CHAPTER XXVII. 



THE THAMES TROUT. 



PERHAPS there is no fish existing which requires such persistence and 

 wary skill to snare as the Thames trout. There is no fish in existence 

 to which I have devoted anything like the time and perseverance I 

 have to the one under consideration. Like the younger Herschel 

 assuredly I gain by the comparison I was born, so to say, in the midst of 

 the concomitants of my father's craft, which he inherited from his father, 

 and so on for generations further back. He has ever been reckoned one 

 of the best Thames trout fishers on record, and for a professional fisherman 

 has probably brought or been instrumental in bringing more fish to bag 

 than any other man living Baily, of Nottingham, not excepted. And 

 this simply leads up to the conclusion which I am bold enough to deem 

 inevitable, viz., that I am entitled by the fact of hereditary bias and 

 paternal help and the knowledge of fish capture evidenced by the fore- 

 going pages, to explain what I consider the most rational method of 

 catching the fish in question. 



There are three ways which are usually made use of by Thames trout 

 fishers namely, spinning, live baiting, and fly-fishing. In this order I 

 shall take them. I therefore commence with spinning. 



Spinning for Thames trout requires much more art than the corre- 

 sponding operation for pike. Tackle for the latter is usually employed 

 of a much heavier and rougher nature, the baits are larger, and the rod 

 and line of a more stalwart character. The necessity for finesse is also 

 not so great. Pike are not particularly indisposed to take a bait because 

 it falls with a noisy splash ; neither, if a pike be hungry, will any, or 

 but few at least, suspicions deter him. Thames trout are very different ; 

 their sagacity is marvellous ; their fighting power, comprising strength 

 and pluck, is remarkable, and their agility of movement, besides refine- 

 ment of taste, is very exceptional. Altogether, a graver and more 

 respectable member of the salmonidce does not exist. 



