INTRODTJCTION. XVll 



of tbe shires, or to the killing of a chalk- stream trout upon 

 the tiniest floating fly. All, literally, is fish that comes to 

 the all-round angler's net ; and in the term we must, of course, 

 always rank the angler for sea-fish, as described in our good 

 friend John Bickerdyke's practical treatise upon that hitherto 

 neglected branch of all-round angling. 



One wonders occasionally how it is that so many books 

 are written upon angling; one asks whether they are read, 

 marked, learned, and inwardly digested. The explanation is 

 probably to be found in the increasing difficulty of the art 

 of angling. You will sometimes meet men who laugh to 

 scorn the notion that fish are becoming educated. Education 

 may not, perhaps, be precisely the word to use in such a 

 case, but we are bound to face the fact that every year fish 

 not only seem to be, but really are, harder to catch. The 

 angler, nowadays, has to use all his skill to be successful, 

 and thus, every hint that is put into honest type, every new 

 theory broached, every fresh device invented, will be eagerly 

 considered by him. Any honestly serviceable work upon the 

 subject, be it great or small, must therefore appeal to a 

 wide range of attentive readers; and the value of such a 

 book, in handy form, written by one who can practice what 

 he preaches, and covering the entire question, with its many 

 branches, must be obvious to the meanest comprehension. 



May the " Book of the Ail-Round Angler" send new recruits 

 to the ai-my; open up to many a town-dwelling man the 

 sweets of country life as tasted by the fisherman on his 

 occasional excursions to the river of his choice; and enable 

 the experienced angler, who has long benefited by the 

 privilege, to catch fish where he never caught them before, 

 and more and more artfully match the growing wideawaked- 

 ness of the game with added acuteness of his own. 



RED SPINNER. 



