing up
from stream to stream, and casting to the bank
where all the large trout are then lying. To fish
from a high bank in such circumstances would
endanger his success by exposing him more to the
view of the fish than by wading from the channel ;
but if the bank is low, I fish as frequently from it
as from the other side.

The angler will thus see that the direction of
the wind is a most important consideration in
determining where he should fish, since it deter-
mines very much where the fish lie. Where the
wind has carried the flies, there will the trout be
found feeding on them, and there may the angler
most reasonably expect success. So important do
I consider this, that I should lay down as the first

G

98 Artificial-Fly Fishing.

canon of artificial fly-fishing — Wherever the wind
blows towards the bank, fish off the bank, provided
it cannot be commanded from the channel; but if
it can be, fish from the channel, casting into the
bank.

When circumstances necessitate fishing down,
and the angler is able to command the river, the
cast should be made across stream and slightly
down, and the flies allowed to sail gently and
naturally with the current. To secure this gentle
and natural motion in a heavy stream, it is neces-
sary from the moment the flies alight to give the
line way a little by yielding the rod, instead of
raising the point as in up-stream fishing. If the
line be kept taut, the flies either hang against the
stream and appear to breast it, or they sweep round
with an alarming velocity. In both cases the ap-
pearance is unnatural, the surface of the water is
unduly disturbed, the droppers come in contact
with the line, and even should the trout manage
to seize the fly in such unfavourable circumstances,
the necessity of his breaking the surface to do so
lessens the chance of his being firmly hooked.
Hence we can account for the number of fish that
are lost in angling down-stream.

Mr Stewart's advice to the angler when fishing
down a heavy water, is to " throw the flies partly
up and partly across, and never allow them to get

ANGLES AT WHICH TO CAST.

No. I. —Fishing tip-stream from Channel side.
Bank side g ^ commanded with difficulty.

down

up

Channel side.

No. 2. — Fishing tip -stream from Channel side.
Bank side vg £ commanded with less difficulty.

down

up

Channel side.

No. 3. — Fishing up-stream from Channel side.

Bank side "^ % perfectly commanded.

down

up

Channel side.

ANGLES AT WHICH TO CAST.

1V0. 4. —Fishing up-stream from Bank side.
Bank side

down

up

Channel side.

No. 5. — Fishing down from Channel side.
o„ Bank side.

25

down

*&".

v--..

up

Channel side.

No. 6 —Fishing down from Bank side.
Bank side.

down

up

Channel side.

Down-Stream Fishing. 99

below that part of the stream opposite to him."
Now this is nothing less than an attempt at a
compromise between up-stream and down-stream
fishing, and comes strangely from a fisherman of
Mr Stewart's experience. According to this method
the angler is going down -stream, first revealing
himself and all his belongings to the fish, and then
attempting to hoodwink and capture them by fish-
ing up. I should call this the walking-down sys-
tem of fishing up. To command a wide river when
fishing down, one may sometimes require to cast
right across, more generally across and down, but
certainly never across and up. In fishing down an
ordinary stream from the channel side, the angler
should cast towards the bank at an angle of about
70° from his own side, and allow the current to
bring the flies down and across until the line makes
an angle of about 25° with the channel, when he
may consider the cast spent. Then let him take
a step or two down- stream, and repeat the pro-
cess over another stretch of fresh water. If he
is fishing down from the bank side, however, and
casting towards the channel in a broad stream, he
must give the line an angle of about 55° with the
bank, — in smaller rivers a proportionally smaller
angle, and in both cases allow the flies to sail down
till they are extended in a straight line below him
close into the bank. Covering in this way more

ioo Artificial- Fly Fishing.

water afc each cast when fishing down from the
bank than from the channel, he should walk down
a yard or two before making the next venture.

I have already stated that fishing down from the
bank is never very satisfactory in any circumstan-
ces, and should only be resorted to when no other
method will suit. With a strong wind blowing
down-stream, it is better to cross to the channel,
cast towards the bank, and fish down ; but if the
wind be only moderate, it is better still to endeav-
our to fish up, by casting as near as possible to
the wind and wading towards the bank ; and where
the water is too wide to be commanded from the
channel, to cast up-stream from the bank.

In fishing such a stream as the Daer with a
strong wind blowing down and the water low, I
would work up-stream as far as I intended to fish,
casting across if I could not cast up, rather than
walk up two or three miles and fish down. In a
large full water, where the sharp eye of the trout
could not serve it so well, and where wading up
would be difficult on account of the strength of the
current, I would reverse the process by first walk-
ing up as far as time would permit and then fishing
down. In the latter case the result might be
fairly good, but it would certainly be better in the
former.

Mr Francis advises the angler to " allow his fly

Flies not to be "worked" 101

to sink some inches under water, even to mid-water
if he pleases, and then work it gently by raising
and lowering the point of the rod ; " and many
other English authors recommend that the natural
motion of the fly should be " assisted," and a " life-
like appearance " imparted to it by jerking it up,
down, and across stream. I have considered these
recommendations in a previous chapter, and have
tried to show that they are at once antiquated and
absurd, and utterly at variance with what every
observer knows of the behaviour of the natural in-
sect whose motions it is our intention to imitate.
I have only to remind the angler that he should,
so far as he can, follow nature in the motions of his
flies quite as much as in their colour and form, and
that, therefore, he should never "work" his flies,
but make a skilful cast, dexterously keep his line
well in hand as the flies sail down, and leave the
stream to do the " working " business, and impart
to them their " natural motion."

1 ' For thus at large I venture to support,
Nature best followed best secures the sport."

I have already urged the beginner to be guided
in his casting by the hints he receives from the
rising trout. In endeavouring to cover a rising fish
the angler should make the cast 2 or 3 feet above
the precise spot where the fish rose, allowing the

102 Artificial-Fly Fishing.

flies to sail over him, so as to permit of his see-
ing and seizing them if he feel inclined to do so.
Should a trout not take his fly the first time he
covers it, though then, certainly, the best chance of
capturing it is gone, he may cast over it again, or
even a third time if the fish continue rising. But
on no account let him dally, as some anglers do,
for hours over one fish in the hope of capturing
it at last ; for even should he not lose his labour
altogether, he will certainly lose much of his time
which might have been more profitably spent in
catering for the wants of the less fastidious fish.
Mr Francis tells us that he "stuck at a fish for
three-quarters of an hour, casting without stopping
as the fish kept rising." We are glad to be assured
that he met with his reward at last — why, of
course, had he not, we should never have heard of
the exploit — and we cannot but admire his patient
endurance in these literally trying circumstances ;
but no man who was not "playing" at angling-
would ever dream of spending as much as three-quar-
ters of an hour over the best " kipper " in Tweed.

Mr Stewart says that, " as the moment the flies
alight is the most deadly of the whole cast, the
oftener it is repeated the better." This broad gen-
eral statement must be taken with some reservation.
It is undoubtedly sometimes perfectly true, but it is
just as often not true. It is indeed quite possible

Frequency of the Casts. 103

for the angler to cast too frequently. If trout are
rising freely at the natural insect, it can only be
to satisfy the " keen demands of appetite ; " and as
these demands brook no delay, the first moment of
the fly's appearance will most likely be the last of
its existence. Clearly, therefore, in this case the
most deadly moment of the angler's cast is the
moment his flies alight. But fish, like folk, are not
always at starvation-point j they are often shy and
sometimes fickle ; and so flies may alight and yet
fish may not rise. But let the fly sail gently down-
stream, and make as though it would escape him,
and then " the blessing brightens as it takes its
flight," and the wayward, greedy trout leaps to
secure it. For myself, I could not say whether, in
the whole course of a season's fishing, I capture more
fish with fly at Mr Stewart's " deadly moments,"
or during those which succeed. If trout, then, are
taking well, it is a perfectly good system to cast
frequently, and so multiply these critical and fate-
ful times. But if otherwise, the angler's oppor-
tunities are not to be measured by the frequency
of his casts ; the imitation will offer a more attrac-
tive lure in its progress down-stream than at the
instant when it alights; and therefore the angler
should allow his flies to sail down two or three
yards according to circumstances, before moving
up to make the next cast.

104 Artificial- Fly Fishing.

The frequency, then, with which the angler should
cast, will depend so far on the humour of the fish,
but not on this altogether. It will be regulated,
also, in great measure by the rapidity of the stream ;
a gentle current evidently requiring less frequent
casting than a rapid one, and a pool more frequent
casting than either. It is in this respect, as well
as in the greater skill demanded in handling the
rod, that the pool presents more difficulty to the
young angler than the stream. For it is only by
frequent and dexterous casting that he can at once
conceal the artificial character of the flies, and pre-
vent them from sinking too much to be attractive.

But a third consideration remains. If the angler
is fishing up-stream, he must not allow his line to
float so far down at each cast as when he is fishing
down-stream, otherwise he would not be able to
command the next throw. He must therefore, when
fishing up, be content to cover less water at each
venture than when fishing down — that is, he must
cast more frequently.

Should a fish take the fly at the moment of its
alighting, the angler, even if he do not perceive the
rise, will receive indications of it in a slight tight-
ening of the line. He must then strike instantly,
but not too hard. For the fish, lying with its head
up-stream, is in the most favourable position for
hooking himself when the angler is below him ; and

Striking. 105

the stroke being against him, the slightest twitch or
turn of the wrist is generally sufficient to secure
him. Alike in fishing up as in fishing down stream,
one should strike gently, but more gently when
fishing down than when fishing up, because the cur-
rent is against him. In pools very gentle striking
is needed. If the trout do not seize the fly when it
alights, it is necessary to watch carefully the motion
of the line as it floats down-stream ; for should it
stop for a moment, it is almost a certainty that a
fish has interrupted its progress. Now is the time
to strike, and in ten times out of a dozen the trout
is hooked. The point of the rod is immediately
raised, and the line kept tight while the fish is taken
gently down- stream, the angler being careful to
keep always below it, whether he is wading or on
the bank.

If he be wading when he hooks a small fish, it
is unnecessary to bring it to the side, as it can be
much more expeditiously removed in the water.
When trout are taking well, and time, therefore, is
valuable, it is profitable in the long-run even to
lose a small one now and again through some lack
of courtesy than to be too nice in playing them
down to the channel. When the " rise is on " I
seldom spend more than a few seconds over a fish,
unless, indeed, from his size he demands more
attention. Large trout are always worthy of some

1 06 Artificial- Fly Fishint

T

care in landing, and should receive all the consid-
eration which the angler can bestow, as it often
requires more skill to kill a trout a couple of
pounds in weight, with fine tackle on a loop-rod,
than to land a lordly salmon ten times that weight
with a hundred yards of eight-plait on a multiply-
ing winch. For, as Cotton said to the young aspirant
after piscatorial fame, " This, sir, is a war where
you sometimes win, and must sometimes expect to
lose." And though every angler knows that the
cowardly fish that " fight and run away " are always
bigger than the manlier ones that " stand and de-
liver," it is good policy, at least so long as the issue
of the strife is doubtful, "to weigh the enemy more
mighty than he seems." Up with the point of your
rod, then, " muster your wits," and take him stead-
ily down-stream to the nearest gravel-bed or easy
landing-stage, and never let him get below you.
Should he show " game," and throw himself out of
the water, you must, to relieve the strain, lower
the point of the rod as he drops back again, for

" Now is it manhood, wisdom, and defence
To give the enemy way ; "

but the instant he reaches the water resume your
advantage, and relax not your effort till in ex-
haustion and defeat he measures his scaly length
upon the channel.

Taking small Fish off the Line in the Water. 107

To take a smaller fish off the line while in the
water, raise the rod as before and bring the fish
towards you — moving down-stream, if necessary,
so as to have him always above you. Thus is he
sooner choked ; while the pressure of the current,
with you instead of against you, prevents undue
straining of the line, and very often frustrates any
attempt at a sudden bolt. Whenever he shows signs
of distress, by turning over on his side, then is the
time to seize hold of him in the water. With the
rod thrown back from the butt, bring the line
within your reach ; and, keeping the rod in the
right hand, slip the left as far as possible along
the line, placing what you have thus secured in
charge of the right, which, while still retaining its
hold, throws the slackened portion clear into the
water before the left intrusts it with any more.
This process is repeated as the trout is approached.
Should he make a sudden spring, the line is still
free to respond, the fish is still under command, and
the operation of "hauling in" has just to be begun
again. When the fish is within reach, the left
hand, while retaining the hold it has on the line
at the time, also takes possession of the rod and
sets free the right to seize the fish. Now, rest-
ing the rod on the left arm with the butt to the
body, transfer the trout to the left hand and remove
the hook with the right. Lastly, grasp the rod with

108 Artificial-Fly Fishing.

the right hand, and with the left stow the fish in
your creel, and you are ready for another cast.
All this — which looks intricate enough, if not be-
wildering, at first sight — is really the work of a
few seconds ; and in an ordinary rise of trout you
will kill three in this way in the time you would
take one to the bank.

With heavier fish considerable tact and care are
required; but practice will bring success here as
elsewhere. The chief point to attend to is, Don't
let the fish get down-stream before you. I have
frequently, when angling with the loop-line, secured
large trout very slightly hooked, simply by keeping
below them till they were exhausted. Such trout
generally struggle more or less in any circumstances
of capture, and sometimes escape even under the
best management ; but the chances of their doing
so are certainly minimised when they are taken
down-stream. Whereas, if a large trout get below
the angler, the chances are ten to one that he will
escape, unless very securely hooked and on strong
tackle — on such tackle, indeed, as few fly-fishers
would care to use. Even in fishing down-stream,
it is necessary to get below a big fish as soon as
possible.

I admit that, in rivers where salmon and sea-
trout are abundant, a reel- line is indispensable,
otherwise the angler is in momentary peril of losing

Treatment of the Line in passing Obstacles. 109

his cast ; but in such a river as the Clyde, where
it is the exception and not the rule to meet with
trout or grayling over two or three pounds in
weight, the loop - line and rod have immense
advantages over the other. I have often killed
trout upwards of five pounds with it, and gener-
ally I have no difficulty with fish of two or three
pounds ; but, unfortunately, it is not every day that
it is subjected to such severe tests as these.

When the angler desires to pass over any reach
of the stream where from barren or deep water,
adverse wind, thick wood, or other obstruction,
casting would be inconvenient or unadvisable, the
rod is raised perpendicularly, and that part of the
line which falls below the butt is wound round the
left hand till the trail-fly is reached; and thus
secured, the rod and line can be carried about with
ease and without risk. When fishing is resumed
the process is reversed — the line, as it is unwound
from the trail-fly, sailing down-stream till all is
liberated for another venture. It may also, of
course, be unwound on the bank; and in either
case the process is accomplished, with a little
practice, in a few seconds.

Some anglers evince great preference for a thread-
like line, in the belief that it enables them to cast
with greater lightness and nicety. This is a mis-
take, if it is their intention to throw a Ions line :

no Artificial-Fly Fishing.

for even in a dead calm some weight is necessary
to carry it forward and cast with certainty, while
in a strong wind it is perfectly useless. This light
line, however, in the hands of those who recom-
mend it, is generally a very short one, and is cast
from a single-handed rod. To fish with it at all
requires that the angler wades right up the centre
of the stream; and, while securing a few trout by
dint of great physical exertion and constant casting,
he so disturbs the water for other anglers following
in his wake as materially to affect their prospects
of success. This method of fishing seems to me to
savour a little of the selfish fish-for-self style, in
which, moreover, the paltriness of the end cannot
be urged as any justification of the questionable
means. Fortunately, it is only in " small " clear
water with a favouring breeze, that it can be prac-
tised at all, and even then the results bear no pro-
portion to the labour.

The preceding remarks are more or less generally
applicable to artificial-fly fishing at any time through-
out the entire season. In what remains of this
chapter, I shall offer a few hints, bearing more
particularly on the special cast for each month,
and the conditions of water and weather most
favourable for its use.

April Fishing. — The following is the cast for this
month : The teal-drake with black hackle forms

April Fishing, 1 1 1

the trail-fly, with March browns and blaes (starling-
wing and black hackle) alternating for the other
eight. The young angler will remember that
though I use nine flies on the cast, I have recom-
mended that he should begin with six on a corres-
pondingly shorter line, until practice enables him
to cast a gut-line of 16 feet, without a twist from
end to end.

At this season warm genial days — if such there
be — with wind and sunshine, are the most favour-
able for successful sport ; but considerable execution
is sometimes done on a black water, if the day be
dull, with occasional showers. A leaden sky, how-
ever, with mist on the hills, a bluish appearance as
of smoke in the atmosphere, or heavy rain-clouds
looming to windward — the frequent harbingers of
coming storm — are certainly not fraught with
blessings for the angler.

The weather, of course, in this month, as in
others, influences the development of the natural
flies, and so far determines when the trout will take
the imitation ; but there are times when the condi-
tions seem all that could be desired, and yet the
results are admittedly and wonderfully poor. On
such occasions, instead of attributing his non-suc-
cess to the whims and caprices of the giddy trout,
or to the loss of his own right hand's cunning, the
angler will most probably find the explanation

112 A rtificial-Fly Fishing.

in some portending atmospheric disturbance. For
trout, in the interests of science, may well be en-
rolled active members of the Meteorological Society ;
they are more sensitive to atmospheric influences
than a barometer, and rarely take well when there
is an impending change. This is especially the
case when, after a long spell of fine weather, there
are some indications of a coming storm. And even
when no such indications present themselves to the
weather prophet — nay, when Mercury himself brings
no warning of the frowning face of Jove, the trout
seem to have some instinctive premonition of what
is approaching, and defy all art to tempt them to
the surface. This occurs now and again all through
the season. The " rise " may be " on," the fun most
furious, and the hopes of the angler at the highest,
when, all of a sudden, without hint or warning, the
sport ceases, and not another fin is seen to move
that day. The case is evidently hopeless, though
the cause may be mysterious, and the angler gives
up in disgust. But perhaps on the morrow, or, it
may be, before he is fairly home, the rising wind
and the blackening heavens convince him that
some " wide area of depression " had o'erspread the
stream, and abated the ardour of the rising fish.

In genial weather good sport is almost certain
whether the water is black or not, as the March
browns will then make their appearance on the

April Fishing. 113

stream and tempt the hungry trout to renew their
acquaintance with their long-lost surface-food. If
the morning be bright and warm, the flies will come
out early, and consequently the trout will take an
hour or two sooner than if it be dull and cold. The
"rise "is usually " on " between 10 and 11 A.M.,
and may continue for twenty minutes or half an
hour, after which the flies go off, and it may be half
an hour, or even an hour, before they appear again.
These golden opportunities may be offered to the
angler three or four times during the day, according
to the state of the weather. Should the morning
dawn propitiously for the early appearance of the
flies, this little " fitful fever " will generally be over
for the day by 3 o'clock in the afternoon; but a
cold morning, by delaying the advent of the flies
till mid - day, or even 1 o'clock, will reduce the
fishing time to a few hours of the afternoon; if,
indeed, it do not altogether destroy the chances of
sport that day. As a general rule, to a successful
day's fishing at this season some progress towards
filling the basket would require to be made in the
forenoon. Good sport is sometimes obtained after
1 o'clock, but certainly the most hopeful sign is
the appearance of the favourite March brown in
the early hours of the day.

Though the angler thus earnestly looks for the
appearance of the natural insect on the water, and

II

114 Artificial- Fly Fishing.

from that predicts his fortune for the day, he will
generally find that it is not during the presence of
great swarms of March browns that he will obtain
the best sport. In reality, it frequently happens
that not a trout will take his flies in such circum-
stances. His main, if not his only, chance of suc-
cess, lies in presenting his flies when the natural
insects are passing off, or have already passed off,
the water altogether. This I have shown to arise
from the fact that the imitations he offers to the
trout are as one in a thousand among the swarms
of their natural competitors, and have therefore
only one chance in a thousand of attracting the
attention of the fish ; and unless the artificial
closely resembles the natural, it will be outweighed
even in this one chance.

May Fishing. — May is unquestionably the best
fly-fishing month in the year. With bright sun-
shine— and wind, if the water is "small" — the
angler cannot fail to obtain sport. The weather is
then less liable to sudden changes and alternations,
and consequently success is more to be relied on
than during

" The uncertain glory of an April day,

Which now shows all the beauty of the sun,

And by-and-by a cloud takes all away."

Trout in most streams are now in fine condition,

May Fishing. 1 1 5

and afford the angler rare play. In the full tide
of lusty youth and vigour they are to be found in
all parts of the water, breasting the strong currents
as well as sporting in the gentle runs and eddies ;
and water which the angler would judiciously pass
over a month earlier, may now be fished with
success.

An alteration on the cast is now necessary, as
the March browns will soon disappear, to be suc-
ceeded by those that are born of hotter days and
brighter sun. Notable among such is the sand-fly,
which makes its appearance about the 6th of the
month. At the beginning of May, it is as well to
substitute two sand -flies for two March browns,
and after the natural insect appears, gradually to
remove all the March browns and replace them by
sand-flies. About the middle of the month I would
recommend that two of the blaes, which have been
doing duty since the beginning of April, be re-
moved, and a green tail and a black blae substi-
tuted. This last fly takes splendidly in cold days
during both May and June, and on such days two
or three of them may profitably take the place of
the sand-flies ; but in bright sunshine this change
would be undesirable, for it is then that the sand-
fly is most effective.

When the sand-flies have come fairly on the
water, which is generally about the middle of May,

1 1 6 A rtiftcial-Fly Fishing.

the cast should be composed and arranged thus :
1, the trail -fly — the teal -drake tied with black
hackle ; 2, the sand-fly ; 3, the blae ; 4, the sand-
fly; 5, the green-tail; 6, the sand-fly; 7, the black
blae; 8, the sand-fly; 9, the blae. This cast is
serviceable during May and June, except that in
the case of the trail-fly, the black hackle is changed
for the red towards the end of May.

It will be observed that the sand-fly is the prin-
cipal entrde in this bill of fare for the month, and
the young angler may rest assured that it has not
been inserted there without special regard to the
aldermanic tastes and gastronomic predilections of
those who are to dine and die. For, not only is it
undoubtedly the most killing lure in a warm and
dry May, but it remains longer in season than any
other individual fly that appears on the water. The
natural insects, as already shown, are not hatched in
the water like most of the other flies, but in the dry,
sandy, exposed channel of the stream ; and whenever
this becomes heated by the sun's rays, they flit in
myriads over the water. Hence it is during heat
and sunshine that this fly affords the best sport.
In such favourable circumstances it may take as
early as 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning, but in cold
dull weather it will not appear at all ; and th«
angler's mainstay then must be the black blae, which
usually comes on the water about 11 or 12 o'clock.

May Fishing. 1 17

Though the sand-fly generally disappears at the
beginning of June, in the upper reaches of the
river, where its development is delayed consequent
upon the greater altitude, the artificial lure may
prove very effective even as far on as the end of
June. Some anglers hold that these flies never
appear on the water unless blown there by the
wind, but this is a mistake. Of course wind will
blow them on the water, but they also find their
way to their own destruction with quite as much
certainty in its absence. I have scored some of my
greatest successes with this fly in a " small " clear
water during bright sunshine, and without a breath
of wind. In such circumstances, the flies will be
observed over the entire surface of the stream,
"dancing merrily to their death," and the angler
has only to select the most suitable streams and
broken water to ensure a good " take." In wind,
however, he will be guided by the general recom-
mendation already given, and devote his attention
to those reaches of the river where the wind blows
from channel to bank, as it is only in such quarters
that the flies can reach the water at all.

From what has been said of the hatching-ground
of the sand-fly, it will readily be understood that all
rivers, or even all parts of the same river, are not
alike favourable for its development. Where the
bed of the stream is rough and stony it is not

1 1 8 Artificial- Fly Fishing.

found in abundance. At and above Thankerton,
where the Clyde flows for miles over a sandy bed,
the flies are plentiful, and the sport consequently
good. Higher up, between Eoberton and Elvanfoot,
the channel is rough and rocky, and the sand-flies
are less abundant. Above Elvanfoot, again, the
sandy bed reappears, and again they find a con-
genial home. The Tweed, on the other hand, affords
no such varieties of channel, but flows for the most
part over a stony bed, and cannot therefore be com-
pared to the Clyde as a sand-fly stream. But here
the law of compensation comes in to save the lives
of the trout and the sport of the anglers; for we
find that those rivers, or portions of them, which
are not naturally adapted for sand-fly fishing, are
usually the best for the May-fly ; and this because
the latter is hatched under stones in the bed of the
stream, where the sand-fly cannot exist.

A bright day with sunshine and wind is generally
the best for angling during this month. But this
rule is subject to several modifications. On a black
water, for example, bright sunshine is desirable
during the period of the sand-fly's existence ; but,
both before its advent and after its departure, a
dull day is to be preferred; and then the angler
who is possessed of any skill in his art, should
never be content with anything less than a basket
of from twelve to twenty pounds, either on Clyde

May Fishing. 1 19

or on Tweed. Again, on the lower reaches of these
rivers, a dull cloudy day in May is most favourable .
for good sport; and towards the end of the month
cold days are frequently red-letter days in the ang-
ler's calendar, for these furnish the best conditions
for the appearance of the iron-blue dun. I remem-
ber one such day some years ago, when I secured a
basket of twenty-five pounds with this fly in the
course of a few hours' fishing at Thornilee towards
the end of May when the hills lay white with
snow; while the sport during several hot bright
days which succeeded was poor in the extreme.
Hot sultry days at this season are generally un-
lucky, for then the flies upon which the fish chiefly
feed do not put in an appearance at all.

It is a curious fact that trout will not take well
when the wind blows from the south during hot
days in May, June, and July. In spring this does
not hold; but as the season advances, a hot day,
with a dry south wind, producing a sultry heat and
throwing a haze over the hills, is the most unpro-
pitious of any. Even an east wind, — that great
bugbear of anglers — which blows up Clyde from
Culter to its source, and up the greater part of
Tweed, — is much to be preferred, and in all the
fishing months frequently proves a blessing in dis-
guise. There is no gainsaying the fact, that during
the fishing season there are many sultry, inaus-

1 20 A rtificial-Fly Fish ing.

picious days — days when even the siren sand-fly
fails to lure, and when the angler's tenantless bas-
ket speaks to him only of blighted hopes and fruit-
less toil. In these depressing circumstances, the
creeper, the caddis-bait, very small worms, and even
the minnow (fished up-stream), may help to retrieve
the fortune of the day, and prove the man an angler
still.

"When the rivers are in flood, bait-fishing in some
form or other must be resorted to; but in clear
water I should confine myself to the artificial fly,
the creeper, or the caddis, believing that, should
these fail, there is little to be hoped for from any
other lure until the appearance of the May-fly.

June Fishing. — The artificial flies best suited for
this month are still the sand - fly and the blaes.
The cast may be made up thus : 1, trail-fly — teal-
drake, with red hackle ; 2, blae, as in March and
April ; 3, sand-fly ; 4, black, blae, or iron-blue dun ;
5, hare's-ear dun or autumn dun; 6, sand-fly; 7,
blae ; 8, hare's-ear dun ; 9, blae.

Success may still attend operations with the
artificial fly during the early days of the month,
especially in a black water after a small flood ; and
the sand-fly may be very effective in the upper
reaches of the stream, where it is later in appear-
ing. But as the May-fly is then at the height of
its popularity with the trout, the angler must con-

July to October Fishing. 121

suit the prevailing taste, and offer the natural insect
when the days are warm and sunny.

July Fishing. — From the end of June till the
end of August, fly-fishing with the small artificial
fly is not by any means a remunerative employ-
ment, unless on a cold stormy day, or in a black
stream after heavy rains ; and then the following
will be found a good cast : 1, trail-fly — froghopper ;
2, blae, as in spring; 3, sand-fly; 4, hare's -ear
dun ; 5, white tip ; 6, sand-fly ; 7, blae ; 8, sand-
fly ; 9, blae.

The black mote makes its appearance during
hot weather in June, and exists throughout July
and August. In hot sultry days, when feeding on
this fly, the trout will rise to nothing else ; and
when such is the case, the angler will do well to
have the cast composed entirely of it.

August, September, and October Fishing. — 1, Trail-
fly — autumn red; 2, blae; 3, autumn musk -fly;
4, pale autumn dun, or willow-fly ; 5, white tip ; 6,
blae ; 7, hare's-ear dun ; 8, blae ; 9, autumn brown.

The above form a good selection for a cast in
autumn, but the angler need not limit himself to
these. Several of the flies already given in the
list may be found more attractive than others on
certain days ; and whenever one or more particular
flies are observed to be doing well, let the cast carry
two or three good specimens of the favourites.

122 A rtificial-Fly Fishing.

The months of July and August are the most
unproductive of the season in artificial-fly fishing.
Towards the end of August, however, when the
heat begins to moderate, the fly will again do
some execution, and in September it is frequently
as effective as in the spring. With such weather
as would be considered favourable in May, the
angler will be able to make a capital basket on a
September day after 11 o'clock in the forenoon.

In October trout begin to get out of condition,
but in Clyde the grayling are just then coming to
perfection — at least to such perfection as their poor
capacity can ever hope to reach. They take the
artificial fly freely; so freely, indeed, that they
frequently fill up a large section of the creel, which
the angler would rather see occupied by the more
dainty trout. Towards the end of this month the
natural flies do not come on the water till late in
the day, and consequently, unless the wTeather be
fine and "fresh," the entire day's fishing may be
restricted to two hours or so after 1 o'clock.

General Remarks.

We have seen that the natural flies make their
appearance in regular rotation from March to Octo-
ber, and that the artificial flies which the angler
should use at any one time ought to be imitations

Influence of Weather on Insects. 123

of such flies as are then in existence. The dates
already given for the appearance of the natural
insects will hold good in ordinary seasons, but it
must be remembered that the times of their devel-
opment and the terms of their existence are alike
subject to the influence of heat and cold. Speak-
ing generally, and in view of the whole season, I
may say that an early spring and a warm summer
will accelerate their advent and shorten their stay ;
and that a backward season will retard their de-
velopment and prolong the period of their exist-
ence. But all the flies of a particular month are
not alike influenced by the same weather. What
may be favourable for one class may be quite the
reverse for another. The characteristic flies of
spring and autumn come out with heat and sun-
shine, but this cannot be said for all the flies of
summer. Some of them — including the whole
family of duns — require a comparatively cold day
for their appearance j while others, as the sand-fly,
the black mote, the green-tail and May-fly, do not
appear but on hot bright days ; and even in the case
of these latter there is a " distinction with a differ-
ence."

It is not enough, therefore, that the angler, in
selecting his cast for the day, should merely con-
sult his season's list of flies ; he should ascertain
for himself, by actual observation, what insects are

124 Artificial-Fly Fishing.

then on the water, and so he guided in his choice.
Now he may find several species in existence at
the same time, but he will not find all equally
in favour with the trout; and such as are for
the nonce in high esteem should be largely repre-
sented on his cast, if he do not wish his pannier
to present a sorry appearance even on a very
favourable day.

Many anglers entertain the idea that when their
flies, which may reasonably be expected to kill, do
not succeed well, it is necessary to exchange them
for others whose prototypes, it may be, are not then
on the water — that, in fact, the want of success at
any time is always to be attributed to a bad selec-
tion of flies, and that they must be changed till a
happy issue confirm the choice. Even if we take no
account of the waste of time which such a proceed-
ing entails, and the loss of the opportunity when the
" rise " does come on, it is tantamount to surrender-
ing the position which they profess to maintain, and
admitting that, after all, what the trout will take
at any one season bears no relation to what nature
has provided for it at that season, and that one fly
is just as likely to kill as another at any season
whatever. My advice is, select carefully good imi-
tations of those flies which observation shows to be
on the water and most in favour with the trout,
and stick to them, in the assurance that if they

Influence of Weather on Trotit. 125

fail, the fault may lie in the angler's want of skill,
or in the trout's want of appetite, but certainly not
in the flies themselves.

The weather, in so far as it regulates the appear-
ance of the flies, will determine the " rise " of the
fish. In cold days, especially in April, when there
is not sufficient heat to bring out the flies, there is
no inducement for the trout to come to the surface
to feed. They must, in that case, content them-
selves with grub and larvse at the bottom. Again,
when the river is big with what is familiarly known
in Scotland as " snaw-broo," the chances of success
in any kind of fishing are of the remotest. Good
baskets are often got during a snowstorm, but
scarcely ever when the water is thoroughly satu-
rated with snow, as it is then too cold to bring
the flies to maturity.

But even when the season has brought round the
flies, trout, as we have seen, do not always take
advantage of their opportunities. They are a pecu-
liarly impressionable tribe, and many of their seem-
ing vagaries and whims are still unexplained. But
indeed, in this respect, trout are not by any means
alone. How many men can explain themselves
even to themselves ? and " Who is't can read a
woman?" Why, then, need we grudge the trout
a little oddity or a caprice ? We know the fact —
though we may not always be able to account for

1 26 A rtificial-Fly Fishing:

it — that flies may sport most temptingly on the
surface, and yet trout may heed them not. We
have alluded to their susceptibility to atmospheric
influences, their decided and seemingly unreason-
able aversion to certain winds with certain states
of weather, and their equally decided and seemingly
unreasonable preference for others. But there are
many more peculiarities in their behaviour which
we can reduce to no law, and for which we cannot
find even a likely explanation. Some may call
them mere freaks, and think that thereby they
have solved the problem. But every angler who
desires that he should fare the better for his expe-
rience, and the trout the worse, will use not only
his powers of persuasion to allure the fish from
their element, but likewise his faculty of obser-
vation to study their habits within it.

In very hot sultry weather, such as occurs as the
season advances, trout become languid and disin-
clined to take the artificial fly, except during the
night. Then they leave their usual haunts and
come out to the shallows in search of food ; and
it is during those nights which succeed hot and
oppressive days, when not a fish will stir, that the
best sport is obtained with the artificial fly.

Given a showery April and a dry May, small
floods in summer, and bright sunshine in autumn,
and I predict for the angler a rare time of it.

When best Sport may be had. 1 27

Should April be mild and balmy, with occasional
showers, heavy baskets will be the rule ; but there
is no doubt that May is the best month. The
weather is then more settled, the trout feed more
readily, and the sport is therefore more certain.
September I should place next in order after April
and May ; indeed it is frequently not much inferior
to either.

