170 



ANGLING. 



ward the hook, where they arc hest mnde of three I by their activity and eagerness afford famous di- 



sinall round twisted silk worm guts, or a fr\v strong 

 horse liairs. Of flies, the natural ones recommended 

 in the bibles liave been used with great success. The 

 artificial ones should l>e generally of large dimensions, 

 and of a gaudy and glittering colour. The materials 

 that compose them are hairs, furs, and wools, of e\ cry 

 variety that can be collected, mingled with tin- tail- 

 feathers of forks and punt-, and secured together by 

 plated wire, or gold and silver thread, marking silk, 

 shoemakers' wax, bees' wax, &c. Their wings may 

 In- made of the feathers of domestic fowls, or any 

 others of a showy colour. Imitate principally the 

 natural flies recommended ; but you may safely in- 

 dulge your fancy, rather than depart without a bite ; 

 for many anglers succeed with the most monstrous 

 and capricious baits of this kind. A raw cockle, or 

 muscle, token out of the shell, prawns, and minnows, 

 have also been recommended as salmon baits. The 

 mode of angling with these is to drop the line, which 

 must be totally unincumbered with shot, into some 

 shallow which approximates to the edge of a hole of 

 considerable depth, and in this situation to suffer it to 

 be carried in by the current. The noviciate in 

 angling will, at first, experience considerable diffi- 

 culty in throwing his line to any great extent. For 

 this we can give no recipe, but a most inflexible de- 

 termination to proceed, and the most consummate 

 patience in disappointment. It should always be 

 thrown across the river, and on the off side from the 

 spot where you expect the fish to rise. When you 

 imagine that the salmon has been struck, be cautious 

 in giving him time sufficient to enable him to poach 

 his bait, that is, to swallow it fairly and securely. 

 After this, fix the hook firmly in him, by a gentle 

 twitch. On the first sensation of this pain, the sal- 

 mon will plunge and spring with great violence, and 

 af strength i 



nse every endeavour of strength and cunning to effect 

 his escape. He will then, perhaps, run away with a 

 considerable length of line, which is to be kept in a 

 gently relaxed situation, so that it may always yield 

 with facility to his obstinate resistance : nor can you 

 give him too much line, if you do but clear it of weeds 

 and encumbrances. If he now become sullen and 

 and quiet in the water, rouse him gently, by flinging 

 in a few stones ; and when he once more commences 

 resistance, do not be too eager in checking his career, 

 but let him gradually exhaust himself of his strength; 

 follow him down the stream, or allow him to cross it; 

 while, at every opportunity, you keep winding up 

 your line until you approach him in this wearied state, 

 and take him softly by the gills out of the water. 

 The salmon peal may be caught in the same manner ; 

 he is smaller than the salmon, and seldom exceeds 

 fourteen or fifteen inches in length. Tench, like 

 the carp, are generally considered pond fish, al- 

 though they have been frequently caught in the 

 river Stour. They shed their spawn about the 

 commencement of July, and are in season from 

 September to the latter end of May. They will 

 bite very freely during the sultry months. Their 

 haunts are similar to those of the carp ; except 

 that they frequent the foulest and muddiest bottoms, 

 where they may shelter themselves among an infinite 

 quantity of reeds; hence you must angle for them 

 very near the bottom, and allow them sufficient time 

 to gorge the bait. Trout are considered as one of the 

 finest river fish that this country can produce. Its co- 

 lours are beautifully varied at different seasons of the 

 year, and according to the rivers it frequents. They 

 abound in the generality of our streams, rivers, and 

 lakes, and are usually angled for with an artificial fly. 

 Their weight also differs from half a pound to three ; 

 some few have been caught which weighed upwards of 

 four pounds. Trout are extremely voracious ; and, 



rental to the angler. Previous to their spawn- 

 ing, they are observed to force a passage through 

 weirs and flood-gates against the stream ; and 

 how they are enfuded to overcome some of these 

 impediments, is a subject of much conjecture. Their 

 general time of shedding their spawn is about October 

 or Novemlx-r ; in some rivers, however, it is much 

 sooner, in others later. They are also met with in 

 eddies, where they remain concealed from olcrvation 

 behind a stone, or log, orahank that projects into the 

 stream; during the latter part of the summer, they 

 are frequently caught in a mill-biil, and sometimes 

 imder the hollow ot a bank, or the roots of a tree. 

 In angling for trout, there are many tilings worthy 

 of particular observation : 1st. That the day on which 

 the sport is undertaken, be a little windy, or partially 

 overcast, and the south wind is superior to all others, 

 if it do not too much disturb your tackle. M. 'UK- 

 sportsman should remain as far as possible from the 

 stream, fish it downwards, the line never touching 

 the water, as the agitation proceeding from the fail 

 might disturb the fish, and preclude all possibility of 

 capturing them. 3d. Clear streams are famous for 

 sport, and in fishing in them, a small fly with slender 

 wings must be attached to the hook. When the water 

 is thick, and the sight more imperfect from this dis- 

 advantage, a larger species of bait must of necessity 

 be used. 4th. The line should, on an average, bt; 

 about twice as long as the rod, unless in cases of 

 emergency, when the number and variety of tree< 

 exclude the probability of a successful throw, if at 

 any distance. 5th. Let the fly be made to suit the 

 season. After a shower, when the water becomes of 

 a brown appearance, the most killing bait is the orange 

 fly ; in a clear day, the light coloured fly ; and on a 

 gloomy day, in overshadowed streams, a dark fly. 

 Very large trout have been killed in Ullswater, in 

 Cumberland, and still larger in Loch Awe in Argyle- 

 shire. The late Mr Morrison of Glasgow claimed 

 the merit of discovering these fish in the last-named 

 locality, about 40 years ago, and the largest recorded 

 to have been killed there weighing 25 pounds. Mr 

 Lascelles, a Liverpool gentleman, has also of late 

 years been equally assiduous and successful in their 

 capture ; and it appears that any persevering sports- 

 man is almost certain, with the proper tackle, to 

 obtain specimens in Loch Awe of this great fish, 

 weighing from ten to twenty pounds. 1 he largest 

 we have lately heard of weighed 19 pounds. 

 It is said to be by far the most powerful of our 

 fresh-water fishes, exceeding the salmon in actual 

 strength, though not in activity. The most general 

 size caught by trolling, ranges from three to fifteen 

 pounds ; beyond that weight they are of uncom- 

 mon occurrence. If hooked upon tackle of moder- 

 ate strength, they afford excellent sport ; but the 

 general method of fishing for them is almost as well 

 adapted for catching sharks as trout; the angler 

 being apparently more anxious to have it in his pow- 

 er to state that he had caught a fish of such a size, 

 than to enjoy the pleasure of the sport itself. How- 

 ever, to the credit of both parties, it may be stated, 

 that the very strongest tackle is sometimes snapped 

 in two by its first tremendous springs. The ordinary 

 method of fishing for this king of trouts is with a 

 powerful rod, from a boat rowing at the rate of from 

 three to four miles an hour ; the lure, a common 

 trout, from three to ten inches in length, baited upon 

 six or eight salmon hooks, tied back to back upon 



strong gimp, assisted by two swivels, and the wheel- 

 line strong whip cord. Yet all this, in the first im- 

 petuous efforts of the fish to regain its liberty, is 

 frequently carried away for ever into the crystal 

 depths of Loch Awe ! 



