Angling

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Preface

Etebt book should have a raison d'etre, and it might be thought by some persons superfluous that I should have written another and a less comprehensive work after having written a book which contains so full an account of the art in every branch as " A Book on Angling/' published by Messrs. Longman, and now in its fourth edition. The popularity which that work has attained might very well satisfy all my desires, but I have been told many times that my " Book on Angling '^ has not touched a very large class of anglers comprehended in those who cannot afford to pay so much as 15^. for a guide to their favourite amusement. Owing to the manner in which ^'A Book on Angling '^ is got up, and the expense incurred in producing the coloured plates— all of which are of necessity done by hand, — there was no possibility of bringing it within the means of the large body of anglers whom I have referred to, and I have been asked again and again to write a book of a somewhat less extensive nature and without the coloured iv PEEFACE.

■ plates^ or the long list of salmon flies contained in my

first work. I have now yielded to this demand, and I

trust that the present work may fulfil the requirements

of the persons for whom it is written.

A reviewer of my " Book on Angling " lately, in the

course of what was upon the whole a very favourable and even kind review, in one of the principal morning

papers, said that I was rather opinionated — ^in saying which he stated neither more nor less than the truth, and I plead guilty to the charge ; for, in writing books on angling, I have endeavoured to write them as far as possible from my own experience, and to avoid, as far as I could, giving a mere rechauffe from old angling works. Indeed, I have striven to borrow as little I as possible from any one, merely giving what 1 know to be the ordinary methods and practices in vogue as regards the sport of angling in these later times. I hardly see how a person endeavouring to do this could be other than opinionated. The question appears to me to be, not whether I am opinionated, but whether the opinions I have expressed are the best that the angler can follow. Now I take upon me to say that I have endeavoured to give the best methods and plans of angling, and that, in doing so, I never have hesitated — and I should take shame to myself if I had — to give full credit to the authors of those plans for their inventions, be they whom they may ; and, in doing so, I venture even further to say, that 1 have often taken hints from brother anglers where their ideas appeared good, and given them the credit of them, but with whom

PEEFACE. ▼

on many other points I have no sympathy or agreement whatever. Where I have been able to speak solely from my own experience, and where that has seemed to me the best to draw from, I have not hesitated to do so. No doubt it would have been far easier for me to have said Izaak Walton says so and so, Salter recommends this, Eonald advises that, and '^ Ephemera *' the other. But angling has made large strides since the days of those writers ; and though in many instances their experience and advice still stands good, yet in many others it is simply obsolete and useless. In the present book, with very few exceptions, T have drawn almost entirely from my own stores. The tackle from my box, which I constantly use, and the flies from my books which I find the most killing, I have simply taken and described. And, consequently, in this book I fear I shall be found more opinionated than ever; but if any one will show me a better rod, line, tackle, or fly, than any I recommend, and I find on trial that it is so, I shall never be slow to adopt it, and to recognise not only its usefulness, but the services rendered by the inventor to the cause of angling. For I trust, whenever I am called upon to lay down the pen, that no man will ever be able to say, " He did not act fairly either to his contemporaries or to those he drew his information from ; '^ for that I hold to be one of the most disgraceful charges which can be brought against an author. But if I strive to behave fairly to others, I can hardly be blamed if I am tenacious of my own rights. In angling, as in all other matters, one •cannot do better than stick to the Church Catechism,

VI

PREFACE.

and to " do to all men as you would they should do unto yon '/^ and I think that any author who lias adopted and Striven to carry out this motto purely and simply^ may look back on his career without regret.

The Firs, Twickenham.

FRANCIS FRANCIS,

Contents

Pbeface iii

CHAPTER I. The Art op Angli»g . 1

OHAPTEB n.

Mid-Watbe Pishing 15

OHAPTEB m.

Surface ok Ply Pishing 18

OHAPTEB IV.

The Gudgeon — ^Thb Pope or Euff — ^Thb Bleak — The Roach — The Rudd — The Dace — The Chub — The Barbel — The Bkeam — The Carp — The Tench — The Perch 21

OHAPTEB V.

The Pike 51 viii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

PAQK

Trout Fishing with Bait 66

CHAPTER VII.

Fly Fishing for Trout 77

CHAPTER VIII.

Trout Flies 90

CHAPTER IX.

Grayling Fishing 103

CHAPTER X.

Salmon Fishing 106

CHAPTER XI.

Salmon Flies 116

CHAPTER Xn.

On Tackle Making 123

Addenda 132

ANG-LING.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY— BOTTOM PISHING.

