426 F I S H I N G, 
on the bottom with one large (hot a foot at lead from the 
bait. If there be a fmall frefh in the water, or it is clear¬ 
ing off, being of a dark or brownifli colour, ufe the worm 
fird, (which fhould be well-fcoured, with a fine hook, a 
fliortifli line without a fhot, caft in as a fly at the head of 
the dreams, and moved gently towards you, dill letting 
it go down with the current, fo as to keep it a little un¬ 
der water;) then the minnow ; and, as the water gets 
clearer, tlie natural or artificial fly. When the water is 
clear and low in warm weather, you may ufe the beetle, 
wood-fly, blue-fly, cadbate, palmer, cabbage-grub, or 
any fimilar infedt, either at the top, or under the water. 
Other large fifh, as well as trout, will take all thefe baits 
freely, jud as they are in the humour, and as the weather 
and water fuit. 
There is another fuccefsful and eafy method of catch¬ 
ing trouts, and feveral other forts of d(h ; which is, by 
taking a dne bittern’s or cock’s neck feather, commonly 
called a hackle , and lapping it round the hook, near the 
top of the (bank, and putting a palmer-worm, or a cad¬ 
bate in its feafon, on the bend of the hook; with which 
fill) with a fliort line, over banks, bufltes, and fuch places 
as are proper for the fport. In fome counties this is 
called bobbing ; and conditutes an approach-to the artid- 
cial-fly-fifiling. You may alfo, in warm weather, wh.cn 
the water is in order, ufe the worm, minnow, or cadbate, 
in the forenoon ; and flies, either artificial or natural, all 
the red of the day ; not forgetting to ufe the evening 
flies, beginning towards fun-fet; and for night-fifhing, 
ufe the artificial moth flies, the minnow, or a fmall fry. 
The hook might be either No. 3, or 4, according as 
the"dfli run for fize where you angle. 
The Grayling, or Umber. —This fifh is good and 
palatable all the year ; but their chief feafon is from the 
beginning of September to January. They fpawn in April 
and the beginning of May, at which time they lie near 
the Tides and at the tails of fharp dreams, and are much 
difpofed to rife at the artificial fly. Their haunts, in' ge¬ 
neral, are nearly the fame as thofe of the trout. They 
lie clofe all the winter, and in April begin to be very 
a£live : they are bride fprightly fifties, and fwim very 
fwiftly. When the water is clear, they might be angled 
for with flies, in the feafon ; when otherwife, with the 
cadbate, wafp or chafer maggot, or a well-fcoured earth¬ 
worm. They are taken with the fame baits, and fiflied 
for after the fame manner as the trout, except trolling 
with the minnow, &c. which they never take. They 
will bite,at any little infeit, as well as the cadbate, and 
afford confiderable fport to tire angler. When dfned for 
at the bottom, let the bait drag upon the ground ; for 
they will rather take it there than afeend ; and when you 
angle particularly for them this.way, ufe a running-line, 
which is preferable to a cork float. 
Graylings are very fportive at the fly during the fpring 
and fummer; being much more Ample, and bolder, than 
the trout; for they will life two or three times at the fly, 
even if you mifis them fo often. Their mouth is fo very 
tender, that they will often break their hold, fo that they 
mud be played gently when druck, and take care to have 
a dne hook, either No. 4, 5, or 6. They will bite all day 
in cool cloudy weather; but the bed time is from eight 
in the morning to twelve, and from four in the afternoon 
to a little after fun-fet, in fpring and fummer; and from 
September to January in the middle of the day. 
