130 ANCIENT ANGLING AUTHORS 



easily discover the very true colour, proportion and 

 shape of the Fly ; and some do it pretty well without 

 a glass." 



The practice which some fishermen adopt, of 

 affixing a gentle to the hook of their fly, is 

 mentioned in The Anglers Vade-Mecum: 



If you put a Cod-bait or Gentle, either natural or 

 artificial, but Natural better, at point of your 

 Dub-fly Hook, they will take the Dub fly better, 

 especially the Salmon Smelt. 



The Angler's Vade-Mecum is the first book to 

 suggest the whipping of a bristle to the hook, to 

 prevent the cod-bait slipping down ; a similar practice 

 is frequently made use of at the present time in 

 worm-fishing, to prevent the worm from slipping 

 down the hook. 



The angler is usually recommended to cast above 

 a rising trout, and then to let the fly float down to 

 the fish. Chetham, however, writes : 



When you see a Trout rise, cast the Fly behind 

 him, and then gently draw it over his Head, and if 

 of the right colour, and you scare him not, he's 

 your own. 



Though Chetham approves of snaring pike (he 

 appears to have indulged frequently in this amusement 

 during his undergraduate days at Oxford), and of 

 setting night lines, he draws the line of fair angling 

 at night fishing for trout : 



In the Night usually the best Trouts bite, and will 