Up to the middle of June the angler may antici-
pate more or less sport with the artificial fly in
ordinary conditions of the water; but during the
next two months the most choice day for a great
"take" is the one immediately following a Hood,
with the weather cool and the water still running
black. Few practical anglers will agree with Mr
Francis in his recommendation never to fish in a
flooded water. Every one knows that splendid
sport is to be had with the worm in such a water ;
and my heaviest "takes" with the artificial fly
have been in a black water on the day following
a "spate." Many years ago, when circumstances
were altogether more favourable to the angler than
now, when the river ran full and in capital fishing
order for a week after a flood, the good days were
not so few ; but now the effective system of hill-
drainage, which carries off to the sea all the rain
nearly as fast as it falls, carries off also in one
day the fortunes and the chances of many. And

128 A rtificial-Fly Fishing.

so to any angler who can devote only one day at a
time to "the gentle art," I would unhesitatingly
say, choose the day after a flood, and fish with
the artificial fly.

On the upper reaches of the Clyde, when the
water is " small " and clear, sunshine and wind are
absolutely necessary to good sport. On Tweed,
sun suits very well during April, but in the sum-
mer months a dull, cold, showery day is best. In
the absence of wind, the streams and broken wTater
only should be fished ; nothing can come of fishing
smooth water in a dead calm. Sunshine, however,
is never desirable with a black water for the arti-
ficial fly, except in the case of the sand-fly, which
must have heat as well as sunshine. All the other
varieties of flies are more successful on a dull day,
when the water is in this condition. Fish can see
the angler much better when the day is dull than
on a bright sunny day in " small " clear water ; but
in either case he should fish up-stream should wind
permit. A warm, dull day is very unfavourable in
either a clear or a black water for fly-fishing ; and
I should much prefer a hot day with bright sun-
shine.

It will thus be seen that in selecting a portion
of water for the day's sport with the artificial fly,
the angler has to take various circumstances into
account. The season of the year and the flies then

Conditions necessary to Success. 129

in existence, the habits as well as the habitats of
the fish at that season, the state of the weather and
the condition of the water, the nature of the channel
and the direction and force of the wind, besides
a host of minor considerations which experience
may act upon, though it cannot always tabulate —
all must enter into his calculations of the chances of
success, quite apart from any practical skill in mere
casting. The importance of the wind element has
already been shown. In an appendix will be found
a statement of the winds most favourable for up-
stream fishing on all the main reaches of the Clyde
and the Tweed. It may be found useful to the be-
ginner. For, with a knowledge of the direction or
set of the stream, and the quarter from which the
wind is blowing in the morning, the angler may
generally be able to map out mentally the section
of the water he should select for the day, so as
to reap the full benefit of fishing up-stream.

In bringing to a close these desultory remarks on
artificial-fly fishing, I desire to record, as the con-
viction of a life-experience, that no other method of
angling can at all compare with it, either in respect
to the skill and knowledge required in its exercise,
or the results which it is calculated to yield. A
very moderate angler may soon become tolerably
successful in the practice of minnow-fishing and
worm-fishing down -stream, but it is in artificial-

1

130 Artificial-Fly Fishing.

fly fishing that the difference between an expert
and a novice is most apparent. And on no occa-
sion is the difference more observable than on a
day when trout are taking well. There are days
— thoroughly hopeless days for sport — when fish
are not inclined to rise, and when all anglers, good
and bad, are placed very much on the same level.
It is on such occasions that the adept, recognising
the futility of exertion, is content to wait like
Micawber till something "turns up," and to ex-
claim with Hermione —

" There's some ill planet reigns :
I must be patient till the heavens look
With an aspect more favourable ; "

while the novice, in the eager enthusiasm of inex-
perience, perseveres to the end and possibly secures
a few fish. But let the " rise " come " on " in a
" small " clear water, and call into full play all the
practical skill and resources of each, and it will not
be long till the disparity of baskets will show who
is the experienced fly-fisher.

i3i

CHAPTER V.

NATUEAL-FLY FISHING.

The May-Fly.

" Away, be gone ; the sport is at the best —
Ay, so I fear; the more is my unrest."

— Romeo and Juliet.

TF one is ever to be tempted to go a-fishing, it
■*■ will surely be on a May morning. To such
as have been "long in populous cities pent," the
merry month will speak of open sky and healthful
breeze; and from the "hum, the shock of men,"
the work and the worry, it will invite the toil-worn
and the care-worn to enjoy "a respite, however
brief," by mountain burn or meadow brook. The
lover of nature will then hie forth to woo her and
hold converse with her charms. Endeared to him
through all her moods, she reveals "her blessed
attributes, her balmy powers," in the first mantling
blush of summer time. He sees the hills " with

132 Natural- Fly Fishing

verdure clad," the rippling streams replete with
life, the vale bespangled with the pastoral cow-
slips and " daisy stars whose firmament is green."
O'er him steals the gentle zephyr, laden with the
sweets of hawthorn and of brier-rose, and on his
ear there falls

"The raining music from a morning cloud,
When vanished larks are carolling above. "

And if he be an enthusiastic disciple of the rod
to boot, happy is he in his hope. Possessed of
even a modicum of skill, and blessed with the
generally favourable weather of May, he will not
return with empty creel. Of the " taking " char-
acter of the flies then on the wing there is no need
to speak, and no cause to doubt : the May -fly as a
lure has no compeer. Moreover, the trout capti-
vated and captured by it are the biggest and best in
the river. Then in the full tide of life and in the
the joy of its fulness, they will not tamely yield
up their liberty on demand, but will make a brave
show, and fight a gallant fight, calling forth the
skill and energies of the angler, and affording him
the most genuine and exhilarating sport. At no
other season do circumstances so combine to favour
the gentle art, and crown its pursuit with such
assured success. But, alas!

"The hand of joy is ever at his lips
Bidding adieu. "

The May -Fly. 133

Still, if it cannot be said of angling as of love —
that " its month is ever May," or of the angler as
of the summer bird — that in his year he has no
winter, we can derive from the rarity of good
sport only the greater zest for its enjoyment ; and
when " May is in the sere," let the happy memor-
ies of the big baskets of the past colour our visions
of the bigger baskets of the future, while

"We dream the winter through,
Then waken to the sun again
To find our summer vision true ! "

I have already considered the claims of the
stone-fly to the title of the May-fly, and noted
some points in its natural history. In ordinary
seasons it appears about the 20th of May, and lasts
till the 6th or 10th of June. The time of its de-
velopment and the period of its existence will of
course be influenced by the state of the weather and
the nature of the district : on the lower reaches
of the Clyde and the Tweed, it may be seen a
week or ten days earlier than in the upper sections
of those rivers. On some streams it is found in
greater abundance than on others ; and even on the
same stream, as we have seen, all portions are not
alike favourable. It is never plentiful on rivers
which flow over a soft muddy bed, for a stony
channel is its natural home. The eggs are de-

1 34 Natural-Fly Fishing.

posited in the water ; and when hatched, the young
larvae — the well-known creepers — manage to crawl
underneath the stones, where they pass the long
pupal term of their existence. When about to
change into the perfect form, they come out of
their retreats, the pupal cases split and the winged
insects emerge, leaving their shed pellicles upon
the channel.

Like most water-bred flies — with the exception
of a few of the larger species, such as the green
drake — the May-flies prefer the rippling stream to
the silent pool, and will rarely be found in com-
paratively still water. " They love to remain near
the water in which they were reared, and seldom
travel to any distance from the familiar banks." 1
The angler, therefore, has not far to go to seek
them ; while, owing to their dull and sluggish habits,
he has no difficulty in capturing them as they sit
under the stones or banks at the side of the stream.
Mr Stewart advises that they be collected the night
before they are wanted for fishing, on the ground
that the gathering of them consumes much time.
If the angler is "up with the lark," however, he
will not find it so. The insects are most readily
obtained at daybreak, when as many can be gathered
in half an hour as will suffice for the day's fishing.
They are then to be found on the channel near the

1 Wood's Insects at Home, p. 264.

The May -Fly. 135

heads of streams, or on the grassy banks, if there
is no dew. Later on in the morning, under the
heat of the sun, they disperse over the channel
beds, and are not so readily found. There is another
advantage (already alluded to) in gathering them
at early dawn : the newly hatched insects are then
of the bright yellow colour most in demand with the
trout. As the day advances, they become more som-
bre in their hue, and consequently not so readily
distinguishable from those hatched at an earlier
period, which are too brittle for the angler's purpose.
In the full assurance of doing great execution
with them, the angler should collect a supply
sufficient for all that day's needs. With the battle
all his own, it must be irritating in the extreme
to run short of ammunition : so let him provide
abundance. The insects are frequently carried in
a tin-case, perforated to admit the air, and fur-
nished with a lid, and a narrow aperture just suf-
ficient to allow one fly to come out at a time. The
tin, however, gets too readily heated with the sun,
causing the flies to flutter about inside, to their
certain injury or death. A very small wicker-
basket of similar construction would answer better,
and could be easily fitted with a strap, or borne
as an appendage to the creel ; but, for my part, I
prefer to carry the insects in a cotton bag with a
little clean moss.

1 36 Natural-Fly Fishing.

The May-fly is fished either by floating the fly,
or by partly sinking it, and the tackle used will
depend on the method adopted. A floating fly
may be fished either up or down, according to the
direction of the wind \ a partly sunk fly up-stream
only. Mr Stewart does not speak of fishing with
it down, and Mr Francis evidently does not know
that it can be fished up ; but both methods will be
described here.

Four varieties of tackle may be given for fishing
with a floating fly.

1. Two No. 5 hooks, tied back to back, • and
slightly bevelled. On each hook an insect is im-
paled by inserting the point in one shoulder at the
root of the wing and bringing it out at the other.
This kind of tackle is best in a rough full water
whether black or clear.

2. A No. 3 and a No. 2 hook, tied similarly to
the above. This is suited for one fly only, which
is placed upon the hook in the same manner as the
last, the smaller hook being left bare. This arrange-
ment does well in a "small" clear water with a
slight breeze.

3. Two No. 2 hooks, tied back to back, and half
an inch farther up on the same gut two No. 3 hooks
similarly tied. Two insects are required here. In-
sert the larger hook in the shoulder in each case,
and running the fly down to the smaller hook, fix

The May-Fly. 137

it in the back. This is a deadly tackle. The two
No. 2 hooks keep the flies in position, and prevent
the trout from seizing and carrying off with im-
punity the bodies of the flies, minus the wings and
heads.

4. An arrangement similar to the last, but
single ; one smaller (No. 2) and one larger hook
(No. 3), tied with their barbs half an inch apart.
This will be found very effective when fishing with
one fly.

In floating the May-fly, use a long light rod with
a very light line, carrying two or three yards of gut,
the last two of which should be of the finest pos-
sible. A reel is essential in this, as in all kinds
of fishing with a floating live insect. With a light
line of this nature, the wind, as has been said, must
determine whether it is to be fished up-stream or
down. Raising the rod, the angler must allow the
flies to be wafted on to the stream, so that they
will in the most gentle, because most natural, man-
ner alight upon its surface. On no account must
he cast the line, for then the flies will be either
injured or whipped off altogether. If the wind
cease, the fisher has, without doubt, lost a good
friend, but the sport need not stop for all that.
Let him keep well out of sight, bring the point of
the rod over the stream, skilfully allow his flies to
drop in the most dainty fashion on its surface, and

138 Natural- Fly Fishing.

keep them there as they sail adown, adown. To
do this with effect in a gentle stream in the absence
of wind, he must be careful not to keep the line
tight after the fly has reached the water, for if he
do, the insect will be immediately immersed and
rendered totally useless. Follow it as it is slowly
borne along, guiding without checking its motion.
In fishing pools with a good breeze blowing, keep
the line entirely out of the water, and permit the
fly only to touch the surface. This is advantageous,
even in a gently flowing stream, when the wind is
high. In strong currents, with the wind blowing
down, do not attempt to keep pace with the stream,
for you will certainly lose the race and deny the
trout any chance of seizing the fly; but, holding
the rod well up as you move slowly down, now
raise the insect out of the water and now lower
it again, and so retard its progress and keep
it playing upon the surface. Always fish from
the bank side of pools, whether working up or
down ; and when a trout seizes the fly, strike
instantly.

It is as necessary in natural-fly fishing as it is
in artificial, to keep out of sight of the fish ; but,
owing to the difference of tackle and method em-
ployed, it is more difficult to do so in the former
case than in the latter, especially, as we have seen,
in the absence of wind. And therefore, a black

The May- Fly. 1 39

water is a desideratum at all times for a floating fly
either up or down stream.

But the May-fly, as I have said, can be used
under water as well as on the surface, and for this
the ordinary fly-fishing rod will suit well enough.
The line, however, including two yards of fine gut
at the extremity, must not be more than a length
and a half of the rod. The tackle consists either
of one large hook or of two smaller ones. The
larger hook is a No. 10, to the shank of which two
bristles of horse-hair are lashed to prevent the flies
from slipping down, and so destroying their appear-
ance. Place two insects on the hook, in each case
inserting the point at the head, and bringing it out
at the tail. When a trout takes the flies on this
tackle, the angler should allow it to run for a short
distance before striking ; and when he does strike,
it should be gently and firmly down-stream.

In the second case, two No. 7 hooks, with short
shanks, are placed back to back, the one fully a
quarter of an inch above the other. A fly is im-
paled on each hook, the point being inserted at the
head, the body threaded on the shank, and the
point brought out at the tail. Prompt striking is
necessary here, but in no case must it be too hard.
I use both kinds of tackle ; when the fish are
taking freely, the single hook, I find, answers per-
fectly well ; but when trout are shy, their advances

140 Natural-Fly Fishing.

are more likely to meet with a readier response
from the double barb.

Before casting, moisten the wings of the flies
with saliva. This will ensure that they sink to
some extent below the surface, and so constitute a
much more deadly bait than if they were floating.
Note, too, that the same result will not be attained
by merely soaking them, however thoroughly, in
the stream.

Fishing with the natural fly below the surface is
practised only up-stream, and in the absence of
wind. In contrast to the method of fishing with a
floating fly, all casts with the sunk fly should be
made from the channel and towards the bank.
This style of angling is most successful under a
bright sun, when the water is " small " and clear.
Indeed, whatever method may be adopted in fish-
ing with the May-fly, and whatever the condition
of water, the angler will invariably find that bright
sunshine will bring him most sport. A dull cloudy
day is unfavourable ; and if the water be very full,
it is better, even when there is no wind, to fish a
floating fly down-stream than a sunk fly up.

The best period of the day for May-fly fishing is
generally from about nine o'clock in the morning
until three in the afternoon. In the lower reaches
of the Clyde and the Tweed, where the rivers run
over dark rocky beds, trout take it most readily in

The May -Fly. 141

the early morning if the weather be fresh and
warm, but not so well during a hot bright day. In
the upper reaches, however, where the bed of the
stream is gravelly and stony, the " takes " are best
from nine to three, when the weather is warm and
sunny, though a mild morning will not be entirely
barren ; but in no case is May- fly fishing ever suc-
cessful in cold weather. In the early morning
trout are to be found in thin ebb -water at the
sides and near the heads of streams, as well as in
the broken water ; but as the day advances, they
take to the deeper streams and pools. During the
night, too, the angler may do great execution with
this fly among the big fish that then frequent these
pools.

Mr Stewart asserts, probably on the authority of
Younger, that the first heavy flood which occurs
after the May-flies come out carries them all away
for the season. This is true only should the flood
take place towards the close of the season. At any
other period of their existence, a " spate " will work
no such disastrous results. The morning thereafter
will find them as numerous and as lively as ever ;
and if the angler do not make an extra good " take "
that day with the water in such grand " ply," it will
not be because he could find no flies.

Another remark of this excellent author calls
for some notice. He states that the virtues of the

142 Natural-Fly Fishing.

May-fly as a lure are little known elsewhere than
on Tweedside. This is not so. On the contrary,
it has been well known, and deservedly held in the
highest estimation, on the Clyde and its tributaries
by every experienced angler since ever I handled
a rod. It is the lure to which I devote most atten-
tion during the limited period of the fly's exist-
ence, and I have frequently captured from 20 to
30 lb. of trout with it in the course of a few hours.
Twelve years ago, on the lower reaches of the
Clyde, I caught 20 lb. and upwards daily for six
days in succession, and was home again before
breakfast on each occasion ; and during the sum-
mer of 1882, my son and I killed on the Clyde and
one of its tributaries, by its means, 104 lb. of trout
in three consecutive days.

When circumstances necessitate the use of the
artificial fly, it should be fished either up or down
stream as a floating live fly : but fished in any way,
it will prove but a poor substitute for its natural
prototype.

The Green Drake.

This fly is known in Scotland as the yellow fly,
in England as the green drake. In ordinary sea-
sons it makes its appearance in the beginning of
June, and usually lasts from a fortnight to three

The Green Drake. 143

weeks. Its development, habits, and home have
already been described in the list of flies given
in a previous chapter. What I have to do here
is to note its value as a lure, and the method of
its use.

I am again obliged to dissent from the remarks
of Mr Stewart. He states that this fly "is almost
as difficult to catch as the trout; so that, as far
as angling at least in Scotland is concerned, it
hardly deserves attention."- Why it should be more
difficult of capture in Scotland than elsewhere, is
left to the imagination of the reader to discover :
and the only reason that is likely to suggest itself
to him is, that the yellow fly of the North shares
the characteristic shrewdness of the inhabitants,
and has more nimbleness and cunning than its
English appellation of "green drake" would lead
one to suppose. But the truth is not so flatter-
ing. The green drake is certainly more com-
monly met with in England than in Scotland,
because the more sluggish streams of the South,
flanked by muddy banks, and bordered by rushes,
are better suited to its habits than gravelly
beds or pebbly channels. It is not the greater
difficulty of its capture here, but the less favour-
able character of our more rapid rivers, that ex-
plains why it may be of more account elsewhere
than in Scotland. But even in Scotland it is to

144 Natural-Fly Fishing.

be found abundantly on many of the rivers, lochs,
and burns. It is easily captured close to the river-
side if the day be dull and cloudy ; but in bright
sunshine it is tempted to try its wings and to
take its flight over the fields, where, of course, it
cannot so readily be found. To effect a capture in
such circumstances, the angler should use a fine
net stretched over a large hoop.

Though it may not rival the May- fly as a lure,
the yellow fly is, as every practical angler knows,
a very deadly fly. The trout taken with it are
generally of a large size; and many a score of 20-lb.
baskets have fallen to my green drakes. On one
occasion I captured twenty-three trout, weighing
23 J lb., and on the day following twelve trout,
weighing 14 lb.

The flies are best carried in a wooden box, corre-
sponding in length with the lid of the fishing-basket,
to which it may be attached by means of a strap.
It should be furnished with a sliding lid on the
top, to allow one insect to come out at a time ; and
the sides must be perforated to admit the air. As
it is most desirable to keep the insects dry, some
provision should be made for covering the box in a
heavy rain.

The usual method of fishing with the green drake
is familiarly known in England as dibbing or dap-
ing. It requires a very light rod, from 16 to 18

The Green Drake. 145

feet in length. The line, which must be upon a
reel, is composed of 30 or 40 yards of fine silk
or cotton thread (the latter three-ply, and slightly
twisted). To this is attached a gut cast of 10 or
12 feet, carrying two No. 5 hooks. The hooks are
tied back to back, with their points turned some-
what towards each other, and a live fly is impaled
on each. Insert the hook in the fly at one shoul-
der near the root of the wing, and bring it out at
the other. Be careful that the fingers are dry when
baiting the insect : the wings are extremely tender,
and are speedily destroyed by water.

In fishing with this fly, it is essential to have
the wind in your favour, whether it blows up, down,
or across stream. From the fact that the wind
is the main agent in floating the flies, this style
of fishing is usually termed " blow-line " fishing.
Choose, then, the bank where the wind is most
likely to second your efforts and make success pos-
sible, and, holding the rod nearly erect, with a
moderate length of line out, allow the wind to take
it well over the river. When it has been wafted
over the spot where you intend to make the descent,
gently lower the point of the rod until the flies
alight daintily upon the surface of the water, and
then, by a skilful management of the rod and the
favour of the breeze, you will succeed in keeping
them there, flitting along with every appearance of

K

146 Natural-Fly Fishing.

natural motion. Care must be taken not to allow
any part of the gut-line to touch the water, other-
wise'the flies will be soaked and rendered useless.
When a trout seizes the fly, you cannot strike too
quickly, though it is quite possible to strike too
hard.

Unlike the May-fly, the green drake succeeds
best on a rough, breezy day, with little or no sun-
shine. A showery day, or even a thoroughly wet
one, will prove very profitable for sport; whether
it accord with the angler's conception of outdoor
enjoyment or not, is another question. To the
enthusiastic angler, however, the ideas are by no
means incompatible. In such conditions of weather,
the condition of the water is of less importance ; it
may be either black or clear, and the " take " may
be good. The fly, as I have said, is abundant on
many of our burns; and when these are swollen
after a flood, the drake is a wonderful killer.

When the day is fine and bright, the water
" small " and clear, and the wind blows lightly over
its surface, it is more advantageous to fish with one
fly only. For this purpose use a No. 3 or No. 4
hook and a No. 2, tied in the same manner as in
the larger tackle, and place the fly on the larger
hook, leaving the smaller one uncovered. This
does not make such a bulky appearance in clear
water and weather as the double bait, and is

The Green Drake. 147

consequently less likely to excite the suspicions
of the ever-wary trout.

When the natural insect is not to be found
during its season, I use the artificial, which may
be fished either by dibbing, or by casting as any
ordinary imitation. If the fly is to be cast, I
use the form already given in the list of artificial
lures. Two, and occasionally three, such flies are
placed upon the line one }7ard apart. The casts
may be made either up or down stream, according
to the condition of the water and the direction of
the wind. The artificial fly will be always most
successful in a full, black water, or on a rough,
stormy day. Even in these circumstances, how-
ever, it never equals the natural insect as a lure;
while in a " small. " clear water the trout have
little difficulty in detecting the deception.

If the artificial fly is required for dibbing, I make
one thus : A piece of very thin cork, wrapped once
round, and ribbed with brown silk, forms the body.
Dress each wing with the tip of a feather from
the breast of a wild drake, dyed greenish-yellow.
Take another feather from the breast, dye it yellow,
strip off one side, raise the fibre on the other with
the finger, and pare with scissors to the length
required for the hackle. Two or three turns below
the wings will be sufficient. Dress on two hooks ;
a No. 4 at the tail, and, rather more than half an

148 Natural-Fly Fishing.

inch from it, a No. 5 reversed, and placed under-
neath the wings.

This imitation is used in precisely the same
conditions of water and weather as are necessary
for dibbing with the live fly. It is occasionally
successful, especially on a breezy day.

In the absence of the natural insect I prefer
dibbing with the artificial fly to casting with it ;
but sometimes when the former method fails, the
latter succeeds.

The Black Ant.

This insect, although neither so attractive in
appearance, nor so well known to the average
angler, as the May-fly or the green drake, deserves
to take rank with them among the best lures in
natural-fly fishing. It is a great favourite with
the trout, and on that account alone should be
prized by the angler : but it derives an additional
value for him from the time of its advent, and thus

" by season seasoned is
To its right praise and true perfection."

It comes to his aid in August, when the May-fly
and the drake have passed away, and when artificial-
fly fishing is at its very worst. This species of ant

The Black Ant. 149

is found on marshy ground near rivers, and may be
picked up in thousands off the rushes when the
day is hot and bright. From about the beginning
of August on to September, baskets of from 10 to
20 lb. a-day frequently testify to its powers, and
in some instances as many as 30 lb. in one day
have been scored.

This fly is fished with either single or double
tackle. In the former case two insects are impaled
on a No. 6 hook, by inserting the point through the
shoulder of each. Place them closely together, with
their heads pointing in opposite directions, and
their backs next the gut. The bodies of the insects
will thus rest on the water in a natural position,
their wings will be kept as much as possible from
contact with it, and the fascination of the lure will
be maintained till the angler's purposes have been
served. In the double tackle two No. 3 hooks are
tied back to back, and a fly is fixed on each in the
same manner as in the single. With either tackle
the angler must use a very light rod, from 16 to
18 feet in length, with a short line of light gut.

The ant is fished very much in the same way as
the green drake, either up or down stream, accord-
ing to the direction of the wind, and either in clear
water, or in dark water after a flood. Unlike the
green - drake fishing, however, which is always

150 Natural- Fly Fishing.

dependent on the wind, and cannot be enjoyed in
its absence, black-ant fishing may be practised
when there is not a breath of wind. In such a
case the angler must fish down-stream only, direct
his attention solely to the broken water, and eschew
the quiet pools as likely to yield him nothing but
abundance of disappointment. It is most advan-
tageously cast from the bank side ; but in fishing
with such a short line, the angler must be specially
careful lest the sight of his person destroy the
chances of his success. The line should be kept
entirely out of the water, and only the flies per-
mitted to rest on its surface. A little dexterity
will prevent them from sinking, and the stream
will impart to them a natural motion. When a
trout seizes the flies, strike instantly but gently.

All natural flies whose home is on the river-
side may be used as lures in the same way as the
ant, provided they are large enough to have some
appearance on the water, and of sufficiently good
report among the trout to render them acceptable.
Of such are the down-looker, the night-hawk, and
the many varieties of moths which appear at night,
and which may be gathered in plenty under the
banks. The March brown also is occasionally so
employed ; but the difficulty of finding a sufficient
number, at the time when it would be of most

The Black Ant 151

service, proves a barrier to its general use. If this
fly could be obtained on the banks in abundance in
the early morning, before the water was alive with
its myriads, it would doubtless far outshine in fame
the already famous artificial, and deserve to be re-
garded as the " May-fly of spring."

152

CHAPTER VI.

INSECT-BAIT FISHING.

The Creeper.

" More matter for a May morning."

—Twelfth Night.

TT7E have seen that the vast majority of flies
" " which, in perfect though ephemeral beauty,
sport on the surface of the stream to the delight
of the fish, are merely the fully developed forms of
insects that have been bred underneath it. Many
of these creatures, notwithstanding their marvel-
lous adaptation to their surroundings, never attain
to the crown and perfection of their existence, but
in their immature and frequently helpless condi-
tions of larva and pupa, fall an easy prey to the
keen-eyed and rapacious fish. Possibly the prin-
ciple of the " survival of the fittest " obtains in
water as on land j but if so, in this case they sur-
vive only to be the better fitted to minister ere

The Creeper. 153

long in a daintier dress to more fastidious tastes.
In their " happy hunting-grounds below, the trout
are wont to consider these aquatic larvae as quite
fair game, and doubtless find them remarkably good
eating. This is more or less true regarding the
larvae of all flies at all seasons ; but it is especially
the case in winter and early spring, when, most
of the flies being still undeveloped, the absence of
winged life above compels the trout to seek their
nourishment below.

With the knowledge of this fact before him,
the angler will have himself to blame if he
do not profit by it. The insects in these imma-
ture states are, it is true, neither so attractive
to the sight nor so pleasant to handle as the
winged flies ; and their unsavoury nature, no less
than an imperfect appreciation of their value as
lures, induces many anglers to abjure them alto-
gether. So long, however, as they constitute a
perfectly legitimate bait in all open waters, and
so long as they rank high in the estimation of
the trout, they cannot be entirely neglected by the
fisher who caters for the patronage of the fish,
or makes provision for his own sport. Indeed, in
their larval forms, many of these flies are as lures
superior to all other ground-bait, and second in im-
portance only to the winged insects themselves.

Of all such, perhaps the one best known to the

1 54 Insect-Bait Fishing.

angler is the creeper or crab, the larva of the May
or stone fly. Although found under the stones along
the margin of rivers during most of the winter and
spring months, it deserves little notice from the
angler till about the 10th or 12th of May. At this
season, if the water is low and clear, and the sun
bright and hot, the creeper fisher will generally
meet with his reward in a splendid basket. This is
well known on the Clyde and the Tweed, where the
creeper is a great favourite with many an angler ;
but the practical fly-fisher would consider these
very conditions most favourable for the sand-fly,
and would therefore be likely to prefer it as a more
reliable lure. If the day be very sultry, however,
the great heat will hurry on the development of
all the sand-flies at one time: their lives may
indeed be merry, but they will certainly be short ;
for in an hour or less they will all be gone, and
the angler's sport will go with them. It is in these
circumstances that the artificial fly must be dis-
carded, and recourse had to the creeper, when it
will prove itself a most worthy and acceptable
substitute.

There need be no difficulty in procuring the in-
sects in abundance. They will be found, as I have
said, under the stones that lie embedded in sand
near the edges of the streams where the water is a
few inches in depth. In a dry season, when the

The Creeper. 155

river becomes low, the creepers retire with the
stream, and always have their home near its
margin. They are best carried in a small perfor-
ated tin-box, containing a little moss, and furnished
with a sliding lid to permit one insect to come out
at a time.

The rod and line recommended for May-fly fish-
ing up-stream will answer admirably for creeper.
The gut should be of the finest, and the tackle
may be either single or double. In the single
tackle a large hook, a No. 10, is employed. Two
insects, threaded from mouth to tail on this hook,
will be sufficient to cover the metal and form a
tempting bait. Sinkers are unnecessary ; a large
hook thus baited sinks of itself. With this tackle
do not strike on the first intimation that a trout
has seized the bait, but allow the fish to run for a
short distance before you respond. It is a large
bait on a large hook, and possibly the trout, unable
or unwilling to gulp it down all at once, is pro-
longing the delight by sucking it " smaller by de-
degrees and beautifully less." So give him time to
work his own destruction, or you'll lose him.

For a double tackle you may use two No. 5 or
two No. 6 hooks, tied back to back, with their barbs
about a quarter of an inch apart. Shorten the
shank of the upper hook a little, so that the ends
of both may nearly coincide on the gut ; this makes

156 Insect-Bait Fishing.

a neater finish. File both at the back before
tying, and they will be more likely to keep their
position. An insect is impaled on each hook in
the same manner as before. With such a tackle
strike the instant you have reason to believe that
a trout has taken your bait: do not wait for the
tug at the rod-top, but let your eye guide you ; for
should the line be checked for a moment in its
progress down-stream, it is almost certain that a
trout has intercepted it, and then you cannot strike
too soon. This tackle, as well as the double tackle
given for fishing the May -fly under water, is
specially recommended to the young angler, who
in any kind of fishing is generally inclined to
strike before he ought. Here his characteristic
though pardonable haste will be more likely to
issue in gain than in loss.

When using the creeper I always fish up with
either of the tackles just described, casting into the
eddies and edges of the roughish streams, as well
as in the broken water. The method is the same
as that employed in fishing with the May-fly or
the worm up-stream; and the creeper possesses
this advantage over the May-fly, that, being a more
hardy bait, it will both last longer and be less
likely to part company with the hook. The angler
is thus able to cast with greater freedom, and is saved
the necessity of renewing his bait so frequently.

The Creeper. 157

Some anglers, however, fish the creeper down-
stream. The tackle they use consists of two No. 2
hooks tied in much the same way as in the Stewart
tackle, but with the barbs only half an inch apart.
Baiting with one creeper only, they pass the end
or lower hook through the second segment in the
back of the insect, and the upper hook through
the body near the tail and at right angles to the
lower hook. The hooks are thus almost entirely
concealed, but great care is required to fix them
without destroying the bait altogether. A small
sinker-shot — No. 3 or No. 4 — is placed on the line
about nine inches from the hooks, to maintain the
bait at a proper depth in the roughish streams, in
which it is most successful. The experienced
angler, indeed, selects this kind of water only, and
passes over the heavier currents as well as the
quiet unruffled pools. With a sinker, however,
the hook is apt to get fixed on stones in the bed
of the river; and the angler who uses one, must
raise the point of his rod now and again to secure
that his bait moves slowly down with the stream.
Prompt striking, on the slightest interruption to
the course of the line, is as necessary in this case
as in the former.

The creeper may be fished with more or less
success till about the end of May; but only in
low clear water, and in bright sunshine, will it ever

1 5 8 Insect-Bait Fishing.

fill the creel. In other circumstances the angler
will do better if he confine himself to the artificial
fly until the season brings round the May-fly.
Creepers are perhaps most deadly towards the end
of the month, when they are just about to assume
the winged state. I remember — 'tis now many
years ago — that in the Tweed, above its junction
with Biggar Water, I captured with the creeper
29 lb. of splendid trout in the course of a day,
or rather part of a day; for there were no rail-
ways in the district in those days, and on that
occasion, as on many others, I walked in the
morning from Lanark to the Tweed, fished till the
evening, and then walked home again with my
loaded creel. Creels of fish then, as every angler
knows, were much better loaded than they are
now, and the walk home was itself a task quite
heavy enough ; but possibly, though paradoxically,
it would have been heavier had the creel been
lighter.

The Caddis.

Caddis-bait or cod-bait is the name given to the
immature form of various water-flies belonging to
the Phryganidae family. Some of these insects in
their winged state, such as the musk-brown or
cinnamon fly, and the green-tail or grannom, are
familiar to all anglers ; and notice has already been

The Caddis. 159

taken (Chapter II.) of their mode of develop-
ment, and the strange habitations they construct
for themselves in which to pass the larval and
pupal stages of their existence. It was stated that
some of these caddis-cases are carried about by the
larvae, and others are fixed to the under sides of
stones in the water. It is the larvae whose cases
are constructed of sand and small stones, that con-
stitute the fisher's bait. He will find them gen-
erally in the deep sides of streams and heads of
pools. They are common enough in most rivers
and burns.

In the hands of an experienced angler the caddis
proves a very deadly bait, and well merits the
attention of all brethren of the rod from the begin-
ning of May till the end of July. The larvae may
be gathered at any time during the day. Some
fishers lay in a stock the evening before they are
wanted ; but the fresher they are the better, as the
insects then present the fine yellow appearance so
very tempting to the trout. They are most con-
veniently carried about in a woollen bag. Before
placing any one on the hook, the angler must, of
course, break the shell and take out the insect
by the head.

In fishing with the caddis, use an ordinary trout
rod and line, with a yard and a half of gut. The
tackle varies according to the taste of the angler.

160 Insect-Bait Fishing.

Some use only one hook, a No. 5, and run it right
through the insect from tail to head. This makes a
very unsatisfactory bait ; for after a few casts, the
soft liquid contents of the body escape, and the
sides collapse, leaving merely the skin on the hook.
In a small burn, where the bait is merely dropped
over the bank, it is not so easily destroyed, but in
a river, where frequent casting is necessary, the
insect is speedily rendered unrecognisable, and
requires to be constantly renewed.

Another method of fishing is to use two No. 3
hooks, tied back to back, with their barbs slightly
bevelled. An insect is impaled on each by insert-
ing the point at one side close to the head and
bringing it out at the other. As the head and
shoulders are the only hard portions of the bait, an
insect so placed will maintain its shape better, and
serve the angler's purposes much longer, than if
threaded on the hook from end to end.

