Viator. The trouble will be yours, and mine the pleasure and the obligation; I beseech you, therefore, to proceed. Piscator. Why, then, first for fly-fishing.

CHAPTER V.

OF FLY-FISHING.

Piscator, junior. FLY-FISHING, or fishing at the top, is, as I said before, of two sorts; with a natural and living fly, or with an artificial and made fly.

First, then, of the natural fly; of which we generally use but two sorts, and those but in the two months of May and June only; namely, the green-drake and the stone-fly: though I have made use of a third, that way, called the camlet-fly, with very good success, for Grayling, but never saw it angled with by any other, after this manner, my master only excepted, who died many years ago, and was one of the best anglers that ever I knew.

These are to be angled with with a short line, not much more than half the length of your rod, if the air be still; or with a longer very near or all out as long as your rod, if you have any wind to carry it from you. And this way of fishing we call daping, dabbing, or dibbing;* wherein you are always to have your line flying before you up or down the river, as the wind serves, and to angle as near as you can to the bank of the same side whereon you stand, though where you see a fish rise near you, you may guide your quick fly over him, whether in the middle, or on the contrary side; and if you are pretty well out of sight, either by kneeling, or the interposition of a bank or bush, you may almost be sure to raise, and take him too, if it be presently done; the fish will otherwise peradventure be removed to some other place,† if it be in the still deeps, where he is always in the motion, and roving up and down to look for prey, though, in a stream, you may always almost, especially if there be a good stone near, find him in the same place. Your line ought, in this case, to be three good hairs next the hook ; both by reason you are, in this kind of angling, to expect the

* See in chap. vii..May, art. 11, directions how to bait with the green drake-fly.

It may be considered almost the invariable habit of a fish, particularly Trout, to swim away from the spot where it has risen at a fly, so that the caution in the text is not far from correct.-J. R.

As the bird termed the fly-catcher has always a favourite post from which to spring upon flies on the wing, and hence it is called the post bird in Kent, so Trouts have usually a favourite stone to lie near in a river; and if you kill a Trout in such a haunt, his place will probably be soon supplied with another. J. R.

biggest fish, and also that, wanting length to give him line after he is struck, you must be forced to tug for it: to which I will also add, that not an inch of your line being to be suffered to touch the water in dibbing, it may be allowed to be the stronger. I should now give you a description of those flies, their shape and colour; and then, give you an account of their breeding; and withal, shew you how to keep and use them: but shall defer that to their proper place and season.

Viator. In earnest, sir, you discourse very rationally of this affair, and I am glad to find myself mistaken in you; for, in plain truth, I did not expect so much from you.

Piscator. Nay, sir, I can tell you a great deal more than this: and will conceal nothing from you. But I must now come to the second way of angling at the top; which is with an artificial fly, which also I will shew you how to make before I have done; but, first, shall acquaint you, that, with this, you are to angle with a line longer by a yard and a half, or sometimes two yards, than your rod: and with both this and the other in a still day, in the steams, in a breeze that curls the water, in the still deeps, where (excepting in May and June, that the best Trouts will lie in shallow streams to watch for prey, and even then too) you are like to hit the best fish.*

For the length of your rod, you are always to be governed by the breadth of the river you shall choose to angle at: and for a Trout river, one of five or six yards long is commonly enough; and longer (though never so neatly and artificially made) it ought not to be, if you intend to fish at ease: and if otherwise, where lies the sport?

Of these, the best that ever I saw are made in Yorkshire, which are all of one piece, that is to say, of several, six, eight, ten, or twelve pieces, so neatly pieced and tied together with fine thread below and silk above, as to make it taper like a switch, and to ply with a true bent to your hand, and these too are light, being made of fir wood for two or three lengths nearest to the hand, and of other wood nearer to the top, that a man might very easily manage the longest of them that ever I saw, with one hand. And these, when you have given over angling for a season, being taken to pieces, and laid up in some dry place, may afterward be set together again in their former postures, and will be as straight, sound, and good as the first hour they were made, and being laid in oil and colour, according to your master Walton's direction, will last many years.†

The length of your line, to a man that knows how to handle

For fishing with two or more flies, see note on next page.

