Part II

is not advisable. During the ten minutes you have allowed him, he has gorged the hook, and all the striking in the world will make it no faster; although, if the fish be very large, the indiscreet performance may possibly snap your rod or line. If the fish move off before ten minutes be expired, let him alone, and he will, perhaps, soon stop again ; if not, then jerk him smartly, and make the best of it you will most probably cap- ; ture him. When the last struggles of the pike are over, lift him gently out of the water. Some recommend landingnets, gaff, etc. etc., for this purpose. For our own part, we are not passionate admirers of these supplementary aids, and have always found our gimp strong enough to effect this object when the fish is fairly done up. Some anglers put their fingers in the pike's eyes ; and others, which is, perhaps, after all the best -way, play him to some shallow place, and run him up the shelving side. Whatever you do, however, never put your hand near his mouth. His teeth are formidable weapons, and he bites like a crocodile. Let him go, sooner than let him hold your finger. To get the hooks out of his mouth, seize the fish by the eyes and slightly open his mouth with a piece of wood or stick, and if the hook is thoroughly gorged it would be better to open the belly, and pull the bait and hook with the gimp through the orifice. It is difficult to kUl a pike, but it may be done by severing the vertebrae at the back of the head. It is best to do this particularly when the fish is a large one, as its constantly opening jaws and formidable teeth, not to mention its plunges, are somewhat perplexing to the inexperienced troller. Some trollers take live roach with them in a fishkettle : this is not necessary. Put fine fresh-caught roach into clean, sweet bran with care, and by the time you arrive at the waterside they will be firm and NOTE los stiff. Do not wash them before you bait, because you are very likely to rub off some scales in the process. As soon as the hook is thrown into the water, off goes the bran, and the fish sparkles and glitters with his skin unblemished. Some people spin the minnow for pike. This is but a sorry business ; but those who are disposed to practise it will find it fully described under the instructions for catching trout. In this mode, as with the snap, the casts are made much in the same manner as in trolling. The pike is sometimes shot by those who have a fancy A for such sport. light charge is put into the gun ; and all the art displayed in the performance consists in making due allowance for the refraction of the water, according to the depth and distance of the fish. It often happens that the fish is very much mutilated by this process. September and October are fine months for pike- fishihg; but if the angler can stand the weather, the winter months are decidedly the best for large fish. Thorough pike-fishers always insist that they catch the finest fish on sharp, frosty days, when there is a thin film of ice spread over the surface of the water; and we have ourselves taken good fish, after having had to break ice an inch thick to get our bait into the water. Note to Chaptek V Thia is an entertaining chapter, and it embodies sundry venerable legends respecting the voracity and size of pike ; but this is done with considerable discrimination, and it will be observed that Blakey does not fall into the common error of assuming that the pike is to be taken anywhere and anyhow. There are times, of course, when this fresh-water shark is just as capricious and difficult to tempt as the shyest of fish, and the young angler will do well to approach the pike, not as if he were eager to rush headlong at every clumsy lure that is hurled at his head, but as if he were tlie fish which Blakey says he always foupd him, viz, a discerning fellow, difficult to catch in preserves io6 ANGLING and pet waters, where natural food is plentiful. It would be prudent to reject all stories of pike of sixty-nine pounds and so forth as purely legendary ; such fish may have existed, and may exist now, but there is no authentic record of them. The snaring of pike, which is described amongst the methods of angling, has long been considered reprehensibly unsportsmanlike, and its -- practice is now confined to keepers and poachers. In trout- streams which are maintained at vast expense, the pike ranks as vermin, as an enemy to be exterminated root and branch. One of the favourite ways of clearing out these marauders is snaring, and many keepers are very adroit with their wire noose at the end of a long pole. The pike ascend ditches and minor streams in the spring to spawn, and it is possible by wary action at such times to slip a wire noose over their heads, and whisk them out flopping on the bank before they have time to take alarm. Trimmering is also considered an unsportsmanlike method, since everything is left to the tackle, and, as is pointed out in the text, neither skill, patience, nor attention is required from the fisherman. The ' ' huxing, " which is described, is an expression which I never heard or met with except in this book and in -- the dictionaries. It is probably a local name ; its etymology is doubtful, and the dictionary rendering is Hux " : to fish, as for pike, with hooks and lines attached to floating bladders." This is merely a form of trimmering. The gorge-hooks for trolling were not