The tackle I prefer is a modification of the latter.
The hooks are the same, and placed back to back,
but so that one is three-eighths of an inch above
the other. The insects are put on each in the
manner just described. The object of this arrange-
ment is to give the bait a somewhat larger and
more attractive appearance in the eye of the fish,
and still to retain the double chance implied in
the double hook.

The Caddis. 16 1

The season of caddis-fishing corresponds closely
with that of worm-fishing, and the manner and con-
ditions of operation are much the same in both. It
is most successful when fished up-stream in a low
clear water, with bright sunshine. "When the morn-
ing is fine and warm, daybreak is the most favour-
able time for sport ; and though on a good day the
bait continues to "take" till about two o'clock
in the afternoon, the angler who is "up in the
morning early " will have the heaviest basket. If
the weather be cold in the morning, and there be
dew on the ground, he need not begin operations
till the sun comes out. Fish from the channel
side, casting cautiously into the streams and broken
water, in precisely the same manner as with creeper
and worm. If a sinker is used at all, it should be
a very small one indeed. Though it succeeds well
in clear water, the caddis, like the worm, is very
effective in a black one, especially in flooded burns
and smaller streams. In fishing down-stream, as
he should in such circumstances, the angler must
remember to keep always below his bait, as in
worm-fishing, so that he may strike with the cur-
rent and not against it.

Caddis is unknown to many fishers, and, I sus-
pect, is much underrated, even by some who do
know it. The angler who has any experience of its
powers, however, will prefer it to the worm in a

L

1 62 Insect-Bait Fishing.

"small" clear water; and I am .convinced that from
May to July better sport may often be obtained
with it than with any other lure, with the excep-
tions of the creeper and the May-fly.

The Grub.

Besides the aquatic larvae already noticed, many
imperfect insect forms bred of the earth, and even
less prepossessing in appearance than the creeper,
have long been known to the angler as very deadly
baits. Walton recommends the " young brood of a
wasp " and the " spawn of the beetle " as very good
lures for roach and dace ; Cotton gives the " ash-
grub" and the "dock -worm" as great favourites
with grayling; and almost all writers since their
days have included these and other grubs in their
list of generally accepted baits for river-fishing.

For myself, I never use grubs; but as many
trout anglers on Tweed and Clyde set great store
by them, it may be as well to give them a place
here. Those chiefly used are the common earth-
grubs. They will generally be found on turning up
garden soil, turf, old coal-dross heaps, or old banks
of earth. The roots of the common dock, too, are
a favourite harbour. According to Mr Wood, in
their larval state they remain in the ground for
three years, increasing so much in size and fat that

The Grub. 163

their tightened skin seems scarcely able to hold
its contents. Big and burly of body as they are,
however, they are extremely tender of heart, and
cannot well be baited on a hook without some
preparation to render them tough. Sometimes this
is effected by steaming them in a jar, but Cotton
advises that they be simply kept for a time in bran.
There is no doubt that this grub is a great killer
during nearly the whole of the fishing season, espe-
cially in spring, when it will do great wonders
in a muddy or a black water after a flood. It is
generally fished on a double tackle, the hooks
varying in size according to the size of the grub.
Place two hooks on the same gut, either facing the
same way, or back to back, at a distance of three-
quarters of an inch — the larger and upper a No. 4,
and the smaller a No. 3. Pass the upper hook
through the shoulder and the other through the
lower part of the body, taking care to keep the line
tight between the hooks. The double tackle is to
prevent, as far as possible, the soft, unshapely grub
from slipping off the metal altogether, as well as to
hook the fish better. If a single hook is used, as
in the old style, a stiff horsehair must be warped
to the shank before baiting ; but in any case the
insect is so easily injured that only gentle handling
will make a presentable bait. A small sinker is
attached to the line at the end of the first thread of

164 Insect-Bait Fishing.

gut, so that the bait may trundle along the bottom.
Grub is fished in the same manner, places, and con-
ditions of water as the worm.

Even to many anglers who are not too nice to
foul their fingers, this bait presents such a forbid-
ding appearance, that no assurance of its deadly
nature, however well grounded, will ever overcome
their disinclination to use it. Many fishers on the
Clyde, however, have of late been in the habit of
employing it, to the exclusion of every other kind
of bait, but the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient
supply pretty effectually prevents its general use.
Indeed, to ensure a stock for a day's fishing, the
angler would require to spend the previous day in
collecting them. This, of course, is inconvenient,
and would not suit every one.

And now, with the quaint and cautious remark
of Cotton to his disciple, we may conclude all that
need be said of insect-bait fishing: "There are
several other baits besides these few I have named
you, which also do very great execution at the bot-
tom, and some that are peculiar to certain countries
and rivers, of which every angler may in his own
place make his own observation ; and some others
that I do not think fit to put you in mind of, be-
cause I would not corrupt you, but would have
you, as in all things else I observe you to be, a
very honest gentleman — a fair angler."

i65

CHAPTEK VII.

WORM-FISHING.

" Ay me ! what perils do environ
The fish that meddles with cold iron ! "

—Hudibras, adapted.

rpHE worm has always been a favourite lure.
■*• Most probably it was our first. Did we not,
when schoolboys, betake ourselves on a holiday to
the nearest burn, and there, with deepest cunning,
lie in wait for simple minnows, behind a lob-worm
on a bent pin ? But though we have doubtless all
got beyond the pin, many of the fraternity of ang-
lers have not yet outgrown their first love for the
worm, but still find in it their be-all and end-all.
This reveals lamentable want of taste, and almost
unpardonable ignorance of the surpassing charms
of fly-fishing. While Stewart justly assigns the
first place in scientific angling to the artificial fly,
he is nevertheless a very valiant champion of the
rights of the worm. He says that many of his

1 66 Worm- Fishing.

brother anglers disparage it, because they consider
it so simple that any one may succeed in it ; and
he proceeds to show that, if brought to a clear
water on a warm sunny day, such anglers would
speedily discover their mistake. Now I am not of
those who ignore its claims, or decry its merits.
I am, moreover, quite at one with Mr Stewart in
his attempt to free worm-fishers from the charge
of being unscientific, and to raise their favourite
pastime to the rank of a sport. But while admit-
ting that it is a branch of the art well calculated,
when practised in clear water and sunny weather,
to test the angler's dexterity in casting and his
acquaintance with the habits of the fish, I should
be disposed to say that Stewart had unduly extolled
its powers as a lure, and attributed to it a pre-
eminence which it does not possess. He tells us
that " worm-fishing is the most certain and deadly of
all fishing ; and by it more trout may be captured
in the month of July than by any other means in
any other month of the year." I cannot say that
such is my experience. The worm cannot for a
moment compare with the May -fly in the certainty
of its operation ; and even the creeper and the
caddis may fairly compete with it in power of exe-
cution. One might possibly kill more fish in July
or August with worm than with fly, for these are
the months when the flies are passing off; but

Mr Stewart's Dictum. 167

employ each lure in its own appropriate season, and
there is no question that the May-fly is " the most
certain and deadly of all fishing."

No doubt trout were more plentiful in most of
our streams when Mr Stewart affirmed that "he
was not worthy of the name of angler who could
not, in any day of the month of July, when the
water was clear, kill from 15 lb. to 20 lb. weight
of trout in any county in the south of Scot-
land ; " but had such a test of skill been applied to
members of the angling community, even in his
days, whatever other good points may have dis-
tinguished the true disciples of old Izaak, I fear
me that the one outstanding characteristic of the
brotherhood must have been its selectness. After
writing off a fair amount for deterioration of
streams since then, as one old enough to have
fished before Stewart, and to have experience both
of the present and of the former days, I have no
hesitation in saying that his test of discipleship
would still remain much too high. For there are
days — and many of them — in July, when all the
arts of the worm -fisher, or of any other fisher,
utterly fail to obtain a tithe of that weight of fish.
This I say, not so much from any anxiety to be
still considered, in the face of such poor results,
" worthy of the name of angler," as from a convic-
tion that any aspirant to angling fame, who starts

1 68 Worm-Fishing.

with the expectation of reaching this high stand-
ard of excellence, will assuredly be doomed to dis-
appointment. But whatever may be said for the
deadly character of the worm-lure, all are agreed
that worm-fishing cannot furnish occasion for the
display of the angler's highest art. This is afforded
by artificial-fly fishing alone. No angler " worthy
of the name," who has once mastered its nice-
ties in detail, and attained to such a degree of
perfection in the art as to feel its charm, would,
even with the seductive prospect of a big basket
before him, ever think of resorting to the worm,
except in such conditions and at such seasons as
would scarcely admit of the use of the fly. What
these conditions and seasons are, it will now be
my aim to show.

The worm may be used with success in flooded
waters from March to October, or for that matter,
indeed, all the year round. In such waters the
amount of skill required to do well is very consid-
erable, and the "takes" of experts are oftentimes
large; and if the experienced worm-fisher has come
out mainly for a big basket, it is in a flooded water
that he is most likely to get it: but if he desire
the best opportunity for the test of his powers, let
him choose a " small " clear water in the hot bright
days of June and July. Then he must, as in fly-
fishing in clear water, cast up-stream with some

The Rod and Line described. 1 69

dexterity and precision, and exercise that nicety in
handling his rod which fine tackle and observant
trout demand. To a skilful worm-fisher, the results,
though not so invariably good as Stewart affirms,
will yet be sometimes excellent, and often suffi-
ciently encouraging to lead him to regard the worm
as the best lure in clear water when fly-fishing is
at its worst.

In fishing with this, as with any other kind of
bait, a reel-rod is essential. It should be both light
and stiff; and the length need not be more than
13 feet. The double-handed 14 to 16 feet rod
recommended by Stewart, and perhaps well suited
to a man of his six-feet-two proportions, will — un-
less made of very light material, such as bamboo or
white pine — in the hands of the average angler of
ordinary stature, prove a most fatiguing and un-
wieldy implement, interfering at once with facility
in casting and promptness in striking. As I have
already urged in all kinds of up-stream fishing, the
gut-line, for a yard or two next the hooks, should
be of the finest. Indeed some anglers, when fishing
in either a clear or a flooded water, use a line
entirely composed of gut ; and to obviate the objec-
tion that such a line might be nearly as invisible
to the fisher as it is intended to be to the fish, they
affix to it a small piece of red cloth, a few inches
from the point of the rod, as a guide to the position

170 Worm-Fishing.

of the line and an index of its movements. The
tackle I use for a small water consists of three
No. 2 hooks, tied on a fine hair of gut, in the same
manner as in No. 1 minnow-tackle. In very low
water some prefer No. 1 hooks with correspond-
ingly smaller worms. Enter the upper hook
through the worm near the head, the second
through the middle, and the third a little above
the tail. This must be done with as little injury
to the creature as possible, and in such a way that
it may hang loosely between the hooks, and be
free to assume a position sufficiently natural to
render it an object of interest and desire to the
trout. Generally speaking, no sinkers are necessary
in up-stream fishing ; for the water being " small,"
the trout have no difficulty in seeing the bait, and
seizing it too, if so disposed. Sinkers, in most
cases, so far from keeping the bait waiting the
leisure of the trout, merely impede the desirable
motion which renders it attractive ; and should
they get fixed below stones, they may stop progress
altogether. Those who consider sinkers indispen-
sable in all waters, plead that thereby the worm
will most surely reach or approach the bottom ; but
in a " small " water the bait is already sufficiently
weighted with the hooks to secure that end, and
anything additional will lead to delay, if not to
disaster. In deep reaches of the river, however,

Method of Casting. 1 7 1

where there is a heavy run, sinkers may be required
even in such conditions of water.

Fishing up-stream with the worm possesses all
the advantages of fishing up with the artificial fly,
and these need not be again detailed here. The
method of casting, however, is not the same in both.
The angler must not send out his line behind him
in the wide curve recommended in fly-fishing with
the loop-line ; neither must he urge his line forward
in the same manner and with the same velocity as
in casting with his fly ; but bringing the bait to
within a short distance of the spot where he is
standing, let him endeavour to give the line more
of a gentle swing than a decided cast, lowering the
point of his rod at the moment of imparting to it
the forward impetus, and continuing to lower it
until the worm is in the water. The bait will thus
be sent out to the full length of the line, and will
alight with gentleness and in good condition. Any
violent or jerking motion in casting should be
avoided as certain to destroy the worm and alarm
the trout. Practice only will enable the novice to
surmount what may appear to him the insuperable
difficulty of casting neatly and accurately without
damage to the bait ; but he will be guided in his
efforts more by watching for a few moments an
expert worm-fisher at work than by perusing pages
of elaborate description. When the angler has

1 7 2 Worm -Fishing.

reason to believe that his worm has reached the
bottom, the point of the rod must be raised gently
and gradually as the bait is carried down-stream.
The length of line he should have in the water
will depend on circumstances, but, in general, more
danger is to be apprehended from a long line than
from a short one. In a rapid current there should
be just as much as will allow the worm to reach
the bottom, for a greater length of line exposed to
the action of such a stream would result in bring-
ing the bait at once to the surface. If to fish an
eddy the angler requires to cast across a stream, he
must keep his line out of the rapid run, and allow
the worm to be acted on only by the quieter water
in which it is cast. There is less risk in permitting
more of the line to touch the water when fishing an
open gentle stream, as a short line is more likely
to withdraw the bait from the natural action of the
current. In wind it is imperative to have some
length of line in the stream, and the reason is
obvious. In determining, therefore, the amount to
be immersed at any time, the angler must be guided
by the nature of the current in which the cast is to
be made; and the considerations that will weigh
with him in every case are — that the worm should
trundle along the bottom, that it should maintain
the motion imparted to it by the stream only, and
be neither accelerated nor retarded by any action

Striking. 173

of the line. He will do much to secure these ends
if he remember the rule given in fly-fishing up-
stream, and never allow his lure to get below him.
Ere it has reached a point opposite to him, and
in the absence of any response from the trout, he
should take another step up-stream and cast again.

When using this tackle — commonly called " Stew-
art's tackle," but employed long before his time —
it is best to strike the moment you have cause to
think the fish has taken the bait. You are gener-
ally advised of this important fact by the stoppage
of the line. This is the first indication, but not
the only one. It is unwise, however, to wait for
the further proof of the trout's presence which
is afforded by the tremulous motion of the line.
Though this is certainly a surer indication of an
attack upon the bait than the mere interruption of
the line (which may be caused by an obstruction
at the bottom), still, the angler who hesitates to
strike in the hope of thereby making " assurance
doubly sure," will almost to a certainty lose his
fish. His eye must detect the bite before his hand
does so, for his chances of success with this tackle
lie altogether in the keenness of his perception and
his readiness for action. In using the single-hook
tackle, on the other hand, it is hardly ever safe to
strike at once. Indeed it is difficult to say when
to strike. The chances of catching the trout being

1 74 Worm- Fishing.

in this case limited to one hook, which, moreover,
only part of the bait conceals, while a large portion
remains innocent of steel, there would seem to be
the same uncertainty of knowing when to strike, as
of knowing what part of the bait has been seized.
If feeding greedily, the trout may bolt the whole of
it; if shy, he may simply seize and nibble either
end. In the former case, prompt striking will be
most deadly ; in the latter, though a quick stroke
might prove a lucky one, it were better to give him
a second or two to manifest his intentions. But
sometimes he carries the worm bodily off to his
retreat, and then the line runs rapidly out. The
moment this is observed is the moment to strike,
and generally you will not fail to astonish him.
Whether the angler strike quickly with the Stewart
tackle, or less smartly with the single, he must
in any case be careful to strike down-stream, and
never up.

In wading up the water, select for bait-fishing
all spots where trout are most likely to lie — such
as the margin of a swift stream, the eddies behind
rough stones or rocks, streams in communication
with pools, the recesses underneath the banks, and
all broken streamy water of moderate depth. As
it is of the first importance that the learner should
know where to fish as well as how, let him from
the beginning carefully observe the nature and

When good Sport may be had. 175

condition of the water in all places where he hooks
a fish. He will thus gain a practical — the only
useful — knowledge of their habitats, which will
save him both much time and needless trouble in
his future efforts: for an experienced angler can
tell to a certainty where he ought to catch a fish.

During June and July the worm takes very well
in the early hours of the morning, if the weather
be fine, and trout will then be found in shallow
streams and gentle runs. If the morning is cold,
they do not take freely ; and in this respect worm-
fishing resembles May-fly fishing, as neither usually
succeeds well until the sun comes out. From that
time on to one or three o'clock in the afternoon,
good sport may be had in both. Where worm has
done well in the early part of the day, there is
frequently a lull during the later hours. In June
I have often caught heavy baskets with the worm
before eight o'clock in the morning when the
weather was mild and warm, and it was no unusual
occurrence for the " take " to go off after that hour
for the rest of the day. Trout often take during a
moonlight night in June, if the weather be fine and
warm ; and the angler who is enthusiastic enough
to continue the sport then, will meet with them in
the thin water at the edges of gentle currents on
the channel side. After July the worm does not
do so well unless in flooded waters, or in burns

1 76 Worm- Fishing.

where the fish, being but poorly fed, are always on
the outlook for something to eat, and so fall an easy
prey at almost any time of the year.

In flooded waters fine gut is still desirable, although
certainly not so necessary as in clear water. The
line should be weighted to some extent, but only
so much as will keep the bait on the bottom, and
permit it to move slowly with the current. This
is the main point to be attended to in worm-fishing
down- stream during floods. The line must be
loaded less or more in proportion to the strength
of the current ; and the angler has often to increase
or diminish the number of sinkers on his line while
fishing even a very short reach of water. The
sinkers employed are No. 2 and No. 3 split shot.
They are placed on the line about 8 or 9 inches
from the bait, and if more than one be necessary,
they should be set close together, so as to lessen
the risk of any interruption to the line through
their becoming fixed on obstructions at the bottom.
A good way of getting the wrorm to move more
smoothly on the bottom, with less chance of entang-
ling among stones, is to fix the leads on a bobber of
gut, about 2\ inches long, attached to the line at
the first knot above the worm, or about 8 or more
inches from the hooks. A knot may be put on the
bobber to prevent the leads slipping off. This
arrangement is more suitable for Stewart tackle.

Angling in Flooded Waters. 177

Many anglers prefer to use a single hook when
worin-fishiDg in flooded water. The size varies
from No. 8 to No. 10, and the mode of baiting is
simple enough. Entering the hook a little below
the head, thread the worm on the shank till
the point of the hook approaches the tail; and in
order to accomplish this more expeditiously, wet
the finger and thumb slightly, and take a little
sand between them before commencing operations.
Though this single and common hook undoubtedly
gets many good baskets in a full water, I always
prefer the Stewart tackle, made up of No. 2 or
No. 3 hooks, according to the size and condition of
the stream. Slightly larger worms are used with
the larger hooks. With this tackle the worm is
kept longer alive, it is allowed to assume a more
natural appearance and position, and when fish
are biting shy, there is more likelihood of hooking
them. Some anglers fish with two sets of Stewart
tackle, the second at a distance of from 2 to 2 J feet
above the lead. In a heavy water this arrange-
ment is sometimes very effective.

It is not necessary to fish up when the water is
flooded : its turbid condition is quite sufficient to
screen the angler from view. Nor must he ex-
pect to find fish where he found them when the
water was clear. When a river comes down in
flood, the trout leave the main current and betake

M

178 Worm- Fishing.

themselves to the shallows and eddies for shelter,
where they await whatever food the stream brings
down to them. Even large trout do so ; and during
a flood I have frequently got big fish at the shallow
sides of streams, in water not more than a few
inches in depth. Large trout seldom quit the deep
pools for such places at any other time, unless,
indeed, during the night. In flooded water, then,
the places most likely to yield sport are the ebb
portion of the deep pools where there is an easy
run, and at the edges of the streams and eddies.
As the number of such spots in a flooded water is
limited, the angler should make the most of a lucky
place when he finds one.

In such a condition of water it is best to use a
short line. Though the size of the stream and the
nature of the particular reach of it where the cast
is to be made, ought in some measure to regulate
the length of the line, it will be found that, in most
cases, a line of 2 yards, or one little more than
half the length of the rod, will amply suffice for all
the angler's need; for it is not necessary to cast
far off, seeing that the fish are lying near. The
channel side is the proper one to fish from, espe-
cially if there is a deep run. Should the water
on this side be very shallow, it will be necessary
to cast more towards the bank. As examples of
what are meant by deep channel runs — the choicest

Angling in Flooded Waters, 179

portions of water to fish during a flood — I may
instance the channel at the wire bridge below
Peebles, and Neidpath Castle Pool, on the Tweed ;
and on the Clyde, Thankerton Bridge Pool above
the bridge, the Heather Brae Pool, and the Rock
Pool above Thankerton. Such places are always
of most account when the water is clayey and red.

As the water falls and begins to get black, fewer
pellets and smaller worms must be employed, and
casts must now be made more into the runs where
there is a good flow of water than into the shallows.
Should the day be dull, with the water in this
condition, it may be better to change to the min-
now; but if there be bright sunshine, it is advis-
able to keep to the worm or to try the fly. Trout
take the worm in flooded waters in all states of
the weather — not even excepting a thunderstorm
— and at all times of the day ; but in a " small "
clear water, although they may take when the day
is coarse and blustering, we have seen that the
most favourable conditions are heat and bright
sunshine, and the most favourable time the earlier
part of the day.

In small or partial floods, sufficient only to
render the water muddy, worm-fishing is never
very successful, as the worms are washed into the
stream only during full floods, when trout are on
the outlook for them. It is when the fish are

1 80 Worm-Fishing.

expecting a supply of their natural food that good
baskets are got with this or with any lure. Trout
seldom take worm until they have been satiated
with surface-food ; and hence worm-fishing is best
during June and July, when the flies, having served
their end, are passing off. Should there be a long
period of dry weather during these months, the
trout are ready to welcome with eagerness the
ground-bait which the first flood brings down to
them. A succession of floods, on the other hand,
is unfavourable to sport, as the fish, now gorged
with worms and grub, can afford to play the
epicure.

Trout take for a short time at the beginning of
a flood j but after the water has risen considerably,
and while it continues rising, there is generally a
complete cessation of sport. If the flood be a full
one, and the river run thick and muddy, the fish
seek the eddies and shallows near the sides, and
the angler will meet with little success until the
water has to some extent subsided. Should he live
at some distance from the stream, he would do well,
if he be a worm-fisher, to start as soon as possible
after the rain has ceased, so as to reach the river-
side ere the favourable opportunity has passed ; for
in these days of hill-drainage and improved farming,
a few hours may suffice to reduce a swollen and
highly flooded stream to the condition which the

Worm-Bait. 181

worm-fisher loves. If the flood occur during the
season of artificial-fly fishing, the angler need not
be in such haste to reach the scene of operations,
for the successful use of the fly requires that the
turbid water shall in large measure have passed
off, and the brown colour given place to the black.

An important factor in the worm-fisher's calcula-
tions of success is his supply of well-scoured worms.
Though, in a flooded water, trout will frequently
take a large and freshly dug worm, being then
attracted by its powerful odour rather than by its
portly appearance, yet in ordinary circumstances a
small reddish worm, when properly prepared, will
prove the most alluring. The small blue-headed
worm, and what is called the common marsh-
worm, I prefer to all others. If kept for a
few days in moss, which has been previously
washed and left slightly damp, they assume a
fine pinkish colour which seems to. possess great
charms in the eyes of the trout. For their further
cleansing, I usually wash the worms before placing
them in the moss; and should they be kept for
more than a week, the moss requires to be re-
newed from time to time. The brandling, so much
lauded by many anglers, I have little esteem
for. It is extremely soft, is difficult to bait, and
even when baited, is useless after one or two
casts. The worms should be of the same kind,

1 82 Worm-Fishin

&

and equally well scoured, whether for fishing in
clear or in flooded waters — the only difference being
that they should be smaller for a clear water and
larger for a discoloured one. They are most con-
venient for use at the water-side, when carried in
a flannel bag. The angler should never start on
a day's bait-fishing without seeing that his worms
are perfect in condition and abundant in quantity.
Better carry too many than too few. Next to
having none at all when the water is suitable, there
is nothing so tantalising to the expectant angler
as to possess an insufficient or a badly prepared
supply. It will not only prove a source of much
worry and discontent every time a fresh bait is
required — and that may be pretty often — but it
will likewise destroy every chance of a heavy
basket, even should the trout be in a "taking"
mood.

Bums often furnish abundant sport to the worm-
fisher when they are clear, but more often when
they are flooded. The amount of skill required to
fish them with effect is even less than would be
deemed sufficient for successful worm-fishing in a
flooded river. In most cases the angler has simply
to keep himself well out of sight, drop his bait
gently in, and leave the trout to complete the
business : and generally said trout won't be long
about it ; for his straitened circumstances necessi-

A ngling in Burns. 1 8 3

tating a scanty board, he is almost always in a
chronic state of hunger, and consequently not
inclined to be too fastidious in his tastes. The
larger burns, that run over a stony channel, and
have more open banks, may require a little more
caution, especially if the water be low and clear;
but even in their case the " keen demands of appe-
tite " in the trout will be found to go far towards
meeting any lack of skill in the angler. Besides,
trout in burns are more unsophisticated than their
brethren of the rivers ; their comparative immunity
from disturbance renders them less wary, and so
they fall an easier prey.

Several of the lures that obtain in rivers will
generally be found effective in burns, and their
efficiency is most marked after a flood. The arti-
ficial fly is then often very successful ; but the
favourite baits are worm and caddis. In well-
stocked burns a capital basket can almost invari-
ably be obtained with either, and this, too, when
the angler would often fail in the larger streams.

As in rivers, so in burns, the best time for sport
is during the months of June and July, when the
water is clear and the weather warm and bright.
At this season, let the angler start at daybreak and
fish the burn up. And though, possibly more from
lack of imagination than of piscatorial power, his
tale of trout may not equal that of the Shepherd in

1 84 Worm- Fishing.

the ' Noctes/ who " ane day, in the Megget, caucht
a cartf u', which, as it gaed doun the road, the kintra
folk thocht was a cartfu' o' herrins, being a' pre-
ceesely 0' ae size to an uuce," — still he may capture
sufficient to satisfy his ambition, and more than fill
his creel. He will find that the earlier hours of
the day are the best ; the " takes " are fewer after
one or two o'clock in the afternoon ; but it is no
uncommon occurrence for twelve or eighteen dozen
to be picked up before that time in a well-stocked
burn. A day's "take" of burn-trout looks better
when stated in dozens than in pounds. They are
more numerous than large ; and as they generally
pay promptly for what they get, and are rarely
credited with a worm, the angler must be content
to conduct this branch of his " silent business " on
the admirable principle of " small profits and quick
returns."

If the water be clear, the angler must of course
fish up. Using an ordinary trout-rod and a short
fine line, a small Stewart tackle, and a tiny lively
worm, let him drop his bait gently into the pools
or into the streams, behind stones and below banks,
in ripples and in eddies, remembering that wher-
ever there is sufficient — and sometimes even where
there is scarcely sufficient — water to cover a fish,
the chances are that he may raise one. But he
must keep well out of sight, and take care lest

Angling in Burns. 185

his own shadow or that of his rod fall athwart
the stream. Much caution and some creeping may
be necessary, and not unfrequently indeed, in this
as in other matters of finesse, he must "stoop to
conquer." If any sinker be used at all in such
waters, a No. 3 shot will be found quite heavy
enough. With caddis-bait, sinkers are unnecessary.
In floods, burns, like rivers, are best fished down-
stream, the angler adapting the quantity of lead to
the strength of the current.

The trout of what are properly called hill-hums
are the most easily caught, and the most worthless
when caught. They are small and wofully ill-fed ;
black they are too, without the extenuating quali-
fication of comeliness. In most cases such burns
are mere drains through the peat-moss, and yet they
often contain large numbers of greedy trout, lurk-
ing under the bank or half-stranded in holes in
the heather. Their well-known and unattractive
characteristics are enormously developed heads and
jaws, long attenuated bodies, and alarmingly raven-
ous dispositions. Really I should not advise any
angler to waste his time or shock his sensibilities
by hauling out such miserable caricatures of the
genus Salmo.

My remarks on burn-fishing apply to the larger
and more open burns that drain a wide area of
rich pasture or meadow land. The trout in them

1 86 Worm-Fishing,

&

may be small, but they are generally in much
better condition, and present a more inviting
appearance, than those of the hill-drains. They
have bright yellow sides and crimson - spotted
backs, while their flesh is sometimes more delicate
than that of larger river- trout. All burns are not
alike plentifully stocked with trout, any more than
all rivers are. In accounting for this, regard must
be had to a variety of circumstances, such as the
character of the district through which they run,
and the mode in which it is drained ; the nature of
their channels as affording food-supplies, shelter,
and spawning-ground; and last, though not least,
the extent to which they are fished. The extensive
system of land-drainage now in operation has very
materially affected the number of trout, not only in
our burns but also in our larger rivers. Burns are
important spawning-grounds of the fish, and there-
fore may in every sense be called feeders of the
streams. Whatever, then, acts injuriously on the
young of trout in burns, must tend to their diminu-
tion in the rivers. The drains carry the rain too
hastily from the hills — a very short time indeed
suffices to run it all off. The burns rise both
higher and more quickly than formerly during
floods, and fall more speedily and to a much
lower level during a long period of drought. The
result in both cases may be equally disastrous : in

A ngling in Burns. 1 87

the former, the spawning-beds are frequently torn
up, and the ova washed away by the swollen
waters ; in the latter, they are often left high and
dry, and exposed to almost certain destruction ere
the waters cover them again.

Though burn-fishing does not demand so much
scientific skill as river-fishing, it calls for a more
vigorous exercise of the physical powers. This
exercise is of the most beneficial and exhilarating
kind. Well-stocked burns are not to be found at
every railway station. Were this so, one might
safely predict that they would not long be well
stocked. While the angler has therefore generally
some miles to cover before he can reach the scene
of his sport, he must also traverse a greater dis-
tance, and expend more effort while engaged in
it, than if he plied his craft by casting his flies
over the parent stream. But even with this
prospect of unwonted exertion before him, the
angler is to be congratulated, if not envied, who
finds himself at the foot of the Megget or other
well-stored burn, at early dawn of a June morning,
just as the mists are passing off the mountain-tops,
and Nature wakes to greet the sun. He has come,
let us hope, to cool his fevered brow, to " dodge
dull care," and throw off, for one day at least, its
galling yoke, to reinvigorate his limbs, and revive
his jaded spirit. Not a soul is near him, but the

1 88 Worm- Fishing.

everlasting hills are around him, and eloquent in
their silence they tell of patience, endurance, and
strength. Yet are they " lovely in their strength,"
for on this glad morning have they thrown around
their native ruggedness the brightest robe of summer
green. Far above dull earth and its clouded day,
they rear their summits in the sunlight, and hope
is there, and calm. Down the peaceful valley,
from rock to rock, skips in its mad delight the
prattling child of the mountain, laughing to the
day, and hasting to be free. From out its dewy
bed the lark upsprings, and soars aloft to pay its
orisons at the very gate of heaven. What heart is
there but would beat in full accord with Nature's
own life-pulse, partake her calm and joy, and inhale
the spirit of her freedom ? Up the glen the angler
blithely strides, with a glistening trophy from every
pool, and fresh heart from every trophy. And if
he be not dull of sense or soul, he may bear thence
other treasures richer far, — treasures revealed in
contemplation of the wondrous world of life that
teems in water and in air, of storied records in
splintered rock or ice -worn boulder, of beauty's
forms in mountain-daisy or in blue harebell, whose
modest graces cannot hide the touch of " an un-
rivalled pencil." Yes,

" The poetry of earth is never dead,"

but to the lover of Nature is ever an inspiration

A ngling in Burns. 1 89

and a joy. Now lie tracks the burnie to the up-
land solitudes — its cradle in the mountain's lap,
where, though its sweet infant babbling awakes no
murmured response save the distant bleating of the
fold or the whistle of the wild curlew, its bright
and yet unsullied face is kissed into rippling smiles
by the gentle breath of heaven. There, far above
the sordid atmosphere of mart or shop,

"the fretful stir
Unprofitable, and the fever of the world,"

the scorn of selfish men and the mockery of friend-
ship insincere, his spirit is soothed and chastened
in presence of that calm beauty and restful peace
that link earth with the sky. His thoughts are
won from cares below and rise to loftier heights
with wider range, for now his soul has caught the
glow of heaven, and his heart beats high with fuller
life. And when the shadows are lengthening in
the vale below, exulting in the consciousness of
renovated strength, he turns his steps towards home,
" owing no man hate, envying no man's happiness " ;
and even if fortune have denied him a heavy
basket, she has at least granted him serenity un-
clouded, a mind ennobled, and a frame invigorated.
In thankfulness and hope and high resolve he re-
turns to dreary daily toil, physically, intellectually,
and morally, a stronger and better man.

i go

CHAPTER VIII.

MINNOW-FISHING.

"First Fisherman.— Master, I marvel how the fishes live in the
sea.

" Second Fislierman. — Why, as men do a-land ; the great ones eat
up the little ones."

— Pericles.

rpHOUGH " from the finny subject of the sea
-*- these fishers tell the infirmities of men," the
observant angler, were he disposed so to moralise,
would find enough to give point to his satire in the
characteristic rapacity of the lords of the streams.
Pigmies as they are in comparison with the tyrants
of the brine, many of them, in their own way,
domineer, if not to the content of their hearts, at
least to the extent of their stomachs, over the
smaller fry not only of their own class but even
of their own species, and do not scruple, when
tempting subject and fitting opportunity offer, to
appropriate the persons of others to fatten their
own. The trout is not the least voracious of such

The Minnow as a Lure. 191

in this respect, nor is the voracity a peculiar
endowment of the " great ones " only : it is an
attribute of the entire species. The possession of
a capacity for receiving gives title sufficient to any
usurper, however diminutive, to constitute itself
the recipient. Might is right in all cases here,
and the only principle that seems to obtain any
recognition in the carrying out of "the good old
rule, the simple plan," is the selection of the fittest.
It is not my province to inveigh against that sad
proclivity which prompts one fish to show such
distinguishing — or extinguishing — marks of its
regard for another, but rather to point out how the
angler may so take advantage of the ravenous
instinct as to endanger its possessor and lure it
to destruction. Besides swallowing the younger
members of its own species, the trout indulges its
rapacious propensities at the expense of other
representatives of the finny tribe, such as the parr,
the loach, and the stickle-back ; but the only victim
with which our angler need concern himself at
present, as with a legitimate and attractive lure,
is the minnow.

