Angling is the art of catching fish by rod, line, and hook, or by line and hook, the salient feature of the pursuit being the allurement of the prey by an attractive bait. The requisites for a successful angler are, knowledge of the haunts and habits of fish, dexterity in the use of tackle, and a patience much in excess of that required for most out-of-door amusements. The first qualification covers a wide field of study, involving, as it does, familiarity with the movements of fish at different seasons of the year, and in varying conditions of water; with the food peculiar to different species; and with the characteristics of the fishes angled for. Much of this may be learned from the voluminous works upon the subject, but personal observation in the essentials of the sport, which has been designated 'the contemplative man's recreation,' is absolutely necessary for mastery of an art which is no less difficult than delightful. In like manner, skill in the use of rod and line depends more upon actual experiments by the water-side than acquisition of theories published by others.
The antiquity of angling is indicated in the well-known passage by the prophet Isaiah (xix. 8), variously translated in the past, but newly rendered in the revised version as 'The fishers also shall lament; and all they that cast angle into the Nile shall mourn.' Other Old Testament writers are also claimed as witnesses to the ancient practice of fishing with hook and line. That it was known to Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians as a pastime, may be gathered from inscriptions, coins, frescoes, and other relics of the remote past; and Homer and Plutarch wrote with great accuracy of detail, and some sympathy, upon fish, and the methods in vogue in their days for catching them. A reference by Martial even suggests that fly-fishing, which is sometimes supposed to be a comparatively modern accomplishment, was known to the Romans in the 2d century. Oppian in his Halicuties vividly and enthusiastically describes in flowing hexameters the entire process of luring, striking, and playing a fish; and from the phrase, 'Above the tugging fish the arch'd reed bends,' it may be seen, not only that the ancient angler used a rod, but that it was supple and light.
The first printed English book on angling was the second edition of Dame Juliana Berners' (or Barnes) Book of St Albans, in which, to a previous chapter on hawking and hunting, was added a Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle. Shortly after this publication, Wynkyn de Worde (probably in 1450) issued the angling chapter as a separate book. In 1590 Leonard Mascall published A Booke of fishing with hook and line, and of all other instruments thereto belonging. John Denny's poetical Secrets of Angling followed in 1613. Thirty-eight years later Thomas Barker's Art of Angling appeared, to be succeeded in two years by Izaak Walton's Complete Angler, of which 92 editions have been published. The number of books on angling has marvellously increased during the last fifty years, and Westwood and Satchell's Bibliotheca Piscatoria (1883) catalogues 3158 editions and reprints of 2148 distinct works on fish and fishing.
Modern angling is pursued under vastly different conditions from those discussed by writers of the last century; and though all the rudimentary basis of the art remains what it has been for generations, altered circumstances have produced a new development. These arise from the growing facilities for travelling; the establishment of a cheap and extensive literature, periodical and permanent; the advance of science in the direction of fish-culture and mechanical appliances; and the better condition of the people. There is scarcely a large town in England without its angling clubs; and in the cities, the artisan anglers who fish such rivers as Thames and Trent may be counted by thousands. To conclude, therefore, that there are a thousand anglers to-day where there was one fifty years ago would not be extravagant. The waters are, as a natural result, in constant danger of over-fishing, and can only be made to yield sport by systematic stocking; while the restrictive rules of societies and recent legislation have tended strongly to heighten the sportsmanlike qualities of angling, and to conserve our rivers and lakes.
The fish caught by angling in Great Britain are the Salmonidæ—such as the salmon, trout, char, and grayling; and the summer-spawners, or coarse fish—such as pike, perch, roach, chub, dace, bream, carp, barbel, tench, bleak, ruffe, and gudgeon. Attempts, not always wise, are being made to introduce new sporting fish into British waters; but for all practical purposes, those enumerated are the game for which the angler seeks. The natural history of each species, and the special methods employed in their capture, are described in subsequent pages, under the names of the respective fishes; but there are many general principles which pertain to angling as an art, and which concern all classes of anglers in all parts of the world.