The great objection to rods in many pieces is, that they are not sufficiently pliant; and no angler, who is as near his station as Mr Cotton was to the Dove, should think of such a pieced rod as he describes. — J. R.

his rod, and to cast it, is no manner of encumbrance, except in woody places, and in landing of a fish, which every one that can afford to angle for pleasure has somebody to do for him. And the length of line is a mighty advantage to the fishing at distance; and to fish fine and far off is the first and principal rule for Trout angling.*

Your line in this case should never be less, nor ever exceed two hairs next to the hook; for one (though some, I know, will pretend to more art than their fellows) is, indeed, too few, the least accident, with the finest hand, being sufficient to break it but he that cannot kill a Trout of twenty inches long with two, in a river clear of wood and weeds, as this and some others of ours are, deserves not the name of an angler.†

:

Now, to have your whole line as it ought to be, two of the first lengths nearest the hook should be of two hairs a-piece ; the next three lengths above them of three; the next three above them of four; and, so of five, and six, and seven, to the very top by which means, your rod and tackle will, in a manner, be taper from your very hand to your hook; your line will fall much better and straighter, and cast your fly to any certain place to which the hand and eye shall direct it, with less weight and violence, that would otherwise circle the water, and fright away the fish.

In casting your line, do it always before you, and so that

* An artist may easily throw twelve yards of line with one hand; and with two he may as easily throw eighteen.

+ See the direction for your rod and line, in the notes on chap. xxi. part i

Till you are a proficient, every throw will go near to cost you a hook : therefore practise for some time without one. - H.

Management of the line, when fishing either with one fly, or two or more flies. When you have fixed your rod properly with your winch thereon, [see part i. p. 121, note, describing winch and rings,] and brought your line from it through the rings of your rod, loop on to it, by the strongest end, your foot-length, which should be about three yards and a half long, made of good, strong, single silkworm gut, well tied, and the knots neatly whipped, running (very little) finer towards the bottom end, at which place there must be a neatly whipped loop: then take your end-fly, or stretcher, which should be made with one or two lengths of good level gut, full as fine, or a little finer, than the bottom link of your foot-length, tied and whipped neatly together, and looped nicely at the end: loop this to the end of your gut length; and then, your drop-fly just above a knot, where whipped, about a yard from the end fly, to hang from the line, not more than two or three inches. If you choose to fish for more, keep them all about the same distance. And observe, that if your droppers be larger than, or even as large as, your stretcher, you will not be able to throw a good line: but a beginner should never use more than one fly.

When thus prepared, let out the line, about half as long again as the rod; and holding the rod properly in one hand, and the line, just above the fly, in the other, give your rod a motion from right to left: and as you move the rod backwards, in order to throw out the line, dismiss the line from your hand at the same time: and try several throws at this length. Then let out more line, and try that; still using more and more, till you ean manage any length needful; but about nine yards is quite sufficient

your fly may first fall upon the water, and as little of your line with it as is possible: though, if the wind be stiff, you will then of necessity, be compelled to drown a good part of your line, to keep your fly in the water. And in casting your fly you must aim at the farther, or nearer bank, as the wind serves your turn, which also will be with and against you, on the same side, several times in an hour, as the river winds in its course, and you will be forced to angle up and down by turns accordingly, but are to endeavour, as much as you can, to have the wind evermore on your back. And always be sure to stand as far off the bank as the length will give you leave, when you throw to the contrary side: though when the wind will not permit you so to do, and that you are constrained to angle on the same side whereon you stand, you must then stand on the very brink of the river, and cast your fly at the utmost length of your rod and line, up or down the river, as the gale serves.