Though, as an art, minnow-fishing may not de-
mand that dexterity and nicety in casting, nor that
consummate delicacy in handling the rod, which
we are prepared to grant to successful fishing with
the artificial fly, there can be no question that it

1 92 Minnow-Fishing.

calls for the constant exercise of close observation,
of cool judgment, of decided action, and of no small
degree of manipulative skill; while, as a sport, it
exerts that enlivening and captivating influence
over its votaries which constitutes one great charm
of all good and true fishing, evoking in its pursuit
feelings now of earnestness and enthusiasm, now of
uncertainty and fear, now of hope and exultation.
And when I add that the trout captured with
this lure are generally the best which the stream
contains — not even excepting those taken with the
May-fly — I think I have said enough to convince
the novice that minnow-fishing, in the hands of
an adept, must prove an exhilarating pastime, a
scientific sport, and an " art worth his learning."

But we must first catch the minnows, if ever we
are to catch the trout in the act of devouring them ;
and happily this is, in general, not very difficult to
do. In flooded waters they will be found in the
easy shallow eddies near the banks, at the mouths
of burns or the outlets of field-drains, at the shallow
edges of pools, and amongst grass or aquatic plants
at the river -side. In low clear water they are
not confined to these retreats ; they venture farther
into the open stream, and may be taken almost
anywhere. Many methods of capture have been
suggested, and sometimes one may answer, and
sometimes another. Minnow-traps, of a convenient

Minnow- Bait 193

size to fit the pocket, may now be obtained at the
tackle-maker's, and are usually effective enough.
They are especially useful when the water is clear ;
but a small hand-net, made to screw into the butt
of the rod, is a ready means of capturing a supply,
if worked at the eddies and among the weeds at
the banks of flooded streams. When both these
contrivances fail, the hook and line must be resorted
to. On a fine gut place two No. 4 hooks, 12 inches
apart, bait with small pieces of worm, and cast into
the little bays and sheltered places near the margin
of the river. Only the small or medium -sized
minnows of a bright silvery hue on the under side
should be selected ; the greenish-coloured or the
spawning are useless.

However expeditious the angler may be in secur-
ing his bait, the process occupies time — and often
the best time of the day. Let him, then, whenever
he has a chance at the beginning of the season, or
at other times, lay in a stock of them at home for
future use. They are easily kept, out of doors or
within, in any roomy vessel ; and if the water be
changed occasionally, and always kept cool, they
will continue in good condition for months. When
this arrangement is inconvenient, they may be pre-
served for some time by placing them when alive
in spirits of wine. When kept in this way, how-
ever, they assume a yellowish colour, which deprives

N

194 Minnow-Fishing.

them considerably of the attractive appearance on
which so much of their effectiveness depends. Nor
do they look much better when salted. They are
then both dull in hue and easily destroyed in
baiting. I never use a salted minnow when it is
possible to get a fresh one ; still, as there is some-
times a difficulty in finding minnows when the
rivers are much flooded, salted specimens at such
a time are not to be despised, as their frequent
success fully proves. They will be all the better
if they have not been kept more than four or five
days. Live minnows are most conveniently carried
to the river in a small pickle-bottle, fully half-filled
with water, and well corked. By changing the
water at intervals, whenever they show signs of
becoming languid, they may be kept alive during
the whole day. From two to three dozen of them
would be necessary for a successful raid upon their
natural enemies.

For fishing with the minnow a stiffish double-
handed rod about 14 feet long will be found the
most suitable. On this point Mr Blaine, in ' The
Encyclopaedia of Rural Sports/ says : " The minnow-
spinning rod requires length and strength, com-
bined with lightness, which requisites appear best
obtained by having it made of cane, except the last
joint. It must be neither too flexible nor too stub-
born, as either extreme will impair its utility : if

Minnow- Tackle. 1 9 5

too stiff, the hook or the hold will be endangered
when striking ; if too pliant, it will yield to the
resistance of the water too much to allow a ready
stroke to be made when a bite occurs, and the fish
will escape ere the effect of the stroke reaches
him." The length of line must be in proportion to
the size of the stream ; but for ordinary purposes the
entire length, including the cast of gut, need not
exceed a half more than the rod. The gut itself
should measure two yards or more, and for clear
water it is absolutely necessary that it should be
of the finest quality. On this cast two swivels are
fixed ; one of small size at the end of the second
strand of gut from the hooks, and another slightly
larger near the point of its connection with the hair-
line. The purpose of the swivels is not so much to
assist the spinning of the bait — which would spin
without them — as to prevent the spinning from
twisting the line. And here I should recommend
the use of the spring swivel, as by it nothing is
easier than to effect, when desirable, a change of
tackle from spinning-minnow to any other kind of
minnow or to worm, or to substitute one size of
hook for another.

The varieties of tackle given by authorities and
used by anglers are almost endless. Some, fur-
nished with as many as eleven hooks, literally
bristle with steel, and seem to challenge an attack

1 96 Minnow-Fishing.

rather than to court one, presenting so many points
of death to the fish, that even if it were willing to
die, it might let slip many a glorious opportunity
of so doing, ere it could finally decide in favour of
any. Without entering into the merits or demerits
of the tackle employed by others, I give a repre-
sentation of the various kinds which I consider the
best; and probably most anglers will be inclined
to think that the appearance they present, when
thus undraped, is sufficiently alarming. Neverthe-
less they are devised to suit all waters and condi-
tions of water, all times during day or night and
all seasons ; and my experience of their virtues en-
ables me to predict that they will be found equally
adapted to all the varying moods and appetites of
fish inclined to prey on their little neighbours.
The principle is the same in all, and has its
simplest illustration in Nos. 1 and 2. These differ
merely in the size of the hook to suit the different
sizes of bait which different conditions of water
demand. The other numbers, 3 to 6, are modifica-
tions of the first two, in so far as they are furnished
with small drag - hooks in strategic positions on
flank or in rear, where they are most likely to give
efficient support to the main ones, on which alone
in every case the minnow is baited.

In fishing up-stream, with the water clear and
the sun bright, I use No. 1 tackle, composed of

PL. II.

Minnow Tackles

page 196.

Minnow- Tackle. 1 97

"No. 8 hooks, baited with a very small minnow.
If in making up this flight the second hook be
placed a very little nearer to the head hook than
to the tail one, the minnow will spin better than
if it be placed exactly in the centre. The hooks
should not be cut short in the shank, as some an-
glers recommend, because a good length of steel
in each gives rigidity to the whole tackle, and
takes and keeps a secure hold of every fish that
bites. Enter the lowest hook about the root of
the dorsal fin, and
bring it out a lit-
tle above the tail.
The exact point, however, at which to fix this hook
will depend on the size of the minnow. The upper
hook is put through both eyes, and the middle one
through the back in an opposite direction. In all
the kinds of tackle I give, the minnow is baited in
precisely the same way, and the barbs of the hooks
are allowed to protrude freely.

I am opposed to the almost universal style of
running the minnow like a worm upon one of the
hooks, and imparting to it a curve at the tail, as
if it were itself a fish-hook. This arrangement is
said, by those who adopt it, to make the minnow
spin. No doubt it does, but it does more. It not
only distorts the natural appearance of the bait, but
causes it to revolve in the water with all the energy

198 Minnow-Fishing.

of a mill-wheel. The angler should see, then, that
the hooks are inserted in such a manner as to leave
fhe minnow as straight as he found it, and one
condition of a good "bait will be secured. The spin-
ning is sufficiently provided for in the position of
the middle hook, which, if placed through the min-
now as directed, is well fitted to give it all the
motion which is desirable. It will also be noticed
that the upper hook is not passed through the lips,
as is invariably advised, but through the eyes.
The reason is, that as in my tackle this hook does
not regulate the spinning, I am free to place it
where it will interfere least with the preservation
of the minnow, and be just as effective in the
destruction of the trout. For this No. 1 tackle, the
minnow should not exceed one inch and a half in
length. A tackle, tied to suit a large minnow, may
be accommodated to a smaller one by giving the gut
a turn over the middle and upper hooks before
inserting the latter.

For a large-flooded water, flight No. 2 is of the
same simple description, but is made up of No.
10 hooks instead of No. 8, in order to carry a some-
what larger bait. In either of its two forms, this
triple -hook tackle spins much better than any
other ; and were trout always taking well, I should
not desire any change. But unfortunately trout
are capricious in their tastes as well as voracious

Minnow- Tackle. 1 99

in their feeding ; and if we cannot attract them at
times with a daintier bait, we must endeavour to
meet, so far as we can, any disposition on their
part to toy with the good things already provided
for them. Hence the necessity for the other tackle.
In fishing a low clear water up-stream, with the
trout biting shyly and holding feebly, try flight
No. 3 (hooks Nos. 8 and 3), and use small minnows
to correspond. In a full black water, where the
trout are equally coy, I recommend tackle No. 5
or 6, dressed with hooks Nos. 4 and 10, and
baited with a larger minnow. No. 4, composed of
hooks Nos. 10 and 6, is also very serviceable in
flooded waters, and should carry a good-sized min-
now. It, and Nos. 5 and 6, are well adapted for
night as well as for day fishing. In all these
varieties the smaller hooks act as drag or flying
hooks, to secure, if possible, in some way or other
those fish which bite shyly and short, and evince
an inclination simply for a little flirtation with the
gamesome lure — a state of affairs defined, by those
who know, as " attention without intention." But
the result — in low life as in high — often turns out
more serious than was contemplated, for coquetry
may end in capture. The mode of action of these
flying-hooks is not always uniform. Usually they
get hold of some part of the fish's head — the seat of
giddiness ; sometimes they catch him in the ordi-

200 Minnow-Fishing.

&

nary way, in the act of biting ; while occasionally
they play the part of grappling-irons, and seize him
without much discrimination as to the precise
locality. So much for the operation of the drag-
hooks on shy or playful fish.

When, however, trout go boldly at the bait, how
is the capture usually effected ? At what point do
they make the attack? Mr Stewart states that
they generally seize the minnow by the tail, and he
does not stand alone in this view. Captain Wil-
liamson, in a passage quoted by * Ephemera," 1 says
— "All fish, in seizing a spinning-bait, direct their
attacks towards its tail, viewing it as an object of
pursuit ; " and then, with strange inconsistency, he
adds — " Many a very large trout has, however, been
taken merely by the lip-hook." " Ephemera's " own
position is that u fish generally seize their prey by
the middle," 2 and that it is only when they run
short at the spinning-bait that they are caught by
the fly-hook at the tail. This seems nearer the
truth. At all events, through the day, trout almost
invariably seize the minnow by the head or shoul-
der. All my experience goes to prove this, for in
any day's fishing with this lure I have caught
nearly all my trout with the uppermost hook ; and
I have no reason to believe that mine is an excep-

1 Handbook of Angling, p. 213.

2 Ibid., p. 205.

Minnow- Tackle. 20 1

tional case. In night-fishing, no doubt, it is some-
what different. Then the large trout often attack
the minnow from behind, and are caught by tail or
drag hooks.

I find myself compelled to differ from almost all
writers on angling in regard to the use of lead in
spinning for trout with the minnow. I never have
sinkers on a spinning-trace, either when fishing up-
stream or down, and this may fairly be considered
as a point in favour of the tackle which I advocate.
In Stoddart's ' Companion ' 1 we are told that " the
advantages of leading heavily consist of improved
spinning, greater likelihood of attracting the eye of
the fish, and a much better chance of hooking
them." And Stewart says that " split shot are
necessary to the minnow - fisher, and should be
placed above the first swivel : if placed below, they
interfere very much with the spinning." Now, if
placed in any position whatever on my tackle, they
will not only " interfere very much with the spin-
ning," but in a low water will effectually bring it to
a speedy termination. Why, even in the absence of
sinkers, it requires very smart and skilful movements
when fishing up-stream to prevent the minnow from
reaching the bottom and abiding there permanently.
But the tackle I recommend is adapted to make
the minnow spin, even when drawn slowly through
1 P. 109.

202 Minnow-Fishing.

the water ; and its weight, together with that of the
bait, is quite sufficient in slow spinning to sink
the minnow, and secure all those advantages of
attracting and hooking which Stoddart claims for
shotting.

In spinning a minnow, the angler can scarcely
be said to be simulating the appearances and
movements of a free and healthy fish, and yet it
is undoubted that the trout take it as readily as,
and sometimes more readily than, if it were in a
sound and natural condition. The experiment has
often been made (though I have never tried it) of
drawing the minnow-bait through a shoal of live
minnows, and watching how a big trout would
dash through the host, single out the spinner, and
make after it, to the neglect of all the others. The
unusual motions of the minnow did not deter,
much less alarm it; rather did they seem to in-
dicate a disabled condition, and suggest an easier
prey. At all events, I am inclined to think that,
in attacking and taking a baited minnow, the trout
makes its calculations under a distinct impression
that it is a weak or injured specimen of its favour-
ite game, and therefore one more likely to succumb
to its rapacity. That the spinning is not simply
a means of disguising the tackle, but a fair sim-
ulation of the action of a disabled minnow, I
have often proved when catching minnows with

Casting the Line. 203

the worm. On such occasions, a minnow which
managed to escape after receiving a wound from
the hook, would go whirling through the water
in gyrations closely resembling those produced by
the spinning-minnow.

No one should experience much difficulty in
casting the line. The action may be fairly de-
scribed as an overhand sweep, in which the bait,
starting from a point near to the angler's own
position, marks out a semicircle in its forward
movement, and, through the gradual lowering of
the point of the rod, as a check upon the impulsive
swing, falls without noise or splash at the spot
desired. The great desideratum in this, as in all
bait - fishing, is gentleness in casting, so as to
avoid injury to the bait and alarm to the fish;
and the angler will attain to this the more readily,
if in throwing the line, he can manage to keep the
minnow from getting behind him. It is true that
this is not always possible without spoiling the
cast altogether. In stormy weather, with a con-
trary wind, for instance, it may be necessary to
cast more from the shoulder in order to give the
line an impetus sufficient to send it forward ; but
in ordinary circumstances there need be no call
for the backward movement.

The minnow, like the worm, is fished both up-
stream in a clear water and down-stream in a full

204 Minnow-Fishing.

one. In a flooded river with a heavy current, the
cast, whether from bank or channel, is made some-
what down-stream, at an angle of about 60° with
the side. Where the stream runs more smoothly
and easily, the line is thrown more across than
down — say at an angle of 75°. With the minnow
in the water, the point of the rod is held only a
short distance above the surface — and the more
rapid the current the lower it must be — so as to
keep the bait at a proper depth. What depth that
may be will depend on the condition of the water,
and is less for up-stream than for down, but if
sunk 12 inches at any time it is enough. To work
the minnow it must be drawn across stream and
down in a series of movements, by which, in down-
stream fishing, it spins about 2 feet each time, until
it is brought gradually round to the side on which
the angler is stationed. Those movements are not
always uniform in their rate ; they vary with the
depth and strength of the current. But the object
aimed at is the same in all, and that is to maintain
the bait at the required distance below the surface.
In down-stream fishing, the faster and heavier the
current, the slower must the minnow be worked ;
while, on the other hand, a smooth and gentle
current demands a more rapid motion. And even
in one given cast there may be, and often is, a
difference in the rate of the movements, according

Spinning the Minnow. 205

as the minnow is spinning through an easy part of
the stream, or through one more rapid.

The cast may be considered spent when the bait
has been brought close to the side, or parallel with
the stream. The angler must be specially care-
ful not to lift it until it has gained this position,
for the last movement is sometimes the most deadly
of the whole cast. Trout most frequently make a
dash at the minnow at the second or third move-
ment ; but they occasionally follow it across to the
side, whether channel or bank, closely eyeing its
motions all the while, as though watching for a
more favourable opportunity for pouncing on their
wounded prey, and then, when it has reached
the quieter water, and seems likely to elude their
grasp, they end the chase by a determined gulp.
And if the last section of the cast be in deep water
close to the bank, the minnow will be brought
within range and reach of the large trout which
generally lurk there, like spiders watching for the
flies which chance or fate may send. If, during
the working of the cast, a fish make a rush at the
minnow, but fail to seize it, the angler must spin
steadily on, as though it had not done so, and he
may allure it again. To alter the spinning, or
interrupt the cast in mid-water, or even to with-
draw it suddenly when it has reached the side, is
to frighten off and lose many a good trout, which,

206 Minnow-Fishing.

having had the minnow in its eye, would, had
circumstances only favoured its temerity, have
made vigorous endeavours to get it also in its
mouth. When the angler has exhausted his cast,
the minnow, as we have seen, will be a good way
below him. Let him then gently bring it to the
surface and near to the spot where he is standing,
before he attempts to give the next cast, which
should, of course, be made a step or two farther on,
so as to cover a fresh portion of water.

My opinions on striking with the spinning-min-
now, as on shotting, do not coincide with those of
many anglers ; and probably the explanation in both
cases is to be found in the difference of tackle. If,
in fishing down-stream, the angler observe the trout
take his bait, he should allow it merely time to
turn before striking. But he must be sure that it
has actually taken it ; for an inexperienced fisher,
seeing a trout following his minnow, is very apt
to strike before the fish has, by seizing the bait,
fully disclosed its intentions. Eecommending, as I
do, the angler to fish without sinkers, I find this
caution all the more necessary, because, were the bait
so heavily shotted as to be always out of his sight,
the risk of striking too soon would in great measure
be removed. Why I do not shot the line to avoid
this risk is, as I have already shown, simply to
avoid another and greater. But frequently in a

Striking — A ngling in Flooded Waters. 207

flooded and discoloured water the first and only
indication of a seizure of the bait is conveyed to
the hand, and not to the eye, and then the angler
cannot strike too soon. In up-stream fishing this
is not so likely to be the case, for the condition
of water is more favourable for seeing the trout
actually make an attack upon the minnow, and a
quick stroke down-stream should be the response.
In any case, where a trout has not been observed
to take the minnow, it is safest to strike the
moment it is felt.

Down-stream fishing with the spinning-minnow,
as with the worm, may be practised for a short
time at the beginning of a flood. The trout then
leave their retreats, to which they had retired
when the waters were low, and venture out to the
sides of the pools and the tails of the streams, on
the outlook for food. It is in such places that
the angler will find them; and if he be wise, he
will make the most of his opportunities while
they last, for when the river is in full flood,
all fishing may as well be suspended. The best
time, however, for the minnow is just after a flood,
when the waters are subsiding and beginning to
pass from a clayey to a dark porter colour, and
when the day is dull, cold, and stormy. In this
climate it is not a matter of great difficulty, even
in the month of June to obtain the latter essential,

208 Minnow- Fishing,

but such a happy conspiracy of favourable condi-
tions is rare. For before the time of extensive hill-
drainage, of which I have already spoken, the
rivers continued to run in splendid "ply" for
several days together, and gave the minnow-fisher
a chance of finding some occasions when all the
conditions would be realised for enjoying himself
to the top of his bent ; but now he must consider
himself highly favoured if he obtain a few hours'
sport when the state of the water will permit, be
the weather what it may. Nevertheless, if the
heavens look so kindly on him as to send the cold
and the storm-cloud, his time of good sport may
end only with the day.

With the stream of a dark porter colour — that is,
when the muddy stage is almost over — it is best to
fish down the channel side, where the trout, under,
cover of the discoloured water, are still roaming
over the shallows. As the river continues to fall,
and becomes somewhat clearer on the ebb portions
of the pools, the angler should direct his attention
to the deeper water of both pools and streams,
where, from the depth, the darker colour is longer
maintained, and the deceptive nature of the lure
less easily detected. Whether fishing from bank or
channel, let him endeavour, if possible, to cover the
whole expanse of water within range below, so as to
bring the minnow round to his own side of the stream.

A ngling in Clear Water. 209

This lure, like others, is fished up-stream in clear
water and bright sunshine. The weather here is
an important factor, for with the water low, trout
do not " take " well on a dull day, probably for the
reason that when there is a play of sunlight on the
surface, they are not so able to discern the snares
that are laid for them below. The same necessity
for sunshine exists when fishing with the artificial
fly up a stream with a gravelly bed, as in the upper
reaches of the Clyde; but where the river has a
dark rocky channel, sunshine is not desirable.

Trouting up-stream with minnow, as with worm,
in clear water, requires more skill than fishing down.
The angler has to exercise more judgment in the
selection of his water, and a greater vigilance in
playing his lure. He must keep the minnow spin-
ning more rapidly, to prevent it from sinking too
far, and be ever on the alert to watch for, and
respond to, the attack of the fish. These results
will be attained by practice, and little need be
added to what has been already said on the sub-
jects of spinning and striking. As in spinning
up-stream, the minnow is drawn more rapidly
than in spinning down — and the faster the current,
the quicker is it drawn — at each movement of the
wrist it will spin farther, and allow of fewer such
movements in the cast, some three or four being
sufficient to exhaust it. Besides, since it is not
0

2 1 0 Minnow- Fishing.

desirable when fishing up to cover the whole of
the water within reach, more frequent casting is
necessary. In reference to striking, I have before
remarked that, as in up-stream fishing the angler
has a better chance of seeing the trout take his
minnow, he has likewise a better chance of strik-
ing at the proper time.

Commencing at the tail of a stream, let him fish
it up to its neck, casting into the rough broken
water on the deepest side. If he be on the chan-
nel side, and there be deep water on the other, he
should cast towards the bank up and across, at an
angle, varying, of course, with the width of the
stream ; but if on the bank, let him cast up close
to that side, and spin the minnow quickly down at
an angle of about 10° from the bank. The main
currents of streams will afford good sport, and even
the pools, if there is a breeze to ruffle the surface.
With a good strong wind, the angler may fish
wherever there is a sufficient depth of water to
sink the minnow ; but in its absence he cannot do
better than confine himself to the streams, which
he should fish up from tail to neck, seeking out
diligently all places to which large trout may be
expected to resort. Even in flooded waters the
minnow may be most successfully fished up-stream
from the bank side of deep pools, by casting right
up close to the margin and bringing it rapidly

Best Months for the Sport. 2 1 1

down. Indeed, I prefer fishing up to fishing down
wherever it is possible in any stream, because it is
much the more deadly method of the two ; and in
small rivers and burns, when in flood, I always
adopt it, casting up and across over all places where
fish are likely to lie.

In flooded waters the minnow may take less or
more during the whole season; but the most favour-
able time, if not also the most legitimate, is from
early spring till the end of June. In these months
it is even a more profitable lure in full water than
the worm-; but from July to the end of the fishing
season trout take it more shyly, even when the
water is apparently quite suitable. Only occasion-
ally, indeed, is a good basket got then, and that
when the water is very dark. October is the worst
month for minnow-fishing, and the sport with this
or with any lure may well be discontinued from
that time on to the 1st of March. For fishing up-
stream in a clear water, May and June are the
favourite months, though then the " takes " may not
be so large as in a falling water after a flood. Out
of the whole year, June is unquestionably the best
time for minnow-fishing, in either a black water or
a clear one.

There is another method of fishing with the nat-
ural minnow which is often found most successful
in floods. The tackle required is similar to that

212 Minnow-Fishing.

<v

i

used in trolling for pike, and consists of two hooks
(Nos. 4, 5, or 6, according to the size of the
bait) tied back to back at one end of a gut-
cast of some two yards long, fitted with a
loop at the other. This loop is passed
through a spring swivel, fastened to the
hair-line. If you have not the ordinary
baiting-needle at hand, you can make one
easily enough. Take a darning - needle,
attach it to the loop by means of a thread,
and entering the point at the mouth of the
minnow, slip it up to the tail, and run the
bait on the gut until the hooks are left pro-
truding slightly on each side of the mouth.
Eemove the needle and fix the loop on the
swivel. A small piece of steel — sharpened
to a point at one end, and notched with a
file near the other, in order to carry the
loop — makes a good baiting apparatus, and
requires no thread; but a crochet-needle,
if pointed at the plain end, is the readiest
means of any. This tackle ought to be
leaded more or less according to the strength
of the current and the depth of water ; and
the sinkers are put on the line a little
above the swivel, which is added not be-
cause we wish the minnow to spin, but

for convenience in baiting. Fish down-stream in

Other Methods. 2 1 3

the same way as with the worm; and though, as
I have said, its greatest use is during a flood, it
is sometimes very effective in a low clear water
during the cold days of early spring, and indeed
till the end of June. The dead minnow is some-
times also baited as a worm on a single hook, and
used in streams during summer ; but none who have
tried its merits have much to say in its favour.

Some fish with minnow as a live bait after much
the same style as we adopt in pike-fishing. Only
one hook — No. 6 — is necessary, and it is fixed into
the back of the minnow at the dorsal fin, or passed
through the upper lip alone. The gut-line, which
requires to be two or three yards long, is shotted
twelve inches or so above the bait to keep it sunk
perpendicularly. This tackle requires a float, which
should be placed on the gut a yard or more from
the hook, according to the depth of the river. A
ready one may be made out of a common cork,
either by boring a hole through it in the line of its
axis, through which the gut is passed, and in which
it is fixed by a wooden pin, or by making an in-
cision of half an inch or so in the cork in a similar
direction to receive the line, which is then kept in
position by giving it one or two turns round to the
other side. The proper places to fish with this lure
are the deep pools. An advantage which it pos-
sesses over the spinning bait is that, from the way

2 1 4 Minnow-Fishitig.

it is fixed on the hook, the minnow lives for a con-
siderable time, swims about vigorously, and forms
an object of attraction to hungry eyes. But on
the whole, it is vastly inferior to the spinning min-
now, inasmuch as the amount of water fished in
any given cast is comparatively small, and conse-
quently the loss of time is needlessly great. This
style of angling is adapted for all seasons, and some-
times results in the capture of big fish. When the
water is black, it is advisable in this, as in all other
methods of minnow-fishing, to use large baits.

Tackle-makers have exercised great ingenuity in
devising substitutes for the natural minnow, and it
cannot be denied that they have often been toler-
ably successful. These artificial baits are of vari-
ous materials, and all the kingdoms of nature have
been laid under contribution to produce them. We
have them of gutta-percha and india-rubber, of horn
and bone, of zinc and tin, of glass and canvas.
Those commonly in use are much too large, and in
any case they are not nearly so valuable a bait as
the natural minnow. When the river has subsided
to some extent after a flood, and just as it is be-
coming black — the favourite time for all minnow-
fishing — the phantom may do some execution for a
few hours. Success may sometimes attend its use
in * small " clear water on sunny days with a strong
breeze, and it may then be fished either up-stream

A 1'tificial Baits. 215

or down. The swivels I fix twenty-eight inches
apart, but find no place for sinkers on this, any-
more than on the other spinning-tackle. Indeed,
if there was little necessity for them on the natural
minnow-line, there is even less for them on this ;
for most of the materials employed in its manu-
facture are in themselves heavy enough to sink
it farther than is desirable ; and even where it is
lighter than the natural, it wants the animal buoy-
ancy of the latter, and so of itself tends to maintain
a lower level. Thus it is that, in fishing with any
kind of artificial minnow, we must work the bait
more rapidly than with the natural, in order to
prevent it from sinking too low ; and those anglers
who shot the line must just exert themselves more
than those who don't : and after all, the results will
be much in favour of the slow spinner. In other
respects the artificial minnow is fished very much
in the same way as in up-stream fishing with its
prototype, the only difference being that with it a
greater variety of movement, up, down, or across
stream, is admissible in spinning the bait. In up-
stream fishing, the smaller the imitation the better.
Trout, when hooked by it, do not hold so well ; and
the larger fish are not so easily deceived by any
imitation, however perfect, which may have all the
show without "the seal of nature's truth." For
myself, I never use the artificial when I can get

2 1 6 Minnow- Fishing.

the real bait, and my largest baskets with the
minnow have always fallen to the natural lure.
Fishing in the Clyde one cold and stormy day in
April, when the March brown was on the water,
and when the stream was black and heavy, I caught
with it 24 lb. of trout between Clyde Bridge End,
below Abington, and " Johnstone's Pool " at Garf
Burn ; and on another occasion, with the same lure,
in Tweed, I killed 25 lb. between Biggar Water
Foot and Stobo.

In treating of the minnow, I have confined my
remarks entirely to day-fishing. The conditions of
successful angling with it and with other lures
during the night will be set forth in the next
chapter.

217

CHAPTER IX.

NIGHT-FISHING.

" I must become a borrower of the night
For a dark hour or twain. "

— Macbeth.

TT is no unwonted experience for the hardy fisher-
■*■ men of our shores to leave the light and warmth
of home, and go forth to toil upon the unresting sea
in the gloom and dangers of the night,

"Darkling as they face the billows,
A' to fill the woven willows."

And the professional angler, too, who plies his
craft by river-side in happier scenes, recognising a
necessity not laid upon the mere sportsman, " for-
bears at times to sleep the nights," and makes
them "fellow-labourers with the days." But for
the average angler, to whom the idea of fishing is
mainly suggestive of an escape for the nonce from
the anxieties of life, much of the charm of fishing

2 1 8 Night-Fishing.

lies in its association with open day, and sunny
skies, and the glad voices and green vales of earth.
Still the enthusiasm of a sportsman for his sport
exists independently of much that enhances the
pleasure of its exercise ; and if that enthusiasm
be genuine, it will not only often inspire him to
seek the stream under frowning skies and in biting
blasts, but will sometimes prove superior to his
natural inclination for repose.

The sport which is to be had during many of
the sultry days of June and July is not always
such as either to tax the energies of the angler, or
to fill his basket; for at this season artificial -fly
fishing is on the wane, and in the "small" clear
water his main hope lies in angling up-stream with
the minnow, the worm, or the caddis. As it is pre-
cisely after such days that night-fishing promises
greatest success, even the ordinary angler, possessed
of ordinary love for his sport, may now and again
be induced to " trust the opportunity of night " to
supplement the meagre honours of the day.

Those writers who take exception to the exercise
of the sport at night, because under the cloak of
darkness much that is illegal is frequently practised,
have to be reminded that that is most sadly true of
more things than angling, and that it is tyrannous
to interdict the lawful enjoyment of a sport on the
ground that the ill-disposed have been known to

A Plea for the Sport. 219

take counsel of the night for its illegal exercise.
Besides, an enactment against night-fishing, based
on such a plea, would be as futile in restraining
the poacher as it would be unjust to the legitimate
angler ; for to those bent on evil courses

'c

11 How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds
Makes ill deeds done ! "

While I "am inclined to believe that pollution of
rivers in the light has killed more fish than
poaching in them in the dark, it is not in the
spirit of the creed which says —

u "Who dares not stir by day must walk by night,
And have is have, however men do catch,"

that I plead for a few hours' fishing under the
silent gaze of stars, but solely out of enthusiastic
devotion to a legitimate sport, most loved when
most legitimately followed.

Not that my zeal for " the gentle art " would lead
me in all circumstances to echo the transport of the
poet, and exclaim —

"Most glorious night !
Thou wert not sent for slumber ! "

but in fitting season I am not loath occasionally
to forego my enchanting night-visions of big fish
and glorious runs in a laudable endeavour to realise
them. And when the feverish heat of the summer
day is o'er, and a delicious coolness fills the air ;

220 Night-Fishing.

when the face of nature is so lightly veiled in
shadow as yet to betray a winning charm in every
feature ; when the distracting hum of busy life is
hushed, and there is

1 ' No whispering but of leaves on which the breath
Of heaven plays music to the birds that slumber ; "

the " honest " angler need not hesitate to trust
himself and his fortunes under the wide canopy of
sky, with no talisman but his fishing-rod, and no
companion but his thoughts.

It is not said that angling by night will be
invariably profitable, any more than it may be by
day. For the magic wand may be raised o'er
darkening stream and pool, the night may be pro-
pitious, and the twinkling stars in league with
cunning, and yet not a fin may stir the depths in
tribute to the witchery of art. In such circum-
stances night-fishing, if it do no more, will at least
afford an admirable test of the angler's devotion to
his pastime, and a splendid opportunity of giving
effect to the advice of Father Walton when he
cautioned his disciple to "be patient and forbear
swearing, lest he be heard and catch no fish." But
if his experiences of the fitful favours of even day-
fishing have already taught him to sing with all his
heart the old song —

" If patience be a virtue, then
How happy are we fishermen ! " —

A Plea for the Sport. 221

his mind will be all the more open to the potent
influences of the night, which can invest his sport
with a little halo of romance, and give new zest to
its pursuit. For, once abroad by river-side under
starry skies prophetic, it needs no "Midsummer
Night's Dream" to people the brooks with naiads
and the meads with "dapper elves" in order to
entrance the fancy and disguise the gloom. To
the thought that wakes when Nature sleeps, there
come from out her passionless calm and rest the
deeper revelations of her spirit, and the "voices
of the night " are ever wafted to the listening ear.
The rich hues that bloom in summer's prime are
born of the light, and in the garish day enchain
the eye ; but the veiled and pensive beauty of the
sombre night is for the contemplative soul which
finds mystery in shadow, and " gathers magic
thoughts in night's cool clime." And when the
moon in queenly grace leads forth her glittering
starry train through cloudless skies, the imagin-
ative angler may fondly deem with Hood that,
from off the fairy mantle of her silver sheen there
fall

" In winding streams
Sparkles and midnight gleams,
For fishes to new gloss their argent scales."

Now there is silently lifted from the sleeping vale
the dark shadow as of her sorrow, and through

222 Night-Fishing.

her glistering dewy tears she smiles serenely as she
dreams of the warmer blush of a rosy dawn that
shall kiss these tears away. But the stream sleeps
not, sleeps never. Now shimmering 'neath the
glance of heaven, now hurrying through the gloom
which earth hath cast, yet ever to the music of
its own glad heart, it rolls its ceaseless course to
ocean, fraught with blessing, and rich in lessons to
the wise, who can read the " books in the running
brooks," no less by night than day. But to our
angling.

The lures that obtain in night-fishing are fly,
minnow, and worm. As the methods of using
them at night do not materially differ from those
already given for day-fishing, little more remains to
be done here than to indicate the circumstances of
time and place most favourable for good results.
But I must premise that, although all these lures
may be, and often are, resorted to in turn during
the same night, still, seeing that the main reliance
is upon the artificial fly in some of its forms, I
always find it most convenient to employ the loop-
rod and line throughout.

The night cast is made up of pretty strong gut,
and the flies, six or seven in number, are placed
thereon, about twenty-eight inches apart. The flies
being fewer, this wider interval between them does
not necessitate a longer cast than I use during

The Tackle. 223

the day ; nor is there any difference in the length
of line employed. Nothing is gained by using
very fine gut at night. A stronger quality will be
equally invisible to the fish, and of greater service
to the angler. For it will not only save him many
perplexing difficulties of the twists and tangles
peculiar to fine gut, to the solution of which the
darkness of night is never eminently favourable,
but it will also enable him to make short work
with even heavy fish, and so to take full advantage
of the " rise " when it comes on.

