206 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. PART n. 



the breadth of the river you shall chuse to angle at; and for 

 a trout-river, one of five or six yards long is commonly enough; 

 and longer, though never so neatly and artificially made, it 

 ought not to be, if you intend to fish at ease ; and if otherwise, 

 where lies the sport ? 



Of these, the best that ever I saw are made in Yorkshire, 

 which are all of one piece ; that is to say, of several, six, eight, 

 ten, or twelve pieces, so neatly pieced and tied together with 

 fine thread below, and silk above, as to make it taper like a 

 switch, and to ply with a true bent to your hand ; and these too 

 are light, being made of fir-wood for two or three lengths 

 nearest to the hand, and of other wood nearer to the top, that 

 a man might very easily manage the longest of them that ever 

 I saw with one hand ; and these, when you have given over 

 angling for a season, being taken to pieces, and laid up in some 

 dry place, may afterwards be set together again in their former 

 postures, and will be as straight, sound, and good as the first 

 hour they were made ; and being laid in oil and colour, 

 according to your master Walton's direction, will last many 

 years. 



The length of your line, to a man that knows how to handle 

 his rod, and to cast it, is no manner of incumbrance, excepting 

 in woody places, and in landing of a fish, which every one that 

 can afford to angle for pleasure, has somebody to do for him ; 

 and the length of line is a mighty advantage to the fishing at a 

 distance; and to fish fine, and far off, is the first and principal 

 rule for trout-angling. 



Your line in this case should never be less, nor ever exceed 

 two hairs next to the hook; for one (though some, I know, will 

 pretend to more art than their fellows) is indeed too few, the 

 least accident, with the finest hand, being sufficient to break it : 

 but he that cannot kill a trout of twenty inches long with two, in 

 a river clear of wood and weeds, as this and some others of ours 

 are, deserves not the name of an angler. 



Now, to have your whole line as it ought to be, two of the 

 first lengths nearest the hook should be of two hairs a-piece ; the 

 next three lengths above them of three ; the next three above 



