CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



The fish may be attracted by throwing in some 

 crumbs of bread. It is caught in the Thames 

 some time after the end of August. The baits 

 used are gentles, red paste, and boiled malt or 

 wheat ; one grain of the latter is sufficient Great 

 attention is required to strike quick when the bait 

 is taken. Dace and tench are angled for much 

 in the same manner. Carp is angled for in stag- 

 nant waters from February to September, and the 

 baits are worms, larvae, grain, and pastes. The 

 perch also inhabits dull waters, and is a fish much 

 coveted by epicures, and always fetches a high 

 price in the English market. The baits employed 

 for it are worms, insects, and minnows. 



Pike-fishing. 



The pike is a voracious fish, and may very 

 appropriately be termed the fresh-water shark ; it 

 does not confine itself to feed on worms, insects, 

 fish, and frogs, but will devour water-rats and 

 young ducks, and attack much larger animals. 

 We are told, also, that on one occasion a snipe 

 was found in the stomach of this voracious tyrant. 

 All small fish are terrified at the approach of this 

 marauder, which, if permitted, would soon clear a 

 pond of all its finny tribes. It attains to great 

 age and size. Pike from 10 to 20 Ibs. are by no 

 means uncommon, but a fish of 40 Ibs. is some- 

 times heard of, and there are records of 80 Ibs. 

 and one even of 170 Ibs. The pike is often called 

 the Jack, although that name is properly applied 

 only to young pike up to the weight of 4 Ibs. or so. 

 They frequent both lakes and rivers, and generally 

 station themselves in or near 

 beds of weeds, and in corners 

 of bays, and in eddies. They 

 spawn from February till 

 April, retiring for this purpose 

 into backwaters and ditches. 



There are various ways of 

 catching pike ; they are even 

 taken sometimes with large 

 gaudy flies. But the most ap- 

 proved and sportsman method 

 is by spinning with any small 

 fish, such as a gudgeon, a 

 dace, or a small trout for a 

 bait The tackle is similar to 

 the minnow tackle above des- 

 cribed, only that the trace and 

 the gut, or rather gimp, that 

 carries the hooks should be 

 stronger than for trout-fishing. 

 The accompanying figure will 

 give a better notion of the 

 most usual style of a flight of 

 hooks, and the way the bait 

 is put on, than any descrip- 

 tion. It requires a good deal 

 of practice to cast such a bait 

 to the desirable distance with- 

 out making an alarming splash. 

 In fishing a stream, it is recom- 

 mended to cast across and 

 Fig. 7. rather down stream than up. 



The bait is allowed to sink to 

 a greater or less depth, and is then drawn towards 

 the angler, not uniformly, but in successive shoots. 

 In a stream, this makes the bait cross obliquely, 

 and come to the bank below the angler. When a 

 fish is felt, he must be struck, but not rashly. Pike 



702 ' 



are also taken in weedy waters with the dead 

 gorge, a method termed trolling ; but in this case 

 the pike is permitted from five to ten minutes to 

 gorge the bait, and not struck at once, as in 

 spinning. 



Trout-fishing. 



Trout is a general name for several kinds of fish 

 that are captured with the rod. Thus, there are 

 silvery species that migrate to the sea, and are 

 variously named sea-trout, bull-trout, salmon-trout, 

 or gray trout But the angler's fish par excellence 

 is the common river or yellow trout (Salmofarid), 

 which is a constant inhabitant of fresh water, and 

 of which six are taken by the rod for one of any 

 other kind of fish. It abounds in the lakes and 

 streams of Great Britain, and of the temperate 

 and cold regions of the Old World generally ; and 

 the common brook-trout of North America is so 

 like the common trout of Britain, that it may be 

 considered as a variety rather than as a distinct 

 species. It is a question among naturalists whether 

 the gillaroo trout of Lough Neagh and the red- 

 fleshed trout of Loch Leven are distinct species, 

 or only varieties produced by peculiarities of the 

 feeding-ground. Trout are found in the smallest 

 rivulets, but it is only in deep streams and lakes, 

 where there is good feeding, that they attain their 

 full size. From 6 to 10 Ibs. is a large trout, though 

 a few instances of 20 Ibs. and upwards are on 

 record. In most streams a trout of I to \\ Ib. is a 

 fine fish, and four to the pound is a good average. 

 In Scotch streams, trout of i Ib. are very rare 

 indeed. Five or six to the pound is about the 

 average of the angler's ' take 'in the Tweed and 

 its tributaries. In the Highlands the trout are, 

 as a usual rule, still smaller. 



The two chief ways of angling for trout are, with 

 the fly and with worm-bait Fly-fishing is most 

 successful in April and May, and again in Sep- 

 tember ; worm-fishing in June and July, when the 

 streams are small and clear, and at any time in 

 the season when the waters are flooded. 



Trout-fishing with Fly. Of all kinds of pis- 

 catorial sport, this is the greatest favourite ; it is 

 the cleanliest and least troublesome, and is, in 

 fact, angling par excellence. The number of flies 

 used varies from one to six, or more ; a cast of 

 two or three flies is as effective as any, and is 

 more easily managed than a larger number. The 

 fly at the extreme end is called the stretcher or 

 tail-fly; the others are called drop flies or droppers 

 in Scotland, bobs. The distance between the 

 hooks of a cast is two feet more or less ; and the 

 droppers should hang from the main line by 

 threads of gut of two or three inches long. There 

 are various ways of attaching them. Loops are 

 objectionable, as being clumsy. 



The fly-cast being attached to the casting-lir 

 the next thing the beginner has to learn is to cast 

 the line into the water an important point. He 

 should practise at first with a line not much longer 

 than his rod, and indeed the best anglers recom- 

 mend fishing in all circumstances, when it is 

 practicable, with a short line which you can per- 

 fectly command. The rod is to be raised over the 

 shoulder with sufficient force to throw the line 

 backward at full length. A slight pause is nece 

 sary to allow this to take place, and the transitic 

 from the backward motion to the forward is to 

 made by a slight sweep. The reason of this 



