JUNE 97 



reason I have always failed to find out. It is certainly 

 hallowed by age, being fully described by old Izaak him- 

 self in his immortal pages. It will be remembered by 

 all who know their " Compleat Angler" how in the 

 roach and dace chapter he speaks of " a very little hook 

 . . . and a very little thin lead, so put upon the shank of 

 the hook that it may sink presently." As to the poach- 

 ing accusation, it seems to me that every fair-minded 

 man looks upon a fisherman as a man who goes to catch 

 fish, and catches them in a sportsmanlike manner. What 

 fish does this method take, the large or the small ? 

 Certainly the large ; and, moreover, the use of the little 

 hook, and the instantaneous strike, causes the fish to be 

 hooked in the edges of the lip, so that undersized 

 specimens can be put back to keep up the river's stock. 

 Now by fishing in this manner, we have found a method 

 of catching fish in the summer heat. I say " a method," 

 and not "the method," because we find that though we 

 hook, perhaps, our big fish first offer, nevertheless some- 

 times the fish will not look at gentles at all ; they have 

 not been educated up to them, and require a course of 

 ground baiting. 



But they must feed on something, and, therefore, to 

 ensure success, we must find a summer food that these 

 fish feed on. Again turn to the pages of our master ; 

 he devotes nearly three pages to describing the best 

 summer bait, commencing as follows : "You are also to 

 know that there be divers kinds of cadis or case worms 

 that are to be found in this nation," and goes on to 

 mention the three principal forms, winding up thus : 

 " These three cadises are commonly taken in the 

 beginning of summer, and are good, indeed, to take to 

 any kind of fish, with float or otherwise." Now we 

 probably all know caddis, cads, or cadbait, but how few 

 there are who properly appreciated Izaak's words, "any 

 kind of fish." Roach, dace, chub, barbel, greyling, and 

 perch feed greedily upon them, and as our old teacher 

 says, " doubtless they are the death of many trouts." 



As everyone is aware, they are the immature form of 

 the fiies known as sedges (natural order Phryganidce) 



