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ANGLING AND HOW TO ANGLE & Digitized by Google : From Laoto oy tcussell Y Sons, Baker ot. é ANGLING AND HOW TO ANGLE A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO BAIT-FISHING, TROLLING, SPINNING AND FLY-FISHING oe By J. T” BURGESS AUTHOR OF ‘‘OLD ENGLISH WILD FLOWERS,” ETC. REVISED AND BROUGHT DOWN TO DATE By R. B. MARSTON EDITOR OF “THE FISHING GAZETTE.” WITH A SPECIAL ARTICLE ON PIKE-FISHING By A. J. JARDINE bad WITH UPWARDS OF SEVENTY BAAGRAYS. © 4g US AND ILLUSTRATIONS 772, evel @ LONDON FREDERICK WARNE & CO. AND NEW YORK 1895 as 2292 AI 4 2430 »>* 20 - ss eee & se Je) ‘YN End M07 AUTHOR’S PREFACE THERE are thousands of people who love a day’s fishing, but who have neither the time nor the inclination to make a profound study of the gentle craft. They are often dispirited and disappointed at their want of success. They have sighed for a comprehensive, practical, yet handy manual, which is neither too large for the pocket, nor too brief to be useful. Perhaps no outdoor sport has so large or so fine a literature as angling. So full and exhaustive are the various treatises, that it appears presumptuous to place another volume on the already loaded shelves of the fisherman’s library. If anglers all belonged to the rich and leisurely grades of society, I should certainly not have expanded my rough fishing-notes into a book. Though I have embodied my own experiences into these pages, I have not overlooked the advice of my brother anglers, when I found on trial that their plans were more simple, or, practically, more useful than my own. The most striking instance of this being the case, was. in trolling and spinning for pike ; and I acknowledge my indebtedness for many a good day’s sport to the improved tackle and hints of Mr. Cholmondeley Pennell. To him, and to those kind vi AUTHOR'S PREFACE friends who furnished me with valuable memoranda, I tender my hearty thanks. I would direct attention to the tried recipes, as well as to the practical hints on the making and mending of fishing gear, fly-dressing, and odd memoranda, which will be duly appreciated by those who have experienced the chagrin of tackle breaking in the midst of a day’s sport, or their stock of flies exhausted far away from the usual sources of supply. A little ingenuity and patience will soon bring the necessary skill and neatness to do these things well. Though these things have been described ostensibly for the guidance and instruction of the young and inexperienced angler, Iam not without hope that it will be found suffi- * ciently valuable, and full of suggestive practical hints, as to commend itself to many an old angler as a necessary part of his outfit. J. T. B. LEAMINGTON, May 1867. EDITOR'S NOTE HAVING been requested by the publishers to revise this book, I have tried to do so, I hope, as Mr. Burgess himself would have done it, and with a tender regard for his pleasant little work. As will be seen from the date of the Preface, nearly thirty years have passed since it was written. In that time some changes in the art of angling itself and numberless improvements, or so-called improvements, have been made in fishing rods and tackle of all kinds. In the many additions I have made, my object has been to carry on the Author’s idea and to make the information and instructions as simple and practical as possible. Many xf the old illustrations have been replaced by new ones of more modern tackle, and the old list of dressings of artificial flies has been revised and supplemented by others giving the standard patterns now in use. I have added some account of the comparatively new and most fascinating style of fly-fishing known as “ Dry-fly Fishing,” and also of other branches not included in the original work. Having all my life been an ardent lover of all styles of fair angling, I hope that this revised edition of “ Angling” may be the means of putting many a young angler in the viii EDITOR’S NOTE right way to become a skilful one, and shall be thankful for any correction of errors that may be found in it. I have to thank my friends, Mr. Alfred J. Jardine and Mr. Francis M. Walbran, for kindly giving me _ special articles for this edition. Mr. Jardine writes on “ Pike Fishing,” Mr. Walbran on ‘North Country Flies” and ‘“‘ Creeper Fishing.” R. B. MARSTON. St. DuNsTAN’'s House, FETTER LANE, LONDON. Fuly 1895. - a - sae i eee eeeeeses—i—i‘(‘itsssSsSsi(‘i‘(‘i‘i‘ - CONTENTS CHAP. I, ANGLING AND ANGLERS II. FISH: THEIR SENSES AND TASTES . e e . e III. THE ROD AND THE REEL. IV. THE LINE, TACKLE, AND EQUIPMENT OF AN ANGLER Vv. POINTS TO BE OBSERVED IN SELECTION OF TACKLE, BAITING HOOK, STRIKING AND PLAYING FISH, ETC. VI. THE BAIT-FISHER’S BAIT TABLE VII. MINNOW, LOACH, RUFFE, GUDGEON, BLEAK, DACE, ROACH, CHUB, AND BREAM e ° e e ° e VIII. CARP, TENCH, BARBEL, PEKCH, EELS, AND LAMPREY IX. WORM-FISHING FOR TROUT, GRAYLING, SALMON, ETC. X. HOW TO FISH FOR PIKE—TROLLING, SPINNING, PATER- NOSTERING, ETC.