16 SCIENCE OF FISHING. 



enteenth century, perhaps much later. Anyway we know 

 that not many years ago it was quite common to see a 

 horsehair line used for trout fishing, and such lines may even 

 yet be in use in rural districts. 



Catching fish with hook and line therefore is an ancient 

 sport, but it is also a modern one for there is no more 

 delightful pastime to be had. It leads one into the country, 

 if not into the wilds, away from the haunts of man quite 

 often, and always to the quiet places where Mother Nature 

 reigns. There the enthusiastic angler gives no heed to the 

 rapidly passing time, as he casts his flies first to this and 

 then to that likely looking spot, where his close study of 

 the habits of the fish have taught him that a gamey bass or 

 trout may lurk. And then the rise and the strike, the mad 

 rushes and acrobatic leaps of the hooked prize, as it vainly 

 tries to break the line or shake the stinging hook from its 

 mouth ! But the steady tension of the bended rod and the 

 scientific methods of the angler are too much for him and 

 he is eventually reeled in, fighting all the way; the landing 

 net is slipped under him and he is lifted bodily from his be- 

 loved waters. 



Or perhaps the fisherman is a bait-casting enthusiast. 

 With his short, stiff rod he sends his many hooked artificial 

 bait, resembling nothing in nature, out many rods over the 

 quiet waters, in much the same way that we, when bare- 

 foot boys, threw apples from a stick. With unerring accuracy 

 he places the bait onto the very spot of water he had in 

 view, commencing to reel in the line as soon as the bait 

 strikes the water. His method is certainly scientific, but 

 will hardly appeal to the fly-fisherman. But he enjoys it more 

 than any other form of sport, and it yields fish, and big 

 ones, too. 



But there are many who like to fish who are not 

 enthusiasts. They fish on holidays, on Saturday afternoons, 

 sometimes between Saturday and Monday, and sometimes 



