Francis Francis

“ Of all fresh-water fish, the carp is one of the most cunning and difficult to catch where he is much fished for, though, singularly enough, they take much better in rivers than in still water. In still water, even if you can induce a good carp to pay attention to your bait (which you cannot always) , he will nibble, and turn it about, until he either sucks it off the hook without touching the hook, or he discovers the hook on the line, becomes alarmed, and swims away. Very fine tackle, therefore, is required in carp fishing; but as he is big and lusty, it should be round and strong. ”

“ Wading up stream, the angler casts before him into every likely stream and eddy, allowing the line and bait to come down towards him in mid-water, and striking the moment he perceives a check. This is a very killing plan, and is adopted with a modification of tackle, to fish with beetles, larvae, palmers, and, in fact, almost any kind of insect ; for the trout is a very omnivorous fish, and will hardly refuse anything that is small enough. The lure is cast overhand, as in fly-fishing, and practice enables the angler to cast nearly twice the length of the rod. ”

“ The bull-trout often runs up to a far greater size, and fish of above 20 and even up to 30 lb are not very uncommon. The salmon-trout, called in Ireland the white trout, and on Tweed and the northern rivers the herling or silver white, is a smart, bold-rising fish; it takes freely at times, and plays with wonderful agility, frequently when hooked springing from the water like an acrobat many times in succession, and trying all the angler's skill to bring it into the basket. ”

“ A good boatman and netsman is here a great desideratum, and much of the chance of sport depends upon him. The great fault of most boatmen is that they go too quickly over the casts ; and it requires a man with a knowledge of the lake, as well as experience in managing the boat, so to conduct matters that the angler has the best chance of sport. When rowing to his ground, or from point to point, the angler should always put out the spinning minnow, and thus he may take one or two of the best fish. As fish do not always lie in the same places, wind and weather have to be sedulously consulted. ”

“ The angler, therefore, who knows thoroughly the cast he is about to fish, has a great advantage, for he knows where the big stones and the particular eddies are in which a salmon may be expected to rise, and how the fly should be drawn over the fish so as to show itself in the most tempting manner; whereas the angler who has not much knowledge is often apt to dwell upon spots that are comparatively barren, and to pass quickly over those that would perhaps repay particular attention. ”

“ Sometimes a large landing-net is used to land the fish, but though this prevents the spoiling of a portion of the fish by avoiding the need for making a hole with the gaff, it is less convenient and of more risk to the safety of the fish. The most favourite plan of fishing for salmon is with the fly, though in many places they will also take both worm and minnow freely, and are thus fished for. The salmon-fly is a most wonderful conglo meration of feathers, silks, and tinsels, and oftentimes is as brilliant as the most glittering humming-bird. ”

“ The best flies used for live-fly fishing are the large ones, as the green and grey drake, the stone fly, known often in Scotland as the May-fly, the big alder, the blue-bottle, and, in deed, any that are large enough. In casting them the angler must be careful to let his line make rather a sweep or circuit behind him, or he will easily flick off or destroy his bait. In using the artificial fly the angler employs either a single or a double handed rod, generally he com mences his apprenticeship with a single one. ”

“ In stream fishing he must either cast his ground-bait in so far up stream that it will find bottom in his swim, or he must knead it into balls with a stone in the middle or mixed with clay, so as to sink it to the bottom at once. In choosing a swim on the banks of a river, if the angler cannot see a good stock of fish any where, he should choose some spot which fish may be supposed to haunt, a spreading root, or bough, or over hanging bank with a hole under it, a deep hole near banks of weeds, or a deep eddy off some sharp stream. ”

“ At times sea-trout rise very badly, and the angler will get a number of rises, but succeed only in hooking a very few fish; but when the fish are taking well, few branches of the sport show better amusement than a day s sea-trout fishing. They also, unlike the salmon, take a spinning bait well while still in the salt water, and many are thus captured in the estuaries and salt-water lochs of Scotland while they are making their way to the mouths of the rivers up which they eventually would run to deposit their spawn. ”

“ If in casting he does not make a curve with the rod-point behind him, but returns the line too directly, he will crack his fly off, or so crack the gut at the head of the fly that the first good fish will carry it away. When the angler sees a fish rise at his fly, if he is fishing for small fish, he cannot strike too quickly, if for large ones, he may be a little more leisurely. In fishing over a fish that is rising, the best way is to cast a little above, and to allow the flies, with as little of the line as possible, to eome over or past him. ”

“ The depth being taken, and the ground-bait thrown in, the angler, sitting with his face down stream,, drops his tackle in close to the boat, and allows it to float down stream unchecked as far as the line, which is generally a yard or two longer than the rod, will permit, when he strikes, pulls up the tackle, drops it again in close to the punt, and repeats the operation time after time. In the middle of these punts there is generally a well, so that the fish when caught are kept alive in the well until the day's fishing is over. ”

“ No ground-bait is required to attract them, but the bottom being disturbed and harrowed by a heavy iron rake, the fish flock to the spot to search for food in the debris, and they will continue to bite for some time, when another rake renews their avidity. A light cork float and a small 10 or 11 hook, with a fragment of red worm, is all that is needed for so eager are the little fellows, that they pull the float down with a dash, so that the angler rarely misses his prey. ”