Mr Francis recommends the night-fisher " never
to use more than two flies in any circumstances/'
and assures him that he will find " one better than
two, as the slightest hitch becomes fatal in the
dark." Now there might be exceptional cases
even in day-fishing, when there would be more
than humour in the remark of the facetious author
of ' Maxims and Hints/ — " I am humbly of opinion
that your chance of hooking fish is much increased
by your using two flies ; but I think that, by using
only one, you increase your chance of landing the
fish." And it is readily acknowledged that there
is greater risk of mishap or disaster attending the
angler's operations in the night than in the day —
and I have just hinted how it may be to some
extent reduced ; but what if, in his anxiety to
avoid such risk altogether, he deprive himself of

224 Night-Fishing.

every chance of catching any fish ? In a previous
chapter I endeavoured to show that trout exercise
a wonderful discrimination in their choice of flies
no less by night than day ; that one night they
are fascinated by a fly of a particular hue, which
next night may prove to possess no attractions for
them ; and that times without number a heavy
basket has fallen to one individual fly, to the
almost complete exclusion of its compeers on the
line. Unless, therefore, the angler knows for a
certainty which fly is in demand by the trout on
any occasion, or unless he believes that one fly
will kill as well as another, he will take care that
his cast carries a fair and representative collection
of those most in favour with night-feeding fish.
They are either large or small as circumstances
require : the latter have already been given in the
list of " Gloamin' Flies " ; the former, chiefly of the
night-moth species, will be found under the dis-
tinctive heading of "Night Flies."

The best season for night-fishing is unquestion-
ably from about the 20th of May till the end of
June, but more or less success may attend its
exercise until the close of July. Even in August,
if the weather be dry and warm, the small artificial
fly will sometimes reap a fair harvest in a moon-
light night. Although wet nights are often very
productive of sport, especially in June, the angler

Angling with the Fly. 225

will be more likely to gain a substantial reward for
his exertions, as lie will certainly the better consult
his personal comfort, if he select, for his first noc-
turnal venture, the night succeeding a hot sultry
day, when the sky is clear and a balmy breeze
blows softly from the west, and when no dew
drenches the grass and no mist enshrouds the
stream.

If he have come to the water early in the evening,
he may suitably open the ball with the dance of
the gloamin' flies, whose airy grace seldom fails to
turn the heads of even the least impressionable
of the finny fellows below. And after night-fall,
what then ? why, " on with the dance ! " — only be
careful to change the dancers ; for in the darkened
hours and till the moon appears, the portlier persous
of the night-born moths are best devised to fascinate
the fickle. And when the moon deigns to look
down from on high and honour the sports with her
gracious presence, if she find that you have again
led forth the smaller flies of graceful mien to dance
beneath her gaze, hers will be no merely passive
patronage and formal recognition. A recipient of
light herself, she will, in the gratitude of indebted-
ness, freely and playfully shed her lustre on the
stream, and bring gleaming life to its surface.
Indeed, so far as the pleasures of small-fly fishing
are concerned, it is then that there " comes in the
p

226 Night-Fishing.

sweetest morsel of the night." Well may we anglers
exclaim —

"Still shine, thou soul of rivers, as they run ! "

and prolong our sports till " civil-suited morn "
appears to warn night's revellers home. "With such
favourable omens these little light coquettes may
ensnare in measured dance many a big fish, even
at times far beyond the witching hour, in all the
months of the night-fishing season.

Their place is taken by the large flies when the
night is wet, dark, or cloudy, and when no moon
appears. These flies are selected for such nights,
not because the fish could not then see the small
ones, but simply because their prototypes — the
large moths — though abroad at night, do not go on
the water during moonlight. Their imitations are
therefore successful only in the entire absence of
the moon, or in such reaches of the river as are for
the time in shadow. If in such a dark and be-
nighted condition the tyro be catching no fish, and
be wellnigh despairing of success, let him consider
whether he has done everything to merit it, and
recall the words written by the humorous Penn :
"You will not have good sport if you continue
throwing after you have whipped your flies off.
Pay attention to this ; and if you have any doubt
after dusk, you may easily ascertain the point by

Angling with the Fly. 227

drawing the end of the line quickly through your
hand, — particularly if you do not wear gloves."
It is scarcely necessary to add that, if the result of
such an experiment sufficiently explain the cause
of failure, you will have no cause to regret having
made it; if it do not, it will at all events tend
much to enliven the dull intervals of no sport.

Night-flies, whether large or small, should be
fished in gently flowing streams, in the necks and
tails of pools, and at the channel as well as at the
bank side of pools of moderate depth ; but no rapid
water will yield sport to the artificial fly after dusk.
The angler must always fish down-stream at night,
casting down and across ; the necessity for fishing
up does not exist when daylight is gone : and as
trout take the lure more leisurely at night than
during the day, the fisher should allow the flies to
be carried gently and slowly round to his own side
of the stream. He will generally fish from the
bank side when the river is low and clear ; the
channel and the shallow stretches are best when
the water is black : but large trout are often found
at night roaming about at both sides, and circum-
stances must therefore determine very much the
angler's mode of action.

If I hook a small trout when fishing from the
bank, and if I cannot get down to the margin of
the water, I bring him close to the side, and taking

228 Night-Fishing.

advantage of the moment when his first struggle
is over, I lift him straight up on to the grass by
the gut. To take him down to the tail of the pool
would of course be safer, but his size may not
demand such caution. For a fish of 2 or 3 lb.,
however, more consideration must be shown ; and
accordingly, I would have him down to a good land-
ing-place ere we came to closer quarters. Though
I might lose some time by this operation, I should
not cause that disturbance among the other tenants
of the pool which the same course of action would
be sure to produce if adopted during the day.

Should no satisfactory gains fall to the small fly
on a cool moonlight night, or to the large fly on
a wet or dull one, the proceedings may be agreeably
diversified by an appeal to the minnow, for it may
suit well whether the moon appears or not ; but the
happiest augury for the success of this lure is a clear
starry night, inclining to frost, or one in which there
is a heavy fall of dew. Fish it during moonlight
in the rough heavy streams, and in the absence of
the moon, both in the pools and in the streams.

The method, given in last chapter, of baiting the
natural minnow on two hooks placed back to back,
frequently answers very well at night. If this
tackle be cast from the channel into deep pools, and
the bait allowed to lie at the bottom, the fisher will
often be rewarded with very large fish. Like the

Angling with other Lures. 229

fly, the spinning-minnow is always fished down-
stream at night, and worked more slowly through
the water than in daylight. It will thus not only
move at a pace more in keeping with the slower
movements of the fish at night, but as the result of
this leisurely spinning is to sink the bait, it will be
brought within their notice and their reach when
they are not feeding on the surface, while at the
same time a better hold will be obtained of those
that honour it with their regard. In deep quiet
pools, the bait, though still worked slowly, must
nevertheless be kept from fixing itself on the
bottom by more frequent movements of the wrist
during each cast. The artificial minnow cannot be
recommended for good night-fishing.

In its own season the May-fly is sometimes a
killing bait at night, but even then the other lures
may share the sport with it. The most favourable
conditions obtain when the night is calm and dull,
but not cold. The natural insect is then fished
with a light line so as to keep it floating on the
surface, not after the manner of daping in which the
wind carries the fly, but by leaving it entirely to
the action of the current. Cast in comparatively
still water, in pools and tails of pools, and in
shallow reaches of the river where the trout are
wont to roam at night in search of food.

The only other expedient of the night-fisher is the

230 Night-Fishing.

worm, and recourse may be had to its agency in
the eddies of streams on the channel side. It
yields best sport on a moonlight night in the
month of June.

Night-fishing, up till the end of June, is generally
most profitable when prosecuted in a " small " black
water after a small flood ; but during the remain-
der of its season a low clear water is often pro-
ductive of excellent sport. For minnow - fishing
a "small" clear water is to be preferred in May,
but a black water will not be without gain in
June. The small artificial fly, however, will be
of no avail in a black water under moonlight.
During the month of June, trout may take at all
hours of the night, with the proper lure, whether
there be moonlight or not. As the season advances
and the darkness deepens towards midnight, in the
absence of the moon there is generally a lull in the
sport from about half-past eleven till one o'clock in
the morning, when the " take " may come on again
and be continued till dawn. This holds good in
July both with fly and minnow ; but if the moon
shine out, there may be uninterrupted success to
both lures all night long.

In the early morning, when the sun is bright and
warm, the May-fly in its season frequently proves
very deadly. If the angler find the fly fruitless
during June and July, let him at once resort to

The Success of the Sport. 23 1

the minnow or the worm. The latter, should the
morning be fine and warm, not unfrequently does
considerable execution in rough broken water.
Caddis-bait is also of good service from daybreak
till eight or nine o'clock ; in fact it succeeds better
at that time than during any other portion of the
twenty-four hours. August is the best month in
the year for early-morning fishing with the small
artificial fly, and its fortunes are brightest when
the weather is so.

If the attraction of night-fishing be measured by
its success alone, it has very considerable claims on
the attention of even the average angler ; for in the
best part of the season, during the few hours which
intervene between dusk and dawn, it is no uncom-
mon occurrence to capture a basket of 15 or 20 lb.
and upwards. The largest takes may be those
secured during the day; but I have often, with
various lures, scored 22 lb. during the night, and
on very many occasions upwards of 20 lb. with
minnow alone. But of course such baskets are not
to be reckoned on every night. It may be, indeed,
as I have said, that even in apparently favourable
circumstances the sport will flag and the fish will
not bite, and that all the resources both of phil-
osophy and of flask will be taxed to their utmost
to maintain that serenity of mind that has ever
been such a distinctive and praiseworthy trait in

232 Night-Fishing.

the character of the angler. But he knows that
a big " take " is not the only element in a fisher's
happy lot. Tis a sweetening and soothing influ-
ence truly, and we have nothing but compassion
for the angler who is one only in name ; but he
merits reprobation as well as pity whose whole
heart is in his creel, and whose joy dies with his
sport. The true angler is a lover of Nature as well
as a lover of fish ; and alike in the golden sunlight
that gladdens her children and in the silent night
that lulls them to repose— in the " gowan gem that
spangles the lea," no less than in the far-off stars
that stud the blue — he finds a charm to win and
a call to adore. If his experience of the night
make him no keener a fisher, it will at least leave
him no worse a man. Poacher of an "honest"
angler it cannot make ; poet it may. And as he
" feeds reflection in the dusky shade," his glowing
thoughts will find a tongue to reach night's ear, and
his serenade of love will wake her from her sleep
to blush her thanks in day.

233

CHAPTEK X.

GRAYLING-FISHING.

Bait the hook well ; this fish will bite."

— Much Ado about Nothing.

nnHOUGH several well-known authors have attri-
■*• buted to the grayling many, if not all, of the
qualities for which the trout ranks so deservedly
high with all sportsmen, what I have to say of it
here will be brief, and more in the way of protest
than of praise.

Mr Francis, in his ' Book on Angling ' says, " I
have a very high opinion of this fish;" and the
author of the most recent work on ' Fly-Fishing '
subscribes to this view, and impatiently adds,1
" Every grayling-fisher who knows anything about
it has the same." If to have caught thousands of
grayling be sufficient to elevate one to the rank of

1 Recollections of Fly-Fishing for Salmon, Trout, and Gray-
ing. By Dr Edward Hamilton. P. 177.

234 Grayling-Fishing.

a "grayling-fisher who knows anything about it,"
then I may be permitted to disclaim, for myself at
least, any share in this opinion ; and I am convinced
that, among those entitled to the doubtful honour,
I am not alone in my low estimate of the fish. But
perhaps neither my opinion, nor my title to give it,
will be regarded as quite admissible by a writer who,
in the year of grace 1884, assures us that "the
grayling is not found in Scotland."1

Something perhaps may be allowed to it on the
score of form, but I would assuredly never go so
far as to hold with Mr Pennell, that " the grayling
has the beauty of Apollo — light, delicate, and grace-
fully symmetrical ; " or with Mr Eonalds, that it is
" more elegantly formed than the trout ; " or with
Mr Bullock, in the 'Fishing Gazette,' that it is
" the queenly grayling ; " or even with Mr Francis,
that " if the trout be the gentleman of the stream,
the grayling is certainly the lady." True, the
grayling has a smaller head than the trout, and
an inviting delicacy of lip ; but such admittedly
feminine charms are more than counterbalanced
by its broader shoulders, its Boman nose, and the
sinister expression of its " lozenge-shaped " eye.

But even if we grant all the elegance and sym-
metry of form that are claimed for the grayling,
much more is required ere we can regard its capture
1 Recollections of Fly-Fishing for Salmon, &c, p. 189.

Considered as a Sport. 235

as an object worthy of the angler's wiles. Beauty
alone may prompt desire to win, but not in the
case of a sportsman's fish ; for there at least
" beauty must be saved by merit." And so Mr
Francis hastens to chronicle the virtues of Lady
Grayling, and heads the list with this one : she
"seldom becomes so shy as the trout does," and
is "free to rise to all comers." I stop not to
inquire whether womankind in these days, in
their hurried quest of "rights," have

" Left all reserve and all the sex behind,"

and relegated shyness to the bashful man. But
I am quite of opinion that the fish that values its
own reputation, whether it values its life or not, will
be disposed to show that caution and circumspec-
tion which a first acquaintance might impose, if not
also the artful coyness of the shepherdess who
harangued her impatient suitor thus : —

" But ken ye, lad, gif we confess o'er soon,
Ye think us cheap, and syne the wooing's done. "

Whatever it may be in folk, at least in fish the
want of shyness will, in the estimation of a proper
fisher, be no charm at all. But it appears — and I
am sorry to know it — that many Southern anglers'
heau-iddal of a good fish is one easily deceived and
easily caught. It is not mine. I consider the
wariness of the trout a strong point in its favour,

2 36 Grayling- Fishing.

and I hold that, other things being equal, just in
proportion to the difficulty of its capture, is the
worth of capturing it.

But when the grayling has readily yielded to
the blandishments of the angler, and has taken
his lure, how does it comport itself ? Mr Francis
will answer. " Its play is composed of a series of
rolls and tumbles," and "too often it behaves as
a trout might be imagined to do if he had been
drinking success to the May-fly rather too freely."
Precisely so ; indeed I should say oftener than too
often it does so ; but is this not rather an un-
gallant admission for its champion to make ? I
do not envy our author his keen angler's eye, if
it is sharp enough to see the graceful bearing of
the " lady of the stream " in the ungainly gambols
of a devotee of Bacchus. But I am glad to notice
the concession, that though this "behaviour" is
only too real in the case of the grayling, it is merely
imaginary in the case of the trout; and I fancy
we have here got the reason of the absence of
shyness in the one, and of its presence in the
other. Deep potations oft make prospective heroes.

" Inspiring bold John Barleycorn !
What dangers thou canst make us scorn ! "

But what of those that thou dost create ? More
discretion in her cups, and there will be less danger
in the toils. Now the trout, the " gentleman of the

Considered as a Sport. 237

streams," — " drink like a fish," though he may, and
as he ought — has all his wits about him when he
is most in need of them ; and though his " chance
may faint under our better cunning," when he finds
he has been deceived, he manfully fights for liberty
and life ; while the grayling, shy in fight, but not
of lure, tamely yields herself a reeling captive ;
and ere she measures her unhonoured length upon
the strand, drowns what remains of her conscious-
ness of cowardice in the self-gratulatory toast,

" Doubtless the pleasure is as great
Of being cheated as to cheat."

In such a case the pleasure of the angler must be
small indeed, unless, of course, he considers every-
thing as fair in fishing as it is said to be in love,
and that will cover a good deal.

There are, we are told, some "trout that must
be caught with tickling " — and there may be some
folk too, for that matter, — but then I opine that
though their feelings are thus literally played upon,
they are at least pleasingly conscious of the titil-
lation, and gratefully responsive thereto. Cupid
is always blind, but he needn't be drunk as well.
And yet we have all heard of the swain who, under
the influence of mighty ale, was decoyed by his too
fond Phillis before the parson to be united to her
"for better or for worse." "Take him away," said
the minister, shocked at the insensate condition of

238 Grayling- Fishing .

the candidate for matrimony, — " take him away, and
return with him when he is sober." But the ex-
pectant bride, fearful lest with the morning there
might come " calm reflection," recognised the crisis
of her fate, and in a flood of tears exclaimed : " Oh
sir, 'deed sir, we maun be coupled the now ; for
gin I bide till he's sober, he winna come ! " Ladies
fish at times, and at times, too, with double tackle :

" At once victorious witli their hooks and eyes,
They make the fishes and the men their prize."

Still, even then, who can say that they are not
" fair " anglers with a " gentle art " ? But the doting
maiden of our story had the true instincts of a
grayling - fisher, and angled for as questionable
a prize. If a fish that is " free to rise to all
comers," and that is "too often" incapable when
it does rise, be styled a "lady,"

"The sex, as well as she, may chide you for't ; "

but I will content myself with the remark that it is
certainly no gentleman.

That the picture which Mr Francis has given
us of his grayling is no caricature, I could prove
from my own experience of the reception it has
always accorded to any overtures which I made to
it If, however, my open hostility rule me out of
court, let us hear the testimony of others. Old
Izaak says, "The grayling is much more simple,

The Edible Qtialities of the Fish. 239

and therefore much bolder than the trout. He is
not so good to angle for." Bowlker testifies that
"when fairly hooked it is easily subdued." Mr
Francks quaintly tells us that "the mouth of the
grayling waters after every wasp, as his fins flutter
after every fly ; for if it be but a fly, or the produce
of an insect, out of a generous curiosity he is ready
to entertain him." Mr Blaine's opinion is that
" the grayling is an inanimate fish when hooked."
Even "Ephemera," who acknowledges that the
grayling is " a favourite fish " of his, is constrained
to admit that " it takes a fly boldly, but does not
show much boldness after having taken it and been
hooked ; " and that though " it is a gamesome fish,
it is not a game one." To capture a brace of such
creatures may by some of our Southern friends be
esteemed a fine art and gentle; but, pray, let all
anglers who are also sportsmen reserve, if possible,
their tackle and their talent for a worthier fish.

Some consideration might be shown for the
grayling if it possessed even that secondary quali-
fication of a good fish — the power to evoke pleasur-
able anticipations when there rings out

" That tocsin of the soul, the dinner-bell."

Tastes differ, and there may be grayling and
grayling; but if I am to judge from those that I
have tried — and they were in their best season —

240 Gray ling- Fishing.

grayling are not to be named in the same breath
with the most ordinary trout, St Ambrose, Sanctus,
Cotton, and a host of other gastronomists to the
contrary notwithstanding. Walton reminds us
that Gesner says, "the French value him so highly
that they say he feeds on gold ; " but what of that,
if the French of his day were as discriminating as
those in ours who prefer bull-trout to salmon ? In
spite of all that is said of its " thymy " and its " cu-
cumber " fragrance, and its " firm and flaky flesh," I
consider even the much-derided pike immeasurably
its superior in edible virtues. Walton says that
" all that write of the umber (grayling) declare him
very medicinable." Possibly — and, judging by his
flavour, very probably ; but if so, let him be treated
as medicine and used as sparingly.

But I have other and graver charges against
the grayling. The introduction of this fish into
a trout-stream invariably tells most unfavourably
on the number and size of the tenants already in
possession. Were I disposed to accuse the gray-
ling of worrying and harassing the trout, I could
find ample support for my accusation in the ex-
perience of many authorities. To quote only the
late Mr Frank Buckland : 1 " Grayling, I have
observed in my museum at South Kensington, are
great bullies, and are continually hunting the trout
1 Natural History of British Fishes, p. 331.

Grayling in Trout-Rivers. 24 1

about." It is not, -however, on the plea that the
"lady" is a scold that I found my case for a
separation, nor even on the more than doubtful
statement of Mr Francis that she devours the
spawn of the trout, but simply on the undoubted
and perfectly comprehensible fact that a river will
support only a certain number of fish in good size
and condition. An influx of grayling into a trout-
stream will therefore result in a corresponding
diminution of the number of the trout, as well as
in a deterioration of their quality. Moreover, this
struggle for existence is unequal, the grayling al-
ways getting the best of it. Their ova are much
smaller and far more numerous than those of trout,
and in their feeding, grayling not only burrow at
the bottom to a much greater extent than trout do,
but they can rise from below through many feet of
water to seize their surface-food. So that, even if
trout did not habitually devour their own fry —
which they do — the tendency would be for gray-
ling to preponderate in numbers, and outstrip them
in the race for life. This they are now doing in
the Clyde. Above Lanark grayling are to be seen
at present swarming in thousands, especially during
the autumn months; while trout, which in those
reaches were wont to yield great sport before the
advent of the alien, are yearly becoming fewer in
number and poorer in quality. When grayling
Q

242 Grayling-Fishing.

were unknown there, a basket of 23 or 24 lb. of
trout was not uncommon j now one of 4 or 5 lb.
is considered good.

But again, the presence of grayling in a trout-
stream will add greatly to the difficulty of obtaining
what we should long ago have had from the Legis-
lature, and what we must ere long have if our
rivers are to receive the protection they deserve,
and that is a close-time for trout. Sir Humphry
Davy tells us that grayling-fishing may be pursued
at " all times of the year." Few, we suspect, even
of the lovers of tame sport and poor fish, would
subscribe to this. Cotton more correctly styles
the grayling a " winter fish " ; and though modern
English authors consider it legitimate to take him
any time between August and Christmas, the opinion
is wellnigh unanimous that November is his best
month. Grayling are therefore most "in season"
when trout are most out of it; and Mr Francis
adduces this fact as one of his strongest arguments
for the introduction of grayling, inasmuch as he
sees in it a chance of obtaining sport of some kind
all the year round. Of course he would take each
in its own season only. But though all scrupulous
grayling-fishers would desire to return to the water
any trout they might happen to catch in the win-
ter months, the weaker virtue of others would be
all the better of any assistance which a stringent

Grayling in Trout-Rivers. 243

enactment might afford; and to those evil-doers,
against whose practices such an enactment would
be specially framed, the presence of " winter fish "
in the stream would furnish ample occasion for
evading the law and rendering it virtually a dead
letter. For if grayling were allowed to be taken
during the period that trout were on the spawning-
beds, fishers whose reputation for honour was no
better than their reputation as sportsmen, would
not hesitate to take ill-conditioned trout while
ostensibly fishing for grayling. And during the
months of March, April, and May, when grayling
spawn and trout-fishing is good, would the ill-
conditioned grayling fare any better at the hands
of some trout-fishers ? As a matter of fact they
do not. They are very fond of worm ; and through-
out the trout - fishing season, from February to
October, I should say that probably more than one-
half of all the baskets taken from the Clyde are
composed of grayling.

Seeing then that, whether regard be had to the
natural struggle for life between the fish, or to the
equally natural action of many who angle for them,
the safety and full development of the trout are
quite incompatible with the presence of the gray-
ling, surely, in the interests of fish and fishers alike,
it were well that a trout -stream be reserved for
trout, and a grayling-stream for grayling. This I

244 Grayling- Fishing.

hold equally applicable to all rivers, no matter
where ; but I confess I urge it specially on behalf
of Scottish anglers and Scottish streams. I feel
most strongly that the introduction of grayling into
our rivers, with the view of improving their con-
dition as fishing streams, is the most unfortunate
and ill-advised step that has been taken in recent
years. From the nature of their channels, ours are
capital trout-streams, and, under judicious legisla-
tion, could be vastly improved. But no legislation
will attain that end so long as grayling are allowed
to remain in them. Of course, should their eject-
ment be resolved upon, we shall expect to hear of
" tenant-right " and " compensation for unexhausted
improvements." But let us trust that the rights will
be permitted to revert to the poor trout that have
been so unwarrantably dispossessed of them ; and
since the removal of the present interlopers will in
itself constitute the " unexhausted " and inexhaust-
ible "improvement," the claim for compensation
will be found to have been already much more
than discounted in the calamity of their arrival.
I fear, however, that it is rather early to look for
the total expulsion of the grayling from the Clyde,
where they seem to have got so long a lease to
run; but it may reasonably be hoped that pro-
prietors of trout-streams, when they have a mind
to improve the waters, will attach some weight to

Grayling in Trout-Rivers. 245

the words of Mr Buckland when he says, "The
introduction of grayling into trout rivers should
not be undertaken without due consideration," and
be warned by the mischief already done in the
Clyde to take heed and let well alone. Without
doubt many of our rivers are sadly depopulated,
and require to be restocked, but not restocked with
grayling ; and we look forward to the time when a
large system of artificial hatching, both of salmon
and of trout, will go hand in hand with wise legis-
lation to replenish and protect our much impover-
ished streams.

It will now be evident that it is not my high
opinion of the merits of the grayling, but its
presence in our rivers, that has called forth this
chapter. The few notes that follow on the method
of its capture are inserted to meet the views, not
only of those who love grayling, but of those who
don't ; so that, hearing there are grayling in abund-
ance in the Clyde, both alike may start forthwith for
that sorely vexed water, and angle, by every legiti-
mate means in their power, by night and by day,
for grayling, and for grayling alone : —

" That those may fish who never fished before,
And those who always fished may fish the more. "

And though their deeds be in the water, of a truth
I will not " write their virtues " there : they shall
ever live in grateful memory. English anglers are

246 Grayling-Fishing.

heartily welcome to preserve, and to multiply, their
grayling in their own streams ; but while it is their
boast that in many of them there are

" Here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling ; "

I for my part would infinitely prefer that the
trout may be " here " and the grayling " there."

Anglers for trout need not provide any additional
tackle or lures for the capture of grayling. Feeding
— as we all know too well — on much the same food
as trout, grayling may be taken with the same flies
and baits, although it is true very few are caught
with the minnow. They congregate, too, in pre-
cisely those parts of the water where trout are to
be, or ought to be, met with ; and so the fly-fisher
and the bait-fisher, in a stream that unfortunately
contains both fish, may be just as likely to hook a
grayling as a trout. Indeed the grayling that I
have caught — and they are many — were taken
of their own choice, not of mine.

More of bottom than of surface feeders, grayling
take particular delight in the worm ; and after a
flood in autumn, with the river either black or clear
— for they do not take well in a muddy or clayey
water — the quantity captured may outnumber, if
not outweigh, the angler's take of trout. We have
seen that trout are, as a rule, to be got with worm
in flooded waters during the whole season, and that

Lures and Seasons. 247

we need not look for great baskets of them from a
clear water after the month of July ; but grayling
will continue to accept the bait freely in a low
clear water during autumn, even when trout will
have none of it. In spring, too, with the river in
a similar condition, the worm will do great things
among them by those who have trout to protect
and grayling to kill ; but the best baskets — and for
the lover of grayling alone, the best policy — will
be his who follows the " sport " in the later months.
Another bait for which grayling show a decided
liking is the caddis. When it is in season, from
April to July, it is an almost unfailing recipe for a
good creel. Nor must we forget the creeper, for
the grayling ever look on it with favour ; indeed
— and this shows the fish — they prefer it to the
May-fly.

Grayling will take trout-flies more or less during
all the season, but, speaking generally, the autumn
months are the best. If the sun shine at mid-
day— but we give this hint for those only who,
though they may not love grayling less, yet love
trout more — grayling will rise freely to the fly even
in the middle of December. Captain St John Dick
tells us that "they do not feed at all at night."
Well, they may be somnambulists for aught we
know, or they may be oftener " drinking success to
the May-fly " than Mr Francis suspects ; but I can

248 Grayling-Fishing.

assure the Captain that I have caught hundreds of
pounds' weight of living " tumbling " grayling with
the artificial fly at night. Moonlight nights are
the very best for this fishing with the small fly,
especially in a low clear water. If it is neither to
feed nor to drink that they are then out of bed, the
reason of their midnight exploiting and consequent
capture may be the same as that given by the
Folkestone night-fisherman to account for his won-
derful " take " of conger-eels. " You see, sir," said
he, " the conger comes up to the top on a frosty
night to look at the moon, gets nipped by the cold
and can't get down again." Though this moon-
shine theory, as it stands, would, when applied to
grayling, save only part of the Captain's statement
— for in the absence of the moon the large flies kill
grayling as well as trout — it could very well be
extended so as to account fully for all the facts :
thus, — on a moonlight night grayling come up to
look at the moon, and on a dark night they come
up to look for it.

The conditions of water in fly-fishing for grayling
are the same as those for trout, and the fly may be
fished either up stream or down. Many anglers —
chiefly English — prefer to cast across and down
stream, particularly in deep water, so that the con-
sequently slower motion of the fly may meet the
wishes of those grayling that rise from some depth

Striking. 249

to seize it. Should a grayling miss your fly on its
first rise, it may make many more attempts to
secure it than a trout would do. Give it no
occasion to upbraid you with —

" Stay, my charmer ! can you leave me ? "

until you have given it just cause to complete the
couplet —

11 Cruel, cruel, to deceive me ! "

Strike immediately on the rise, but, remembering
the " lady " of the delicate lip, strike as gently as
possible. I have already spoken of its fighting
or non-fighting qualities, and I have only to add
on this point that, notwithstanding the averments
of others, my experience in the capture of thousands
of grayling fully bears out the opinion expressed
long ago by that practical authority, Cotton, that
"the grayling is one of the deadest - hearted fish
in the world, and the bigger he is the more easily
taken."

In the Clyde grayling spawn in March and April,
and occasionally in the early part of May, deposit-
ing their roe among gravel at the tails of streams.
The ova are, like those of the herring, very small
and very prolific. The young fish grow rather
rapidly until they weigh 1 or \\ lb., and then
their yearly increase is not so decided as in the
case of trout. The maximum weight which they

250 Gray ling- Fishing.

are supposed to reach is, according to Mr Pennell,
" from 4 to 5 lb." ; but although I know that they
have been caught upwards of 3 lb., the heaviest
that ever fell, unfortunately, to my rod, weighed
only 2J lb.

These fish are more gregarious than trout, and
migrate from one part of the river to another.
Their general tendency, when introduced into a
water, is to move down-stream. This is fortunate,
and is about the only virtue with which we can
credit them ; but to grant even this much is to
show "gratitude for favours to come," for it is
given only in the hope that this decided downward
tendency in the fish may gather strength as they
go, until it develop into an irresistible longing to
leave for good the land — or the water — of their
adoption, and to return whence they came. Mean-
time we may considerably facilitate their progress by
reducing their numbers. Seeing that the fish came
to us from England, we might for once adopt the
English mode of killing them, and advise all Clyde
fishers to try the sportsman-like lure of the " arti-
ficial grasshopper." And they may do this with
the less compunction, as Mr Francis, who loves
grayling so much, after assuring us that he " hesi-
tates to notice the method of killing with the
grasshopper, since the grayling is such a sporting
fish that it is a shame to treat him like a poacher

Thinning a Stream. 251

with such abominations," — so far overcomes his
scruples as not only to describe the " abomination,"
but to inform us that he " killed many fine grayling
with it at Leintwardine." Our author clears him-
self completely, the Clyde fisher will observe, by
pleading that " this most destructive method ought
only to be tolerated when the grayling get so far
ahead as to want thinning down pretty freely."
Presumably such was the condition of affairs when
he was at Leintwardine ; and that said grayling did
get a thiuning, though we cannot be so sure that
they " wanted " it, we conclude from what we are
further told of " instances where, by the use of it,
large 25 or 30 lb. baskets have been filled and
emptied three times over in one day's fishing by
a single rod." Verily its success at Leintwardine
tempts me to recommend its use on the Clyde,
since, whether our grayling " want thinning down "
or not, the trout-fisher most assuredly desires to
see them thinned.

252

T

CHAPTER XL

SALMON-FISHING.

" And mighty hearts are held in slender chains ! "

— Rape of the Lock.

HIS lordly fish deserves a volume to itself.
Though it has beeu treated in greater or less
detail by many writers on angling, no work exclu-
sively devoted to its claims1 has appeared among us
since "Ephemera" wrote his 'Book of the Salmon.'
That is well-nigh forty years ago. Since then great
advances have been made in our knowledge of the
natural history of the fish ; pisciculturists have im-
proved the means for its almost limitless artificial
propagation ; and the Legislature, with a fuller re-
cognition of its immense economic value, has now
and again come to its aid with measures for its

1 From an angling point of view. The volumes of Mr Russel
and others deal chiefly with its natural history and commercial
importance.

Literature of Salmon-Fishing. 253

greater protection. In the light of recent discov-
eries, and in view of the results of his own lifelong
]abours, the late Mr Frank Buckland promised, in
1880, to give to the world what he quaintly styled
1 A Memoir of his Friend the Salmon ' ; but, alas !
the genial and facile pen was to write no more.
The performance of this task is reserved for another,
and fortunate indeed will the salmon be if it find
as loving and as enthusiastic a biographer.

No one would hail such a work with greater
delight than the true Waltonian. He is no mere
pot-hunter. His sport, pleasing as it is at all
times, derives for him a greater joy when he can
take an intelligent interest in the natural history
of the fish he seeks, and find in the study of its
structure and its habits the surest guide to the
principles of his art.

It does not fall within the scope of this chapter
to do much more than give, in the briefest and
most practical form, the results of my experience
in the capture of salmon. " Sport for kings " it has
been called, and yet I have not accorded it the post
of honour. To the salmon himself, probably, the
post of honour would, in this case, as in many
more, seem the post of danger, and with the
natural instinct of self-preservation he might very
well be content to prefer his life to his laurels. It
is not, however, from any desire to accommodate

254 Salmon-Fishing.

our love of sport to his love of life, still less to
decry his pre-eminent claims on the angler's regard,
that I have placed the princely salmon after the
common trout and commoner grayling, but simply
because salmon-fishing with the rod is a luxury
enjoyed only by the few. It may be true, as Mr
Francis says, "there are fifty salmon-fishers now
for one of twenty years ago." But has not the
number of trout-fishers increased in a very much
larger proportion ? At all events, it is undoubted
that, while the love of regal sport and vigorous
joys may have grown with the means for its in-
dulgence, out of the whole fraternity of anglers
the number of those who wield the salmon-rod
is still exceedingly and lamentably small. For it
is not given to all to become fishers of salmon,
even should they possess the rod and the reel,
the capacity and the desire ; the vast majority
are obliged, by the stern force of circumstances,
to " repress that noble rage," and remain outside
the charmed circle of privilege. But to the angler
fortunate enough to have enjoyed it, the sport seems
worthy of all that can be said in its praise, whether
regard be had to the skill which it demands, or to
the emotions which it excites. From the moment
when the first proud dash of a salmon in the ex-
uberance of its strength electrifies the nerves and
sends the blood madly dancing through the veins,

A Royal Sport. 255

till the close of the fight when it lies " broad upon
its breathless side," a rich and beauteous prize,
there rages within the breast of the angler a wild
conflict of hopes and fears, exultations and alarms,
that rise and swell with the varying fortunes of
the struggle without, and create such an intensity
of delirious excitement as none but a salmon-fisher
can ever know.