Who first invented the. art of angling it would be very hard to say. Probably in all ages of the world the necessities of inankin(} induced th^n to practise it in a more or less rude fashion. When Dame. Julians^ Bemers wrote about it, hard upon four hundred yes^ ago, to judge by her illustrations aAd descriptions, it was rude enough in all conscience ; and even in the daya of Walton and Ootton, more than a hundred and fifty years later^ it was scarcely in a condition to fulfil the more modem requirements of the present century. Since those days hundreds of books on angling have been written^ and in the present time they appear, to issue from the press at the ra(te of about one per month or even more ; and within the last quarter of a century the art ha^ made far greater strides towards improvement than, it ever did in four times the period since Danue Juliana's day. And I fear, that the schoolmaster has been abroad, and tiie fish have become well educated too, so that if any of the old practitioners were^ now to appear on the banks of their favourite trout streams^

B they would find their skill and their tackle alike unequal to the capture of those " trouts of 20in./' &c,, which we read about 80 constantly in their works.

The art of angling is divided into three sections, '^bottom fishing/' or fishing with a bait on the bottom; mid-water fishing, comprehended principally in spinning and trolling ; and surface fishing, which is chiefly practised in fly-fishing. We will commence at the lower round of the ladder, and take bottom fishing first. Bottom fishing, is the most primitive style, no doubt. We all more or less began with bottom fishing, and pitched minnows and sticklebacks out on the grass, with a pin, thread, and worms with as much interest and delight, and perhaps a good deal more, than we now evince in the capture of a two-pound trout, or even of a lordly salmon 1 Anon promoted to a real halfpenny hook and a withy, the noble gudgeon or the festive roachling became the sweeteners of our existence. The withy was discarded for a sixpenny two-joint hazel rod ; until, finally, on some glorious red-letter day— which we all remember so well, and will to the last hour of existence — papa — ^having heard from Dr. Whackhem that Frank was really doing his declensions very creditably indeed considering his age, and had said his 4th prop, of Euclid without a mistake — considering that if he knew the value of two, it would be quite proper that his eldest-bom should be equal to one angle at least — ^prepared a surprise for us; and when we walked into the breakfast parlour on the morning of our twelfth birthday, there sat the dear old man with that noble four-and-sixpenny four-jointed bambooer which we had so long scanned with anxious infraction of the tenth commandment in the window of the local tackier, who was also a' hairdresser, toy-shopper, stationer, newsman, and tobacconist ; and beside it on the table a paper parcel containing a bamboo

winder, with a real line and float, and a gut hook. Ah ^h t

Times have passed since then, and many strokes of good fortune and unexpected luck have happened, but few that gave us such delight as that I With some such appliances the young angler will probably oommence his career as a real angler. With a bag of well scoured worms he will make his way to brook, river, or pond, and try oondnsions with the denizens of the waters. At first he will fish for anything that comes along. As he improves he will go out with a set purpose to catch some particular kind of fish, then he may be said to be on the high road to know* ledge.

Bottom vismisfQ may be practised either from the shore or from a boat. Whichever the angler selects to commence from, he should always remember this cardinal rule, "study to be quiet." It is an old rule, a very old rule, but it has had the approval of all anglers, from Father Izaak's time down. Be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible. You may catch many kinds of fish either from the land or from a boat ; but if you wish to fish for carp, say in still waters, you will find it better to fish from the land, as they are very shy, and the least movement of the boat causing wave or ripple will suffice to make them still more shy. We will suppose, therefore, that the angler commences from the shore in still water — say a pond. To do so effectually he will find a good long light rod of some fourteen or fifteen feet desirable, with which he can swing out a good length of line. To this will be fixed a winch or reel with some thirty yards of line. Suppose he is fishing in four or five feet depth of water, he will be able to fish some three or four and twenty feet from the shore. If he wishes to cast his line still further out he must draw it down from above the second or third ring, as described hereafter, in Nottingham angling, and thus he may get out another eight or ten feet. As pond fish, and indeed all fish in still water, bite very slowly and nibble a good deal first, the float gives ample warning of a bite to the angler ; and he may lay his rod down on the bank without any detriment to his fishing, and resume it as soon as he has a bite. For the more convenient exercise of this plan it is usual to stick a forked stick a yard or so out into the water, so that the butt of the rod and reel rests on the shore, and the body of the rod is supported above the water in the fork of the stick. A light