“ Of course at such times the angler has to trust more to his senses of feeling and hearing than sight. In the majority of instances it is the custom to let the tackle soak, and when fishing to allow the fly to sink a little under the surface to fish with a "wet fly," as it is called; in others, where the fish are more wary, in order to imitate nature more closely yet, it is the custom to fish with a dry one that is, to make the fly and line rest on the surface, without becoming sub merged. ”

“ Having baited a pitch one day, it should never be neglected on the next, as the fish will have had time to find out the bait, and will perhaps be collected together there. Of course the choice of a pitch will be guided very much by the species of fish the angler desires to fish for. The places they frequent are noted hereafter. When the angler has hooked a big fish which he cannot lift out without danger to tackle, he uses a landing-net, that is, a bag-net on an iron ring fastened to the end of a pole, which he slips under the tired fish and lifts securely to the bank. ”

“ If a salmon jumps out of water the point of the rod should be lowered, so that the line be slackened, for if it be tight the sudden weight is apt to pull it out of the fish s jaw. If he sulks, the only way is to frighten him out of his hole by poking a long pole into it, or by throwing stones, or by some other device. If he runs for the edge of a fall or rapid, it is often a very good plan to let out a lot of loose line, and the salmon, fancying himself free again, will not go over, but will head round and face up stream again. ”

“ The eel is scarcely an angler's fish, but it is often taken in angling, and it is a most excellent and luscious table fish. It takes various baits, as worms, small dead fish, which are the best for it, and takes them better when they are still than when moving. Thus, night-lines are the best way of capturing the eel. Occasionally float tackle is used for the purpose, when the roughest tackle, with a float-hook and worm, suffices. Sniggling for eels is an amusing way of taking them. A stout needle, lashed to a long string, is concealed in a worm ”

“ A violent stroke is not the best one, a slight elevation of the rod so as to fix the point, and then a steady strain, enough to force the barb of the hook home in the next minute, is the best way of getting a firm hold. Many fishers strike the moment they see the boil of the fish, under the belief that the boil is made by the tail of the salmon as he turns to go down, and that they do not see him till he gets the fly in his jaws. ”

“ What is called the blow- line is another favourite method of using the live fly. A length of light floss silk is fastened on to the running line with about 2 feet of fine gut and a light hook at the end. Baiting the hook with a fly, the angler turns his back to the wind, holds the rod (a long light cane one) upright, allows the wind to blow the light floss line as far out as it will go, when he gradually lowers the rod and guides the fly till it touches the water a yard above a fish, when he floats over it. ”

“ Some anglers fish up stream and some down. In fishing down stream the angler exposes himself more to the fish, and is more apt to miss his fish when they do rise ; and if his tackle is fine and the fish heavy, having the weight of the stream against him is also more apt to break it than when fishing up ; perhaps the best method is to fish diagonally up and across the stream. The angler pursues one of two systems. He either waits till he sees fish rise and fishes over them, wasting no time on intermediate water when he sees no rises ”

“ Unlike the trout, a greyling will often rise and refuse the fly four or five or more times in succession, and yet will perhaps take it after all. The mouth being tender, the fish must be treated more gently than the trout, or it may break away. There is one way of fishing for greyling practised in the midland rivers which is worth notice. It is called " grasshopper fishing," though the lure is totally unlike a grasshopper. A lump of lead of an elongated pear shape is welded or cast on to the shank of a No. 5 or 6 hook. ”

“ When a good fish is hooked it will often resist strongly, and rush violently about, seeking to hide itself under weeds and roots, which are dangerous to the tackle. The angler must guide the fish as well as he can until it is tired, letting out line from the reel when resistance becomes too severe a strain on the tackle, and winding it in again when opportunity serves, but always keeping a tight line on the fish, as a slack line frequently loses it. ”

“ The practice of angling may be arranged under three heads, viz., top or surface, mid-water, and bottom angling. Surface angling includes fishing with an artificial fly, or duping with a live fly or other insect; mid-water fishing includes spinning or trolling with a dead bait and fishing with a live bait; bottom fishing includes angling with worms and other baits, either resting on or travelling with the stream along the bottom. The last is usually the first practised by the angler, and we will therefore take it first. ”

“ The gentles, to the number of two or three, being stuck on as may be convenient. For gentles the smaller hooks are used; and the hook being baited, is cast into the water and hangs suspended by the float. When there is a bite the float bobs under, and the angler jerks the rod up or strikes, hooks his fish, and, if a big one, plays it, that is, allows it to swim violently about until tired, when he draws it ashore and lands it. In still- water fishing for carp, tench, roach, &c., the angler uses now and then a handful of what is termed ground- bait to draw the fish round his hook. ”

“ The proper line to take for these large trout when moving along the shores of a lake is just where the water begins to go off between the deep and the shallow; and the bait should travel as near to the bottom as it can, without catching in weeds or stumps ; as, though fish will frequently rise some distance to a bait, it is not desirable to compel them to do so. When a big lake trout strikes, he usually runs heavily, and bores down to the very depths of the loch, showing fine sport. They frequently run to a large size, reaching 16 and 18 Ib weight, and sometimes heavier. ”

“ Spinning is the first branch of this kind of fishing, and is used chiefly for pike and trout, though salmon and other fish occasionally are fished for and taken thus. It consists in drawing along through mid-water a bait so disposed on a series of hooks as to revolve rapidly, thus showing its silvery sides constantly to the fish of prey, and attracting them to run after it and capture it, when the hooks which are about it in turn capture them. ”