July 15, 1911 ] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
83 
HUMORS OF ANGLING. 
Oh, the gallant fisher’s life, 
It is the best of any; 
’Tis full of pleasure, void of strife, 
And 'tis beloved by many. 
—John Chalkhill. 
To begin with, the fish itself has always struck 
me as being a very happy morsel. Why, I don’t 
know, unless it be that we have always con¬ 
sidered a dog pleased when he waggeth his 
stump, and certainly Mr. Finney looks con¬ 
tented and cheerful enough as we see him in the 
1 stream gently waving his narrative. 
Be that as it may, there is a lot of real humor 
to be found among the many who desire to "be 
quiet and go a-angling,” and even to the on¬ 
looker it is extremely funny to see a piscator 
with a hook in the seat of his nether garments 
endeavoring to “get loose,” or to come across 
a man “hung up” in a tree, or to watch one 
tugging away, when fast in the weeds or bot¬ 
tom, until, very often, hook or line part com¬ 
pany. 
In the first place, just as soon as one carries 
a rod and creel that one is immediately an 
object of quiet amusement to the passersby. He 
may wheel a bicycle, or carry golf clubs, a 
cricket outfit, or a football, and attract little or 
no attention, but just as soon as he trots out a 
fishing rod—then the fun begins. 
And the music halls provide their share of the 
“fun piscatorial.” Harry Tate’s excellent 
sketch, “Fishing,” for example. A chorus I 
once heard a sprightly damsel sing ran some¬ 
thing on this style: 
He’d be fishing, he'd been fishing; 
Sitting all day by a rippling brook, 
With a nice little worm on the end of a hook. 
Fishing, fishing, well I think it’s rather risky, 
For all he caught was a darn fine cold. 
And I don’t know how much whisky. 
Likewise, there seems to be a kind of un¬ 
written law which allows any casual interloper 
to enter into conversation with a fisherman. He 
may ask as to whether there are any bites, what 
baits one is using, and, if any fish have been 
captured; may express a desire to view them, 
or may even take a peep into the basket with¬ 
out permission, and pass remarks as to the di¬ 
mensions of the contents. I have had a man 
sit by my side—a complete stranger—who, hav¬ 
ing watched me fish for about two hours, then 
rose and passed the remark that he would 
never have the patience to fish. At Roundhay 
Park, Leeds, when fishing from a boat with 
some friends, I have experienced a fellow who 
rowed half way across the lake, and bang into 
us with the remark, “Now mate! Has ta 
copped owt?” From the shore, too, one has 
many funny inquiries, one which I remember 
being, when fishing at dusk, “Do they come up 
at neet?” 
The old hand, of course, is full of philosophy, 
and the cause of these little worriments and 
distractions from sport is usually greeted with 
the cheery “smile that won’t come off,” but 
there are exceptions—when bites are like angel’s 
visits, few and far between. 
A facetious wag once remarked of a rod that 
“there was a fool at one end and a worm at 
the other.” On the other hand, Izaak Walton 
said that angling “is an art worthy the knowl¬ 
edge and practice of a wise man.” In any 
case, the wag’s remark is not correct, as the 
“Match” records show, and besides, we don’t 
always have a worm “at the other end.” 
Personally, I have had a few amusing epi¬ 
sodes. Once, when on the “Broads,” I pulled 
up a lady’s hair net in which was entangled a 
small roach. It seems it must have been a lady 
fish. When pike fishing, I have had a dog swim 
in after the float, and travel off with it. On 
another occasion, at a farm, I left my rod for 
a few minutes resting against a hayrick; return¬ 
ing, I found a white cockerel running about 
open-mouthed. At first I attributed this to the 
result of the bracing atmosphere until I ob¬ 
served that the rod “traveled some” also. Then, 
going closer, I saw that the hook was in the 
cockerel’s mouth, and surmised that the worm 
was probably reposing in his “little Mary.” 
T he o\, ner had previously told me that he prided 
himself on his fowls, so, taking a hasty glance 
Men and Women when fishing, hunting or camping should wear 
Lighter Fabric 
Midsummer Outing Clothing 
Kamp-it is a lighter fabric, is particu¬ 
larly for women, or life that does not 
require as hard usage as Duxbak; 
but, nevertheless, Kamp-it will stand 
the strain of most out-door life, in¬ 
cluding riding, fishing, camping, 
Prices east of the motor cycling, etc. 
Rocky Mountains; N, 
DtTXBAK \ _ 
Coats.Jfo.u ) to $10.00 
Trousers and Breeches 3.00 to 6 00 
Hats, Caps, Leggins . .50 to 1.50 UP. AV’* -, 
Ladies’ Skirts .... 5.00 to 6.00 \ - Vi f \ 
kamp-it \ 
Coats.$3.00 to $3.50 \ “viMA i.* 
i Trousers and Breeches 2.00 to 2.50 
\ Hats. Caps. Leggins .50 to 1.00 V 
\ Ladies’ Skirts . . 3.00 to 4.00 ' AKfpN 
Sportsman’s Clothing 
Sheds water like a duck’s back 
Duxbak is the only Hunting Garment made in 
the United States under the 
Priestley Process 
which guaran¬ 
tees it to be s'* 
rain proof. \ 
For fit and \ 
finish, it can- \ 
not be excelled \ 
and it is soft, 
smooth and pli¬ 
able, making it 
desirable for al 
outdoor sports. 
Send for illustrated booklet 
showing full line, samples 
of materials, measurement 
blanks, etc. 
BIRD, JONES 
& KENYON 
3 Hickory St. 
Utica, 
N. Y. 
The “Game Laws in Brief” gives ail 
the fish and game laws of the United 
States and Canada. It is complete 
and so accurate that the editor can 
afford to pay a reward for an error 
found in it. “If the Brief says so, you 
may depend on it.” Sold by all 
dealers. Price, twenty-five cents. 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 
127 Franklin Street, New York. 
= SAM LOVEL’S ROY -- 
Sam Lovel’s Boy is the fifth of the series of Danvis 
books. No one has pictured the New Englander with 
so much insight as has Mr. Robinson. Sam Lovel and 
Huldah are two of the characters of the earlier books 
in the series, and the boy is young Sam, their son, 
who grows up under the tuition of the coterie of 
friends that we know so well, becomes a man just at 
the time of the Civil War, and carries a musket in 
defense of what he believes to be the right. 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING COMPANY 
UNCLE LISHA’S SHOP 
Life in a Corner of Yankeeland. By Rowland E. 
Robinson. Cloth. 187 pages. Price, $1.25. 
The shop itself, the place of business of Uncle Lisha 
Peggs, bootmaker and repairer, was a sort of sports¬ 
man’s exchange, where, as one of the fraternity ex¬ 
pressed it, the hunters and fishermen of the widely 
scattered neighborhood used to meet of evenings ana 
dull outdoor days “to swap lies.” 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING COMPANY 