b2

4 ANGHilKG.

line of fine but strong Darby silk, which will not sink to the bottom too heavily, and so entangle in the weeds, &o., is best The £k>at may be as light as it possibly can be consistently with the power to fish comfortably— ^^ too light float will sometimes bk>w about in the wind, and will not swing oat welL Three ov four shreds of rush tied on the line make a light and veiy anobtrasive float, and in clear water that is a point worth studying. The whole of the* tackle from some distance above the float to the hook should be of single gut, as fine as can be fished with, considering the strength required. The bait should always rest on the bottom, as pond fish feed chiefly on the bottom : the depth, therefore, between the float and the hook should be somewhat more than the depth of the water, and the lowest shot with which the Hne ia loaded, to balance the float, should be at least a foot above the ho(^. There is anothur advantage in the bait resting on the bottom, and that is that it is its natuoal position, and it does not thus challenge the suspicion of the fish; and as the gut, which is in immediate connection with the hook, rests on the bottom too, it is not seen. That most cunning of all fish, the carp, may ba taken in this way when it would be hopeless to fish for him with the bait hanging just off the bottom, for he could then see the gut at once, and also the shots that weight the line, and probably the float above; and if the float is of a nice white and> Vermilion, or some other dazzling rainbow colour, it will afford the old carp a capital text on which to preach an instructive sermon to the young ones on scarlet abominations and the Lady of Babylon.

But to fish in thb way you mnst have a dear bottom and free from weeds, otherwise the bait wili sink amongst the weeds and be. hidden. If the pond, therefore, has any gravelly places, or hard clay bottoms^ ihen if they aire not clear of weeds, you should get some one to rake spaces. A very large space is not required — one or two spots some 3(Ht. or 40ft. square will suffice ; of ^course the larger they are in reason the better chance for more fish, but if places like these be cleaned out between the weeds, here the big carp and tencli will wallow and f eed ; and if before fishing tiie anglsir baits scuih spots for a few days with a good store dF ground badt, such as malt, rice, pearl barley, or worms and gentles, so as to accustom the fish to feed there, he will much increase his sport. If he is not able to do this, and has only say one day's fishing at his disposal, his best plan is — ^first to pick out two or three of the best of such spots as he can see, and fix his forked sticks; to plumb the depth, and keep an accurate register of it in each spot so as not to have to do it again when he wants to fish, and then, throwing in a few handfuls of bait, to begin with the one first baited, and to yary from one to the other as sport may counsel To plum the depth fix a leaden plummet on the hook, then swing the plummet out to the spot you want to fish. Let the line stand upright in the water, the plummet just touching the bottom ; mark the place where the surface of the water cuts the Hue, and fix the float accordingly, taking a half hitch of the Hne round tiie quill to prevent slipping^ The best sized hook for this sort of fishing will be one of about No. 7 or 8, of the round bend series, as this will take botii cai]», tench, perch, and even small roach too. In fishing such places the angler will always find that with such sharp-eyed fish it is as well to have a tree, hedge, bank, or bush, at his back, if he can get one, so that his body does not stand out clear against the sky behind him. It is quite astonishing what a difference this makes. I have often seen a trout take a fiy within five or six yards of me, I having the high bank at my back, when, if I had been on the bank with the sky at my baK*k be would not have looked at my bait, but would have been off under a stone or weed for shelter. A hurdle propped up on end answers very well for this purpose if thei^ is nothing else naturally placed. It should, however, be put up a week before fishing, to let the fish get accustomed to it. And now we will suppose the angler-^his pitch chosen and baited, his depth plumbed beforehand, his rod all ready — he walks gently down, jKrtb his little stool behind some l^-ee or bush (for he should never sit on the damp ground), theu he baits his hook with a well

^ ANGLING.

