2 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. 



called for and shown a ' fine art,' as my friend, Mr. Senior, ex- 

 presses it, which need not shrink from contrast with that de- 

 manded by any branch of anghng whatever. ' Coarse fishing ' 

 is as great a misnomer as coarse fish ; every kind of fishing 

 is capable of being brought to perfection, and of being carried 

 out scientifically as well as clumsily and ignorantly; and I 

 hope I need not appeal to the tenor of all my former writings 

 on the subject to assure my readers that I am a strenuous 

 advocate for the use of the very finest tackle compatible 

 with safety, not in fly-fishing only, but in every branch and 

 every department of the art of angling. Indeed I recall with, 

 I hope, some pardonable pride and pleasure that after the 

 publication of my earlier essays, commentators, more kindly 

 and indulgent, doubtless, than critical, were flattering enough 

 to give me the sobriquet of the ' Apostle of Fine Fishing.' 



I shall not apologise, therefore, for the fact that in the fol- 

 lowing pages considerable space and attention are accorded to 

 matters, as some might consider them, of almost trivial detail. 

 The ' whole is made up of its parts,' however ; and without 

 careful attention to details neither neatness nor strength can be 

 attained. The difference in killing power between one bend of 

 hook and another, slightly varied, is not less than loo per cent. 