" Now hope exalts the fisher's beating heart,
Now he turns pale, and fears his dubious art."

And yet, amid all this tumult of emotions he must
maintain the cool head and the steady hand, to
realise every new situation, and be ready to guard
against its attendant risks, to meet every change
in the enemy's front by a change of tactics, and
to make its every humour subservient to his ends ;
in short, to be ever fertile in resources, self-possessed
in direst need.

But all anglers, as I have said, are not salmon-
fishers — and there may be some kinds of salmon-
fishing, too, where there is not much angling ; and
while I yield to none in my esteem for the royal
sport, when followed in the spirit of a royal sports-
man, I might still recognise the highest angling
art in some mere trout-fisher whose hooks were
never guilty of a salmon's blood. Indeed, many
excellent salmon -fishers, although fully alive to

256 Salmon- Fishing.

the attractions of their sport, have yet admitted
that the kind of angling which pleased them most
was a day's fly-fishing for yellow trout. "Whether
this be true of all who angle in preserves or not,
the average angler in the open stream has, at all
events, to " teach his necessity to reason thus/' — ay,
and proudly make a virtue of it. The fates may
not have granted him to wield the salmon-rod, but,
for all that, he can find abundant scope for the
exercise of the angler's craft, and the fullest joy
in the emotions it excites, in the pursuit of smaller
game, content to know that

" When he cannot make love to the lips that he loves,
He can always make love to the lips that are near."

And he thanks his stars, too, for the chance.

To the widest circle of anglers this little book
appeals. Should the lovers of salmon and the
heroes of sport think that in this brief chapter I
fail to give to the monarch of the streams that
supreme consideration which is due to its exalted
rank, and that I show the scantiest courtesy to a
fish whose virtues have inspired the poet's lays and
thrilled the angler's soul, I can assure these dis-
criminating friends that I fully share in their ap-
preciation of the salmon's charms, and join most
cordially in their tribute of praise ; but I trust that
they in turn will bear with me in my necessarily

Angling in Olden Times. 257

slight treatment of their favourite, when they realise
the rarity with which it ministers to the ordinary
angler's sport, and recognise the bounden duty that
is laid upon all in this utilitarian age to consult
" the greatest happiness of the greatest number."

Walton's knowledge of the natural history of the
salmon was extremely imperfect, and his views on
many points in salmon-fishing are consequently
erroneous. Indeed, so often are his statements
opposed to fact, that it has been questioned if he
ever saw the fish of which he professes to treat.
Among other doubtful stories, he tells us that
"salmon are very seldom observed to bite at a
minnow, yet sometimes they will, and not usually
at a fly, but more usually at a worm." And the
Cromwellian Captain Francks, in his 'Northern
Memoirs ' (written only five years after ' The
Complete Angler,' though not published till 1694),
says, * The ground-bait for salmon was of old the
general practice, and beyond dispute brought con-
siderable profit." But Francks knew of another
"general practice" in Scottish rivers, which, whether
it brought greater profit or not to the fisher, was
certainly more deadly to the fish, and vastly more
picturesque in the eyes of the onlooker. For he
says, " when the salmon goes to the shallows, that
is the time the prejudicate native consults his
opportunity to put in execution that barbarous

R

258 Salmon-Fishing.

practice of murdering fish by moonshine, or at
other times to martyr them with the blaze of a
wisp and a barbed spear." The practice of leis-
tering is now happily illegal, and so the reader
is saved an account of it ; ground-bait may still
bring " considerable profit " when used at suitable
times and in suitable waters, and something will
be said on it by-and-by; but as modern salmon-
fishers set greater store by the artificial fly, I shall
direct attention to it first.

The lures that are ranked under the title of
salmon -flies can be called so only by courtesy.
They have no resemblance whatever to any fly on
earth or in air, although Sir Humphry Davy sup-
posed that the salmon rises to a fly because it has
a distinct recollection of what it used to feed upon
when a parr. Trout, we are well assured, take the
artificial for the natural fly to which it bears some
likeness, and on which, as solely fresh-water fish,
they are accustomed to feed ; but salmon, prop-
erly denizens of the sea or the estuaries of rivers,
find their main subsistence there in the shape of
sand-eels, shrimps, and Crustacea of various kinds,
and seek the river-beds only at certain seasons
to spawn, and not to feed. Indeed, during the
months in which they inhabit the streams, they
live upon very little ; and, the purpose of their
migration effected, they return to the sea poorer in

Salmon- Flies. 259

condition than when they left it. The flies which
sport upon the surface of the river — creatures to
them almost unknown — do not constitute their
usual food ; and they can hardly be said to be on
the outlook for what, if presented to them, they
would fail to recognise. Salmon, according to
Buckland and many other naturalists, take the so-
called fly of the angler for a specimen of their own
favourite shrimp ; and certainly the action of the
lure, as it is worked by the rod, maintains any
illusion which may be created by its colouring and
shape. Real shrimps are deadly bait for salmon
in Gal way, as prawns are in the North Tyne,
though, strange to say, in both cases the fish
prefer them boiled. Some anglers, however, con-
sider that it is mere whim, or curiosity, or love
of colour, which brings a salmon to the fisher's
fly ; that, in fact, if it has not an eye to " the true,
the beautiful, and the good," it has at least one to
the glittering and the gaudy. The poet of the
1 Eural Sports,' who more than once confessed that
he was an angler, thus instructs the salmon-fly
dresser how to minister to the salmon's tastes : —

"To frame the little animal, provide
All the gay hues that wait on female pride."

In that case it will be no light task nowadays to
provide even one costume for " the little animal " ;

260 Salmon- Fishing.

but what if the fashion of the fly is to keep pace
with the fancy of the "female"? Moreover, if
" female pride " is to direct in the matter of colours,
why not also in the matter of cut ?

Stoddart tells us that in his day it was held that,
" in the lower parts of Tweed, salmon were not to
be allured with any degree of readiness by means
of the same colours and descriptions of flies as
those successfully employed against them twenty
or thirty years before." But although he con-
sidered that in those former times salmon were,
like our grey-haired forefathers, of sober tastes and
simple habits, content with homely fare and scorn-
ful of new-fangled delicacies, he was disposed to
think that the desire for change originated as much
in the capriciousness of the angler as in the vagaries
of the fish. I am inclined to believe with him that
there must have been then " a great deal of preju-
dice, self-conceit, and humbug exhibited by salmon-
fishers generally with respect to their flies — a mon-
strous mass of nonsense hoarded up by the best of
them ; " and were my own anxious fears allayed by
the assurance that there might be honourable ex-
ceptions in the case of " the best of them," I should
not hesitate to repeat in this year of grace the same
charitably sweeping denunciation of " salmon-fish-
ers generally." At all events, I have no confidence
in the thousand and one salmon-flies of prismatic

Pl. III.

Salmon Flies

Salmon- Flies. 26 1

hues, more likely to delude the angler than the
fish ; and though my flies are certainly not all of
the old hodden-grey tint, I do not require to go far
afield to find ready material for them ; for they are
all dressed with the feathers of our common native
birds. So dressed, they have proved as attractive
and deadly to the fish as those that

"Borrow the pride of land, of sea, and air ; "

while they do not cost a tithe of the expense.
The following is my list of salmon-flies : —

1. The Mallard, with black hackle. — Wing: a
feather from the back of the wing of the wild
drake. This feather is dull white and black spotted
to about half-way up, shading off to black and brown
at the tip. Body : pig's wool dyed dark mauve,
with a little yellow mohair round the tail of the fly,
which is formed of a few fibres of golden-pheasant
toppings, silver tinsel, and black hackle, with dark-
red mohair or pig's wool at the root of the wing.

2. The Mallard, with golden-pheasant hackle. —
Wing, as above. Body : dark - brown pig's wool
in the upper part, succeeded by yellow ; silver
tinsel and dark-mauve pig's wool close to the wing ;
heron's hackle rolled farther down. Tail : golden-
pheasant hackle. In all salmon -flies the wool
should be picked up with a needle or a pin, to give
the body a rough appearance.

262 Salmon-FisJiin

£>

3. Golden-PJieasant Tail, with black hackle. — Wing:
golden -pheasant tail-feather. Body : dark- mauve
in the upper part, and a little yellow pig's wool or
mohair in the lower. Tail: golden-pheasant top-
pings, black hackle, silver tinsel, and dark -red
mohair for the shoulder.

4. Golden -Pheasant Tail, with yellow hackle. —
Same dressing as for No. 3, except that the body is
black mohair in the upper part instead of mauve,
the hackle yellow, and the tinsel gold.

5. Brown Turkey, with black hackle. — Wing : dark-
brown feather with white tip from tail of turkey.
Body: dark mauve in the upper part, yellow
mohair in the lower. Dark -red mohair or pig's
wool for shoulder. Tail : golden-pheasant toppings,
gold tinsel, and black hackle. This fly was at one
time a great favourite on the Clyde. It is some-
times dressed with a red hackle, but a black is pref-
erable in a clear water.

6. Broion Turkey, with mauve hackle. — Wing and
body as in No. 5, except golden -pheasant hackle
instead of toppings for tail, mauve hackle instead
of black, silver tinsel instead of gold, and heron's
hackle below the wing.

7. Black Turkey. — Wing: a black feather with
white tip from the tail of the turkey. Body : black
mohair in the upper part, succeeded by dark mauve ;
dark red at the shoulder. Tail: golden -pheasant

Salmon Flies

The Rod and Line. 263

toppings, black hackle, and gold tinsel. The body
may be varied by substituting dark -brown pig's
wool for black and mauve. I always prefer pig's
wool to mohair.

8. Hen Pheasant. — Wing: dark mottled feather
from hen -pheasant tail. Body: black mohair in
upper part, yellow farther down, dark mauve at the
shoulder. Tail: golden -pheasant toppings, gold
tinsel, and black hackle.

9. Heron -Wing. — Wing: feather from wing of
heron. Body: yellow mohair, succeeded by dark
mauve, dark red at the shoulder. Tail : golden-
pheasant toppings, silver tinsel, and black hackle.

The size of the flies must in all cases be made to
suit the size and condition of the water, — a low
clear water demanding a small fly, and a dark
heavy water a larger one.

The rod for salmon-fishing is generally made too
long and too heavy. There is really no necessity
for having one longer than 17 or 18 feet. The
butt should be of ash, the middle of hickory,
and the top of lancewood or greenheart. The
middle piece should be somewhat stiff, but not
clumsily turned. I prefer a brass ferrule between
butt and middle, and a spliced connection between
middle and top, both for greater security and
additional advantage in casting. The reel contains
from 60 to 100 yards of carefully prepared silk.

264 Salmon-Fishing.

The eight-plait tapered silk lines are the best in
use; they cast much better than hair, take up
less room on the reel, are less liable to catch when
running out, and do not absorb so much water. A
triple gut casting-line of two yards or so, hand-
made, or machine-twisted and carefully tapered,
connects the silk with the gut-line proper, which
should itself measure three or four yards. The
total length of gut must be a little less than that
of the rod, so that when, on landing a fish, the
reel-line is rolled up to its junction with the gut,
the salmon will be quite within reach. For salmon-
fishing one fly on the gut is sufficient; when, how-
ever, sea-trout may be expected, I use two of a
smaller size. Before beginning operations let the
angler see that all his tackle is in perfect order,
that there is no weak strand of gut, and no false
connections; for as the prize is great, so are the
risks involved.

Salmon are always angled for down-stream. A
good long line is required, especially in fishing with
fly ; but the precise length will, of course, depend
on the size of the river. Many anglers boast of the
distance to which they can cast their fly: but to
cast out a line is one thing; to fish it properly
when cast, and to recover it when spent, so as to
effect a second throw, are other and very different
things. Practice may do much to perfect skill, but

Angling with the Fly. 265

only within the lever power which the angler has
at command. If necessary, I can cast and control
from 20 to 30 yards of line. It is only now
and again, however, that there is any necessity
to cover such a stretch of water. If it is desired
on an occasion to send the fly to a spot which the
length of line that can be cast and recalled would
fail to reach, the angler may unwind a yard or so
more, allowing it to hang loose at the reel, and cast
as usual, when the slack portion will run out with
the impetus of the cast ; but this additional line
has only to be taken in again before another ven-
ture can be made.

The mode of casting in fly-fishing is the same
for salmon as for trout; but as the salmon-line
is longer, it will, of course, be extended farther
behind, and more effort will be required to cast
it forward. In making the backward movement,
however, the rod must not be allowed to get far
behind, if the obvious dangers attendant on a long
line are to be avoided. The cast is always made
over the shoulder, and every angler should be able
to make it either from right or left as circumstances
require. When there are no obstacles in the way,
I always cast from that shoulder which is next the
river. In all fly-fishing, whether for salmon or for
trout, see that the fly alights gently and invitingly
on the surface.

266 Salmon-Fishing.

In smooth water, cast well across and down
stream, and allow the fly to come gradually round,
alternately raising and lowering the point of the
rod, until the line attains its natural tension, or
reaches a point from which you can with facility
make the next throw. By this working or plying
of the line the wings of the fly are opened and
closed, and the salmon is either deluded by this
appearance of life in the lure, and is tempted to
taste and try, or he is provoked by the vagaries
of the fly to rise and sweep it from his sight. In
fishing strong currents, it is necessary to cast farther
down-stream than in fishing pools, in order that the
fly may not be carried round so rapidly as to escape
the notice of the fish. In this case, the point of
the rod must be kept pretty well down, for the
purpose of sinking the fly a little ; and the working
of the line should be performed more gently and
less frequently than in quiet water, where the re-
sistance to such movements is not so great. Where
we have a pool with a current in the middle and
a quiet eddy beyond, it may be proper to cast more
nearly across, and to move the fly very gently, until
it is swept into the current, when the ordinary work-
ing is resumed ; but, in general, the casts for salmon
are made much more down-stream with the current
than those for trout. In all waters, the raising and
lowering of the rod must be measured and gradual \

Angling with the Fly. 267

for salmon, as a rule, do not dash at the fly like
trout, but are, at least in rivers, naturally more
leisurely in their movements than smaller game,
and require to be accommodated thus far, if the
angler wish for sport. There are, indeed, instances
in which salmon gulp the fly the moment it alights ;
but those are not common, and are generally con-
fined to newly run fish, that show "the madness
of the vexed sea " from which they come.

From what depth or distance salmon may rise
to a fly, is a question that does not readily admit
of a solution, but I am inclined to believe that
they can discern the lure much farther off than
most anglers suppose. I have caught salmon in
water twenty feet deep, where there were no rocky
sides or sunken ledges on which they might rest ;
and as in such water the fish always keep near
the bottom, I cannot doubt that they detected my
fly from that depth. Again, in shallow water, I
have seen a salmon, more than twenty feet distant
from my fly, make boldly for the tempting morsel
which had excited his cupidity. His aim was true ;
he met his fate ; " he gulped the hidden hook, where-
on he died." In all kinds of angling, a fruitless
cast in good water does not always indicate that the
angler has failed to attract the notice of the fish ;
rather is it a proof that, as a humorous writer puts
it, "the fish has seen the line of invitation which

268 Salmon- Fishing.

you have kindly sent to him over the water, and
does not intend to come." In the case of salmon
that do not find their natural food on the surface
of the water, it is, in most instances, mere caprice
that leads them to rise to a fly at all ; and we need
not, therefore, attribute to defective vision the fact
that they do not always leave their native depths,
and make after every fanciful object that flits across
the surface. Even when desire has prompted them
to rise to what they see, their somewhat dignified
movements may not bring them to the surface ere
the lure has passed beyond their reach.

Salmon have their favourite haunts in a river,
and these are not always of one character. In
those rivers or parts of rivers over whose channels
rocks and boulders are freely dispersed, harbours
of refuge are numerous, and it would be a difficult
matter for one previously unacquainted with the
water to say where a fish might lie and where it
might not. For salmon are very fastidious in their
choice of an abode. They select retreats that seem
to us to possess no special recommendation, and
pass over others that we should consider peculiarly
adapted for their purpose. But we need not com-
plain that in this matter, as in many others, they
exercise their own discretion. Doubtless, in their
selection they study their own convenience, and
not the angler's, and consider the questions of food,

Afigling with the Fly. 269

accommodation, and shelter, of more account than
those of gaudy lures and deadly baits. With a very
natural, though perhaps selfish, instinct,

1 ' They prize their lives for other ends
Than merely to oblige their friends."

Though an experienced fisher, in a water to which
he is a perfect stranger, should be able from the
natural features of a pool to say where fish were
likely to lie, it would be only the local angler who
could with certainty tell where they did lie. But
every angler knows that salmon are considerably
influenced in their choice of a resting-place by the
condition of the water ; and that, when the river
is full, he may fish with some confidence of success
in places where he would never dream of casting
a fly when the river is low. In a "small" clear
water, salmon select the deeper runs, such as the
throats of pools where the current is rough; and
there they station themselves near large stones or
rocks on the side next the stream. When the river
is heavy, they retire into the quieter water of the
pools, and may sometimes be found even in long
deep reaches of the river, where no current at all
is perceptible. In small rivers, when the water is
low, the angler need not fish the necks of the streams
beyond

" The dubious point where with the pool
Is mixed the trembling stream,"

270 Salmon-Fishing.

unless the rest of the pool is sufficiently deep and
rocky to afford shelter for fish, and there is wind
enough to ruffle the surface. But in large rivers,
there is every chance of finding salmon in the
quieter parts of the pools, as well as in the necks,
even when the water is low and clear.

A single cast in any one spot is generally suffi-
cient to determine whether salmon are at hand and
in the humour to take the fly, but a few more
attempts must be made to allure a fish from any
well - known favourite haunt ; and all casts, wher-
ever made, should be in the angler's best style.
" Never," says Wheatley, " throw a fly without ex-
pecting a fish." Should the fish rise and fail to
seize the fly, give him two or three more chances to
impale himself; and, if he still decline the honour,
tempt him with a different fly. It is true, you may
not even then succeed ; but do not give him up.
Leave him to consider the matter for a while, and
then renew your solicitations. It is possible that
such a change may have " come o'er the spirit of
his dream" as will give you cause for joy.

If you see a salmon rise and take the fly, let him
turn before you strike. A young angler is very apt
instinctively to tighten his line the moment he
catches sight of the object of his ambition, with the
almost inevitable result of snatching the fly from
its mouth. A second will suffice for the salmon to

Striking. 271

turn, but that second must be given him. If, how-
ever, you are not sensible of his attack till you
actually feel his weight on the line, give him not a
moment's grace, but respond at once. In salmon-
lishing, as usually practised with a long line in
streams or rough water, it is not so easy to follow
the fly with the eye as in trout-fishing, and in such
cases the angler must needs depend more on feeling
than on sight ; but in fishing a pool or quiet reach
of water with a short line, the same necessity is not
laid upon him, and he should then watch for every
indication of a rise. I am aware that my views on
this point do not coincide with those of Stoddart,
" Ephemera," and others, who say that one should
never strike till he has actually felt the pull of the
fish at the line. My practice has always been to
strike the moment I saw the fish turn, although I
had not felt his weight at all, and my reward has
been the capture of many a hundred salmon.
Strike gently in a heavy stream, and more firmly
in a smooth water. In no case, however, does it
involve any great exertion ; a slight raising of the
rod is generally sufficient to fix the hook. This
accomplished, the contest for the mastery begins.
If the fish be slightly hooked, he generally disports
himself pretty freely out of the water, " impatient
of the wound," or " indignant of the guile " ; but he
may be

272 Salmon- Fishing.

" Too sore enpierced with the shaft
To soar with its light feathers, "

and then he seeks a refuge underneath. In any
case, his first demand is usually for more rope ; and
the angler who would not that the first wild rush
should bring the captive off scot-free must be ready
to comply.

It is difficult at first for one to form an accurate
idea of the size of the fish he has hooked, for the
play and vigour are not always in direct proportion
to the weight. A comparatively small fish, espe-
cially if newly run, may, at the first onset, afford
quite an unexpected display of strength, and by
his frantic efforts to escape, create a wrong impres-
sion of his bulk; while one of bigger frame may,
for a time, be patient under the rod, and seem to
acquiesce pleasantly in the arrangements made for
his despatch, until, goaded by the barbed steel or
exasperated by the incessant curb of the tackle, he
rises in all the majesty of his might,

"With such power
As may hold sortance with his quality, "

threatening dire destruction to the weapons of war,
and filling the angler's soul with wild alarm.

" Although," says " Ephemera," " a salmon or
grilse, fresh run from the sea, is larger and in
better condition than it will be after a few weeks'

Playing the Fish. 273

sojourn in fresh water, it is neither so strong nor so
active — at all events, its strength and activity are
not so enduring. One evident cause of this is, that
fresh water hardens and renders tough and stiffly
elastic the fins, which are soft and feebly pliant in
fish fresh from the sea; and the natural conse-
quence is that, aided by those whalebone fin-rays
(for to the consistency, or very nearly so, of that
substance fresh water reduces them), they are more
capable of putting forth enduring effort, and strong
and rapid motion, than the obese fresh-run fish with
its limber fins. This will explain why the angler
finds it frequently more difficult to tire out a small
fish than a larger one. For myself, I have had,
over and over again, an easier task in capturing
with rod and line a fresh-run salmon of 15 lb. in
weight, than a grilse half the size, which had been
for a few weeks' training, as it were, in short but
strengthening commons in fresh water. At all
times a grilse will be found more powerful than
a salmon of the same weight, because the fins of
grilse are larger, in proportion to the size of their
bodies, than the fins of adult salmon. Grilse
possess, consequently, easier and greater powers of
locomotion than salmon."1

After hooking your fish, endeavour to keep well
up with him. Do not let him have all his own

1 Book of the Salmon, p. 201 et seq.
S

274 Salmon- Fishing.

way, but be sparing of the line, and maintain a
good strain on the rod. Should he be a salmon of
very decided and erroneous views, he may take at
once across stream. Scruple not to remonstrate with
him on the error of his ways by presenting him
unreservedly with the butt. Show him that you
and he are " linked together by the invisible gut of
destiny," and that as he chose his own time and
place to form the tie, so you will choose yours to
dissolve it. If he plunge wildly and throw somer-
saults in the air, there is danger to the tackle,
unless you speedily let him have the line; but
wind up the moment the burst is over, and stand
on your guard for the next. This is a losing game
for the fish, if you play well, for every leap betrays
the dimensions of the enemy, and tends to exhaust
his strength. Never allow him to get down-stream
before you, if you can at all prevent it : the result
is pretty certain to be a lost fish, and a bitter
repentance ;

" For when the fight becomes a chase,
He wins the day that wins the race. "

If he boldly steer right up the stream, " straight
and steady as a bridegroom riding to the kirk,"
follow him up closely, but take care to keep always
a little below. This has a wonderful effect in pre-
venting him from " sulking " under big stones — a

Lauding the Fish. 275

trick he is almost certain to resort to if he gets
below you — and so wearing both your tackle and
your patience. Whenever he shows an inclination
to make for "foul" spots, such as roots of trees,
narrow rushing rapids, or dangerous places, whither
you cannot follow him, butt him severely, and turn
his head down the water. For, as Mr Penn says,
" if you can prevail upon him to walk a little way
down-stream with you, you will have no difficulty
afterwards in persuading him to let you have the
pleasure of seeing him at dinner."

When the fish is well played out and exhibits
evident signs of defeat, select a gravelly channel or
level spot for a good landing, and winding close up,
bring him cautiously to the strand, then, with the
rod held well back in the left hand, seize him tight-
ly above the tail with the right, and drag him on
the bank. Do not consider him safe, however, till
he is beyond all reach of his native element, and do
not lay down the rod till then; for just as he is near-
ing the channel, or even when on it, he has a trick
sometimes of remembering that he has forgot some-
thing, and of suddenly disappearing to fetch it.
Though, of course, he " won't be absent a moment,"
it is as well to keep firm hold of the rod as the only
pledge of his return. Let him have the line with
him, however, and recover as before whenever his
little game is over; and as soon as you conveni-

276 Salmon- Fishing.

ently can, " by a well-regulated exercise of gentle
violence," land him comfortably, and take him into
custody. In removing the fly, use great caution,
else you may rob it both of its power to lure and its
power to hold ; and overhaul all the tackle before
you hazard another throw.

For good fly-fishing for salmon in small rivers, con-
sisting chiefly of streams and pools, I prefer a full
water after a flood, whether it be clear or black ; but
in rivers, or parts of rivers, having long deep reaches,
where scarcely any current can be detected, the
water is in the best condition when it is " small " and
clear. We may say, then, that in the upper reaches
of such rivers as the Tweed, circumstances are fa-
vourable when the water is full, but in the lower
portions there is always a sufficient body of water
for salmon-angling, even if it be too low and clear
higher up. It must be borne in mind that in order
to fish with any chance of success in still water, it
is absolutely necessary that there be a good breeze.
In regard to the time of day best suited for fly-
fishing, no rigid rule can be prescribed — so much
depends upon the weather and the season. But
it cannot be far amiss to say that, in the spring
months, the business hours of the salmon are from
10 A.M. till 4 p.m. ; and that if the morning be
fine, the angler who loves despatch may come early.
In summer, the salmon usually takes his siesta at

Angling with the Minnoiv. 277

mid-day, and had better be consulted in the morning
or evening. Nothing can be done with him at all
on hot fiery days ; but when the weather is cool or
windy at this season, you may " get a rise " out of
him at any hour. Indeed, in summer, such days
are the best for capturing all kinds of fish, if we
except the perch and the minnow.

The observations made in a previous chapter on
minnow-fishing for trout, may be taken as applying
equally well to minnow-fishing for salmon. Almost
the only points of difference have regard to the
size of the hooks and the weighting of the line.
I use three No. 13 hooks, and make up the tackle
in the way already described, baiting with larger
minnows to suit the larger hooks. To fish this
bait properly, sinkers are necessary. In a low clear
water two No. 2 shot will suffice, but more are
needed if the water be heavy. They are generally
placed about 18 inches from the hooks. Unless
the line be well weighted, the angler runs very
little chance of success ; for salmon, unlike trout,
rarely rise to the surface to seize the minnow.
Besides keeping the bait well sunk, a few leads
materially assist the slow spinning which is needed
to suit the slower movements of the salmon, and to
tempt him to take a bite. But such a style of
fishing is not without its risks ; for, plying his lure
thus slowly and near the bottom, the angler is very

278 Salmon- Fishing.

apt to run foul of rocks and other obstructions, and
get anchored in mid-stream. In all untoward cir-
cumstances, however, nothing is gained by fretting
and fuming. The situation is unpleasant, perhaps,
but do not be rash, for even in apparently hope-
less cases a slight exercise of patience and per-
severance will often free the lure, though it may
indeed spoil the pool.

Salmon sometimes take the artificial minnow,
the best form of which is perhaps the phantom ;
but when the natural can be got, let not the angler
think of any other. The only excuse for the use of
the artificial is the difficulty, sometimes experienced
in spring, of procuring live minnows of a suitable
size. This difficulty is the more to be regretted,
for spring is without doubt the best season for
salmon - fishing with this lure, as autumn is the
most deadly with the fly. Stoddart recommends
a bright day for the minnow in spring, when the
river is low and clear j but my experience has al-
ways been that, in such conditions of water, the
luckiest days at this season are certainly the dull
cloudy ones. Indeed, a thoroughly wet day is
sometimes fraught with excellent sport, especially
if it occur after a prolonged drought.

Fish the minnow, as you do the fly, in rocky
pools and heavy rough streams ; and when you
feel a fish, let him go a short way with the bait

Angling with the Worm. 279

before you strike. If you see a salmon take the
minnow — a rare occurrence, since the lure is well
sunk — just let him turn ere you call him to
account. Do not dally so long over a fish rising
short at the minnow as you would do over one that
missed your fly ; after one or two ineffectual casts
move on to " fresh fields and pastures new," before
you have created alarm where you wished to allure,
and return after a time to tempt him yet again.

And now let me add a word or two on salmon-
fishing with the worm. The tackle required is
of the simplest description, and consists of a single
hook, No. 16, tied upon the same kind of gut as
is used in minnow - spinning, and well weighted,
so that there may be both slow motion and deep
fishing. Three well -scoured worms, each about
four inches long, of the kind already referred to
in the chapter on " Worm-fishing," are required to
form one good bait. Enter the hook about the
upper third of the first worm, and bringing it
out about the lower third, run the bait up the
gut to make way for the others. Eepeat the pro-
cess with the second worm, reserving the third to
cover the barb of the hook ; bring down the others
to meet it, and you will thus completely conceal
shank, bend, and point, while the loose portions
will hang over and form a tempting bait. If the
worms are small, four may be necessary. I have

280

Salmon- Fishing.

said the line must be well loaded. This is imper-
ative, both because we fish the worm in heavier
water for salmon than for trout, and because salmon
are somewhat deliberate in their mode of attack.

Having drawn off from the reel a yard or two
more of line than you will need in casting, so that
a fish on seizing the bait may run out without
check, throw the worm up the heavy current, and
allow it to move slowly round the deepest part of
the pool where salmon lie ; and, when it gets a
little below you, walk down-stream with it till it
leaves the best of the water. Then you may cast
again. It is better to fish from the channel side
than from the bank, not only because the worm is
then carried along more naturally with the current,
but also because the risk of its fixing on the bottom
is considerably diminished.

The salmon may attack the bait several times be-
fore he finally " takes " it, and no restraint whatever
must be placed upon him during these preliminary
operations. Should he feel the slightest check on
his movements his suspicions will be aroused, he
will instantly drop the bait, and it must be a very
tempting worm indeed that will induce him to re-
new the attack. If unresisted, he goes off with the
bait in a lurching manner, like a cat with a mouse,
now running for a short distance as though to find
a convenient spot to devour his prize, now pausing

Conditions of Water and Weather. 281

as though he had found one ; and only after, it may
be, two or three successive freaks of this kind, does
he settle down to enjoy it. When he comes to a
final "stand," strike by sharply raising the rod.
This will send the hook well home, when nothing
remains to be done but to play him in the usual
manner till he is exhausted. During its progress
down-stream, the line may of course be arrested by
some obstruction at the bottom ; but the fact must
be ascertained only by its subsequent movements,
and no attempt should be made to interfere with
its free motion, until sufficient time has elapsed
for a fish to reveal his presence.

Though salmon sometimes take the fly in a
pretty heavy water — even in one passing from the
clayey condition to the black — they are seldom
allured by either the minnow or the worm in such
circumstances. Worm-fishing is always best in a
low clear water. It should be practised during the
summer and autumn months ; and the most favour-
able hours are in the early morning before the sun
comes forth in his strength, and in the evening
after the heat of the day is over. In its proper
season the worm in the morning, when the water
is "small" and clear, often proves a greater success
than any other lure throughout the day.

As a frequenter of most of our salmon-rivers, the
sea-trout cannot be passed over without some little

282 Salmon-Fishing.

recognition. Its scientific name is the Salmo trutta,
or salmon-trout, but its local names are very many
and very confusing. It is the same as the white
trout of Ireland, and the peal of Cornwall and
Devonshire; and although often confounded with
the bull-trout, is, in the opinion of many naturalists
and most practical anglers, quite a distinct species
from it.1 Dr Gunther, however, in his Keport to
the Tweed Fishery Commissioners, considers the
bull-trout only a variety of the Salmo trutta. The
bull-trout is often — perhaps too often — seen in the
Tweed, where it is known simply as " The Trout " ;
and in the Coquet and other rivers in the north-east
of England, where it commonly goes by the name of
" The Salmon." It feeds more readily and voraciously
than the salmon, and sometimes rivals that monarch
himself both in size and weight. Moreover, the
two are not unlike in appearance : indeed there is
such an apparent resemblance between them, that
in England, fishwives have been known to clip the
round tail of the bull-trout quite square, and sell it
for true salmon. But grilse and salmon on the one
hand, can be readily distinguished from salmon-
trout and bull-trout on the other, by the spots,
which in these latter fish, after the smolt stage,
invariably appear below the lateral line. Salmon
and grilse, in some very few cases, have one or two
1 Buckland's British Fishes, p. 322.

The Sea-Trout. 283

such spots, but the vast majority of the species
have none at all. The bull-trout itself is marked
out from all the allied species by the greater thick-
ness of its neck, the more angular form of its gill-
covers, the somewhat smaller size of its scales, and,
in the full-grown fish, the more convex formation
of the tail-fin.1 Distinctions between it and its
friends will also be found both in the shape and in
the relative position of the other fins ; but as these
vary more or less in different stages of growth, they
afford a less certain test of the species. The teeth,
however, offer a ready means of distinguishing the
sea-trout — at least in the earlier period of its exist-
ence— from the bull-trout and the salmon. All the
three species have only a single series of vomerine
teeth, or teeth on the central bone in the roof of
the mouth (and in this lies the difference between
them and the common river -trout, which has a
double row), but they are most numerous in the
sea-trout; and though these teeth are gradually
lost in all the migratory species as the fish ap-
proaches mature age, in the sea-trout they are
always retained for a longer period than in either
the bull-trout or the salmon.2 If, after an ex-

1 Pennell's Angler Naturalist, p. 244 et seq.

2 Many points in the history of the Salmonoids still remain
very obscure. Dr Gunther, in his ' Study of Fishes,' says : " We
know of no group of fishes which offers so many difficulties to the

284 Salmon-Fishing.

haustive examination of all these external charac-
teristics, one should still be at a loss to say whether
the fish he has caught be a salmon, a bull-trout,
or a sea-trout, nothing remains but to adopt the
method Josh Billings suggests for settling, at once
and for ever, whether a certain fungus is a mush-
room or a toad-stool — let him eat it and he will see.
Though the result of the experiment with the fish
would certainly not be so serious as that with the
fungus, it would be quite as conclusive ; for no one
would fail to detect the bull-trout, when cooked, by
its markedly inferior taste. Nevertheless, they are

ichthyologist with regard to the distinction of the species , as well
as to certain points in their life-history. " Some naturalists, such
as Couch, reckon a vast number of species ; but it is more than
probable that many of these so-called species are merely varieties
of the same fish, arising from changes in the external conditions
of its existence. Dr Day, in his ' Fishes of Great Britain and
Ireland ' (vol. ii. p. 59), is clearly of this opinion ; and, with
special reference to the Salmo trutta, says : " It is evident that
our anadromous sea-trout may take on a fresh- water state of
existence, and breed there (as in the Lismore experiments), irre-
spective of which, by imperceptible changes, we find it in every
country passing from one form to another. "

Hybridism, too, has no inconsiderable share in increasing the
varieties. According to Giinther, " Abundant evidence has accu-
mulated, showing the frequent occurrence of hybrids between the
S. fario (common river-trout) and the S. trutta (sea-trout) ; " and
"it is characteristic of hybrids that their characters are very
variable, the degrees of affinity to one or other of the parents
being inconstant ; and as these hybrids are known readily to
breed with either of the parent race, the variations of form,
structure, and colour, are infinite,"

The Sea- Trout. 285

sent in great quantities to the Parisian markets,
where they seem to be held in high esteem.

