100 ANCIENT ANGLING AUTHORS 



We have already seen that Walton is the first 

 writer to mention the use of the winch in salmon- 

 fishing. The scanty description, however, which he 

 gives of angling for salmon suggests the conclusion 

 that he had little or no practical acquaintance with 

 this branch of the sport. It is in fact evident that 

 Walton was essentially a " coarse " fisherman ; some 

 editors 1 deem it incumbent upon them to apologise 

 for this " failing " on the part of their author : 

 personally I do not think that any such apology is 

 needed, for float-fishing is essentially the branch of 

 angling which best conduces to contemplation, and 

 hence most fitly fulfils the requirements of "The 

 Contemplative Man's Recreation." 



In his second edition Walton makes the first 

 mention of the strange method of dipping the bait 

 into tar, in order to render it more attractive to 

 tench ; this practice was recommended in nearly all 

 the treatises which followed the Compleat Angler , 

 and it is even adopted by some anglers at the 

 present day. The more practical, however, of the 

 angling authors who followed Walton usually ex- 

 pressed their doubts as to the value of the tar in 

 inducing the fish to bite : for instance, Chetham 

 recommends this proceeding in a very half-hearted 

 fashion : 



And as you use your Worms, put them by them- 



1 Mr Andrew Lang writes : " A bait-fisher may be a good 

 man, as Izaak was, but it is easier for a camel to pass through 

 the eye of a needle." 



