THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 207 



into my memory, of which you may make some use ; but for 

 the practical part, it is that that makes an angler : it is dili- 

 gence, and observation, and practice, and an ambition to be 

 the best in the art, that must do it.* I will tell you, scholar, 

 I once heard one say, "I envy not him that eats better meat 

 than I do, nor him that is richer, or that wears better clothes 

 than I do ; I envy nobody but him, and him only, that 

 catches more fish than I do." And such a man is like to 

 prove an angler; and this noble emulation I wish to you and 

 all young anglers. 



[ROACH AND DACE FISHING. The text of the preceding chapter 

 contains much useful information on angling for roach and dace, and oil 

 the procuring and preserving of gentles and other baits. I shall not have 

 a great deal to add to it. There are no better elementary exercises for 



* The author has now done describing the several kinds of fish, excepting 

 the few little ones that follow, with the different methods of taking them, but 

 has said little or nothing of float-fishing ; it may not be amiss here to lay 

 down some rules about it. Let the rod be light and stiff, and withal so smart 

 in the spring, as to strike at the tip of the whalebone ; from fourteen to 

 fifteen feet is a good length. In places where you sometimes meet with barbel, 

 as at Shepperton and Hampton, in Middlesex, the fittest line is one of six or 

 seven hairs at top ; and so diminishing for two yards, let the rest be strong 

 Indian grass, to within about half a yard of the hook, which may be whipped 

 to a fine grass or silk-worm cut ; and this line will kill a fish of six pounds 

 weight. But for mere roach and dace fishing, accustom yourself to a single- 

 hair line, with which an artist may kill a fish a pound and a half weight. For 

 your float, in slow streams, a neat round goose-quill is proper ; but for deep or 

 rapid rivers, or in an eddy, the cork, shaped like a pear, is indisputably the 

 best ; which should not, in general, exceed the size of a nutmeg ; let not the 

 quill, which you put through it, be more than half an inch above and below 

 the cork; and this float, though some prefer a swan's quill, has great advantage 

 over a bare quill ; for the quill being defended from the water by the cork, 

 does not soften, and the cork enables you to lead your line so heavily, as that 

 the hook sinks almost as soon as you put it into the water ; whereas, when you 

 lead but lightly, it does not get to the bottom till it is near the end of your 

 swim. In leading your lines, be careful to balance them so nicely, that a very 

 small touch will sink them; some use for this purpose lead shaped like a 

 barley-corn, but there is nothing better to lead with than shot, which you must 

 have ready cleft always with you; remembering that when you fish fine, it is 

 better to have on your line a great number of small than a few large shot. 

 Whip the end of the quill round the plug with fine silk, well waxed ; this will 

 keep the water out of your float, and preserve it greatly. In fishing with a 

 float, your line must be about a foot shorter than your rod ; for if it is longer, 

 you cannot so well command your hook when you come to disengage your 

 fish. -H. 



[I give the above note because it contains some instructions by which the 

 angler may make a few necessary articles. Residents in towns need not make 

 them, as they will find them at the fishing-tackle shops ready made, cheaper 

 and better than they can be made by amateur hands. Nothing can exceed 

 the excellence of the floats sold at the shops, and cork floats are sold cheaply 

 of every size, shape and colour. Hair bottom lines are almost obsolete, for gut 

 can be found finer and stronger than hair. ED.] 