Both sea-trout and bull-trout may be captured
near the mouths of rivers more or less during the
spring and summer ; but it is in autumn that they
ascend to spawn, and then they run, not only to
the upper waters of the main stream, but even to
the small hill-burns. One or two floods in March
will take the most of them down again ; but should
the rivers continue low at that season, the angler
in the Tweed, especially between Peebles and Thor-
nilee, may expect to come across a few good fish
in the course of a day's fishing for yellow trout.
Though the bull-trout fights valiantly when hooked,
and generally "dies game," the sea-trout is much
his superior both in sporting and in edible quali-
ties, and is consequently a more desirable object
of pursuit. Indeed, if all were known, I fear the
bull-trout would be even less of a favourite with
some anglers than he is. For it was stated in
evidence before the Salmon Disease Commission
of 1880, that bull-trout feed largely on the young
salmon-fry ; that, as they ascend the river later
than salmon, they benefit most by the close
season ; and that, being then consequently over-
crowded in small pools, they are predisposed to
disease. The late Mr Buckland, one of the Com-
missioners, went even further, and said : " I am

286 Salmon- Fishing.

convinced that the time is not far distant when
serious steps must be taken to counteract the
great predominance of bull-trout ; " and again, " The
superabundance of bull-trout in the Tweed is, in
my opinion, one of the great causes of the salmon-
disease in that river."

Indigenous in almost all salmon-rivers, sea-trout
abound also in many streams where salmon are
never seen; and even certain tributaries of the
rivers which salmon frequent are inhabited by sea-
trout alone. This is especially the case in the
Whitadder, into which salmon never enter. Sea-
trout may be looked for in all kinds of water — in
pools, in eddies, and in rapid streams — and may
be taken with fly, worm, or minnow, though they
cannot be said to be particularly fond of the last.

A light salmon or grilse rod of 16 or 17 feet,
with a line to correspond, will be found the most
suitable for this kind of fishing. A reel is gen-
erally indispensable; nevertheless I have, when
angling for yellow trout with the loop-rod, killed
sea-trout upwards of 5 lb. in weight. The ordinary
artificial trout-flies are great favourites with this
fish during the whole season ; the night-flies already
given are also quite suitable, and the smaller
salmon-flies are often greedily taken. The colours
and varieties recommended by some anglers are
almost endless, but are quite unnecessary, the fact

The Sea-Trout. 287

being that equally in sea-trout flies as in salmon-
flies, a very few of the more subdued colours are
all that are needed for any river in the kingdom.
They are dressed upon hooks varying in size from
No. 4 to No. 10, according to the condition of the
stream, large flies being required for heavy water.
The cast may carry three if the flies are large, and
five or six if small. The salmon-flies are most
deadly when the water is heavy.

There is nothing in the method of sea-trout
fishing that has not been already said under
salmon-fishing. Fish down-stream. In summer
and autumn, after or during a flood, large num-
bers are caught with the worm at the mouths of
rivers, and in the sea they often take the spinning-
minnow; but the fly is the best lure when the
waters have subsided. When hooked, sea -trout
give rare play. If fresh run, they are, in propor-
tion to their size, stronger and wilder than any
salmon, and fight with the greatest pertinacity to
the end — the bitter end often for them indeed,
but sometimes for the angler. In the small tidal
streams in the west of Scotland I have known sea-
trout of not more than 2 lb. in weight, on feeling the
hook, dash impetuously up the water, surmounting
three considerable falls in succession, and running
out more than forty yards of line. They always
require to be carefully played, if the fisher wish to

288 Salmon-Fishing.

maintain the connection with the fish, and bring
them safely to bank.

The importance of the salmon as a food-fish was
early recognised by the Legislature of this country.
Even before Magna Charta, the common law of
England prohibited the monopoly of salmon-fish-
eries by the Crown or its grantees, and ordered the
suppression of all weirs or other devices interfering
with the passage of the fish. Scotland, pre-emi-
nently the land of salmon as well as " the land o'
cakes," was not much behind in salmon law-making.
From the time of Eobert the Bruce until the union
of the Parliaments, "Acts anent the Preservation
of Salmonde " again and again found a place, and
no mean place, in the statute-book. The Act of
the first Parliament of James I. (1424) shows the
spirit of the legislation and the " rigour of the law" :
" Quha sa ever be convict of slauchter of salmonde
in time forbidden be the law, he sail pay fourtie
shillings for the unlaw; and at the third time, gif
he be convict of sik trespasse, he sail tyne his life,
or then bye it." x Under such rigorous measures the
poachers must have had a hard time of it. After
the union of the Parliaments, however, the love
for salmon among legislators grew cold, and their
vigilance for its preservation relaxed. Till quite
recent times, indeed, there was little attempt to

1 The Salmon, by A. Russel, p. 136 et seq.

Salmon Legislation. 289

make the law for saving the salmon keep pace with
the improvement and extension of the means for
killing it; and had there not been a revival of
interest in the good work, salmon would ere long
have only been seen in the cases of museums.

The Legislature awaked to the necessity for ac-
tion in 1857. Since that time various measures,
notably those passed between 1861 and 1878, dealt
stringently with illegal fishing, close-time, and other
important matters ; and for the redress which these
Acts have afforded, proprietors and anglers have
always been grateful. Satisfied, however, they can-
not be : the questions of netting, weirs, and pollu-
tions, remain in a most unsatisfactory state, as the
yearly Reports of the Fishery Inspectors continue
to prove.

Since the killing of spawning fish was prohib-
ited, there has naturally been an increase in the
number of salmon that come to the adult stage.
But though bigger fish may now be caught in the
rivers, clean fish, especially in the upper waters,
are few and far between. In spring, when a river
opens, many salmon are undoubtedly to be met
with ; but these are, for the most part, spawned
fish making their way to sea: nearly the whole
harvest of clean fish ascending the river is reaped
by the tacksmen and the nets, and comparatively
few reach the upper proprietors, until the season

T

290 Salmon-Fishing.

when it is illegal to kill them. So long as the nets
are spread — and that is from February to Sep-
tember— the only chance a salmon has of reaching
the upper waters is during the weekly close-time
from Saturday night till Monday morning, or during
a flood, when net-fishing is impracticable.1 In the
Eeport of the Inspectors of Fisheries (England) for
1881, it is stated that the actual number of salmon
taken with the rod in the Teify in Wales, during one
season, was only 20, against 8700 captured with the
nets. If this is so in what the Inspectors call " a
river of great excellence," need we wonder at the
miserable gleaning that is left for the proprietors on
the upper reaches of the Tweed ? The Inspectors
admit the injustice which is thus done to the own-
ers in the higher districts, and conclude their report
thus: "We wish to repeat our strong opinion that the
upper proprietors, in many cases, require more con-
sideration than has hitherto been afforded to them.
Owning, as they do, the most valuable breeding
waters in each watershed, their influence is of the
first importance in salmon preservation; and the

1 Mr Young, in his First Report to the Fishery Board for Scot-
land, quotes the following from a Tay proprietor : " The weekly
close-time must be admitted to be a total failure, as far as the
interests of the upper proprietors are concerned, and necessarily
so in a river of such extent as the Tay. The Saturday and Sun-
day fish, coming into the river, don't get half-way before they are
caught by the Monday morning net."

Defects in the Existing Acts. 291

measures adopted by Parliament in 1861, in 1865,
and in 1873, to ensure a fairer distribution of fish,
have not, in all cases, led to satisfactory results
among the upper proprietors." In fact, the owners
in the upper waters are still very much what Max-
well of Summertrees, in ' Bedgauntlet,' styled them
— " a sort of clocking-hens, to hatch the fish that
folk below them are to catch and eat." Alike, then,
on grounds of policy and equity, it is desirable that
their grievances be removed.

It is undoubtedly true, as the lessees of the lower
fisheries are never weary of saying, that salmon
taken near the sea are most fit for the food of man,
and that it is there the principal fisheries must be.
But the upper owners never asked for an equal
share with the lower. What they chiefly want, as
pointed out by Mr Eussel twenty years ago, " is
not fish, but fishing — not gain, but sport. And the
number of fish sufficient for sport, compared with
what is necessary for profit, is utterly insignificant."

If the rights of these proprietors receive such
scanty recognition, where shall the privileges of
the sportsman angler appear ? Under existing laws
the angler is virtually excluded. This is unwisely
done. Legitimate rod-fishing, under proper regula-
tions, never yet injured a stream; and were some
sections of the upper waters thrown open to the
"honest" angler at a time when fish are in season,

292 Salmon- Fishing.

neither the sport of the proprietors nor the food-
supply of the community would be injured in the
slightest degree. As a matter of fact, both would
be undoubtedly and materially increased. At pres-
ent, the number of clean fish killed by the legiti-
mate rod - fisher during the short open season,
amounts only to an infinitesimal fraction of the
number of foul fish slaughtered by the poacher
throughout the winter. The angler may be pro-
verbially " honest " in the midst of strong temp-
tation to be otherwise, when he conscientiously
returns all unclean fish to the water whence they
came ; but he must be more than " honest " if he
should manifest unwearied exertion to discoun-
tenance poaching in the upper waters, simply to
provide fish for the people lower down. If even a
small share of clean salmon fell to the rods of the
legitimate anglers, a local interest in preserving
the fish would be enlisted in the districts where
it would most avail, and a practical guardianship
would be established, which would do more to pre-
vent the annual slaughter of tons of unclean fish
than all the vigilance of all the bailiffs on the river,
and would bring to the proprietors and the com-
munity at large a handsome return for the very
small privilege accorded to the brethren of the rod.
Other grievances that still remain to be effec-
tually dealt with by the Legislature are pollutions

Defects in the Existing Acts. 293

and obstructive weirs. Each alone is bad enough,
but it is when in combination that their influence
is most pernicious. Pollutions poison the river ;
weirs not only interfere with the free passage of
the fish, but obstruct the natural flow of the water,
which might have diminished the effects of the
poison it contains. Prior to the passing of the
Eivers Pollution Act of 1876, manufacturers and
burgh commissioners alike — those with chemicals,
these with sewage — scrupled not to turn what
should have been, and had been, gladdening and
life - giving streams, into very rivers of death.
Though the evil has to some extent been miti-
gated, it has not yet by any means ceased. The
Inspectors, in the report from which I have already
quoted, " find it to be their duty to point out that
the multiplication of salmon is seriously affected
by pollution," and that, " in very few cases have
steps been taken to render pollution harmless;"
while Mr Young, the Inspector of Salmon-Fisheries
for Scotland, is of opinion that " it is high time that
stringent measures were taken to check the progress
of pollution, for in one way, at least, the public
health and the preservation of salmon are im-
mediately connected." Although salmon, in their
natural desire to reach the spawning-grounds in the
upper reaches of a river, often " run the gauntlet " of
chemical refuse, sewage, and other abominations at

294 Salmon- Fishing.

the mouth, it is the large volume of water there, or
the floods at the time of their ascent, which dilute
the poison and render it less deadly. But some-
times the impurities are too many — even for
salmon. "Almost every year," says Dr Gunther,
" salmon and sea-trout in the grilse state make
their appearance at the mouth of the Thames
(where the migratory Salmonoids have been ex-
tinct for many years) ready to reascend and restock
this river as soon as its poisoned water shall be
sufficiently purified to allow them a passage."

In a paper on the Loch Lomond fishings, read
before the Scotch Fisheries Improvement Associa-
tion (26th September 1884), we find the following :
" In dry weather hundreds of salmon and trout are
found dead in the river Leven, poisoned by refuse
from the dye-works — fat, healthy fish, quite fit for
the table : in fact, the people collect them and sell
them for food. Tens of thousands of young fry and
smolts also die every year by this means on their
way to the sea. Besides the actual death inflicted
by these poisonous stuffs, they further injure the
loch by keeping the fish in the cleaner waters of the
tideway, pending a freshet to permit them to pass
up ; and when in that situation they fall a prey
to the ever- watchful poacher, who nets the lower
waters on the pretence of catching herring." In-
stances might be given of similar destruction in

Defects in the Existing Acts. 295

the Tay and many other rivers ; but this is un-
necessary: the facts are well known. It is en-
couraging to observe, however, that the importance
of the subject is now so fully recognised, that
Angling Associations and Fishery Boards are tak-
ing steps to obtain from the Government some
remedy for the defects in the existing law; and
that, in view of the wider interests to • which the
question appeals, a National Society has been re-
cently formed in London, in order, as its prospec-
tus bears, " to induce and secure immediate legis-
lation for the prompt and effective suppression of
the pollution of the streams of the country."

The evils attendant on weirs and pollutions are
vastly increased by the excessive amount of land-
drainage. This has been alluded to in a previous
chapter as acting very prejudicially to the interests of
the resident river-trout ; but the migratory Salmon-
oids suffer from it even more severely. In the
case of both fish, the changes caused by drainage
tend to the destruction of the ova — the greater sud-
denness and violence of the flood washing away the
spawn, and the greater height of the flooded water
inducing the spawners (which always seek the
shallows) to deposit their ova in higher situations,
where they are, on the subsidence of the waters to
a low level, exposed to imminent peril, if not to
certain destruction. But if the drainage system

296 Salmon-Fishing.

is cruel to the ova, it is not kind to the ascending
fish. Salmon do not incline to ascend a river
either when it is very low or when it is in very
high flood ; they prefer a happy medium. Now
we have seen that the effect of increased drainage
is to bring down the water more quickly and in
greater volume after rain, and to reduce it to a lower
level during drought. The time favourable for the
ascent of salmon is thus very considerably dimin-
ished, and the consequence is that they are often
detained too long in the tidal waters, where they
are either captured by the nets, devoured by their
natural marine enemies, or poisoned by the pollu-
tions of the river. Even should they escape these
risks and enter the fresh water, the river, especially
if it be obstructed by weirs, is no more favourable
for their progress than it was for their entrance ;
and the result is overcrowding in the pools, with its
attendant evils. A similar condition of affairs when
the fish are on their passage to the sea can only
lead to similar disastrous results. The increase of
hill-drainage may, so far as the fish are concerned,
be an irremediable evil ; but all the more on that
account should effective measures be speedily direct-
ed against those other evils, the removal of which is
both practically possible and reasonably desired.

A new and more formidable enemy of the salmon
has appeared in the form of what is now known as

Salmon Disease. 297

the fungus disease. It is not my purpose to enter
upon the vexed question of its origin, nor am I
prepared with any nostrum for its cure. Many and
divers are the causes to which it has been attributed.
It has been laid to the charge of pollution, of low-
ness of water caused by excessive land- drainage,
of effects of frost and snow on the water, of over-
stocking or overcrowding of fish, of obstruction by
weirs, of wounds caused by fish fighting on the
spawning-beds, and many more. Whether the dis-
ease in its origin or in its development is to be
attributed to any or to none of these, or whether
this epidemic among the fish is simply Nature's
method of thinning an overstocked community, are
questions still unsolved. The Eoyal Commission
of 1880 could do little more than submit a host
of conflicting views; the Inspectors of Fisheries,
though able in their most recent reports to record
discoveries as to the propagation of the disease
among various fish, are silent alike as to its cause
and its cure ; and science has been appealed to, but
as yet has declined to reply.1

1 The most recent contribution to this question is that con-
tained in the Report of Professor Huxley, the Inspector of
Fisheries (1883) : " These experiments [of Mr George Murray]
afford conclusive proof that the saprole'gnia may attack a fish,
the epidermis of which is entire and uninjured. They dispose of
the theory that abrasions are a necessary precedent condition for
the development of the disease ; and as they show that perfectly

298 Salmon-Fishing.

But pending the result of inquiry and experi-
ment as to the cause of the distemper, much might
be done to minimise its ravages, if not entirely to
counteract them. Seeing that every diseased fish
which remains in a river immensely increases the
chances of contaminating those that are healthy,
there can be no question of the wisdom of the
policy now adopted in our rivers of removing and
burying or burning every fish infected with the
disease. There will, too, be general acquiescence
in the wisdom of the Acts of 1861 and 1865, which
gave powers to Fishery Boards to erect passes over
certain weirs and mill-caulds, below which fish
collect and overcrowd, so as to permit of their
ascent to the untenanted water above, where the
best spawning-beds often lie. But as the value of
this provision is very much diminished by the ex-
ceptions allowed in the case of weirs erected prior
to 1861, it is to be hoped that the Act will be
made retrospective, and be extended to all afflicted
streams. Even natural obstructions may be over-
come, in many cases at least, by the more extensive
use of the modern salmon-ladder.1

healthy fish may be readily infected, they also dispose of the
theory that the fish must have fallen into some morbid state
before they succumbed to the attacks of the fungus."

i "At this moment," says Mr Young, in his Second Annual
Report to the Fishery Board for Scotland, 1883, "there are

Artificial Propagation. 299

But besides .these protective measures, means
must be taken by the artificial hatching of ova on
an extensive scale to restock those streams which
this virulent pestilence has impoverished ; and in
work of this description our new Fishery Boards
and our newer National Piscicultural Association
will find abundance to do. All will acknowledge
with gratitude the labours of Sir James E. Gibson-
Maitland and other workers in this field, and will
look for great results from the latest experiment of
Mr Napier, of the Forth Fisheries, by which he
has established the fact that it is both possible and
easy to incubate the ova not only of diseased but
even of recently dead fish. When we are told by
the Inspectors of Fisheries for England (in their
Eeport for 1882) that from 2000 to 4000 diseased
salmon are annually removed from the Tweed
alone,1 even if we reckon only one-third of them
unspawned, we must find it difficult to overrate the
importance of Mr Napier's discovery.2 But to reap

upwards of 500 miles of rivers and lochs in Scotland wholly or
partially closed against salmon by natural obstruction ; the Falls
of Tummel alone obstructing upwards of 100 miles of water."

1 During the years 1880, 1881, and 1882, no fewer than 22,756
diseased salmon, grilse, and sea-trout were taken out of this river.
See Mr Young's First Report to the Fishery Board for Scotland,
page 43.

2 Nearly a dozen fish-hatcheries have now been constructed in
Scotland. In Linlithgow Loch Hatchery, as reported in Septem-

300 Salmon- Fishing.

the full advantage of all such researches, and to
turn them to practical account in the repopulating
of our streams, the Government ought, as suggested
by Sir James Maitland in his 'Essay on the
Salmon-Disease/ to come to the help of the Fishery
Boards,1 and empower them to obtain loans for the
construction of hatcheries on a scale commensurate
with the necessity.

In the interests of all to whom an abundant
supply of wholesome fish is a matter of no little
importance, I heartily wish the Boards every suc-
cess in their endeavours to counteract the ravages
of the pestilence ; and in the name of the brethren of
the rod, I can confidently promise them our cordial
co-operation in every wise effort to replenish and
preserve our much-loved streams.

ber 1884, "young salmon, hatched from the ova taken from a
dead fish stricken with salmon-disease, have thriven remarkably-
well ; and there is a tank of healthy-looking ova taken from a
trout after being twenty-four hours dead, and impregnated with
the milt of another fully four days dead."

1 Funds have already been placed by the Treasury at the dis-
posal of the Scotch Fishery Board for the scientific investigation
of the habits of food fishes ; but from that Board's recently pub-
lished Second Annual Report, it appears that the grant is alto-
gether inadequate.

30i

CHAPTER XII.

PIKE-FISHING.

" Go on my muse, next let thy numbers speak
That mighty Nimrod of the streams, the Pike."

— The Innocent Epicure.

" Wolf in greediness, dog in madness, lion in prey."

— King Lear.

f\F all the names that have been bestowed upon
^ this fish, there is none more significant than
the German one of water-wolf. Whether, in the
old English name of luce,1 its nature stands as
clearly revealed or not, there is for the angler no
necessity to inquire. Of the true character of the
fish he entertains no doubt : it is in a firm belief
in its greed that he prepares the lures for its death.
These lures are, for the most part, fish-baits, for it
is upon its fellow-inhabitants of the waters that it
chiefly loves to prey. Jack lords it mercilessly

1 Licce is generally held to be derived from lukos, a wolf.

302 Pike-Fishing.

over the trembling finny tribe, and lays them under
heavy contribution to supply his great and fre-
quent needs. No one enjoys immunity from his
rapacity, except, perhaps, the tench. Towards that
" physician of fishes," if report does not lie, he
magnanimously displays his " only virtue." Writers
on fish and fishing have, in all ages, expatiated
on his ravenous disposition; and even the poets,
who have a good word to say for the trout and the
salmon, have none for poor Jack. So long ago as
the fourth century of our era, the Latin poet
Ausonius branded him as

' ' The wary Luce, 'midst wrack and rushes hid,
The scourge and terror of the scaly brood ; "

and the muse has hurled hard epithets at him ever
since. With one, he is " the tyrant of the watery
plains " ; with another, " the dispeopler of the
lake " ; with a third, " a mercenary." There is
no possibility that his character has been calum-
niated : —

" His greedy appetite will leave your doubts behind."

But the attentions of the pike are not by any
means limited to the " scaly brood." Eeptiles,
rats, and fowls, alike may claim his regard, if they
unfortunately catch his eye, and come within range
of his terrible teeth — those " serried pikes," that
forbid all thought of hope. Even the higher mam-

Habits of the Pike. 303

malia do not seem to be safe, should they tempt
him too far in his native element, for he has been
accused of making vigorous assaults upon dogs,
oxen, and horses, that happened to come in his
way. His " presumption soars " still higher ; for
without going back to the days of Gesner for the
famous story of the Polish damsel, it would be easy
to adduce evidence that pike, when impelled by
hunger or rage, do not hesitate to attack the human
species, and are no respecters of persons.

In these circumstances, we cannot but hold it a
light matter that, following the example of other
members of his tribe, the luce —

"With ravenous waste devours his fellow train,"

and exercises his cannibal propensities upon his
nearest relations. Here is one instance out of
many of Jack's love for his brother. It was fur-
nished to Mr Buckland by Dr Burton, of Kelso, in
1880 : " Two pike, the larger 3J lb., the lesser 2£
lb., were this day taken with the hand by a lad out
of the Tweed at Kelso, the one nearly half-swal-
lowed by the other. They were both alive, and
when with difficulty separated and put into a water-
tub, the larger made two attempts again to gorge
his neighbour. The lad who took 'em wondered to
see ' a muckle fish wi' twae tails.' " x Mr Buckland

1 Natural History of British Fishes, p. 160.

304 Pike-Fishing.

is of opinion that in this, and in other cases, the
" accident " was caused by the two fish charging
simultaneously at the same bait, which, slipping
out of the way (like Baron Munchausen, I suppose,
when he was assailed on the one side by a croco-
dile, and on the other by a lion), brought on a
collision between its foes, and caused the smaller
to be impacted in the open mouth of the larger.
But in this Mr Buckland shows more consideration
for the feelings of the pike than, in their subsequent
proceedings, they showed for one another ; for
whatever may have been the original impulse
which brought them into such close contact
with each other, nothing but insatiate appetite of
pike for pike can explain the deliberate and re-
peated action in the water-tub. What the result
would have been had no one interposed, is not diffi-
cult to conjecture. Anglers who often find pike
in the stomach of pike, have never any doubt as
to the manner in which the unfortunate ones get
there. Moreover, it is well known that one pike
will attempt to devour another of greater bulk than
either his throat or his stomach can accommodate,
swallow a part of him, and keeping the remainder
in his mouth till the first instalment be digested,
carry out his original intention by a series of par-
tial operations to a full and final result.

Although the pike has a preference for fish, flesh,

Habits of the Pike. 305

and fowl of some sort, he is quite open to receive
contributions from the vegetable, or, if you please,
from the mineral kingdom. It is astonishing, on
cutting open a pike, to find, in addition to quite a
miscellaneous assortment of animal matters, what
a variety of foreign substances he has imported —
substances which only the sorest need or a literally
omnivorous disposition could ever have tempted
him to appropriate. But if thus

" True glutton-like his stomach rules his eyes,"

he has need of a good digestion ; and certainly
Nature has been kind to him in this respect, for she
has not given him the desire to devour without the
ability to benefit. In his own person he is shark
and ostrich combined. If nothing comes amiss to
him when feeding, nothing that he swallows seems
to disturb his internal economy. His powers of
assimilation are marvellous, and dyspepsia is to
him unknown. But if he can feast when he gets
the chance, he can fast when necessity compels ;
and we may charitably believe that it is his pre-
monition of a fast, or his experience of one, that
whets his appetite for a feast.

If credence is to be given to all accounts of the
longevity of the pike, verily he eats to some pur-
pose. Every author on angling feels bound to
record the story of the Mannheim fish, which tradi-

u

306 Pike-Fishing.

tion says was put into the Kaiserwag lake by one
of the German emperors in 1230, and was captured
in 1497, having thus escaped the snares of genera-
tions of anglers for two hundred and sixty-seven
years. But our confidence in the veracity of the
old writers is not strengthened on learning that,
some years ago, a clever naturalist discovered that
the skeleton of this patriarchal pike, which meas-
ured 19 feet, had evidently been tampered with.
Whatever amount of truth there is as to the age
of the Mannheim fish, there is no doubt that a
pike, under even ordinary conditions of existence,
attains to formidable proportions ; and seeing that
its powers of digestion are quite in keeping with its
capacity for swallowing, there is no saying what
gigantic dimensions it might reach, if circumstances
were exceptionally favourable. All who have ex-
perience in the rearing of this fish can have no
difficulty in agreeing with Walton, that " pikes that
live long prove chargeable to their keepers."

Pike weighing from 8 lb. to 12 lb. are common
in the Clyde near Lanark. On one occasion I
killed a fish 12 lb. in weight with my loop-rod.
The largest that I have seen caught in that river
scaled 24 lb., but I believe that fish of 40 lb. are to
be found in it. The biggest that came under Mr
Buckland's observation was one of 36 lb. ; but pike
attain a greater weight than this in the lochs of

Habits of the Pike. 307

Scotland and Ireland. One fish — to which allusion
is made by Daniel in his ' Eural Sports/ and others
— was caught in Loch Ken in Galloway, and scaled
72 lb.1 According to "Ephemera," "the largest
pike recorded to have been caught in the British
Islands was one taken in the Shannon. It weighed
92 lb."

Walton characterises the pike as a "solitary,
melancholy, bold" fish. It does not, however,
always swim alone; big fish are often found in
pairs, and at certain seasons — after floods, for ex-
ample,— pike are quite as gregarious as trout.
Melancholy they are without doubt, if not sulky ;
fickle to a degree, and influenced greatly by the
weather, they are sometimes not to be drawn from
their haunts by the most tempting bait. When
in the humour, however, and bent on prey, their
audacity is unbounded. They are not to be balked
by difficulty or deterred by danger : their courage
in pursuit of their game is equalled only by their
capacity for devouring it.

Pike spawn in March, April, and May, according
to the state of the weather and the age of the fish —
the younger ones spawning earlier, and the " dow-

1 This is the largest j)ike ever killed in Scotland ; and Mr
Young, in his Second Report to the Scottish Fishery Board (1883),
reminds us that it was taken with rod and fly. The head is still
preserved in Kenmure Castle.

308 Pike-Fishing.

agers" later. During this season they retire into
the ditches or shallows, where they deposit their
ova amongst the leaves of aquatic plants, and not,
like most other fish, in the bed of the stream. The
eggs are about the size of turnip-seed, and exceed-
ingly numerous. In one fish of 32 lb., Mr Buckland
found no fewer than 595,200 eggs, the roe weighing
5 lb. When the spawning process is complete, the
pike scour themselves in the streams, and then take
up their regular stations for the season. Alike
in rivers and in lochs these haunts are chiefly
the deep, sluggish pools, floored by bulrushes,
lilies, and other plants. If the loch is large, they
frequent the weedy sides, the little bays, or the
mouths of streams where small fry abound; in
ponds or small lochs, they may be found roaming
more at large on foraging expeditions. In rivers,
the mouths of back-waters, dam-heads, and eddies
between two streams are favourite resorts, — in fact,
wherever there is a weedy shelter and a sluggish
water, there the fish may take up their abode. In
fine weather they lie just outside these retreats or
a little within them ; in winter, after the first heavy
flood, they retire to the more sheltered deeps.
Though trout are found in deep waters which pike
frequent, the pike's range is limited to such waters ;
they are not found in streams and shallows, where
trout are at home. The best part of the Clyde for

Angling with the Live- Bait. 309

pike-fishing is from the point of its junction with
the Medwin to Douglas Water foot.

Pike-fishing was, if not the earliest, at least one
of the earliest forms of angling in our country, and
the most primitive methods in use were live-baiting
and trolling with the dead-gorge bait. In the first
English contribution to the literature of angling,
and among the first books printed in England — the
Book of St Alban's, published in 1486 — Dame
Juliana Berners thus treats of live -baiting for
pike : " Take a frosshe and put it on your hoke,
at the necke, betwene the skynne and the body, on
the backe half, and put on a flote a yerde there fro,
and caste it where the pyke hauntyth, and ye shall
have hym." Jack's love for frog has not cooled
during the four centuries that have elapsed since
the days of the good prioress, and often has his
passion brought him pain. Barker, Walton, and
many more old worthies held the lure in high
estimation j and it is still true that the angler who
is bent on sport will be likely to find it

" When a pike suns himself, and a-frogging doth go."

Improvements have from time to time been
effected in the tackle for baiting the frog, but
many of our modern weapons of war are, more or
less, merely modifications of the original forms,
adapted to cope with the more wary pike of these

3 1 o Pike-Fishing.

days. My tackle consists of four No. 10 hooks.
Two, placed back to back, are tied at the end of a
piece of fine gimp, and the other two, in a similar
manner at a distance of an inch and a half. One
of the hooks of the first pair is inserted under the
skin of the frog, just behind the head, very much
as Dame Juliana recommends, and the barb of the
hook is freely exposed. The opposite hook of the
second pair is, in like manner, passed through the
skin of the posterior quarters, and the disengaged
hooks of each set are allowed to lie beside the bait,
openly awaiting the attack. It is desirable to select
a yellow lively frog for baiting, and to put it on
the hooks with as little injury to it as possible, so
that it may be able to maintain its natural position,
and swim about actively for a considerable time.
Eemember Walton's famous advice on this point —
" Use the frog when baiting him as though you
loved him ; " and yet be sure the hooks have too
good a hold of him to permit an assault to be made
upon him with impunity.

For this method of fishing both float and leads
are required. The float I use consists of a piece of
cork, like the bung of a cask, perforated in the
middle. The line is passed through the hole, and
kept in position by a peg, which, being easily
removable, allows the angler to adjust the float so
as to suit water of any depth. The sinkers are

Angling with the Live- Bait. 311

attached to the line about a foot from the hooks.
One end served by the float is to inform the fisher
of the moment when a pike has taken his lure, but its
chief purpose is to prevent the live-bait from sinking
deeper than may be deemed advisable. The leads
are added to keep the line in proper position under
the float, and render it impossible for the bait to
swim up to the surface. The buoyancy of the float
and the weight of the sinkers must therefore be
proportioned to each other, and both to the size of
the bait. The position of the float on the line will
be determined by the depth of the water, but some
regard must be had to the temperature of the sea-
son. It is a good general rule that, in water three
feet deep or so, the bait should swim about mid-
water, and in deeper pools about a third from the
bottom. But it must be remembered that, though
pike generally keep near their peculiar haunts at
all seasons, they swim nearer the surface when the
weather is fine and warm than they do when it is
cold.

The rod required for this and other kinds of
pike-fishing is a stout one of 16 or 18 feet in
length, very similar to that used in salmon-fishing.
There are two ways in which the bait may be cast.
The first is by throwing from the reel. According
to this method the angler winds up the line till the
bait is close to his side, and imparting to it a slight

312 Pike-Fishing.

swinging movement, trusts to the weight of the
lure and float and the momentum they acquire to
draw from the reel as much line as will cover the
water to be fished. In the second, and perhaps the
best method, he unreels a good length of line, then
holds the rod well back with the right hand until
he can grasp the line along with it, takes the bait
in the left, and projects it well and boldly into the
water, letting free the line from the right as the
bait runs out, and at the same time directing the
point of his rod towards the spot he desires to
reach. In both methods there must be correct
calculation of the distance required to be covered
and of the force required to cover it, before there
can be a successful throw. When the bait has
reached the water,

(i The patient fishe*r takes his silent stand,
Intent, his angle trembling in his hand ;
With looks unraov'd, he hopes the scaly breed,
And eyes the dancing cork and bending reed."

If lazily inclined, the angler sometimes rests his
rod on a forked stick by the water-side and waits
for events. But this style of fishing is unsports-
manlike, and if the attack of the fish on the
bait is to meet with a prompt response from the
angler, he must hold himself in readiness to give
it. The disappearance of the cork is the sign that
the pike has accosted the frog and is desirous of

Angling with the Live- Bait. 313

becoming better acquainted with it. Some anglers
allow a few seconds' grace before proceeding to
extremities, but I advise instant striking. The
spring snap-hook is considered by many to possess
an advantage over the ordinary snap-hook, but if the
angler strike at once with my tackle, it will require
no spring to lodge the double hook in the mouth of
the fish. Live-frog fishing is best when the day is
dull and breezy, and the water is low and clear.

Another good live -bait is a small trout. The
method of fishing it is the same as that just
described, but the tackle is somewhat different.
Tie two No. 14 hooks back to back at the end
of the gimp, and a single hook of the same size
an inch apart from them. Pass the single hook
through the skin of the trout, taking a little of the
flesh at the dorsal fin, and allow the other hooks
to hang undraped by the side of the bait. An
equally good arrangement is to have a single No.
10 hook at the end of the gimp, and two of the
same size an inch farther up. In this case one of
the pair is inserted in the bait as before, and the
other hooks hang free. Fixed upon such a tackle,
the trout swims easily about and forms a capital
lure, while the disengaged hooks are suspended in
the position in which they will be most certain to
strike when the pike seizes its prey, as it generally
does, crosswise.