FISHING-TACKLE.—The soundest advice we can tender to the angler in the matter of fishing-tackle, is to cumber himself with as little as possible, and to see that what he uses is good, but of the simplest kind. If one might form an opinion from the bulky illustrated catalogues circulated by the tackle-makers, there is no class of sportsmen so full of fancies and crotchets as anglers; but every experienced fisherman knows that a large proportion of the pretty patented novelties are made to sell, rather than for practical use. Much of the pleasure of angling is lost when the angler hampers himself with too much baggage. He requires a rod, line, winch, baits, and receptacle for his fish; and should be able to carry all, and indulge in his sport, without fatigue from the burden strapped across his shoulders, and independent of assistance. As a rule, it is cheaper to buy than to make fishing-tackle; but it is most useful in case of emergencies to know how to whip a hook to gut, how to repair a broken rod, how to replace a lost ring, or how to tie an artificial fly. The tackle-book should therefore not be without a pair of small pliers, scissors, and waxed silk and thread. Having discovered the description of tackle that suits him and the branch of fishing in which he engages, the angler should stick to it, and not be tempted into acquisition of new-fangled gear merely because it is novel. All tackle should be carefully tested before use, and put away clean and dry after use. The habit of so dealing with it at the end of the day's sport should be a primary acquirement, from considerations alike of economy, efficiency, and comfort.
Rods depend entirely upon the branch of angling to be followed. The aim of every rod-maker should be, when suppleness is a necessity, to produce an implement as closely as possible resembling a natural growth like the bamboo, or the peeled wand used by boys in their novitiate; and, in rods where stiffness is an essential, a regularity of strength that shall produce a free balance. The heavy clumsy fishing-poles of our grandfathers are quite out of fashion, and the adoption of cane as a material for rods has assisted materially in the revolution, which was begun in the United States. For a while, the American makers were the, with some degree of justice, to boast that they produced the best finished rods in the world, though their toy-like elegance was never much appreciated by British anglers. The light and strong rod made of sections of cane, joined with perfect accuracy, and known as the split-cane rod, was, however, soon imitated by English makers, and with a success that has placed them on an equality with any in the world. The great cost of these rods has hitherto stood in the way of universal adoption, but there is no gainsaying their superiority in lightness combined with power. Ten guineas for a salmon rod, and four or five guineas for a trout rod, are almost prohibitive prices, when, for less than half the money, serviceable implements of green-heart, hickory, or lancewood can be obtained. A very fair rod may be purchased for a guinea; and we have amongst a costly collection, a handy little trout rod, purchased for half a guinea in Edinburgh, that was preferred to the best of them, until an accident laid it on the rack.
For fly-fishing, a spliced rod is preferred by experienced anglers, especially for salmon; but the ferrule has become almost universal for general angling. The old-fashioned practice of hollowing the butt for receiving the spare top is not to be recommended, since it weakens the rod at a critical part, and destroys the balance. The main point in selecting a rod is to choose one that fits the hand, and to pay for utility and not for ornament. The ferrules should be stopped when the rod is idle; and the bag in which the joints are kept should be suspended from a loop, to prevent the warping of the pieces. The trouble arising from the sticking together of the ferruled joints may be avoided by rubbing the brazen parts with common soap. Standing rings are now preferred, and the ring at the end of the top joint is best with a revolving centre.
Lines and Winches are very important items of outfit, and they are made in inconceivable variety. The former are of plaited silk, cotton, hair and silk, hair and gut, and horse-hair. The plaited lines are either dressed or undressed, to make them waterproof and prevent kinking; but if dressed, the process should be of the best, otherwise the cracking of the dressing will be a constant source of irritation and mischief, and the work will have to be continually repeated. Any good angling-book will give recipes of line-dressing, but amateur dressing seldom answers. Plaited silk lines, tapered down to meet and correspond with the finest gut casts, and well dressed, are much used; they are stronger, susceptible of better casting than the silk-and-hair lines, which they have supplanted, and do not retain the water. In many districts, however, the more primitive lines are still used. Lines should be unwound from the winch at the earliest moment after use, and thoroughly dried before winding up; and at the river, the first thing that should be done after the line has been drawn through the rings, previous to the putting on of the gut cast, is to subject a few yards to a trial of strength, so that no weak spot may be left, to lead, perhaps, to loss of both tackle and fish. Winches are of nickel-silver, bronze, vulcanite, brass, and wood, the cheapest being the last two. The most serviceable winches (called also reels, and in the north of England pirms) are those with least mechanism. For the higher exercises of angling, nothing can beat a strongly-made bronze winch with a reasonable amount of check. For the commoner practices of bottom-fishing, the Nottingham winch, made of wood, and running without any check, is popular; but without care and acquirement of the trick of handling, the line will overrun and become entangled. The line for this winch should be the soft undressed silk, which also takes its name from the town of Nottingham.
