70 ANGLING 



Trout-fishing is the very principle of life to the 

 practised and enthusiastic angler. It is that which 

 gives vitality and animation to all his movements, and 

 constitutes him what he really is. Without the trout 

 and salmon he would be, in many respects, a truly 

 pitiable object — nearly reduced to that degraded state 

 which wotild justify Dr. Johnson's snarling definition 

 of the angler's profession. 



Fishing for trout may be comprehended under three 

 heads : — Fly-fishing, trolling, and worra-fishing. Other 

 modes are known and sometimes practised, and we 

 shall mention them incidentally, but we shall confine 

 the general burden of our suggestions and remarks to 

 these three leading divisions of our angling art. In 

 doing so we shall be chiefly guided by our own experi- 

 ence in a variety of waters, both at home and abroad. 



PLY-FISHING 



is the most successful, and, by immeasurable degrees, 

 the most delightful mode of angling for trout. It is 

 graceful and gentlemanly, and can be enjoyed by all who 

 exhibit any anxiety to acquire the art. It is also the 

 most independent mode. You take your rod, fishing- 

 creel, and fly-book, and roam away over half a kingdom, 

 without any further trouble about baits, or encumbrance 

 from nets, or fish-kettles, or other trumpery. In point 

 of exciting the mind and sustaining a joyous hilarity, it 

 is infinitely preferable to all other modes of exercising 

 the gentle art. The constant attention which the angler 

 must pay to his flies as they glide on the water, the 

 repeated changes of locality, the calm and placid pleasure 

 infused into the soul by sparkling and gushing streams, 

 the constant exercise of his skill in casting and drawing 

 his line, the gentle tantalisings of his hopes by frequent 

 unsuccessful risings at the fly, the dexterity and manage- 

 ment requisite in killing a fish with such delicate 

 materials, and the uncertainty which always hangs 

 over his successful capture, all tend to awaken and 

 keep alive that feeling of the mind on which rests the 



