Charles Edward Walker

“ I have on many occasions watched the behaviour of an Alder when it has fallen on the water. At first it moves its wings rapidly, but soon stops, to begin again, however, when it has rested. This is repeated time after time, but after each succeeding struggle, the interval of rest becomes longer. In many cases, however, the fly hardly struggles at all.
In observing many other flies which had fallen on the water, I have seen the same sequence of events occur, though some flies struggle to raise themselves from the surface much more than others, as in the case of the Blue-bottle. ”

“ The probability is, that fish have the power of distinguishing colour from colour. A probability, however, is not a certainty, though one is more inclined towards it than towards an improbability.
Even should Sir Herbert Maxwell’s theory prove true, in spite of probabilities to the contrary, I do not see that we should have progressed very much further with regard to facilities in imitating the natural fly. We know that the relative values of light and shade in various colours contiguous to each other, is not actually [Pg 19] the same as the impression conveyed to our eyes. ”

“ A kingfisher, if he catches a fish which is a little too big for him to swallow whole, will knock the head of the fish, which he always catches by the middle of the body, against a stone, in order to kill it, or at least to stop it struggling; it might otherwise in its struggles escape, as the kingfisher can only swallow a fish head first. There are stories which tell how herons sometimes pluck small feathers from their breasts and, floating these feathers upon the water, catch the trout as they rise to it; it is supposed that the trout takes the feather for a fly. ”

“ A trout will undoubtedly sometimes take anything moving through the water which simulates life, if it be of a suitable size. This is shown by the manner in which they take the fancy flies; although here again, as one particular pattern of a fancy fly kills better than any other on one particular water, I think that very often this fancy fly is taken by the fish for some creature which is particularly numerous there. ”

“ If finely divided food is given in such small quantities that practically none of it sinks to the bottom without their having a fair chance at it, I believe that in a box containing only a couple of thousand fry, it would be found that they never stopped feeding during the whole day. If, however, too large pieces of food are offered to the little fish, many of them are likely to be choked and to die, from trying to swallow a piece a little too big for them. ”

“ Most people know that in our own country the monks had stew ponds, where they kept fish, principally carp, and also that the Romans kept fish in ponds. In the latter case we hear more often of the eel than of other fish. The breeding of trout and salmon, and the artificial spawning and hatching of ova, are, however, an innovation of our own time.
Much has been discovered about the procreation of fish, and in no case have scientists worked so hard and discovered more than in the case of Salmonidæ. Fish culture, particularly trout culture, has become a trade, and a paying one. ”

“ Given a bright sun, a light sandy bottom and clear water, a small crustacean swimming between the eye of the observer and the surface often will not appear to be like the creature when it is seen out of the water. ”

“ The choice of a suitable spot in which to make his hatchery is a serious point for the consideration of the amateur. A spring is the best water supply as a rule, for the water is usually of a fairly even temperature, and does not require filtering, but water from a stream where trout are known to live is quite safe. A few years ago it would have been necessary for any one wishing to take up fish culture, to erect a building in which to place his hatchery if he intended to hatch any number of eggs, in order to guard against frosts. ”

“ At any rate, if the fish only takes the artificial fly because it is apparently something alive and moving, I am sure that he would seize it with much more avidity if it represented one of his aquatic neighbours on which he has been feeding, and if its appearance reminded him of many previous pleasant meals. ”

“ There would appear, then, to be a good time coming for fish culture, and those who earnestly follow it.
Practice is the only safe guide, as circumstances, geological, physical, and meteorological so vary the conditions of works that no definite rule of procedure will avail. Earnest work and close observation, combined with ready resource, are the only safe guides to success. Troubles of some sort are sure to supervene; the man who succeeds is he who can anticipate, and so remedy them. ”

“ In the sea many and very various effects may be produced upon objects moving through the water when passing between the eye and the surface, by light, by the reflecting powers of the bottom of the water, and by the relative clearness of the water, all of which factors of the effect produced vary to an almost incalculable extent. ”

“ Fortunately, however, such lengthy and complicated proceedings as are necessary to obtain a good stock of trout are not necessary to obtain a good stock of coarse fish. If even a few rudd, perch, dace, pike, or carp are put into water where they have a good supply of food to begin with, and which is suitable otherwise for their well-being, the amateur's chief trouble after a few years, if the water is not heavily fished, will be to keep down the stock of coarse fish in proportion to the supply of food. ”