Foot-lines are the lengths of finer material attached to the line for the more complete deception of fishes. They are either of gut or single horse-hair, and are essential to fly-fishing and other forms of angling. When used by fly-fishers, this foot-line is sometimes called a collar, and sometimes a cast, and it is generally made of gut. Occasionally, and in special districts, horse-hair casts, tapering from a twist of three to a single strand, keep their ground, it being claimed for them that they have an elastic spring, and a freedom from glitter impossible with gut. Reliable hair casts are, however, difficult to procure, and when used are invariably home-made by some local specialist. Gut must be round, even, and transparent, and should be well moistened and straightened when wanted. Three yards is the orthodox length of a cast, but less will suffice for float-fishing. Of late years difficulty has been experienced in procuring the best gut for salmon-fishing, but the process of making drawn gut insures an unlimited supply of the finest casts for trout.
Hooks are now made with eyes, both upturned and turned down. In the nomenclature and numbering of hooks there is great confusion, the makers of Redditch and Kendal using different terms. The standard patterns are Limerick, Kendal, Kirby, Sproat, Carlisle, and Round; and one of the newest forms is the Pennell-Limerick. Although the Japanese artificial flies are made with barbless hooks, and American anglers use a hook which is called barbless, it is impossible in this respect to improve upon the familiar plan. In very olden times hooks were clumsy and ill-conceived, but the necessity of a barb was well understood; and in the South Sea Islands, the native hooks, with their rude shanks of mother-of-pearl, have a sharp-curved fork of bone, answering the purpose of a barb.
Miscellaneous gear for angling comprises the basket or bag, without which the equipment would lack its most cherished object. Whether the basket or creel is better than the bag (waterproof or the reverse) is entirely a matter of taste. Boxes of thin, polished wood, of japanned tin, and of papier-mâché, are made for those who have lost faith in the common fishing-basket of commerce; but we might be content with a roomy creel, made, not of the closely-woven French work, but of the coarser fabric of osier, manufactured in Scotland and the English provinces. The fishy smell, which is an offence to many, can be removed from bag or basket by washing with Condyl's fluid mixed with warm water. The landing-net is for securing the fish which is played out, but yet too heavy to be lifted from the water bodily by the line; and the gaff is for salmon and pike too large for treatment with a landing-net, which must be small to be portable, and capable of being litched to the strap of the basket, and carried behind the shoulders ready for use. An angler's gear, however, is regulated by the character of his sport; and other articles, when necessary, will be incidentally mentioned hereafter, in the paragraphs concerning the three main branches into which angling, as practised in Great Britain, may be divided—viz. fly-fishing, spinning and live-baiting, and bottom-fishing.
Fly-fishing is the highest form of angling, and it is applied to the most valuable of our fresh-water fish. Many sportsmen consider any other kind of fishing as unworthy of consideration, forgetting that it is the lower branches which give the greatest happiness to the greatest number of anglers. Fly-fishing for salmon comes first, the salmon being most truly described as the king of fish. No one has yet discovered, though many conjectures have been offered, what the salmon supposes the artificial fly to be. As there are no insects at all resembling the gaudy affairs of fur and feather to which the salmon rises, it can scarcely welcome it as a dainty gift from the insect world; and the most plausible theory is that the so-called artificial fly, bright with all the colours of the rainbow, and worked by jerks in the water, against or across stream, until the feathers and hackles move like the antennæ of some living creature, is taken for something in the nature of shrimp or beetle. There are many problems unsolved with respect to salmon, and this is one of them. Salmon-flies vary in size from the Shannon or Tay pattern used in spring, with shank nearly 3 inches long, to the low-water favourites scarce bigger than a trout-fly. To describe the different patterns would be to enumerate all the salmon rivers of the kingdom, since each district has its favourites. There is, perhaps, no more useful fly than the Jock Scott, originally a Tweed invention, but now tried everywhere. The Durham Ranger, Doctor, Popham, Wilkinson, Childers, Goldfinch (or Canary), and the Parson, are seldom missing from the salmon-fisher's book. Salmon-flies are sometimes, but should never be, whipped to strands of strong gut, which frays, and soon becomes treacherous at the head. The alternatives are a loop of gut, or the eyed-hook recently introduced. The salmon-rod should be from 16 to 18 feet long, according to the strength of the angler. The salmon-fly is cast across and down the pool, and worked deep or high, fast or slow, as the humour of the fish may determine.