considered questionable until within the last twenty or thirty years, but with the multi- plication of anglers everywhere, increased care has to be taken to maintain the stock of fish, and a size limit is therefore promul- gated by private lessees and modern angling clubs. Any fish below a given limit has to be returned to the water, if possible unhurt, and allowed to escape to fight another day. This is impossible with the deadly gorge-hook, which is absorbed into the gullet of the fish, and cannot be extracted without killing the victim. By common consent, therefore, the gorge-hook is discouraged, and the last set of bye-laws for the Thames makes it illegal. There is something very pretty and very convenient about gorge-bait fishing ; it allows the angler moderate exercise, which cannot be enjoyed by live baiting, and yet does not demand such constant exertion as spinning. To meet this desideratum, a tackle has been invented, by which the method described by Blakey of working the bait, as in trolling, is possible, but the hooks which are used are so disposed that, instead of allowing the fish time to gorge the bait which is seized, the angler strikes sharply, hooks his fish in the mouth, and is therefore able, with care, to release the undersized pike, very little the worse for its experience. This is really the method of "sinking and roving," mentioned on another page as fishing with live bait. The live bait which is there represented as condemned by many anglers is now recognised as a legitimate type of pike-fishing, and the only NOTE 107 limit put to the practice is the use of the flat-lying, double hook, which necessitated the operation of gorging, objected to in the trolling which was once en rigle. Artificial baits were beginning to be well known even forty years ago, and their name now is legion. Novelties succeed one another in rapid succession, and it is the fashion to speak in terms of derision of the fads by which anglers are tempted. It is nevertheless a fact that such fish as pike, salmon, and trout often require a novelty, very much as human beings do ; hence it arises that some newly-invented bait for a time obtains a high reputation, as being superior to all others ; but the fish -- soon find out the fraud. W. S. ; CHAPTER VI THE GRAYLING Thb grayling is a fish bearing considerable resemblance to the trout, and chiefly abounds in the rivers of Derbyshire and Yorkshire ; in the Teme, near Ludlow and in the Lugg, and other streams in the vicinity of Leominster. Its general shape is rather longer, and more slender than the trout, particularly towards the tail ; the head is small, and the eyes very protuberant. The sides of the fish are of a beautiful silvery grey, with numerous dark stripes of a longitudinal shape. He is a keen and ready feeder, and rises readily at the fly, and is partial to worms and maggots. Indeed, all kinds of water insects afford him sustenance, as well as the roe of other kinds of fish. Walton says : " Of grubs for grayling, the ash-grub, which is plump, milkwhite, bent round from head to tail, and exceedingly tender, with a round head ; or the dock-worm, or grub of a pale yellow, longer, lanker, and tougher than the other, with rows of feet all down his belly, and a red -- head also, are the best I say for grayling, because although a trout will take both these, and the ashgrub especially, yet he does not do it so freely as the other, and I have usually taken ten graylings for one trout with that bait ; though if a trout come, I have observed that he is commonly a very good one." The best months for angling for grayling are September, October, and November. The larger kinds of this fish are partial to deep water, into which there is a gentle stream running. The smaller ones, which l�8 -- THE GRAYLING 109 frequent the shallows and streams, may be readily taken with the fly, but those in deep pools are easier caught with the worm or maggot. The bait should lie close to the ground ; and when a fish is hooked, great care must be taken in killing him, for he has a very tender mouth, from which he often slips his hold. Some anglers, in fishing for the grayling in still water, throw in a few maggots before commencing, with a view of drawing the fish together. Cabbage-grubs, grasshoppers, and lob-baits are all suitable to the tastes of the grayling. The following dialogue on this fish, by Walton, is very characteristic of both the fisher and the fish : " Piso. Why, then, by what you say, I dare venture to assure you it is a grayling, who is one of the deadest-hearted fish in the world, and the bigger he is, the more easily taken. Look you, now you see him plain ; I told you what he was ; bring hither that landing-net, boy ; and now, sir, he is your own ; and, believe me, a good one, sixteen inches long I warrant him ; I have taken none such this year. ' ' ViAT. I never saw a grayling before look so black. "Piso. Did you not? Why, then, let me tell you that you never saw one before in right season ; for then a grayling is very black about his head, gills, and down his back, and has his belly of a dark grey, dappled with very black spots, as you see this is ; and I am apt to conclude that from thence he derives his name of Umber. Though, I must tell you, this fish is past his prime, and begins to decline, and was in better season at Christmas than he is now. But move on, for it grows towards dinner-time ; and there