3 14 Pike-Fishing.

When the minnow is employed as a live-bait, the
tackle consists of a triangle of No. 8 hooks at the
end of the gimp. A minnow is fixed on each by-
passing the hook through the under lip from the
inside. Should a pike be on the hunt in the
neighbourhood of this lure, the trio of competitors
for his attention will all be equally likely to be
honoured with it; for to hungry Jack a whole
bushel of minnows would scarcely suffice for a
meal. The baits being light, the line must not be
so heavily weighted as in the previous cases. Live
trout and minnow baits meet with most success
after a flood, when the water is in the favourite
condition between the black and the clear. A
good breeze is a desideratum in this, as indeed it
is in all kinds of pike-fishing, except, perhaps, when
the worm is used.

These are not the only lures used in live-baiting.
Falstaff, in " King Henry IV.," has it that " a young
dace may be a bait for an old pike ; " and gudgeon
and roach may do equally well, whether the pike
be old or young. Mice, water-rats, and a variety
of creatures, biped and quadruped, may all be taken
at times as Jack's fancy directs, though fish-baits
are to be preferred. But I pass from these to the
worm.

A large hook, No. 16, is all that is necessary in
the way of tackle. Kemembering for whom the

A ngling with the Worm. 3 1 5

diet is provided, do not stint the supplies. Bait
with three or four large worms, running each up
the line as it is threaded on the hook to make
room for the others ; and when all are on, bring
them close together, for their magnetic influence
upon a famishing pike is greatest when in com-
bination. It is chiefly upon their tempting appear-
ance that the hope of the angler rests, as, unlike
the fish-baits which swim freely about, they cannot
attract by any great display of vigour. Worm-
baits secure most sport when the water is " small "
and clear, and when the day is bright and sunny.

Live -bait fishing is the easiest and simplest
method of angling for pike, but spinning with the
minnow is the most scientific. To the skilful
angler it will prove also the most attractive wher-
ever circumstances are favourable for its proper
exercise. In some weedy waters it is impractica-
ble, and its place must be taken by the gorge-bait.
Certain conditions of water and weather are generally
more suitable for the live-bait ; and the pike being,
more than any other fish, subject to external
influences, it is not safe to predict at any time
which lure will have the advantage. But taking
the entire results of an average season's fishing,
most anglers will be ready to admit that the
spinning - bait produces the best sport. Several
reasons may be assigned for this. It may be that

3 1 6 Pike-Fishing.

the pike is fascinated by the gyrations of a lure
which suggests a wounded quarry and an easy
prey ; or it may be that these rapid movements
have the desirable effect of concealing the forbid-
ding hooks when the pike is contemplating an
attack on the bait. But if neither of these be held
to account fully for the success of the spinning-
tackle, there will still remain a sufficient explanation
in the fact that, by its use, the angler is enabled to
cover a much greater extent of water in a given
time than would be possible with either the float-
line or the gorge-bait.

This method of angling with the spinning-minnow
has been already described. The same flight of
hooks, and the same method of baiting, are em-
ployed as in fishing for trout or salmon ; but gimp
is used instead of gut. A small trout will make
a good bait, but the hooks for it must be larger
than for minnow. As the pike loves the deep
water, the minnow must be sunk sufficiently to
come under its notice. Place, then, a small sinker
on the line, and spin slowly. In this operation
have more in view the style of spinning for salmon
than for trout; cast across and down, and bring
the minnow slowly towards the side. Bearing in
mind that pike may follow the lure till it is close
to the bank, always be careful to fish the cast out,
before withdrawing the bait. In trolling from a

Spinning with the Minnow. 3 1 7

boat on a loch, let the line be drawn about sixty
yards behind the boat, and row rapidly to secure
good spinning. Strike as in salmon-fishing, and
strike firmly.

In playing any fish, it is advisable to maintain
a strong and even strain upon the line ; but it is
more imperative in pike-fishing than in any other ;
for owing to the hard bony palate of this fish, and
its vigorous way of shaking its head whenever it
feels anything suspicious in the bait, there is great
danger that the hooks will fail to hold should the
strain be relaxed. If there be weeds in its neigh-
bourhood, endeavour to steer the pike clear of
them ; but if " crooked fortune " thwart the enter-
prise, increase the strain on the line as the only
means of retaining control over the fish. The pike
is an obstinate creature, and shows great reluctance
to quit its prey after it has seized it. Sometimes
it is drawn almost out of the water without its
being hooked at all, simply by its teeth having
sunk deeply into the bait. If it make good its
escape after being hooked, the angler must not
give up all hope of tempting it anew. He should
throw again into the spot where he lost it, and he
may find that Jack is quite open to a second en-
gagement. The fish often seems as much annoyed
at losing the bait as the angler at losing the fish ;
for, nothing daunted by any scratch it may have

3 1 8 Pike-Fishing,

received in the first encounter, it dashes again at
the insignificant creature that dared to wound and
hoped to escape. When there is no doubt that the
pike is fast on the hooks, get it into the creel with
as little delay as possible. For trolling with the
minnow in rivers I have a preference for a low,
clear water, with a good breeze.

If an artificial spinning-bait be desired, a good
large spoon will perhaps prove as useful as any.
The sizes, sorts, and colours to be had in the tackle
shops are surely enough to meet the wishes of every
angler, if not of every pike, and they need not be
detailed here. I prefer one with the outside silvered,
and the inside painted red. It generally succeeds
best in water passing from the black condition to
the clear. A phantom minnow of large size is also
a good lure. These, and all other artificial baits,
are fished in the same way as the natural minnow.
Tor spinning and live-bait fishing, the water does
not require to be so deep as for some other methods
of angling for pike ; but it is unadvisable in any
circumstances to fish in water of less depth than
three or four feet.

Another means of catching pike is trolling with
the dead-gorge bait. This is the method so fully
described by Xobbes, the reputed " father of troll-
ing " ; but it need not delay us long. The tackle
employed is similar to that formerly described for

Trolling with the Gorge- Bait. 319

one method of trouting with the natural minnow.
It consists of two hooks, varying in size from No.
11 to No. 14, according to the size of the bait, tied
back to back at one end of a yard, or a yard and
a half, of gimp, fitted with a loop at the other end.
A piece of lead about the weight of a florin is
wound closely round the shanks of the hooks.
The lure may be a small trout or a grayling — in
England, generally, a dace or a gudgeon ; and the
method of baiting is the same for all. To the
looped end of the gimp a thread is attached, the
end of which is passed through the eye of the
baiting-needle. Enter the needle at the mouth of
the bait-fish, and bring it out at the tail. Draw
the lead down into the gullet and body of the fish,
until the hooks are arrested by the mouth and pro-
ject very slightly on each side of it. Eemove the
needle and pass the loop of the gimp on to the
swivel, and the whole is ready for action. The
method of working is easy. Unreeling a short,
strong line, send the bait out with a gentle swing
into deep water, and it will

"Sink fraught with fated doom to greedy fish."

When it has reached to within a short distance of
the bottom, the point of the rod is raised to bring
it again near the surface, when the sinking is
resumed. This movement is performed slowly and

3 20 Pike-Fishing.

gradually as the line is drawn home, so as to dis-
play the lure to the best advantage, and give the
pike an easy opportunity of seizing it. Do not
interrupt the action ; let it be continuous, but not
rapid ; and avoid removing the bait suddenly from
the water. This last caution is as necessary in troll-
ing with the gorge- tackle as in spinning with the
minnow ; the pike sometimes makes no attempt to
effect a capture till the bait is being drawn up, and
then fear of loss rouses to decided action. Fish all
spots likely to harbour a pike, but do not dwell
long in any. One or two casts in a good place will
be quite sufficient to test the mind of the lurking
freebooter. Secure every advantage by keeping as
much concealed from view as possible ; and do not
court failure by throwing the bait into the water
with a splash.

The first notice the angler receives that a pike
has seized the lure is the stoppage or check of the
line ; but every stoppage or check unfortunately
does not betoken a fish. Weeds are common where
the gorge-bait is worked, and they sometimes play
strange pranks with the line. The interruption
they occasion to its motion is scarcely to be dis-
tinguished from that produced by the pike's attack
upon the bait; but in any case the angler's first
step is to slacken the line in preparation for any
contingency. A large fish sometimes takes the lure

Trolling with the Gorge-Bait. 321

with a dash and a tug that leave no cause for doubt
as to its presence and its doings ; but generally the
only indication that a pike has seized the bait is
a slightly tremulous motion of the line, caused by
the fish's closing its teeth upon its prey. When the
position of affairs is doubtful, pause a second after
the check has been received, and then give the line
one or two slight pulls. If these be insufficient to
determine the nature of the resistance, the tests
must be made a little more severe, until the point
is settled one way or another. When the angler
has ascertained that he is undoubtedly dealing with
a fish, he must give it time to gorge the bait, or, as
it is termed, to pouch it. The pike generally car-
ries on this operation in its favourite haunt, and
no restraint must be put upon it till the business
is completed. The time required varies in different
cases, but five minutes, seven minutes, or even more
may be allowed. Do not be impatient. Captain
Williamson has reason with him when he says :
" You will find the greatest advantage result from
giving plenty of leisure for the fish to swallow the
bait ; you ensure the prize, because if he has
pouched, he cannot escape ; and if he has not
pouched, you ought not to disturb him."

It is this necessary delay in waiting for the pike
to disclose and destroy itself that constitutes one
great objection to gorge-bait fishing. If one were

x

322 Pike-Fishing.

sure that a fish was working out its own destruction
every time appearances seemed to indicate it, the
time allowed for the work could hardly be said
to be lost. But, in the first place, the angler
may be labouring under a delusion all the while
he fancies that a pike is addressing itself to his
bait ; there may be no pike at it at all. " Never
hurry a jack, Tom," is the advice, in ' Punch,' of the
old gentleman to his young friend, as he stands,
watch in hand, patiently waiting the turn of events ;
" he has had ten minutes already ; I shall give him
another five to make sure/' But the telling sketch
shows the hook fast in a log at the bottom. In the
second place, there is no certainty that, even if a
pike has taken kindly to the lure, it is doing all
it possibly can to carry out the angler's wishes ;
it may be only playing with the bait. But again,
should the case be more hopeful, and the bait actu-
ally within the jaws of the fish, there still re-
mains the risk — attending all gorge-tackle — that it
may be ejected again " after it has served the pike's
purpose, and before it has served the angler's." I
have known a pike retain the bait for ten minutes,
and reject it after all. It had got a glimpse of the
fisher standing on the bank, and didn't like his
appearance.

A pike generally begins to move off after it has
pouched, and then is the time to strike ; but should

Trolling with the Gorge- Bait. 323

it show no sign that the gorging has been satis-
factorily concluded, the angler must just exercise
his discretion as to when he ought to strike.
Colonel Venables, a contemporary of Walton, and
one of the " great triumvirate of angling," thus
counsels the fisher : " When the pike cometh,
slack your line, and give him length enough to
run away to his hold — whither he will go directly —
and there pouch it, ever beginning (as you may
observe) with the head, swallowing that first. Thus
let him lie until you see the line move in the water,
and then you may certainly conclude he hath
pouched your bait, and rangeth about for more;
then, with your trowl, wind up your line till you
think you have it almost straight; then, with a
smart jerk, hook him, and make your pleasure to
your content." If the reader prefer the Colonel's
quaint prose " done " into stirring verse, let him
read Palmer Hackle's angler's song on " The Killing
of the Pike."

Some care must be exercised in removing the
gorge-hooks from the fish, otherwise there may be
damage to fingers, or tackle, or both. Having
killed the pike, either by giving it a blow on the
head, or, as Stoddart advises, by urging the blade
of a strong pocket-knife through the spinal marrow,
immediately behind the skull, open the gill-cover,
cut through the gills, dig out the hook from the

324 Pike-Fishing.

entrails, and, disengaging the gimp from the reel-
line, draw the bait and hooks through the opened
gills. Another method is to make an incision in
the body of the fish at the point where the hooks
are felt to be located, and draw the tackle out by
the aperture.

Dead-gorge bait generally secures large pike.
It requires deeper water than snap live-bait or
spinning-minnow, and it succeeds well when the
river is low and clear. It is, however, of greatest
service in waters so overrun with weeds that a
spinning-bait cannot by any possibility be worked.

Gorge-bait fishing may be practised with a live
bait as well as with a dead one; and by many
anglers the former is preferred. Live-gorge may be
used in all places where a snap live-bait would
bring success, although the method of working it
is similar to that already described for the dead-
gorge. The tackle corresponds with that for snap
live-bait, with the exception of the hook, which, in
the case of the live-gorge, may be either single or
double : the latter is the more common. Insert the
baiting-needle, carrying the gimp and hooks, under
the skin of the live-bait behind the pectoral fin, and
bring it out near the end of the dorsal fin. Draw
the gimp through until everything but the barbs of
the hooks is hidden under the skin, and make the
connection with the swivel on the trace in the same

Angling with the Fly. 325

way as in the dead-gorge tackle. I have not used
the live-gorge bait in any form, but it has un-
doubtedly merits of its own. While it possesses all
the attractions which a living bait has for the fish,
without the doubtful graces of a train of uncovered
snap-hooks, it secures for the angler all the advan-
tages of the dead-gorge bait.

Pike do not often rise to a fly. Still they are
sometimes seen to take the large green drakes or
yellow flies ; and it is not a very uncommon occur-
rence for the fisher to hook a pike on his salmon-
fly. I do not use the fly as a lure for jack; but
those who do, prefer a large one, dressed upon a
No. 20 hook. For wings they give it two eyes
from a peacock's tail ; a few showy hackles, and a
body of coloured pig's wool, generally red, and
adorned with broad gold tinsel. Some employ a
pair of large hooks, and make the fly as big as a
humming-bird, or even a wren, accommodating it,
moreover, with a tail, and two glass beads for eyes.

The best pike-fishing seasons are during May and
June, and from the middle of August to the middle
of October. In rivers pike do not as a rule " take "
well on a hot day in summer, unless when lured by
a worm : a blustering day in that season is more
favourable for good general sport. The ' Innocent
Epicure's' rhyme under this head is not without
reason : —

326 Pike-Fishing.

" Perhaps the day is hot, no breeze of wind
Is to your hope and vain endeavours kind :
Rise early then, or try your fortune late ;
Or else till more auspicious minutes wait.
When keen the winds from any quarter blow,
The tyrant seldom waits a second throw."

There are many other ways of fishing for jack
besides those that I have named. Some of them are
unworthy of sportsmen, some are of doubtful re-
pute, and some few are illegal. The unworthy and
the illegal need have no notice : of the doubtful
methods, that known as " trimmering " is still toler-
ated in some quarters, and may be briefly alluded
to here. It is of very ancient date, easy in practice,
and, when all is said in its favour, childish as a
sport. Nevertheless, in the eyes of some fishers,

" Age cannot wither it, nor custom stale
Its infinite variety. "

Trimmering in two of its forms was known to
Walton. In its least objectionable fashion, it is
a kind of live-gorge fishing with set lines. Part
of the line is wound round the bifurcated part
of a forked stick and notched in a slit in one of
the arms. The stem of the fork is tied by a string
to a bough overhanging the water to be fished,
and when a pike seizes the bait, the line slips out
of the notch and runs off the stick without check.
The fish has thus line enough to reach its lair,

Trimmering. 327

where it may pouch at pleasure, while connection
with the angler is maintained by the string. In-
stead of being attached to a fixed object on shore,
the line may be made fast to a bladder, a bottle,
or a trimmer proper — a cylindrical float, red on
one side, and white on the other — which is then
turned adrift to do all the fishing. This is a stage
worse than the once popular method of fly-fishing
with the "otter," in which, though the line was
attached to the float, the angler kept possession
of the rod, and required to exercise some skill in
guiding the " otter " to windward, while his flies
danced gaily over the water between him and it.
But the trimmer-rigger has simply nothing to do,
and generally he does it very well, and with won-
derful results. Sometimes, however, he imparts
variety to the proceedings of the trimmer, though
he renders the game even less creditable to him-
self, when he discards the dull passive float, em-
ploys a living agent in the shape of a goose or a
duck, and tying the line to its leg, chases it over
the water. This is certainly sufficiently exciting
for the goose or the duck, whatever it may be for
the rigger, but it is an abuse of words, to call it
sport for either. Yet the gentle Prioress of St
Alban's found it in her heart to style it so, and
to say that the sport would lie in seeing " whether
the goose or the pike should have the better;"

328 Pike-Fishing.

and Barker, in his 'Art of Angling/ tells us that
in his day (1651) it was " the greatest sport and
pleasure that a noble gentleman in Shropshire gave
his friends entertainment with." To me " trimmer-
ing " is a word of evil omen, and in pike-fishing as
in politics, is too suggestive of accommodation of
principle to profit, to find favour with the " honest "
angler. Many, indeed, in their love for true angling,
may be disposed to think that Mr Pennell was
not less just than he was severe, when, in his 'Book
of the Pike/ he thus sarcastically summarised his
instructions to any who aspired to the dignity of
a trimmer-fisher : " Procure a good supply of old
bottles, rusty hooks, and clothes-line, and the assist-
ance of the most notorious poacher and blockhead
in the neighbourhood, and the chances are that the
angler will find himself exactly fitted to his sport
both in tackle and companionship, without ' violat-
ing the bond of like to like.'"

There is considerable diversity of opinion in
regard to the gastronomic merits of the pike. It
appears to have been held in much higher repute
both at home and abroad ages ago than it is now.
Many of our countrymen at the present day have a
strong repugnance to it, and cannot be prevailed
upon even to taste and see. Italians like it not,
and Spaniards will have none of it. In Germany,
too, it has fallen very much in estimation. But some

Edible Qualities of the Pike. 329

six centuries ago the pike was, according to Yarrell,
double the price of salmon, and ten times the price
of either turbot or cod. Though this may have
been a purely factitious value, arising from its rarity
on its first importation into this country, there is
no doubt that in Edward III.'s time the pike was
regarded as a high-class fish, and was carefully
kept and liberally fed. It was no common dish
for common folk. Chaucer, to impress us with the
easy circumstances of the Frankeleyn, would give
us to understand that

' ■ Full many a fat partrich hadde he in mewe,
And many a brem and many a luce in stewe."

It continued to be held in high esteem for many
generations, and "the rich pike smoked on the
board" at many a princely civic banquet. The
fact that it has now lost favour with many, if not
with most, connoisseurs, is not necessarily a proof
of growing refinement in taste : it may be only a
change of fickle fashion. But if, in the case of
any, abstinence from pike is the result of a vivid
recollection of its flavour, I would hint to such
that possibly their dislike to the entire genus is
based upon their experience of the character of a
single specimen, and that an unfavourable one. For
it is with pike as it is with people — innate graces
aside, the character depends a good deal on the

33° Pike-Fishing.

upbringing ; and pike, perhaps more than any other
fish, differ widely in edible virtues according to the
nature of the home influence and the provision that
has been made for their growth in goodness. Mr
Pennell assures us that " probably the worst pike
are those bred in the Scotch lochs." If this be so,
we can only lament that certain individuals are
always found to disgrace their nationality, and we
can now readily excuse the connoisseurs who, natu-
rally believing that " the wale o' a' thing " was to
be had in the North, tasted one of its degenerate
pike (possibly an importation), and forthwith ab-
jured all pike whatever from that day till this.
But there are Scottish rivers as well as Scottish
lochs, and the pike of several of the former are
excellent. The best feeding for jack in stews was
said to be eels ; but in the rivers, while the supply
of these is not small, there is besides an abundance
of young trout and other fry, with which the pike
are permitted to fraternise just too freely for the
interests of the trout. It is owing to such fa-
vourable conditions for growth that the pike of the
Clyde prove remarkably good eating — good enough,
perhaps, to falsify old Camden's famous report
of " Horsea pike, none like." They are best when
over 5 lb. or 6 lb. in weight, but they must not
have altogether lost the sweetness of youth; for
as Walton reminds us, " the old or very great pikes

Edible Qualities of the Pike. 331

have in them more of state than goodness." Choose
ooe in its prime, and remember that the edibility of
an article depends very considerably on the cook-
ing of it. Those who say that Walton must surely
have had poor material to work upon when he re-
quired no fewer than ten different ingredients to
render his pike palatable, forget that this prepara-
tion was intended to be, as he said it was, " a dish
of meat too good for any but anglers, or very honest
men." For others I recommend " kippered " pike ;
and should any stranger to the dialect or the kitchen
ask what that is, and how it is to be prepared, I
would remind him that this is a book on angling,
and that, as such, it will amply fulfil its purpose if
it teach him to carry out, in the case of a fish, the
first injunction of the famous recipe for cooking a
hare — " catch it."

APPENDICES.

CLOSE-TIME FOR TROUT.

The pollutions and obstructions in our rivers are evils
against which trout and salmon alike have to contend,
and to which both alike too often succumb. Trout, how-
ever, are further weighted in the struggle for existence,
through the absence of any provision for their pro-
tection at a time when they are least able to protect
themselves, and when the slaughter of one means the
loss of thousands. To this cause alone must be attrib-
uted a greater destruction of trout than to any other,
or perhaps to all other preventible causes combined.
Indeed it is not too much to say that unrestricted
fishing is, of itself, quite sufficient to effect the depop-
ulation of any stream ; and my belief is, that if a close-
time measure is much longer delayed, the necessity for
it on some rivers will have passed away.

For centuries the leister and the light were — and
are still occasionally — used on Scottish rivers with dire
effect against the salmon ; and now we have the " shab-
ble " and the torch arrayed against the trout. By their

Close -Time for Trout. 333

means alone whole sack-loads of fish are killed every
winter in the tributaries and upper reaches of the Clyde
and other unprotected rivers, while no little havoc is
wrought by the cleaner hands that ply the rod and
line. But though it is the absence of a close season
that affords the unprincipled fisher the most favourable
conditions for carrying on his nefarious practices, even
in the legitimate fishing season there are not wanting
those who, "well covered with the night's black man-
tle," or " trusting to the evil counsel of a desert place,"
condescend to press into their unhallowed service the
deadly double-rod and the still more deadly net. It is
within my knowledge that there is scarcely a village
in Clydesdale but boasts a net or two, and counts the
season's captures by thousands.

The salmon has enjoyed almost a monopoly of the
fish legislation — such as it has been — for six hundred
years, and its excellence as a food-fish, and consequent
commercial importance, fully entitle it to even more
attention than it has hitherto received. The trout may
not lay claim to all the virtues of the salmon, but it
has been treated as if it were entirely destitute of any.
Its edible qualities are well known and require no
apology ; its market price is often not much under that
of salmon; and possibly had greater vigilance been
exercised in its behalf in years long gone by, it would
to-day have been of more account than it is in the
food -supply of the community. But far as its fortunes
have at present sunk beneath those of " the venison of
the waters," it still merits regard, if only from an
economic point of view, quite as much as the partridge
and the black-cock, and is no less deserving of legis-
lation for its protection. The angler, however, seeks
a close- time chiefly in the interests of his craft. He
ranks himself with other sportsmen, and expects that,
in any measures that are taken for the protection and

334 Appendices.

fostering of innocent and healthful recreations, the rod,
as affording lawful sport to scores of thousands, will
meet with at least as much recognition as the gun.

But it is unnecessary to maintain the general prin-
ciple that trout are worthy of preservation, seeing that
it has already been admitted in recent legislation both
for England and Ireland. The Fresh-water Fisheries
Act (England), 1878, declares it to be illegal —

" 1. To fish for, catch, or attempt to catch or kill,
trout or char during the close season between 2d
October and 1st February following, or during any
close season which by bye-law may be substituted for
the same.

"2. To use, or have in possession with the intention
of using, any light, otter, lath, jack, snare, wire, spear,
gaff, strokehall, snatch, or other like instrument for the
purpose of catching or killing trout or char."

The importance of trout-preservation being surely no
less evident and urgent in Scotland than it is in Eng-
land, it is hoped there will be a speedy acknowledgment
that "what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the
gander," and that we shall have it enacted that, in
Scotland not only shall all rivers be closed during the
winter months to all kinds of fishing, but that even
when they are declared open, they shall still be closed
to all kinds of illegitimate fishing. So much at least
is needful for the protection of the few trout that
remain to us. It will, I know, require more than
prohibitive and restrictive Acts, however wise, to
restore and maintain trout-life in our streams to the
full measure of their capabilities; but it is useless to
advocate the construction of fish-hatcheries for replen-
ishing the waters, until there is some security that pro-
pagation shall not minister to plunder.

Mr Archibald Young, Inspector of Salmon-Fisheries
for Scotland, submitted for the opinion of district

Close -Time for Trout. 335

boards, river proprietors, and others, the question
of a close-time for trout; and in his First Eeport to
the Fishery Board (1882), he thus states the general
nature of the replies which he received: —

"The great majority of the answers were in favour
of such a close-time for trout as there is in England and
Ireland, though a few were decidedly against it, chiefly
on the ground that trout are great destroyers of salmon
ova and fry, and that, therefore, they should be dis-
couraged instead of protected in a salmon-river.

" There is considerable difference of opinion amongst
those who are in favour of a close-time for trout and
char, with reference to the period over which it should
extend, some being in favour of a close-time the same
as that for salmon ; others preferring from 1st October
to 1st March, or from 1st October to 15th February;
whilst some would have it during the months when the
smolts are descending to the sea, with the view of thus
preventing the destruction of smolts by ignorant and
unscrupulous anglers. Considering the lateness of many
of the Highland lochs and streams particularly on the
west coast, in the Hebrides, and in the Orkney and
Shetland Islands, I venture to think that, if there is to
be a close-time for trout and char, the best period
would, on the whole, be from 15th October to 1st
March."

It is of course impossible to secure entire unanimity
on any question, but it is hopeful to find that the vast
majority of river conservators and proprietors are on
the side of trout-preservation. The few who urge or
favour its destruction in the declared interests of the
salmon, may be selfish, but they are certainly short-
sighted. To keep the rivers open during the winter
for the avowed purpose of slaying the trout in order to
preserve the salmon would most completely defeat the
end they desire to secure, as the present state of affairs

336 Appendices.

abundantly shows. Trout may devour salmon ova and
fry, but poachers work more destruction than trout ;
and it is only by closing the rivers against all fishing
whatever during the spawning seasons of both fish that
the existing feeble Acts against the slaughter of foul
salmon can either easily or successfully be carried out.

The precise period over which the close-time should
extend is a matter which readily admits of adjustment.
If not coextensive with the salmon close season on any
river, it should, at all events, not fall far short of it ;
and its duration in each case might safely be left to
the discretion of the district Fishery Board. Having
in view the southern rivers of Scotland, I should prefer
a close season from 15th October to 15th February
following — for northern streams it might be later ; but
if uniformity be desired, I think the recommendation
of Mr Young would, on the whole, be most advan-
tageous.

The administration of any Close -Time Act would
naturally fall to the Fishery Boards (of which there
are upwards of one hundred in Scotland already), and
in this work they would, I believe, be most cordially
assisted by local Angling Associations on every river.
To meet the necessary expenses of watching the streams
and otherwise enforcing the provisions of the Act, a
rod-tax might be imposed, such as the Fishery Act of
1878 empowers Boards of Conservators in England to
levy on all instruments used for the capture of trout
in their rivers. On the Severn — as we learn from the
Twenty-third Report of the Inspectors of Fisheries in
England (1883) — the rate of duty was fixed at one
shilling per rod, and the policy of imposing this low
tax has been attended with the greatest success. In
1883 the sum of £250 was realised from rod-licences
for that river alone, and no less an aggregate sum than
£1155 in the last five years. The total number of

Summary of Lures, 337

trout-rods licensed in England in 1882 was 22,755,
which brought in £1994; in 1883 the licences
amounted to 21,769, and the sum realised was £1913.
This gives an average tax, over the whole of England,
of one shilling and ninepence per rod — a low price,
surely, for the privilege of fishing in a protected stream.
It thus appears that the expenses attending the ad-
ministration of the Close-Time Act in England are, in
great measure, met by the anglers for whose benefit, in
the first instance, the Act exists ; and there is no rea-
son to believe that the trout -fishers of Scotland are so
far behind their English brethren in their regard for
their sport that they would be unwilling to contribute
one shilling and ninepence each towards its preservation.

II.

SUMMARY OF LURES.
APRIL.

Fly. — In clear or black water : small artificial flies —
teal with black hackle for trail, March brown and blaes
alternately for the others.

Minnow. — In heavy black water.

Worm. — In clay-coloured water.

MAY.

Fly. — In clear or black water : small artificial flies —
teal with black hackle for trail in the early part of the
month, March brown, blae, sand-fly, black blae, green-

Y

338 Appendices.

tail, for others. When the March brown is off the
water, substitute sand-fly. Towards the middle of the
month, teal with red hackle for trail. Evening : small
gloaming flies. Towards the end of the month,
natural May -fly.

Minnow. — In heavy black water ; and towards the
end of the month, in a " small " clear water if the day
be hot and sultry.

Worm and Caddis. — In a heavy discoloured water.

JUNE.

Fly. — In black water : small artificial flies, but less
certain now. The natural May-fly the distinctive lure.
The green drake, dibbing, if a rough breezy day and
no sun. Evening : small gloaming flies. Night : if
moonlight, small gloaming flies continued ; in the absence
of the moon, large flies.

Minnow. — In a " small " clear water with bright
sunshine, fishing up ; in full black water, fishing down.
Night : either with moon or without ; best when starry,
inclining to frost.

Worm and Caddis. — In " small " clear water with
sun, fishing up. When May-fly is over, caddis pre-
ferred.

JULY.

Fly. — Natural black ant, fished in same way as the
May-fly. Artificial flies not of much account, unless on
a cold day, or in a black water after a flood. Night :
if moonlight, small flies ; if not, large flies.

Minnow. — In full black water, if the day be dull ; in
a " small " clear water, if bright sunshine. Night : con-
ditions as in June.

Worm and Caddis. — In low clear water, if bright
sunshine, fishing up ; or in a black water with sunshine.

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Reaches of the Clyde and Tweed. 339

AUGUST.

Fly. — Natural black ant. Artificial flies unproduc-
tive in hot and dry weather, but successful if cold and
wet, with occasional floods ; and in the early morniug.

Minnow.— In black water.

Worm. — In a full, flooded, turbid water.

SEPTEMBER.

Fly. — Small artificial autumn flies very successful.
Minnow and Worm. — In flooded water.

OCTOBER.

Fly. — Small artificial still good, in the absence of
frost.

Minnow and Worm. — In flooded water.

Trout getting out of condition. Time for grayling-
fishing with fly and worm.

III.

PRINCIPAL OPEN REACHES OF THE CLYDE AND THE

TWEED, WITH THE WINDS THAT BLOW UP-
STREAM ON EACH.

THE CLYDE.

Section sufficient for a day's fishing. Wind blowing up.

1. Medwin foot to Thankerton, .... Northerly.

2. Thankerton to Culter, West by north.

3. Culter to Lamington, North-east.

4. Lamington to Roberton, North-east.

5. Roberton to Abington, Northerly.

6. "Graveyard Pool," above Abington, to Craw- 1

ford, ; West-

7. Crawford to Elvanfoot, North-east.

8. Elvanfoot up the Daer, Northerly.

340 Appendices.

THE TWEED.

1. Thornilee to Walkerburn, .... East by south.

2. Walkerburn to Traquair (Innerleithen):—

(a) Walkerburn to near Pirn, . . . East by north.

( b) Pirn to Traquair, North-east.

3. Traquair to Cardrona, South-east.

4. Cardrona to Peebles : —

(a) Cardrona to Horseburgh-burn foot, . South.

(b) Horseburgh-b urn foot to Peebles, . . Easterly.

5. Peebles to Lyne : —

(a) Peebles to Neidpath Castle, . . . Easterly.

( b) Neidpath to Manor Water foot, . . North-east.

(c) Manor Water foot to near Lyne, . . South-east.

6. Lyne to Stobo, North-east.

7. Stobo to Biggar Water foot (Broughton Station), Easterly.

8. Biggar Water foot to Stanhope, . . . North by east.

9. Stanhope to Crook Inn, North by east.

The winds given above blow directly, or nearly so,
up-stream. With this table before him. the angler will
be able, ere he start for his day's fishing, to determine
on what section or reach of the river he will have the
wind most favourable for sport.

The sections on both rivers lie, in most cases, be-
tween one railway station and another. At several of
these stations there are no " creature comforts " to be
had ; but the following places, at or within easy reach
of the railway, contain good inns or other accommodation
for anglers who desire to stay overnight : —

On the Clyde. — Carstairs, Thankerton, Biggar, Eob-
erton (station, Lamington), Abington, Crawford, and
Elvanfoot.

On the Tweed. — Clovenford, Innerleithen, Peebles,
Broughton, Crook Inn (reached from Broughton), and
" The Beild."

PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS.

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in a pleasantly chatty manner, tells us about all these things as they are
followed on the Broads ; and his vivacious pen at the same time imparts all
the information which any one visiting the Broads for the first time would like
to have." — Field.

" It is one of the most interesting books of its class we have ever seen, and
will be an invaluable addition to the library of the sportsman, whether his
fancy inclines to fishing, shooting, or yachting, as it touches upon all three.
It is written in a most pleasant, chatty style, and will prove both interesting
and instructive to all classes of readers." — Wildfowlers' Illustrated Sporting
Times.

A HANDBOOK OF DEER-STALKING. By Alexander

MACRAE, late Forester to Lord Henry Bentinck. With Intro-
duction by Horatio Ross, Esq. Fcap. 8vo, with two Photos,
from Life. Price 3s. 6d.

"A work not only useful to sportsmen, but highly entertaining to the
general reader." — United Service Gazette.

" The writer of this valuable little book speaks with authority, and sums up
in a few pages hints on deer-stalking which the experience of a lifetime has

enabled him to put forth We can only recommend every one who pursues

the fascinating sport of which the author writes, to glance through, and in-
deed to read carefully, this handbook."— Sporting and Dramatic News.

" An interesting little book, alike because of the knowledge which its author
displays of his subject, and of the simple style in which it is written. It is a
handbook such as sportsmen must have long desired."— Scotsman.

THE SHOOTER'S DIARY : For Recording the Quan-
tity of Game Killed, the Time and Place, Number of Guns,
and Names of Parties, &c. With Memoranda of Shooting
Occurrences, Engagements, &c. Oblong 8vo, 4s.

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, Edinburgh and London.

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YB 10421

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