CHAPTER IV.

ARTIFICIAL FLY-FISHING.

FLY-F

What

LY-FISHING has always been, and we believe always will be, the favourite method of angling; and deservedly so. Few who have once owned its sway are capable of resisting its attractions. What golden memories of the past it recals! bright visions of the future it portrays! And when May comes, that month pre-eminently the fly-fisher's, with its bright sunny mornings and soft southern breezes, once more, unencumbered with anything save a light rod and small box of flies, the angler wends his way to some favourite stream. Once more with elastic tread he climbs the mountain's brow, and having gained the summit, what a prospect meets his gaze! There, far as the eye can reach, rises into the blue sky summit after summit of the heath-clad hills, while underneath lie the grassy slope and luxuriant meadow, the green corn-field and waving wood, and winding and circling among all like a silver thread the far-stretching stream in all its beauty. There is nothing to break the solitude save the plaintive bleating of the sheep or the cry of the

PRE-EMINENCE OF FLY-FISHING.

45

moorcock. As the angler descends, the music of the song-bird meets his ear from every bush, and the groves resound with the cooing of the wood-pigeon or the soft notes of the cuckoo. And now he approaches the scene of his anticipated triumph. There is the deep rocky pool and racing shallow, the whirling eddy and rippling stream. Now it pauses as if to enjoy the glory of the prospect, then rushes impetuously forward, as if eager to drink in the grandeur of some new scene. Now it foams over rocks, and then meanders slowly between green banks. Everything seems endowed with life to welcome the return of summer. The very river is alive with leaping trout. Everything tends to cheer the angler's heart and encourage his hopes. No wonder that with Sir Henry Wotton he finds "fly-fishing" a "cheerer of the spirits, a tranquillizer of the mind, a calmer of unquiet thoughts, a diverter of sadness."

And then the art itself is lively and graceful. Look at the angler as he approaches some favourite spot. See him as he observes the monarch of the pool regaling himself on the incautious insect that sports in fancied security upon the surface. Inwardly he vows that it shall be avenged. Cautiously he approaches, concealing himself by kneeling, or keeping behind some bush, lest by any chance his expected prey should discover him and so be warned. Gracefully wheeling his long line behind, he lays his flies down softly as a snow-flake just above the desired spot. A moment of expectancy succeeds, the flies

approach the very place where the trout was last seen. Look at the angler how with keen eye he watches, to strike with alert hand the moment he either feels or sees the least movement. There is a stoppage of the line and an instantaneous movement of the angler's wrist followed by the running of the reel-that music to his ear. Now comes the moment of excitementthe time to test the angler's skill; not so easily does his prey yield; he has reigned with undisputed sway in the pool too long to resign his kingdom without a struggle. At first he rushes frantically about, but gradually settles down into dogged resolution and refuses to move, and anon leaps in the air. Deal gently this is a sure sign he is delicately hooked. Gradually the angler's skill prevails, until at length fairly exhausted, the trout turns on his side and becomes an easy prey. Now the angler contemplates the speckled sides of his captive with satisfaction, and congratulates himself on having achieved such a feat with a tiny hook and tackle like a gossamer.

Everything combines to render fly-fishing the most attractive of all the branches of the angler's art. The attempt to capture trout which are seen to rise at natural flies is in itself an excitement which no other method possesses. Then the smallness of hook and the fineness of the tackle necessary for success increase the danger of escape, and consequently the excitement and pleasure of the capture; and for our own part we would rather hook, play, and capture a trout of a pound weight with fly than

VALUE OF THE ARTIFICIAL FLY.

47

one of a pound and a-half with minnow or worm, where the hooks being larger there is less chance of their losing their hold, and the gut being stronger there is less risk of its breaking. Fly-fishing is also the cleanest and most elegant and gentlemanly of all the methods of capturing trout. The angler who practises it is saved the trouble of working with worms, of catching, keeping alive, and salting minnows, or searching the river's banks for the natural insect. Armed with a light single-handed rod and a few flies he may wander from county to county and kill trout wherever they are to be found.

One advantage fly fishing possesses above any other mode is, that it is equally applicable to waters, be they silent lakes, slow-running rivers, or roaring streams, rendering it the most valuable of all lures to the angler. In the first chapter of this volume it was mentioned that at least twelve pounds weight of trout might be captured almost any day during the angling season, and for three months it is by fly alone that this must be accomplished. There are few anglers aware of the service the artificial fly is capable of rendering if properly used. James Baillie, whom we have already introduced to the reader, but whose hazel rod and string tied to the top of it are familiar to all those in the habit of frequenting Leader or Gala, maintains himself and family from March to November by fly-fishing exclusively. We believe this singular individual kills on an average from twelve to fourteen pounds daily, and, being in delicate

health, he only fishes for four or five hours a-day. If our amateur friends had to make their living by fly-fishing, there are few of them we would care for dining with often.

Besides being the most attractive and valuable, artificial fly-fishing is the most difficult branch of the angler's art, and this is another reason of the preference accorded to it, since there is more merit, and therefore more pleasure in excelling in what is difficult. An opinion, however, has of late years been gaining ground, that worm-fishing in a clear water is more difficult than fly-fishing. This opinion has been supported by Mr. Stoddart, who says:-"It may perhaps startle some, and those no novices in the art, when I declare, and offer moreover to prove, that worm-fishing for trout requires essentially more address and experience, as well as a better knowledge of the habits and instincts of the trout than fly-fishing. I do not, be it observed, refer to the practice of this branch of the art, as it is followed in hillburns and petty rivulets, neither do I allude to it as pursued after heavy rains in flooded and discoloured waters; my affirmation bears solely upon its practice as carried on during the summer months in the southern districts of Scotland, when the rivers are clear and low, and the skies bright and warm.

This is an opinion from which we entirely dissent, and though Mr. Stoddart offers to prove his assertion, he does not attempt doing so. That there are fewer

Stoddart's Angler's Companion, chapter vi. page 106.