, THE GAME FISHES OE THE WOELD 



of Angling, or.,th.e definition of the Angler in the Tropics, ' sitting 

 in a Turkish bath holding a string.' 



The sea fishes of England taken with rod and reel are the 

 ■cod, conger, pollack, coal-fish, bass, mackerel, hake, haddock, 

 halibut, plaice, whiting, pout, red gurnard, tope, Ung, sea trout, 

 surmullet, skate, turbot, wrasse, and many more, a remarkable 

 variety of hard-fighting fishes when the latitude of England is 

 remembered ; a list that affords the finest sport, a sport that 

 lias been worked out to its utmost detail, and reduced to a science 

 and a fine art by the gentlemen anglers of the scores of clubs of 

 England. For this reason, and the great variety of tackle used, 

 I cannot go into detail, and can but refer the angler to the great 

 leaders and students of British sea angling, ' John Bickerdyke,' 

 Mr. Aflalo, and others, whose works teem with minute directions, 

 all tested by the personal experience of the authors who are not 

 only litterateurs, but experts and authorities. 



The distances are so small in England that good fishing is 

 within reach of the residents of London at all times, as there is 

 not a month in the year that the sea angler cannot find some- 

 thing somewhere, while in 'Sew York rods are put away in 

 October and not used until spring and summer, unleSfes one wishes 

 to fish in, or through the ice, a doubtful and predatory under- 

 taking anywhere. 



In a general way, good fishing is found aU around the British 

 Islands, either offshore, in the bays, from the rocks, in the 

 shallows, or in deep water. Ireland, particularly Ballycotton, 

 has earned a reputation for big congers and skate, and these 

 summer sports, as described at the British Sea Anglers Society 

 meetings, tell the story of fishing along the Irish coast. Brighton, 

 IS'ewhaven, Eastbourne, Hastings, Seaford have flat fish or 

 whiting and pout, the latter on rocky bottom. At Eastbourne, 

 Lowestoft and Littlehampton the game bass may be taken — 

 ■one of the finest sea fishes in any waters while, in estuaries and 

 rivers one may take mullet. 



The deUghts of gray mullet angling have been dwelt on by 

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