210 A BOOK ON ANGLING 



him get a spare boat, if it is required, and lie on the shore 

 close up, while his master fishes the weir across, gently pushing 

 the punt on from bay to bay, and never showing himself to 

 the fish. If a fish is hooked the fisherman rows out and lands 

 him, rebaits the hooks, and retires, while his master finishes 

 the weir. 



Unfortunately there is little chance for these precautions 

 nowadays, for, whenever you go near a weir, you are sure 

 to see one if not two fishermen perched, like Caryatides, at 

 each corner, lazily staring out of countenance every fish that 

 moves. And the worst of it is that they are always fishing, 

 whether they have a customer or not. The consequence is 

 that gentlemen are gradually, but surely, leaving the Thames 

 trout-fishing altogether to the fishermen ; and the fishermen 

 are beginning to experience the evil effects of their attempt 

 " to eat their cake and have it too." Another practice common 

 among Thames trout fishers, too, is to fish with very stout 

 salmon gut, which is not only quite unnecessary, but greatly 

 increases the chances against them. 



So much for the Thames trout-fishing. I have, though 

 formerly most patient and persevering, always found it a 

 highly unsatisfactory pursuit. Of late years, however, many 

 very good fish have been taken with the fly, and, as the Thames 

 fishermen are not generally up to this, these have been chiefly, 

 if not altogether, taken by gentlemen. The flies they affect 

 are the stone fly, red palmer, May fly, alder and cinnamon, 

 dressed large, or a fly with a silver twist body and a bunch of 

 peacock herl for the wing, which they have a great fancy for ; 

 but whether they mistake it for a fly or a minnow I do not 

 pretend to say. Trout of seven and eight pounds weight 

 have not unfrequently thus been taken ; and, if there was a 

 larger stock of big flies, like the stone and May fly, in the 

 river, so as to tempt the fish to look after that kind of food, it 

 cannot be doubted that many more fish would thus be taken. 

 I have heard of many^good fish also being taken with grilse 

 flies. 



SPINNING FOR TROUT IN SMALL STREAMS 



We now come to spinning for the smaller trout in lesser 

 rivers and in brooks. The rod for this must be lighter than 

 the Thames rod, so as to be wielded easily with one hand. 



