Harfield H. Edmonds

“ Such is a part of the angler’s day, which, lingering in the mind, inspires him through the long wintry months to look forward to the time when God’s earth shall be fresh and green again, and the wild thyme be fragrant on the banks of many a North Country stream.
Great men and small alike are held by the wonderful fascination of the sport, which gives such joy, affords such relaxation to the mind, and is so free from all taint of brutality. ”

“ Nevertheless they are inclined to think that, the closer they keep in shade and colour in their patterns to the natural flies, the greater has been their success; for, although they can recall occasions on which the fish would rise at almost anything, such occasions have been few and far apart; while the times when the trout would only look at a particular fly of a particular shade have been by far the more frequent in their experience. Why deny fish the power to appreciate variations of shade when they live in a world of colours, and are clothed in such a beautiful and vari-coloured mail? ”

“ To be able to command success with the minnow, either in clear water or in brooks, is an accomplishment worth striving for. It is a sport that gives the fisherman excitement in plenty, as the whole actions of the trout are seen from beginning to end. And it is impossible to describe adequately the fascination which holds the angler whose eyes are riveted upon a fish rushing down upon his minnow, nor to tell the difficulty of refraining from incontinently snatching away the minnow from a fish in the act of seizing it. ”

“ Not that the fish do not rise, for at times the water literally boils with them, but their discrimination is truly wonderful. How many an angler on occasions during all that mad rise has never killed a fish, or not until the sun had dropped well behind the horizon and dusk was upon him. ”

“ That trout have exceptionally keen eyesight, no one who has ever walked along the banks of a trout stream will deny. How then can the least thoughtful expect to creel decent fish with the river in normal condition, if he stands with the fish below him, or, for that matter, stands anywhere within their very wide range of vision, a range so wide that, if a circle be described with the head of a trout for the centre, only about one-sixth of the circumference of such a circle, and that immediately behind, would appear to be outside the range of vision of the fish? ”

“ On occasions when all else fails, a trial may be given to a fancy fly, such as the Pink Wickham or Coachman. With such patterns during that most tantalising of rises the writers have sometimes retrieved their fortunes. Then, as dusk comes on and the dry fly becomes difficult to see, let the angler quickly change to a cast of wet flies, the flies dressed a size larger than those usually used during the day, and before the rise is over his creel may be the heavier for the change. ”

“ Imagine a bright day towards the end of June on the banks of a typical North Country river. The gate just passed through brings one to the tail end of a rapid stream some fifty yards in length, broken here and there by boulders, some submerged and others just showing their dark mossy heads above the surface of the water. ”

“ Particularly is this the case in Spring when the rise comes on late and ends early, and also on a Summer’s evening when the water seems literally alive with fish, so madly do they rise, but for all too brief a spell. Time is of all importance on such occasions, and here it is that the angler who fishes methodically and with intelligence scores so heavily as compared with the rod who spends half his time in walking from stream to stream, and the other half in fishing them in a mechanical sort of way. ”

“ Although minnow fishing has many attractions, when followed in times of bright skies and low waters, it is perhaps more open to abuse than any other of the fair methods of angling. For not only does the indiscriminate use of the minnow, especially with the long-distance casting reel in the hands of a persevering man—not necessarily a very skilful one—work havoc amongst the fish, but it spoils the sport of others, as a spun minnow usually puts fish down for some considerable time. Therefore, in Club waters particularly, a man should be careful and circumspect in the use of the minnow. ”

“ For while its judicious use will do good in removing fish that can well be done without, and will sometimes provide a dish of trout when the fly [102] is at a discount during the heat of the day, say, in August, its use out of season will call down many hard words. And while it is possible for one to work rapidly downstream, raking the whole river across and across and thus spoil the sport of all others on the water, a sportsman will choose his reach, fish it quietly upstream, and leave his brethren of the fly in peace and undisturbed enjoyment. ”

“ The charm of fly fishing is never ending and a great part lies in the infinite field for experiment open to him who runs. Every day some new feature is revealed; and, even in this twentieth century, he who will leave the beaten track, bent on exploration, will always discover new ground for investigation. The truth of this was brought home to one of the writers most forcibly when on a fishing expedition one July some years ago. ”