scoured red worm, ooyering it completely, and leaving very little more tail lianging off the point than he can help ; he next slings the bait out as far as he can into the pond, lays the rod down carefully, resting it on the fork, lights his pipe if he is a smoker, or gets out his book if he is not, and waits. The top of his small quill projects a bare luJf inch above the surface. ''Hal was that a motion of the float? " "Yes, no doubt of it ; there it dipped, and there it bobbed right under water 1 *' — ^and here the tyro would seize his rod and do something desperate, when he would lose his bite and scare his flsh for his pains; but the experienced angler merely puts down his book, takes up the rod very softly, so as not to disturb the float in the least, and waits. The float keeps on shaking and bobbing, now dipping down well under water, and now darting an inch or two one way or the other, and at length as a reward for his patience the float sinks slowly down, assumes a horizontal position, and sails steadily off six inches under water. Then is the time, and a short jerk of the angler* s rod top arrests the thief, who, mighty indignant and a little alarmed, darts off at full speed. He must then be handled and played according to his size, the angler's object being to get him away from his pitch, and to make as little disturbance as possible, so as not to alarm the other fish. A capable landing net, with a good long light handle so as to reach well out beyond the margin, is useful. It is desirable to make as little noise in stumping about the bank as possible, as the still water easily conveys the slightest sound or vibration ; and the angler should also take care as much as possible to keep within the shelter of his tree, bush, or hurdle. If fishing for carp exclusively^ paste will be found a better bait than worms for the hook, but all this will be treated under the head of " carp,'' and in the proper place. After taking a fish or two the best plan, if the angler observes that they are scared at all, will be to throw in a handful or two of bait, and to go to the next pitch, and so on to the next when the same occurs, or bade to the other as he may fancy — thus he will save a good deal of time, and increase his chance of sport.

This is the first and simplest kind of fishing, and, as I have said, is usually the method in which the young angler first breaks ground into the noble art : if a boat is used there is no difference in the method. But if small perch or roach are the aim, then the bait should not be on the ground, but an inch off it, and the angler may, if he has a mind, use a couple of hooks, one six inches above the other.

Bottom jUhing in running water is rather more difficult of achievement ; and this again is divided into fishing with a moving, and fishing with a still bait. The moving bait is either allowed to trundle along the bottom without a fioat, in which case the angler strikes by feel (this is described under worm fishing for trout), or it is attached to a float which is weighted, and the line-plumbed, so that the fioat shall carry the hook just off the bottom, now and then perhaps touching it, or " tripping,'' as it is termed, and the float projecting half an inch above the surface. This travels along down stream, and whenever the float bobs or sinks under the water, the angler (unlike ^' still " fishing) strikes at once with a short sharp upward jerk of the wrist, for the fish bite much quicker in running than in still water. Little time is afforded them to nibble at and play with the bait as it floats away down stream from them, if they do not secure it in their mouths at once. So that when the angler sees his float bob under water he may be pretty sure that most of the hook is inside the fish's mouth. In float fishing running water from the bank, the angler keeps the top of the rod immediately above the fioat, and so follows it all down his swim, so as to be able to strike truly and at once, and thus he seldom has or wants more than two or three feet at the most between his rod point and his float. The rod should be as long as he can comfortably use, but it must be comparatively light, as there is. no putting the rod down at this kind of Ashing ; it must be poised the whole time ; and many a time has my arm ached up to the shoulder and my hand grown numb with holding one of these long cane rods common to the Lea. These rods are used of a prodigious length in some instances, even to two or three and twenty feet.

and when the size of the fish taken with them is considered, it looks as if the angler were using the mast of a yonng fishing smack ; I shall notice them in "roach fishing." In this matter the angler most suit himself to his own convenience and powers. For ordinary hank fishing from twelve to fifteen feet will be found quite long ^lough; for punt or boat fishing from ten to twelve feet is ample. In choosing a swim the fisherman will be guided by circumstances, such as the time of year, the state of the water, the kind of fish he wants to catch, and so forth — ^matters which all materially affect his choice. Some fish lie in much heavier and swifter streams than others, and some in eddies altogether, while in clear water the calm deep-running waters hold the fish, and in a fiood they are found in great eddies close under the banks. Experience either of his own or of some friend will determine all this for him. If, however, he does not know the river, and cannot see the fish, and has no one to ask, then he had better look along the bank and see where the grass is worn from the long standing of feet, where a few grains of bran may be left, or the paper that wrapped the sandwich has been cast aside, and then let him look narrowly about and he will doubtless find a swim. Failing in all this a swim neither too deep nor too shallow, with sheltering weeds not far off, or some place of refuge very handy should be selected. If he selects one or two, and baits them, as advised in still fishing, good 1 If he can bait them two or three nights before, better still I but in that case he must sleep like a Bristol merchant, with one eye open, or some rival may accidentally appropriate the results of his baiting — ^than which few things in fishing are more exasperating. Some of the puntsmen on the Thames, in places where there is any strong rivalry, sometimes do this. But it is a low, mean thing to do, and only one degree better than picking a man's pocket ; indeed, as far as the honourable feeling in the matter goes, it is worse, and I never would permit such a thing, or employ any man who did it. The same care is requisite in bank fishing as in pond fishing — quiet and unobtrusiveness are very essential to sport.

