ANGLING 



257 



ANGLING 



STORY OF ANGLING i 



NGLING, the 

 art of catching fish with a 

 hook or tackle, from the 

 earliest times regarded not 

 merely as a business but as 

 one of the most alluring of sports. There 

 are frequent references to this art in Greek 

 and Latin authors, it is mentioned several 

 times in the Old Testament, and ancient 

 mural paintings show that it was practised 

 ages ago in Egypt. A fisherman may fish 

 for food; his is a vocation. Fishing to an 

 angler is a game; he loves the rush of the 

 brook or the cold blackness of a deep lake; 

 he seeks the odors and the peace of out- 

 of-doors ; he craves the excitement of the catch, 

 to test his skill against that of the fish. 

 A perfect angler, says a Greek poet, is "a 

 well-made, active man, patient, vigilant, enter- 

 prising, courageous and full of expedients." 

 Good Izaak Walton, whose little book, The 

 Complcat Angler, made him immortal. 

 pressed himself thus: 



"We may Hay of angling as Dr. Boteler said of 

 'I ><mi.tloH8 God could have made 

 a better berry, but doubtless Ood never did* ; and 

 so. If I might be judge. God never did make a 

 more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than 

 angling.' " 



Rod. Of the material appliances needed by 

 innlrr, the first is the rod. Rods are made 

 of various materials and of various sizes. The 

 cane rods are lightest, and where fishing tackle 

 is sold they most commonly have the prefer- 

 ence; but in country places the rod is often 

 of the angler's own manufacture. Nearly all 

 rods used in fresh-water fishing are made in 

 separate joints, so as to be easily taken to 

 > s and put up again. All rods taper from 

 butt end to the top, and are usually 

 possessed of considerable elasticity. In length 

 may vary from five feet to more than 

 twenty, with a corresponding difference in 

 strength a rod for catching salmon being 

 17 



necessarily much stronger 

 than one suited for ordi- 

 nary brook trout. 



Reel. The reel, an ap- 

 paratus for winding up or 

 letting out the line, is attached to the rod 

 near the lower end, where the hand grasps 

 the rod while fishing. The best reels are 

 of simple construction and are so made as 

 to run rapidly. Those of the better class 

 run on jeweled bearings, and the cranks are 

 so geared that when they are turned once 

 the barrels on which the lines run turn four 

 times. Other reels are only double-multiply- 

 ing; that is, the spools revolve twice to each 

 turn of the handle, while trout reels and 

 salmon reels, commonly called "single-click" 

 reels, revolve only once to every turn of the 

 handle. It is not necessary for these reels 

 to be multiplying, as the fish is played by 

 stripping the line and not with the reel, as 

 in bass fishing. 



Line, Hook and Float. The line is some- 

 times made of finely-twisted fine silk, but 

 more often of braided silk. For trout fishing 

 this is stiffened by oiling. To the end of this 

 may be tied a piece of fine put. on which the 

 hook or hooks are fined For casting heavy 

 bait the hue is a little heavier and the gut 

 leader is discarded. The hook of finely-tem- 

 pered steel should readily bend without break- 

 in^ and yet -should retain a sharp point. It 

 should bo lone in the shank and deep in the 

 bend and the barb should be long. In sise 

 and shape the hooks must be adapted to the 

 kind of fish that are angled for. In still-fishing 

 from a pier or anchored boat, floats formed of 

 cork, goose and swan quills, are often used to 

 hook so that it may float clear 

 of the bottom. For heavy fish or strong 

 streams a cork float is used ; in slow water and 

 for lighter fish, a quill float. 

 Bait. Baits consist of a great variety, nat- 



