ANGLING IN THE IRWELL, iii 



fishing, and made flies that caught fish. They were 

 generally a sort of hackle, made of a starling's breast- 

 feather, with a body usually of black silk, but occasionally 

 a little scarlet wool. The first knowledge I had of the 

 effect of this wonderful art of fly-fishing was on seeing a 

 man with two flies, at work where a stream was coming 

 into the Irvvell, about one hundred yards below Agecroft 

 Bridge. He caught almost at every throw, and often 

 brought two fish to his basket. He caught some forty 

 while I stood by, and told me he had over a hundred ; 

 they were about two ounces each in weight — shoalers, 

 dace, roach, and a few chubs. Of course I was converted 

 to fly-fishing, but I generally kept a reserve of requisites 

 for bottom- fishing, and pursued my way, with or without 

 one or more companions, as far as Ringley Weir-hole. 

 There we generally caught some fish, and at sundry places 

 on the way we had more or less success ; often bringing 

 home ten or twelve fine fish, either graining, chub, or dace ; 

 occasionally only gudgeons and minnows. When the 

 others would not rise, and we had to try the bottom, we 

 did not refuse the loach. Sometimes we got an eel, and 

 sometimes a perch. I have often seen the bottom-fishers 

 with a good lot of eels ; and once I remember a man 

 showing me a fish which, from memory, I estimate to 

 have been about three or four pounds weight ; I think it 

 must have been a bream, but its silvery-white scales looked 

 too bright for that dull fish. The scales were large-sized, 

 and the man called it a salmon ; I did not, but it was a 

 fine fish, and he had caught it in Ringley Weir-hole, within 

 an hour of my seeing it. I went to Ringley Weir-hole 