“ This manner of wet-fly fishing is very much like dry-fly fishing, and is certainly not the way in which wet-fly fishing is practised in lakes, and is hardly the most general way in which it is practised on many rivers. ”

“ Fresh-water snails are always desirable. In streams, or in ponds with streams running into them, the fresh-water shrimps (Gammarus pulex) should always be tried. It does not do in some waters, but where it does thrive it increases very rapidly, and forms about the best article of food that can be given to trout. Corixæ, which thrive in ponds and sluggish waters, should always be introduced. They increase rapidly, and are taken by most fish, particularly by trout. The amateur should be careful when he introduces these creatures to make sure that he is putting in the right creature. ”

“ While it is probable that the natural fly does often sink under the surface, and may then be taken by the trout, the wet-fly of the fisherman does not as a rule behave as does the natural fly when under water. That the trout takes the wet-fly fished up stream, which is allowed to come down with the current without any drag and close to the surface, for the natural fly it represents, is also very probable; but these facts do not in any way tend to disprove my theory. ”

“ It is a very free feeder, and grows more rapidly than our trout; great care must therefore be taken to give it plenty of food. I would draw my readers' attention particularly to this fact as to the feeding and quick-growing qualities of the rainbow, for they make it, if possible, even more necessary that the water into which they are turned should contain a good supply of food than it was in the case of the common trout; though even in the case of the common trout, this is quite the most important consideration in stocking a water with fish. ”

“ We have an example of this always with us in the photograph, where red and blue, in relation to each other, certainly do not produce the same effects on the plate as they do on the eye; and as we have no accurate knowledge as to the effect of contiguous colours upon a normally monochromatic eye, we could hardly be certain of producing an accurate monochromatic imitation of a multi-coloured object, which would deceive that eye.
The case of a colour-blind human being is certainly not a normal case, so the shade value of the various colours to this eye could hardly be taken as a safe standard. ”

“ Much of the existing literature of the subject deals with it on such a large scale that the amateur is frightened to attempt what is apparently so huge an undertaking. Fish culture may, however, be carried out on a small scale with success, and though considerable attention is necessary, particularly with young Salmonidæ, it is not a task which involves a very great proportion of the time of any one undertaking it. It is absolutely necessary, however, that the amateur fish culturist should live on the spot, or have some one who is intelligent and perfectly trustworthy who does. ”

“ As, however, these markings on the thorax and wings are hardly visible to the naked eye, they give the Corixa a generally brownish and shiny appearance. Of the legs, six in number, the hind pair are most used in swimming. They are somewhat flattened at their extremities to a paddle shape, and are fringed with hairs. I have seen the hind legs of the Corixæ when the insects have been suspended motionless in mid-water, standing out at right angles on each side of the body; and as in the imitation I am about to describe, the legs take this position when the fly is at rest or sinking in the water ”

“ This is the effect of a spate—which is, after all, only a dose of earth—upon wild trout.
The mould should be mixed with water in a bucket, and, when the water is very thick and muddy, poured into the rearing boxes. The water in the rearing boxes should be so thick that neither the bottom nor the young fish, except when they come to the surface to take some passing particle of food, can be seen. The amateur should not wait till something goes wrong before giving this dose of earth; it is advisable to give it once a week at any rate, and oftener if the fish seem to be ailing in any way. ”

“ Though it would not be true to say that hitherto writers on fly-dressing have shown any lack of power of observation, still it is unfortunately true that their energy seems, strangely enough, to have stopped short at observing the natural fly, and has not been sufficient to carry them on to making even passable imitations, except of Ephemeridæ. With the exception of this family of flies, no one could possibly recognise the artificial through knowing the natural fly which it is supposed to represent. ”

“ Herons do a great deal of harm to fish ponds, even when the fish have got well into the yearling stage. I have on one or two occasions known of herons wounding trout of at least a pound in weight. Besides the actual damage they do by killing fish, they put all the other fish in the pond off their feed through frightening them. After a heron or kingfisher has been about a rearing pond the little fish will not feed for a considerable time, sometimes even for days. Notwithstanding their very evil proclivities, both herons and kingfishers are very interesting. ”

“ Ponds, particularly those which have a stream running through them, will, as a rule, support a good head of trout if properly managed. Again a water which contains trout may become more or less depleted, and here it is necessary to supply the deficiency of trout by some means. The easiest way is, of course, to buy yearling or two-year-old fish from a piscicultural establishment, of which there are many in the kingdom, but I know that there are many fishermen who would much prefer to rear their own fish from the ova, than to buy ready-made fish. ”