—-THE TACKLE, TRACE, BAITS, ETC. XI, SPINNING FOR PIKE—NEW TACKLE—THE PENNELL FLIGHT —SINKING AND ROVING—FISHING WITH THE SNAP- TACKLE—MR, JARDINE’S ILLUSTRATED DIRECTIONS, ETC. XII. SPINNING WITH THE MINNOW . XIII, CASTING THE FLY—WORKING THE FLY—HOW TO FISH A STREAM—HOW TO STRIKE, HOOK, PLAY, AND LAND A FISH e e e e o °. e eo *. ° XIV. TROUT: THEIR HAUNTS, HABITS, AND TASTES—A PLATE OF FLIES—SOME USEFUL MAXIMS . . 17 34 41 49 67 72 86 108 II5 125 x CONTENTS CHAP. VAGE XV. ARTIFICIAL FLIES, AND HOW TO MAKE THEM . - &I3I XVI. ARTIFICIAL FLIES AND THEIR VARIETIES, AND DRY-FLY FISHING , , , , , , . . . 144 XVII, DIPPING, DABBING, OR DAPING . , . . . 169 XVII, FLY-FISHING FOR SALMON ; , . . . . 194 XIX, SOME NOTES ON SEA-FISHING . . . . . Ig2 APPEN DIX THE FISHERMAN’S ALMANACK . . . . . 198 OUTFIT FOR SEA-FISHING . . . , . . 199 USEFUL RECIPES FOR ANGLERS . . . . - 200 CREEPER AND STONE FLY-FISHING , . . . 201 ILLUSTRATIONS OF HOOKS. . . . ; . 205 INDEX . . . .. 209 ANGLING CHAPTER I ANGLING AND ANGLERS WHo can adequately describe the pleasures that surround the angler? Who can catalogue the charms that cling around his pursuit ? He pursues his avocation amid scenes of natural beauty. It is he who follows the windings of the silvery river, and becomes acquainted with its course. He knows the joyous leaps it takes down the bold cascade, and how it bubbles rejoicingly in its career over the rapids. He knows the solitude of its silent depths, and the brilliancy of its shallows. He is confined to no season. He can salute Nature when she laughs with the budding flowers, and when her breath is the glorious breath of Spring. The rustling sedges make music in his ear ere the mist has rolled off the surface of the water, or the dew been kissed from the grass by the sun’s rays. The lark sings for him; from bush and brake he hears sweet bird-notes. The gorgeous king fisher heeds him not, and the water-hen scarce moves from her nest as he passes. The storm and the tempest scarcely hinder his sport. He throws his line when ruddy Autumn gilds the western heavens, and the fruit of the year hangs heavy on the bough, or waves in golden abundance on the uplands. Even stern Winter does not forbid him his A 2 ANGLING enjoyment. If he cares to pursue his favourite pastime, he may do so as well when the tall bulrushes, wavy reeds, and reedmace rattle with December’s winds, as when the marsh- marigold opes its big yellow eyes on an April day, or the tall spike of the purple loosestrife mingles with the creamy hue of the meadowsweet, and is relieved by the sombre green of the sedges. If he is an ardent sportsman, the whole year is before him. When the trout will not rise to the tempting fly, or be seduced by the seductive bait, the voracious pike will seize the spinning minnow and try the patience and skill of the fisherman. I fancy that few anglers care for that smattering of science which too many modern writers throw over the sport. They are somewhat indifferent to the ‘ Rudiments of Ichthyology,” and are heedless of the classification which their spoil might receive ina museum. They rather want to know the habits of the fish, where he is to be found, the state of his appetite, and the particular variety of his taste at different seasons of the year, and in different waters. They may know but little of entomology; but they know the attractiveness of a May-fly to a trout. Anglers study natural history in a natural way, and in the best school— that of experience ; and hence the Englishman becomes not only one of the best and keenest of sportsmen, but almost the apostle of sport in every part of the globe. What a host of names rise up in connection with the sport! Sir Walter Scott, Washington, Sir Humphry Davy, the inventor of the safety-lamp, and the author of a pleasant treatise on fly-fishing ; Archdeacon Paley, the author of the ‘*Evidences of Christianity”; burly Daniel Webster; Nelson, England’s beloved hero; John Bright, Lord Randolph Churchill, Anthony Froude, and a thousand others whose names are ‘‘household words” for wit, learning, valour, piety, and truth, suggest themselves as identified with the sport.