BOTTOM USHING. 9

In bottom fishing from a punt the process is slightly different. The pitch being chosen, the pant fixed— on the Thalnds this is done across the stream ; on the Norfolk rivers with the stream ; o& the Trent slightly askew — ^the depth is taken, the bait cast in (this usually is made up in large balls either mixed with clay or without) ; a rod of from ten to twelve feet is used, and as much line as the length of the rod, or a little more, is let off above the float. The float is then drawn up close to the boat, And the swim commences, the angler keeping his rod as well over hiis float as he can. When the float has travelled down stream as far as he can allow it to go, he strikes, in case any fish should snap at it as it rises off the bottom (a very favourite moment) by reason of the tension of the line ; then he draws the float and tackle back up stream to the boat, drops it in again, and begins another swim. If he hook a good fish he has to take care that he does not get round the punt pole, in which case grief is usually the result. If two anglers be fishing from the punt, and one hooks a good fish, it is as well that the other should withdraw his line till the fish is landed, lest it should foul and tangle the other's line, and perhaps even get off ; and while the fish is disturbing the swim many fish are not likely to bite. In case of a very large fish, say of ten pounds and upwards, if I am using very fine tackle, I always like to let the punt loose, and, getting below the fish, take him into strange water if possible, where he has no holt or hide to go to, and where he does not know the country. For lack of this I have lost many a noble fish, as a big fish always has a hide, and sooner of later remembers and runs for it, when you may wish him "good day." Float and tackle must be suited as near as possible to the weight and rapidity of the stream, and the angler should never fish with it a shot heavier than is necessary, as extra weight helps to frighten the fish, wear out the rod top, and tire the wrist, for it must be remembered that the angler strikes many thousands of times in the course of a day, and that which is little in itself becomes great by repetition. In very quiet, easy streams, where big roach and bream sometimes congregate, a Hght quill or poTcapine float, that will only carry aboat three or four No. 4 shot, is ample, and from this yoa may go through all grades np to a cork as .big as a small carrot, or a large radish, and a dozen or twenty B B shot. After this floats. are vanity and are useless, and you must use a ledger.

Stream flshing is, as I have said, subdivided into flshing with a travelling or tripping bait, with or without a float, and also with a stationary one, with or without float. The first of these latter is termed "tight corking," and the latter ledgering or ledger fishing. In tight corking a good heavy float is used, the line is well leaded, and allowed to rest on the bottom, and the float therefore is set 6 or 8 inches or more too deep. The bait rests on the bottom kept in its place by the shots, the float is held up so that it cannot be carried under water by the stream, and as soon as a fish comes and mumbles the bait the float gives warning of it. If the angler likes it better, a combination of ledger and float can be made, which is the acmi of tight corking and one of the most killing methods employed. It is simply to use a light ledger lead instead of fixed shots. What the ledger is I will now unfold. The cut of the tackle may be seen at Plate 1, ¥\ig, 1. A bullet or a fiat lead with a clean round hole through it is the lead — this lies upon the bottom. The line runs through it, and on the hook side of it at any space from two to four feet — ^I like a good length, it gives the bait more play — a piece of wood or a shot is fixed to prevent the bullet or lead coming down on the hook. Thus you can weigh the lead two or three feet from the hook and bait, and it can get no further. Now when the line lies free on the ground, if aujrthing touches the hook, it is felt at the rod point as sharply if not more so than^if there were no lead, because the line between the lead and rod is kept tight. When a fish bites it is felt instantly, an inch or two of line is yielded him to let him get the bait and hook well in his mouth, and at about the third try you strike, smartly lifting lead and all in the stroke. A light pistol bullet with a hole in it is used in tight corking. N.B. — ^This is a capital method of fishing for carp in rivers. There is one other way of stationary bait fishing, and that is by what is called the day ball. A single hook, or sometimes a small triangle is used, or bit of stick half an inch long tied on the line a foot or eighteen inches above the hook. The hook baited more often than not with six or seven gentles, a bit of day and bran is worked up as big as an orange, a handful of gentles put inside it, the cross bit of wood in the line buried in it, the clay worked about it, the line wound into it once or twice till the hook bait only just protrudes from the ball (some even bury it in the ball, and let the fish rout it out, but this is quite needless delay), and the ball hanging on the line is dropped to the bottom. The gentles wriggle their way out of the clay. The fish come up and pick them off, and in doing so rarely miss the hook. As soon as a bite is felt — and it is astonishing how distinctly you feel one — a strike sticks the hook in the fish and shakes off the clay ball. A cut of this tackle is given in Plate 1, Fig. 2.