PREFACE 



IN adding another volume to the existing literature of angling, which is already more 

 copious than that of any other field sport, we find justification in the fact that hereto- 

 fore no attempt has been made on a similar scale to provide in a single work informa- 

 tion about fishing in all parts of the world. It is an ambitious scheme, no doubt ; but, 

 inasmuch as the Editor has succeeded in securing the co-operation of recognized adepts in 

 the various branches of the craft, and as these have contributed to the several sections 

 nothing that is not founded upon their actual experience, the information given may be 

 relied on as thoroughly trustworthy. 



Anglers have multiplied so prodigiously during the past half century and facilities of 

 travel have so vastly increased, that the waters of the British Isles can no longer accom- 

 modate the crowd. We are encouraged, therefore, to believe that a useful purpose may be 

 served in showing what excellent sport may still be had in other parts of the world, more 

 or less remote. 



The fishery resources of North America, once reckoned inexhaustible, have at length 

 been recognized as a most valuable asset, both by the legislatures of the United States and 

 by the Canadian government, and measures have been taken to prevent their undue de- 

 pletion. The quality of sport which may be enjoyed among the salmon, trout and char of 

 that continent is indicated in the articles contributed by three experienced fishermen 

 Mr Theodore Gordon, Mr E. T. D. Chambers and Mr Nigel Bourke. Mr R. B. Marston, 

 Editor of the Fishing Gazette, has dealt succinctly with pike and other species usually 

 classed as "coarse fish" in this country. In his papers it will be seen that, if the fish be 

 rightly termed " coarse," success in capturing them can only be obtained by means the 

 reverse of coarse. 



Mr H. S. Thomas, C.S.I., author of The Rod in India and Tank Angling in India, is a 

 veteran in the craft, and has opened out what must appear to most English readers a 

 spacious vista of enjoyment in the East. He has also enabled us to enrich his pages by 

 reproducing the plates of Indian fishes, which he caused to be drawn from nature. Mr 

 C. E. Lucas has furnished notes of trout fishing in New Zealand, a country which 

 promises to eclipse every other in the quality of that branch of angling, if, indeed, it has 

 not done so already. 



Lastly, but not least, Mr F. G. Aflalo, pioneer and skilled exponent of the finer 

 methods of marine-angling, has revealed the extent of the sporting capabilities of the 

 ocean in many quarters of the globe. 



No pains have been spared in preparing the illustrations. The late Mr Ernest Briggs, 

 R.I., R.S.W., united artistic quality of a high order with a perfect acquaintance with angling 



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