Pike, or Jack. —The pike is the tyrant of fredi-water 
fifh, and is accounted a longer liver than any other, ex¬ 
cept the carp. The chief articles of his fuftenance are 
fro o’s and fifh, even thofe of his own fpecies. They be- 
<’in (pawning the latter end of February, and continue 
til! near the middle of March, at which time they go 
out of the rivers into fome creek or brook, where there 
may be-a fufficient flip ply of water; in ponds, they feek 
the neck or dia'llovv parts of the water, among weeds; 
and while the fpawner is cadin'g her eggs, the milter 
hovers over her, but does not touch her. The bed of 
thefe fidi are thofe that breed in rivers, and the females 
are preferable to the males. They are in feafon from the 
beginning of May til! near fpawning-time. The rod mud 
be drong, fuch as you troll with for falmon ; with a reel 
placed on the but-end of it, fufficient to hold about thirty 
yards of drong line; at the end of which let there be a 
fwivel, to faden on your armed wire or gimp. There 
are many ways of taking the pike : a very fuccefsful one- 
is called dipping, and is performed as follows: Let the 
hook be a large gorge-hook, flightly leaded on the thank; 
bait it, by putting the wire or gimp in at the mouth of 
a fmallifli fifli, fuch as fail mon-fry, roach, dace, gudgeon, 
&c. and bringing it out near the tail ; draw it, on for the 
hook to lie clofe in one corner of its mouth, which rnud 
then be fewed up, and the tail tied up to the wire or 
gimp very neatly with a bit of white thread, which is 
not fo apt to untie as filk; cut away the back bn, and 
then loop on to the fwivel. When you begin to angle, 
let out the line to a length convenient, and filh where the 
water is not very deep, but overfpread with docks and 
weeds, except in fome parts where you have room to let 
in your bait. The fifli, hanging with its head downwards, 
will, when fwayed with a gentle motion, flioot and play 
about the weeds very naturally; and the pike, taking it 
for real life, will purfue it eagerly, even from the furface 
of the water. The inftant he takes the bait, flacken your 
line, and let him run with it if he has room ; in a fliort 
time afterwards, you will perceive the line to (hake, which 
is a good hint to flrike ; then manage him gently, wind¬ 
ing up your line by degrees. When it is time to land 
him, draw him quietly through the weeds, with his nofc 
above them, till within reach of your landing net. 
In trolling for pike, the rod and line mud be the fame 
as before ; the hook either double or Angle; the double 
hook is made of two large ones, with long flianks, tied 
together nearly back to back, and then fecured to a piece 
of brafs wire about four inches long ; and to the wire is 
fadened half a yard of gimp, with a fmall loop at the 
top ; the hook mud be leaded two inches up the wire, the 
piece of lead running fmall to the upper end, and a quar¬ 
ter of an inch fquare at the lower end. The Angle hook 
is prepared in the fame manner, obferving to choofe one 
with a long fnank. They are both to be baited as before 
directed, only cutting away one of the flns at the gills of 
the bait, and another at the vent on the contrary fide, 
and keeping the points of the double hook towards its 
eyes, when it is drawn clofe to its month. Angle this 
way in deep water, near-to weeds, bullruflies, water-docks, 
hollow banks, dumps of trees, &c. Cad your bait acrofs 
the water, in fuch places as you think likely ; and keep 
it in continual motion, by fometimes letting it dnk a. con¬ 
fiderable depth, and at other times railing it gradually. 
You need not make more than two or three trials in a 
place ; for if a pike be there, he will feize the bait within 
that time, if he takes it at all. 
Another fuccefsful method is as follows : let your 
hook be fingle, with a long fliank ; and before you fix 
the fwivel at the bottom of your line, put on a large cork, 
float that, will fwim a gudgeon; then put on the fwivel, 
and fix the gimp to it ; add a large fiiot or two, to make 
it tend upwards; fo that when the hook is baited with 
the gudgeon, it may appear full of life and motion. You 
mud endeavour to keep the gudgeons quite alive ; and 
when you bait, dick the hook either through the upper 
lip, or back fin. Then angle in deep and likely places, 
letting the bait fwim at mid-water, which is done by 
moving the float higher or lower according to the depth 
of the water. When you have a bite, let the fifli run a 
little, and then flrike him.—Pike may alfo be caught by 
artificial fly-fifhing; though many aflert that they are 
not to be taken with a fly at all : tiiey are, however, 
often taken this way. The fly mud be made upon a 
double hook, formed of one piece of wire fadened to a 
ftrong link of gimp. It lliould be conipofed of gaudy 
material's.; fuch as pheafant’s, peacock’s,, or mallard’s 
feathers* 