Fly-fishing for trout is a more delicate operation. Until comparatively recent years, the fly-fisher attached two, three, or more flies to his cast, threw them lightly up or down stream, as his experience prompted, and allowed them to float naturally with the current. There are amongst trout-fishers an up-stream faction and a down-stream faction, the former using a short line and casting up the stream. By this method the angler is always behind the fish, minimises the risks of scaring, and is able to strike the hook firmly into, and not out of its mouth. This is doubtless the most scientific style when conditions are favourable. To allow the flies to drift down below is, however, easier, and in very rapid waters, is, indeed, the only way in which fishing can be carried on. The flies used are winged in imitation of the Ephemera and other water insects; hackled only, or so little dressed as to be termed spiders. These have their distinct uses on different streams. The latest school of fly-fishers advocate the floating or dry fly system, as practised on the crystal chalk streams of the south of England. One fly only is used, and this must be cast to float upon the surface of the stream with upright wings, in resemblance of the freshly hatched insect tribe that happens to be on the water. The custom is to cast over rising fish only, and not to work on speculation, as practitioners with the wet fly do. The justification for this system is the growing shyness of the trout; and upon choice rivers like the Itchen, Test, and Kennet, the method seems to be indispensable. On ordinary trout streams, however, flowing swiftly from hill sources, the common fashion pays best. Trout-flies are, like the larger lures for salmon, too numerous to particularise, but there are a few standard patterns that may be mentioned: Olive-dun, March Brown, Hare's Ear with Silver Twist, Red Spinner, Cow-dung, Needle-fly, Black Gnat, Red and Black Palmer, Governor, Alder, Black and Red Ants, Coachman, and Sedge. The stone-fly and May-fly (green and gray drake) are specialties, and confined to a brief season of the summer. When the rise of fly is good, the trout take it ravenously, and the largest bags of the year are then made. These insects are, however, peculiar to certain rivers, and so capriciously are they distributed that the upper half of a river will produce them while none are hatched from the bed of the lower half. The artificial May-fly has large upstanding wings of drake, widgeon, teal, wood-duck, or Egyptian goose, with bodies of straw, india-rubber, bark, cork, and maize husk, besides the more ordinary wool and silk. The hooks are as large as those used for loch-flies in Scotland. The live May-fly and stone-fly are very killing; and north of the Trent the larva of the stone-fly, under the name of creeper, is much used.
In fly-fishing, the golden rule is to keep as far as possible away from the water, and out of sight of the fish; to make the line and fly drop lightly and straight; to strike firmly, but gently; to keep the hooked fish well in hand, and get it down stream without delay. Eyed-hooks are recommended because they may be easily carried in a small box, because there is no risk from the fraying of gut at the head of the fly, and because the angler is always sure that the gut nearest the hook will be of the size required.
Spinning and live-baiting are processes in salmon, trout, perch, and pike fishing. Spinning may be accomplished with either an artificial or natural bait, the object being to present to the predatory fish angled for, a colourable imitation of one of the smaller species swimming away from it. It ranks next to fly-fishing as a sportsmanlike branch of angling. The spinning baits revolve upon a swivel, and are best worked against stream. Artificial baits are made of silvered, gilt, or painted metal, gutta-percha, and in the phantom, a capital specimen of the class, of soleskin, which is filled with water by the action of spinning. They are moulded and painted to resemble small trout, gudgeon, or dace, and made to spin by a fan protruding from each side of the head, or by a tail on the principle of the archimedean screw. The spoon bait, which is often coloured red inside, spins by reason of its convex shape, and is a most killing bait for all fish of predaceous habits. The best foot-line for spinning baits is of twisted or single salmon-gut, with at least two swivels; and when leads are necessary they should be coloured green. Many anglers fail in spinning through not sinking the bait deep enough, and through spinning too rapidly. The fish to be caught often lie low, and the angler must operate as much as he can upon their level. The larger baits will serve for both salmon and pike; the smaller artificial minnows, for trout and perch.
Dace, trout, or gudgeon of seven inches long, or minnows, if for trout-fishing, are the natural baits most suitable for spinning flights. The 'flight' is a series of triangle, double, or single hooks, whipped upon gimp for pike, and strong or fine gut for salmon and trout fishing; and it must lie along the body of the bait, and be so affixed that it shall spin something near nature. The advantage of the spinning bait is that the fish may be struck on the instant of seizing it. In pike-fishing, success may often be achieved, when straight spinning does not succeed, by causing the bait to spin irregularly. The movement is termed a 'wobble' by anglers, and is supposed to suggest a wounded fish trying to escape from danger. Wood's Chapman spinner produces a straight spin, and requires no lead, the piece of straight wire which goes into the mouth and body of the bait being sufficiently weighted, while the rotatory motion is given by flanges at the head. Pennell's flight, which requires the usual lead, and which receives its spin from the tail strongly curved by means of a large end hook, is a good sample of the spinner with wobbling action. These spinning baits are as effective in salt as in fresh water angling.