“ Arriving at a likely stretch of water, and full of excitement on noticing a fish rise at the tail of the main stream, the beginner will often wade straight out to a point below the fish and then cast over him. There is always a temptation, even to the expert, to go for a rising fish, but under such circumstances, if the angler be wise, he will take a careful survey before wading out, and will note the character of the water within casting distance of the edge. ”

“ The thoughtful fisherman studies the water, its [48] pools, currents and eddies, and all those other details, the meaning of which under varying conditions he has learned to read, and he is always alive to gather some new hint. He brings to his aid the wisdom gained by past experiences, successes and failures, and a knowledge of the habitat of the trout which has been the reward of keen observation and a reasoning mind. ”

“ In common with many others, who can only go a-fishing at such times as business permits, the writers frequently wield the rod on most unpropitious days. Even in July they sometimes find on reaching the river that half a gale of wind is blowing dead down [87] stream. An hour’s battling against the elements, trying in vain to get the worm well up in front, is as a rule enough for anyone. Even if the worm lands occasionally where it is wanted, the wind will catch the line and cause a most unnatural drag, and ruin all chance of enticing a fish. ”

“ With the evolution of the casting reel—its yearly improvements and new inventions, all in aid of long distance casting—there is reason to think that minnow fishing has been popularized at the expense of the skill shown by the old-fashioned school, which, using a short line and possessed of a good knowledge of the habits of its quarry, lured many an old cannibal from under the tree roots, from behind some boulder, or from the depths of an eddy, old villains that had battened for years upon the young stock of the river. ”

“ To fish downstream in this manner requires no particular skill, as the stream does most of the work; and, while the great majority of fish risen are merely pricked and lost, those caught are below the average of size for the river fished. If the beginner is having a bad day and everything is going wrong, if he grows tired with his efforts to fish upstream and is tempted to resort to this method, rather than do so, let him knock off for a while and smoke a pipe, and then return, with renewed hope and vigour, to his upstream fishing, determined to master it. ”

“ A cast is made, the worm gently dropping into the water some two or three inches from the side of the log. The rod point is slowly raised, our expert being most particular not to do this too quickly, and cause a drag on the worm. This necessity for avoidance of drag is a point to be reiterated and insisted on as strongly in this branch of the art as in fly fishing, as one is often inclined to think a stream is running quicker than is actually the case, and an unnatural drag will cause many a good fish to turn away, that would otherwise have taken the lure. ”

“ Dry-fly fishing, as practised in the South, differs slightly from the method here advocated for the rougher streams above-mentioned, inasmuch as the purist of the South will not throw a fly to any but a rising fish, even though he wait an hour or more before locating one, while the North Country angler not only throws to the rise, but also to such places as are likely to hold feeding fish. ”

“ The beginner will therefore have an idea of the fly he is copying and perhaps be able to identify it at the stream side. It must not be forgotten however that certain patterns represent more than one species of fly.
It has been the good fortune of the writers to fish on many waters; and while the Winter Brown has often given them the first thrill of the season, and [12] the Green Insect accounted for fish when September gusts have strewn the river with leaves and green fly, they hope they have not grown dogmatic in their views and opinions on matters piscatorial. ”

“ Then at the succeeding cast the worm enters the water about a foot beyond the rock which lifts above the surface of the stream. The sharp water running round the side of a boulder forms a favourite feeding place for a fish; a trout occupying such a position usually lies with his head slightly in advance of the rock. The worm has just time to sink before it is picked up by the stream and carried rapidly down the run. A fish turns and darts after it. He seizes his prey as it sweeps almost past the rock, the steel is gently driven home, and another fish duly joins his brethren in the creel. ”

“ Consequently the ideal conditions for Stone Fly fishing are when a fresh of a few inches comes suddenly down the river and washes them out of their hiding places.
The large females with the long wings are usually preferred by both fishermen and trout; the fishermen find them easy to see on the water, and the trout no doubt find them a satisfying mouthful. The males vary in size, although they are smaller than the females and have shorter wings; the smallest males are difficult to see when cast on the water and soon become water-logged; the larger males are almost as good as the females. ”

“ Alternately the writers threw over rising fish with more or less success; but the professional, who persevered for another half-hour without changing his flies, at last gave up in disgust. For the time being at least he was beaten. Not that he did not know the river or understand the habits of the trout—both were to him as an open book—but simply because he was deficient in his knowledge of insect life. This man probably knew some ten or a dozen good all-round flies which he used the season through, but without due regard to the hatch of natural insects. ”

