266 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



much bigger and longer, so long as even almost to the very 

 beard of the hook. 



Piscator. I know it very well, and had one of those flies 

 given me by an honest gentleman, who came with my father 

 Walton to give me a visit ; which (to tell you the truth) I 

 hung in my parlour window to laugh at : but, sir, you know 

 the proverb, " They who go to Rome must do as they at Rome 

 do ; " and, believe me, you must here make your flies after this 

 fashion, or you will take no fish. Come, I will look you out a 

 line, and you shall put it on and try it There, sir, now I 

 think you are fitted ; and now beyond the farther end of the 

 walk you shall begin : I see, at that bend of the water above, 

 the air crisps the water a little : knit your line first here, and 

 then go up thither, and see what you can do. 



Viator. Did you see that, sir ? 



Piscator. Yes, I saw the fish : and he saw you too, which 

 made him turn short. You must fish farther off, if you intend 

 to have any sport here ; this is no New River, let me tell you. 

 That was a good Trout, believe me : did you touch him ? 



Viator. No, I would I had, we would not have parted so. 

 Look you, there was another : this is an excellent fly. 



Piscator. That fly, I am sure, would kill fish, if the day 

 were right : but they only chew at it, I see, and will not take 

 it.* Come, sir, let us return back to the fishing-house : this 

 still water, I see, will not do our business to-day : you shall 

 now, if you please, make a fly yourself, f and try what you can 

 do in the streams with that : and I know a Trout taken with 

 a fly of your own making, will please you better than twenty 

 with one of mine. Give me that bag again, sirrah : look you 

 sir, there is a hook, towght, silk, and a feather for the wings : 

 be doing with those, and I will look you out a dubbing that I 

 think will do. 



Viator. This is a very little hook. 



Piscator. That may serve to inform you, that it is for a very 

 little fly, and you must make your wings accordingly ; for as 



* When a fish is thus observed to play, as it were, with the fly, I think 

 he is probably doubtful of its smell ; and 1 have often succeeded in making 

 them bite in such cases, by putting a cadis bait or other insect on the fly 

 hook. J. R. 



f To make a fly is so essential, that he hardly deserves the name of an 

 angler who cannot do it There are many who will go to a tackle shop, 

 and tell the master of it, as Dapper does Subtle in the Alchymist, that they 

 want a fly ; for which they have a thing put into their hands that would 

 pose a naturalist to find resemblance for ; though, when particular direc- 

 tions have been given, I have known them excellently made by the persona 

 employed by the fishing-tackle makers in London. But do thou, my honest 

 friend, learn to make thy own flies ; and be assured, that in collecting and 

 arranging the materials, and imitating the various shapes and colours of 

 these admirable creatures, there is little less pleasure than even in catching 

 fish. 