is a very great and fine stream below, where we are almost sure of a good fish. "ViAT. Let him come, I'U try a fall with him; but I had thought that the grayling had been always in season with the trout, and had come in and gone out with him. "Piso. Oh no ! assure yourselves, a grayling is a winter fish, but such a one as would deceive any but such as do know him very well indeed ; for his flesh, even in his worst season, is so firm, and will so easily carve, that, in plain truth, he is very good meat at all times ; but in his perfect season, which, by the way, none but an overgrown grayling will ever be, I think him so good a fish as to be Uttle inferior to the best trout that I ever my tasted in life." no ANGLING Note to Chapter VI Blakey, it may without any unkindness be assumed, knew very little about grayling or grayling-fishing. Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and the Herefordshire and Worcestershire streams were for many years the districts in which the grayling was supposed to be indigenous. It is a disputed point, which probably will never be settled, whether the grayling was an original inhabitant of the country, or was imported here by monks from the Continent. The fish has been introduced in our times into scores of rivers where they did not previously exist, and some trout-fishera maintain that this has been done to the deterioration of the trout. The strong argument adduced by the admirer and therefore defender of the grayling is that when the trout-rod is laid aside by the law of the land and the canons of sport (which shoiild be at the end of September), the grayling, which is a very free-rising fish, affording charming sport to the fly-fisher, is in its best condition, and continues to be in season during the winter months, it being one of the so-called summer spawners, which deposit their eggs in the spring. It is a delicious dish of meat for the table, and has a host of enthusiastic admirers for its elegance and courage. Walton's description of the grayling as the "deadest-hearted fish in the world " has often been quoted, to be laughed at ; but the dear old author of The Complete Angler was not an immaculate authority as a fly-fisher, and was at anyrate mistaken as to the sporting character of this fish. It does not so often leap out of the water when hooked as the trout does, and its method of struggling to escape is different ; but a grayling in condition, and in a lively stream, gives the angler almost as much to do to come out victor in the fight as a trout. To the grayling-rivers mentioned by Blakey must now be added the Itchen, the Test, the Cheshire Dee, the Colne, the Lea, the Clyde, the Tweed, the Ayr, and of -- course all the tributaries of the Trent. W. S. CHAPTER VII THE PERCH The perch is a handsome, noble looking fish; a bold, dashing biter, and a courageous fellow when, hooked, never yielding as long as he has any strength remain- He ing, but fighting bravely to the last. is extremely voracious when hungry, and will spring at anything that comes in his way. Indeed, he will often follow a smaller one of his own species when hooked, and make every efiort to devour it. In short, he is altogether, when large, one of the best fish for sport which the fresh waters contain. The perch is gregarious, and in the matter of taking bait, remarkably imitative; so that when you have caught one, you should invariably remain some time in the same place, as there is every probability you will ultimately get all there are. This is so commonly understood among anglers, that it is quite a proverbial matter, known to every schoolboy, and invariably acted upon by all the lovers of the gentle craft. In March or April, and perhaps in May, according to the season, the perch cast their spawn, so that they should be suffered to remain unmolested at least till July or August. In May and June they are out of condition, are then of a pale lead colour, and most execrable flavour ; very different from the deep, bright hues which make them like bars of gold in the water, and the sweet, firm flesh which distinguishes them in September and October. The perch is very prolific. Picot, of Geneva, opened 112 ANGLING a fish of a pound weight, the ovarium of which weighed a quarter of a pound, and contained 992,000 eggs. Their increase, in favourable situations, must consequently be enormous. This fish reaches a considerable size. Some authors affirm that he has occasionally attained a weight of nine or ten pounds. Perch have sometimes been caught at "Whittlesea Mere of six pounds ; and we have ourselves taken them of three and four pounds. But, speaking generally, an angler must consider himself somewhat fortunate if he succeed in killing perch whose average weight shall reach a pound or a pound and a half. Excellent sport is to be obtained with fish much below these weights; for, as he is a fearless, dashing fellow, he will always afford the sportsman more amusement than any other fish twice his size, with the exception of the trout and salmon, whose magnificent leaps and rushes none who have ever witnessed them can possibly forget. The perch frequents deep weedy holes, the stone walls about locks and mills, reedy streams, where the water pours freely ; and invariably in those places where there is a constant or frequent rapid fall of water. If you can keep your line down, the stronger the stream in which you angle for perch