ANCIENT ANGLING AUTHORS 75 



affright the fish, in the bite and sight, and because 

 they follow not so kindly the nimble rod and hand. 

 Secondly they breed weight to the line, which puts 

 it in danger, & hinders the nimble jerk of the rod, 

 and loades the arm. A good eye and hand may 

 easily discern the bite. 



He was in the habit of making his own hooks. 

 In regard to the shape he gives the following instruc- 

 tions : " The best form for ready striking and sure 

 holding and strength, is a straight and somewhat 

 long shanke and strait nib'd, with a little compasse, 

 not round in any wise for it neither strikes surely 

 nor readily, but is weak, as having too great a 

 compasse." 



In explanation of Denny s' line about the hook, 



His point not over sharp, nor yet too dull, 



Lawson says : " He means the hook may be too 

 weak at the point, it cannot be too sharpe, if the 

 mettall be of good steele." 



The best portion of Lawson's addition is his 

 description of fly-fishing for trout He supplies the 

 noticeable deficiency in Dennys' poem in this respect, 

 as follows : 



The trout makes the angler most gentlemanly, 

 and readiest sport of all fishes : if you angle with a 

 made flye, and a line twice your rods length or more 

 (in a plaine water without wood) of three haires, in 

 a darke windy day from mid afternoone, and have 

 learned the cast of the flie, your flie must counterfeit 

 the May-flie, which is bred of the Cod bait, and is 

 called the water fly : you must change his colour 



