10 



ANGLING. 



may fix upon, nothing is so good, in our humble opinion, as a 

 pure horse-hair line. If you have a line for fly-fishing with any 

 portion of silk in it, you can never throw a line of any considerable 

 length with the requisite steadiness and precision. The reason is 

 obvious. When the line has been a short time in the water, the 

 silk gets soaked, becomes soft and flabby, and consequently falls 

 heavily on the water. On the other hand, a good hair line inva- 

 riably preserves its firmness and elasticity under all states and 

 circumstances. 



If the angler be fishing on lakes, or in large rivers, for salmon, 

 he will require from eighty to one hundred yards of Kile ; but if on 

 a moderate-sized stream, from forty to fifty will be quite sufficient. 

 We have seen, however, two hundred yards used in boat-fishing on 

 a lake, and this quantity was not too much. 



Some fly-fishers have their lines tapered at the bottom, in order 

 to Connect the gut and flies more immediately with it, and, indeed, 

 this plan is now quite the fashion. But with all due deference to 

 the prevailing mode, we ourselves prefer the old " cast line " of 

 about four or five feet in length, and from four to six or eight hairs 

 in thickness, on which to place the gut and flies. A line thus pre- 

 pared can be thrown much truer to any given point, and possesses 

 also ^ther advantages over a tapered running line. 



Lines for trolling are made of silk, silk and hair, and various 

 other materials. In the process of trolling, the lightness and elas- 

 ticity of the line are not of so much consequence as in fly-fishing ; 

 but, for our own part, we prefer hair lines before any other, even 

 for this sport of trolling. 



The line called a paternoster for perch fishing, is made of strong 

 gut or gimp, on which are suspended, at certain distances, three 

 or more hooks ; the whole is connected with the wheel-line by a 

 small swivel. 



FISH-HOOKS. 



There are two celebrated localities where the best hooks are 

 manufactured London and Limerick and the majority of hooks 

 assume the name of these respective places. 



Good hooks are of essential importance to the angler, and we 

 would most earnestly recommend ail our countrymen who visit the 

 Continent for the purpose of fishing ; to provide* themselves amply 

 in England with these necessary articles, of all sorts and sizes. 



There is some difference of opinion among experienced anglers 

 as to hooks some liking the bended ones, some the straight. 

 .Fancy, or custom, has had a good deal to do with the judgments in 

 such conflicting determinations. We wish not to speak dogmati- 

 cally on the subject, but only to crave the liberty of stating that 

 we prefer the straight hook, both for flies and for bait, to the bent 

 ones. In fly-fishing we have always found, or at least fancied we 



