THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 191 



Then I must have thread, and hairs green and small, 

 With mine angling purse and so you have all. 



But you must have all these tackling, and twice so many 

 more,* with which, if you mean to be a fisher, you must store 



* If you go any great distance from home, you will find it necessary to 

 carry with you many more things than are here enumerated, most of which 

 may be very well contained in a wicker panier of about twelve inches 

 wide, and eight high, of the form and put into a hawking-bag. The 

 following is a list of the most material : a rod with a spare top ; lines 

 coiled up, and neatly laid in round flat boxes ; spare links, single hairs, 

 waxed thread and silk ; plummets of various sizes ; floats of all kinds, and 

 spare caps j worm-bags, and a gentle-box j hooks of all sizes, some whipped 

 to single hairs ; shot; shoemakers' wax, in a very small gallipot covered 

 with a bit of leather ; a clearing-ring, tied to about six yards of strong 

 cord; the use of this is to disengage your hook when it has caught a weed, 

 &c. in which case take off the butt of your rod, and slip the ring over the 

 remaining joints, and, holding it by the cord, let it gently fall ; a landing 

 net, the hoop whereof must be of iron, and made with joints to fold, and 

 a socket to hold a staff; take with you also such baits as you intend to use. 

 That you may keep your fish alive be provided with a small hoop net, to 

 draw close to the top. And never be without a sharp knife, and a pair of 

 scissars. And if you mean to use the artificial fly, have your fly-book 

 always with you. 



And for the more convenient keeping and carriage of lines, links, single 

 hairs, &c. take a piece of parchment, or vellum, seven inches by ten ; oil 

 the longer sides, set off four inches, and then fold it cross-wise, so as to 

 leave a flap of two inches, of which hereafter ; then take eight or ten 

 pieces of parchment, of seven inches by four ; put them into the parch- 

 ment, or vellum, so folded, and sew up the ends : then cut the flap rounding, 

 and fold it down like a pocket-book : lastly, you may, if you please, bind 

 along the ends, and round the flap, with red tape. 



Into this case, put lines coiled up, spare links, single hairs, and hooks 

 ready whipped and looped. 



Arid having several of these cases, you may fill them with lines, &c. 

 proper for every kind of fishing ; always remembering to put into each of 

 them a gorger, or small piece of cane, of five inches long, and a quarter of 

 an inch wide, with a notch at each end ; with this, when a fish has gorged 

 your hook, you may, by putting it down his throat till you feel the hook, 

 and holding the line tight while you press it down, easily disengage it. 



And if you should chance to break your top, or any other part of your 

 rod, take the following directions for mending it: Cut the two broken 

 ends with a long slope, so that they may fit neatly together ; then spread 

 some wax, very thin, on each slope ; and, with waxed thread, or silk, 

 according as the size of the broken part requires, bind them very neatly 

 together. To fasten off, lay the forefinger of your left hand over the 

 binding, and, with your right, make four turns of the thread over it ; then 

 pass the end of your thread between the under side of your finger and the 

 rod, and draw your finger away ; lastly, with the forefinger and thumb of 

 your right hand, take hold of the first of the turns, and, gathering as much 

 of it as you can, bind on till the three remaining turns are wound off, and 

 then take hold of the end which you had before brought through, and tnen 

 draw close. 



For whipping on a hook, take the following directions : Place the hook 

 betwixt the forefinger and thumb of your left hand, and with your right 

 give the waxed silk three or four turns round the shank of the hook ; then 

 lay the end of the hair on the inside of the shank, and with your right hand 

 whip down ; when you are within about four turns of the bent of the 

 hook, take the shank between the forefinger and thumb of the left hand, 

 and place the silk close by it, holding them both tight, and leaving the 

 end to hang down ; then draw the other part of the silk into a large 

 loop ; and, with your right haud turning backwards, continue the whipping 



