INTRODUCTORY 25 



all the details connected with any particular sport, the more 

 gratification he will obtain. Pushing does not begin and end 

 with the mere hooking and playing of the fish. 



At the outset the mere tiro cannot do better than place 

 himself in the hands of some friend or professional fisherman 

 who can be relied upon to provide him with the right tackle 

 and the right baits, take him to the right place, and, in fact, 

 treat him as if he were a mere rod-holding, winch-winding 

 machine. But the shorter this machine period, the better. 

 There is little satisfaction, and less credit, in fishing with other 

 men's brains, and the sooner the beginner masters a knowledge 

 of baits, tackle, suitable conditions of weather and water, the 

 elements of seamanship and small-boat sailing, and the thou- 

 sand and one minutiae of sea fishing generally, the greater will 

 be his enjoyment of this very delightful sport. 



To find a really satisfactory boatman is frequently no easy 

 matter. Many of the fishermen are mere hands, and only work 

 well when there is a head to direct them. Others have a good 

 knowledge of rough hand-line fishing, but do not sympathise 

 with nor comprehend the sportsman's finer methods. Not a 

 few are jealous of strangers coming to the place, even though 

 they pay their men well. On many parts of the coast bass and 

 pollack, two of the most sport-giving fish, are not much sought 

 after by the professional fishermen, which means that the 

 amateur is forced to rely upon his own general knowledge of 

 the habits of the fish in searching for them. But, happily, 

 there now begin to be not a few places frequented by amateur 

 fishermen where the local personages have become reconciled 

 to seeing a fishing rod project from their boats, and cease to 

 declaim upon the folly of fishing with line so thin that, in 

 their opinion, a one-pound whiting might break it. Let us 

 hope that, in time, the British Sea Anglers' Society will have 

 the names of one or more really good boatmen at all stations of 



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