It only remains, touching your line, to inquire whether your two hairs next to the hook are better twisted or open? And for that I should declare, that I think the open way the better, because it makes less show in the water, but that I have found an inconvenience, or two, or three, that have made me almost weary of that way; of which, one is, that, without dispute, they are not so strong open as twisted; another, that they are not easily to be fastened of so exact an equal length in the arming that the one will not cause the other to bag, by which means a man has but one hair upon the matter to trust to; and the last is, that these loose flying hairs are not only more apt to catch upon every twig or bent they meet with, but moreover, the hook, in falling upon the water, will, very often, rebound and fly back betwixt the hairs, and there stick (which, in a rough water especially, is not presently to be discerned by the

for a learner to practise with. And observe, that in raising your line, in order to throw it again, you should wave the rod a little round your head, and not bring it directly backwards: nor must you return the line too soon, nor until it has streamed its full length behind you, or you will certainly whip off your end fly. There is great art in making your line fall light on the water, and shewing the flies well to the fish. The best way that I can direct is, that when you have thrown out your line, contriving to let it fall lightly and naturally, you should raise your rod gently, and by degrees; sometimes with a kind of gentle tremulant flourish, which will bring the flies on a little towards you; still letting them go down with the stream, but never draw them against it, for it is unnatural; and before the line comes too near you, throw out again. When you see a fish rise at a natural fly, throw about a yard above him, but not directly over his head; and let your fly (or flies) move gently towards him, which will shew it to him in a more natural form, and tempt him the more to take it. Experience and observation alone, however, can make an angler a complete adept in the art, so as to enable him to throw his fly behind bushes and trees, into holes, under banks, and other places mentioned as the Trout's haunts, and where the best fish are to be found. - Taylor's Art of Angling.

angler,) so as the point of the hook shall stand reversed; by which means your fly swims backward, makes a much greater circle in the water, and, till taken home to you and set right, will never raise any fish, or, if it should, I am sure, but by a very extraordinary chance, can hit none.*

Having done with both these ways of fishing at the top, the length of your rod and line, and all, I am next to teach you how to make a fly; and, afterwards, of what dubbing you are to make the several flies I shall hereafter name to you.

In making a fly, then, which is not a hackle, or palmer-fly, (for of those, and their several kinds, we shall have occasion to speak every month in the year,) you are, first, to hold your hook fast betwixt the fore-finger and thumb of your left hand, with the back of the shank upwards, and the point towards your finger's end; then take a strong small silk of the colour of the fly you intend to make, wax it well with wax of the same colour, to which end you are always, by the way, to have wax of all colours about you, and draw it betwixt your finger and thumb to the head of the shank; and then whip it twice or thrice about the bare hook, which, you must know, is done, both to prevent slipping, and also that the shank of the hook may not cut the hairs of your towght, which sometimes it will otherwise do. Which being done, take your line, and draw it likewise betwixt your finger and thumb, holding the hook so fast, as only to suffer it to pass by, until you have the knot of your towght almost to the middle of the shank of your hook, on the inside of it; then whip your silk twice or thrice about both hook and line, as hard as the strength of the silk will permit. Which being done, strip the feather for the wings proportionable to the bigness of your fly, placing that side downwards which grew uppermost before upon the back of the hook, leaving so much only as to serve for the length of the wing of the point of the plume lying reversed from the end of the shank upwards: then whip your silk twice or thrice about the root end of the feather, hook, and towght; which being done, clip off the root end of the feather close by the arming, and then whip the silk fast and firm about the hook and towght, until you come to the bend of the hook, but not farther, as you do at London, and so make a very unhandsome, and, in plain English, a very unnatural and shapeless fly. Which being done, cut away the end of your towght, and fasten it. And then take your dubbing which is to make the body of your fly, as much as you think convenient, and holding it lightly, with your hook, betwixt the finger and

This and the other inconveniences mentioned in this paragraph, are effectually avoided by the use of fine grass, or gut, of about half a yard long, next the hook. See notes on chap. xxi. part i.