the better; but more will be said on this matter in another place. Perch are to be met with almost everywhere ; there is scarcely a river in England, adapted to his nature and habits, in which he cannot be found. The lakes in the north of England, and many in Scotland, are full of these fish; and private ponds in which jack are preserved generally abound with them, as the jack will not eat the perch unless urged by extremity of hunger, and then he seldom recovers the effects of the perch's sharp and penetrating dorsal fin. The flesh of the perch was deemed salubrious by the physicians, and they were accustomed to prescribe two little round bones in his head to be dissolved, and taken as a remedy for the "stone." There are various modes of cooking the perch. The best way with which we are ; THE PERCH 113 acquainted, is to fry him in butter, and then serve him up with rich, hot shrimp sauce. In Scotland, they make what is called a " water-souchie " of him; but this is a flabby, wishy-washy affair altogether; the flavour of the fish is lost in that of the onion, and you wish in vain that you could lose the taste of the onion as easily. Being a bold biter, and a somewhat unscrupulous fish, the perch is very readily attracted by bait, and very quickly caught. When he bites, he requires rather more time than might be imagined from his bold and determined character; but experience will soon convince the angler that, whenever the perch escapes, it is, generally speaking, because he has not been allowed time enough to get the hook well into his gullet. The perch requires considerable indulgence in this respect, especially when angled for with a gudgeon. Almost all kinds of tackle, however common and unpretending, will do for catching perch. The rod should be rather stiff, light, and not larger than is necessary to clear the weeds and other obstacles which sometimes line the sides of perch haunts. The line should be of hair, about nine hairs in thickness ; the hooks about No. 4, and the bottom gut a yard in length at least. Some anglers use gimp, but there can be no necessity for tackle of such strength : salmon and trout are killed with gut, and why not perch 1 Most anglers use a float in perch - fishing. This method undoubtedly saves trouble and attention in still water ; but in strong streams and boiling eddies, where the best perch-fishing is often to be obtained, it is of no use whatever. In this case the line must be kept down with a bullet attached to it, below the bait or a paternoster, as it is called, well leaded, may be -- made use of. To the hooks and in this mode of -- angling you may have as many as you like small gudgeons or minnows should -be fixed by the nose or the back fin ; and when the fish bites in the running stream, the angler will feel the short, quick jerks which indicate a perch run under such circumstances. These 8 114 ANGLING hooks may also be baited with worms, if large and red. In fishing with gudgeon or minnow in tranquil, or in gently flowing waters, run the hook under the back fin, and put shot enough, about a foot above the bait, to keep it down well. You may use a float or not, in this case ; but it is more difficult for young anglers to kill a fish without a float than with one. Some authors recommend spinning a dead minnow for the perch, on the curious ground that the rod-fisher may kill a trout or pike. This chance must be a very remote afiair, as we should fancy, for the angler seldom encounters the two in the same stream. Several kinds of bait are recommended for the perch : gudgeon, minnow, worms, gentles, frogs. Undoubtedly this fish will take all these, and many others of a We similar kind. have seen them, for instance, killed with slugs, and the stone-loach is thought to be very persuasive. The common bait, however, for this fish, -- taking all things into consideration, season, size of fish, -- state of water, weather, etc. etc., is a fine large red garden worm, commonly called a lob or dew worm. These may be gathered by thousands late in the evening after rain, without any fear of injuring them, as they are then crawling about above ground ; but none but red worms must be taken, the black being altogether useless, avoided even by small eels. Fill a large flower- pot, or some other convenient vessel, earthenware being preferable, with a quantity of long clean moss ; press it down hard, put the worms on the top of it, and drop upon them a very small quantity of pure, sweet milk, to purge and purify them. If this moss be frequently washed and turned, and the worms carefully put on the top of it every time, they will keep a long period, and will become clear, firm, and of surprising toughness. "We do not believe that a better bait than these worms, so prepared, can be found for perch. Brandlings, and small red-worms, and similar fancy things, are lauded by some authors; but we feel confident that a little experience will soon convince the angler there is THE PERCH 115 nothing comparable to a well-prepared dew-worm. It will often tempt the perch, late in the evening, when he is roving about shallow places in search of prey ; and a large eel will rush at it greedily. Perch may be caught nearly all the year round ; but perhaps August, September, and October are the best months, as the fish are then in high season, splendid in colour, and full of condition and vigour. In cloudy weather, this fish will bite all day ;