Live baits, in the parlance of anglers, are small fish, shrimps, or frogs. They must be vigorous, and should be used with snap-tackle, that is to say, with hooks so arranged that they enter the mouth of the fish, and may be extracted to enable undersized or ill-conditioned specimens to be returned to the water. They are used with float, suspended at varying depths and travelling with the stream, or upon the pater-noster, a length of stout gut with single hooks attached to short lengths of gimp or gut. These are fastened to the foot-line by loops, and the hooks being baited, the apparatus sinks to the bottom by means of a weight at the end. The use of the gorge hook for live-baiting and trolling has long been discredited as unsportsmanlike, but it is often used. It is absorbed into the gullet, the two hooks finding lodgment in a vital part.
Bottom-fishing is a term which is intended to express the art of angling for fish feeding on the beds of streams, and, though it is not precisely accurate, we may for expediency here adopt it. The rod for bottom-fishing is stiffer than that required by the fly-fisher; and the recreation is often sedentary. The exception is angling for trout in a clear stream with Stewart's tackle, a fine art in itself, which, strictly speaking, ought not to be included in this category. To kill a dish of trout when the water is at summer level and clearness, by ascending the stream, and deftly casting the worm upon Stewart's delicate tackle, is evidence of real proficiency in angling. No such skill is demanded in ordinary bottom-fishing, in which the shot line is suspended by a float, and the hook, either on the bottom or at regulated depth above it, is baited with worms, maggots, caddis, bread paste, boiled wheat, rice, meal worms, or wasp grub. The once-fashionable perfumed baits are no longer believed in; but pastes sweetened with honey, or tinged with vermillion, are affected by many of the patient brethren to be met with sitting hopefully on the bank, or in the punt, waiting for a bite. Bottom-fishing is peculiarly the poor man's pleasure. Of free trout waters, save in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, few remain; but the humble roach or perch fisher has his privileges still amongst what are called the coarse fish. The branch of bottom-fishing most directly answering to the name is that known as legering. With this method, the gut foot-line passes through a hole in a piece of flattened lead, and is kept in place by split shots a foot or so above the baited hook, which lies literally on the bed of the river, leaving the foot-line free to run through the weight to the limits of the small shot. Legering is principally used by barbel-fishers, but other fish are captured by it. For this amusement a hard, clean river-bed is essential. Angling is largely practised in the United States, Canada, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland. The trout and grayling streams of Germany and Austria are famous for sport. In India, the mahseer is the object of the angler's desire; in New Zealand and Tasmania, the successful acclimatisation of trout has introduced a new recreation for colonial anglers.
ANGLING AUTHORITIES.—To the foregoing general remarks upon angling, we may add a recommendation of works which will initiate the angler into all the mysteries of the craft. Walton's book is ever delightful from its quaint style, pure tone, and sweet descriptions of nature. As a practical treatise on angling, it is, however, in many essentials out of date, and should not be read without modern editing. The Book on Angling, by the late Francis Francis, is the standard authority on what we may term cosmopolitan angling. Every branch of the art is clearly treated by a master-hand, and the work ranging over the three kingdoms, is serviceable to the salmon-fisher of Tweed, Beaulay, Shannon, or Conway, no less than to the roach-angler of Thames, Lea, or Trent. The fishing volumes of the Badminton Library—Manley's Fish and Fishing and Foster's Scientific Angler—also cover the whole ground. Amongst works upon distinct branches of angling may be indicated Halford's Floating Flies, Fennell's Book of the Roach, Pennell's Book of the Pike, Braithwaite's Salmonidae of Westmoreland, Cutcliffe's Art of Trout-fishing on Rapid Streams, Pritt's North Country Flies, and H. Cholmondeley-Pennell's Modern Improvements in Fishing Tackle and Fish Hooks (1887). In the angling literature of Scotland there is a choice of riches, such as Stewart's Practical Angler, Stoddart's Angler's Companion, Colquhoun's Moor and the Loch, St John's Sketches, and 'Black Palmer's' Scotch Loch-fishing. The Angler and the Loop Rod, by David Webster, is a clever treatise in advocacy of a peculiar method practised on Clyde and Tweed. The handbooks of fishing localities are the Angler's Diary, touching upon angling in all parts of the world; Watson Lyall's Sportsman's Guide to the Rivers, Lochs, &c. of Scotland; Cliffe's Notes and Recollections of an Angler, for Wales; and, for Ireland, Regan's How and Where to Fish in Ireland. Thomas's Rod in India, and Senior's Travel and Trout in the Antipodes, refer to more distant lands. The standard reference work on angling literature is Westwood and Satchell's Bibliotheca Piscatoria.