“ Neither wet-fly nor dry-fly fishing requires quite such a wide experience with regard to the habits of trout, and for that reason upstream worm fishing is to be classed as an art in itself. The knowledge gained of the habitat of the trout by clear water worming is a valuable asset to the wet-fly fisher and may often be turned to good account on one of those days when the hatch of fly is meagre and rising fish are few. ”

“ Every cast is made to a definite point, not necessarily to a rising fish, as in dry-fly fishing, but [43] successively to each of the many little runs, eddies, channels, and slack waters behind boulders, which his experience teaches are likely to hold feeding fish. It is just the experience gained by such definite fishing that the dry-fly purist who throws to none but feeding fish would lack, if he overcame his prejudices and essayed to throw the wet fly on Northern waters. ”

“ Imagination suggests to the ear the savage shout of exultation of the assailants and the screams of the stricken, when a widening circle in the stream brings one back to present day realities in a second. ”

“ It is often difficult to collect a supply of Creepers; not that they are particularly active, but the disturbance of the water caused by lifting the stones is apt to hide them while they wriggle under other stones. It is stated that if the angler, wishing to secure a supply, stands with his back to the current of the river and holds his landing net upright before him with the top of the net resting on the river bed, and then shuffles his brogues amongst the stones, the Creepers displaced by his activity will be washed into the waiting net and a plentiful supply be thus secured. ”

“ Another type of spinning is afforded by a long reach of rapid water that is broken up all over by boulders of every possible shape and size. In such water the trout will not follow the minnow far; they will either seize their prey as it passes them, or turn round and make a sudden rush at it before it can get many inches below. Therefore it is best to fish the minnow here with a short line and to spin the bait briskly down past each boulder. For such water the longer fly rod will be found to be the better [101] weapon. ”

“ The education of the angler who has only mastered downstream fishing, or even dry-fly fishing, is incomplete; and, though the dry-fly purist may shrug his shoulders at the remark, it is not too much to say that, if he were transferred from the pellucid waters of the Chalk stream to some rapid broken river of the North, and were to endeavour to fish the wet fly, it would be some considerable time before he achieved any great success. ”

“ Such an angler realizes the necessity of a good knowledge of insect life, watercraft and the habitat of the trout, and becomes as intimate with each as an artist is with his colours. And as blue and yellow combined will make a green, so surely will the man who thoroughly acquires such knowledge be a long way towards being numbered amongst the elect. ”

“ The hooking of trout under such conditions is difficult in the extreme, as frequently no rise is seen; and it is only by perseverance, leading to appreciation of the moment to strike, that he can hope to succeed.
To teach in theory the correct method and timing of the strike under such conditions, is beyond the writers. The knowledge seems to come to the persevering almost as a sixth sense. At times it is positively uncanny to watch an “artist,” in his instinctive response to the rises of fish under the conditions described, for they are totally invisible to the average man. ”

“ The size of the fly is against its being sucked in as easily as the usual artificial, and it is of advantage to give a moment’s grace before striking when a fish rises. Never to be forgotten is the disappointment of [68] a too hasty strike one lovely early June morning. The angler was out before the sun topped the fell, and a few brace were already in the creel, when he reached a perfect eddy at the side of the main stream. The Stone Fly was cast secundum artem (would that the further proceedings had been on the same plane!) ”

“ Therefore it is well to remember that all places which harbour a trout will often yield one under proper conditions; and, although the streams fish about as well with Stone Fly as with anything else, it should not be forgotten that trout, when on the feed, very often leave the streams for shallow water, and for any vantage point where the current concentrates all the flotsam and jetsam from yards above into one narrow channel, and that they love to haunt the neighbourhood of rocks and boulders. ”

“ Any antipathy to worm fishing under those conditions in our North Country Rivers is difficult to understand, for it provides a most sporting variety of fishing during the blazing days of summer when the fly is hopeless. And unless a man is prepared to work hard in the blistering sun, unless he has a good knowledge of the habits of trout, and is able to show a fair amount of skill, both in approaching his fish and in throwing the worm, his basket will be a light one. ”