mt: 
 
 00 
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B E R K E 
 
 I E Y I 
 
 GENERAL 
 Lll J.ARY 
 
 i 
 

 
/ 
 
 f^ ^ 
 
4 
 
 m^ 
 

 PuMhiud ,!.< ilnA.-r din a^. In awln' X- irApn 
 
TENTH EDITION. 
 
 THE 
 
 ART OF ANGLING, 
 
 Confirmed by actual Experience ; 
 
 IN'TEUSrEKSED VvITH 
 
 SEVERAL NFAV AND RECENT DISCOVERIES : 
 
 Tu which is now added 
 
 NOBBS'S COMPLETE TROLLER. 
 
 THE WHOLE FORMING 
 
 J COMPLETE MUSEUM, 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 LOVEliS or THAT PLEASING AND UATIOXAL 
 
 RECREATION. 
 
 ^ALSO 
 
 I'ROGNOSriCS OF THE JVEJTHER 
 
 INDEPENDENT OF THE BAROMETER; 
 
 And 
 
 A NEW CHATTER, 
 
 Containing }iiil/i,hoti' h est ti) forma competent Judgment of th* 
 f:han:;es that takt place, in that useful instrument. 
 
 By THOMAS BEhT, 
 
 CAREFULLY REVISED, CORRECTED, AND ENLARGED. 
 
 The pleasant'st Anglin:: is, to see the fish 
 Cut with her golden oars the silver stream, 
 And greedily devour the treach'rous bait. 
 
 Shakespdar, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR B. AND P. CROSBY & CO, STATIONl.Ri' 
 COURT, PATERNOSTKR-POW. 
 
 . Ap'' ^\d Viy etery Boo^<selier anrt Tackle S*;1ler in \he rnitpd King4o>TW- 
 
 1814. 
 
SIZES OF HOOKS. 
 
 Barbel • , 
 Bleak . . 
 Bream-Carp 
 Bream White 
 Carp . . . 
 Chub . . 
 Dace . • . 
 Eels and Eel-pouts 
 Flounders 
 Grey ling 
 Gudgeons • 
 
 .Vo. 
 
 
 
 Ko. 
 
 . 1 
 
 Loaches . . . 
 
 . 13 
 
 . 13 
 
 Miller's Thumbs . 13 
 
 . .'5 
 
 Minnows . . 
 
 . 13 
 
 . 9 
 
 Perch . . 
 
 . 4 
 
 . t) 
 
 Roach 
 
 
 . 11 
 
 • 2 
 
 Rnd . . 
 
 
 . 9 
 
 . 12 
 
 Ruff . . 
 
 
 • 9 
 
 3 4 
 
 Salmon . 
 
 
 . 1 
 
 . 5 
 
 Salmon-Fry 
 
 
 . 13 
 
 . 10 
 
 Tench . 
 
 
 . . 3 
 
 . 12 
 
 Trout 
 
 
 . . S 
 
 Printed by R. Wilks> 80, Chancery-lanc. 
 

 PREFACE. 
 
 Since the first publication of this treatise, 
 upwards of twenty thousand have been sold ; by 
 this encouragement I have undertaken to pre- 
 sent the pubUc with this nezv edition, corrected 
 and carefully revised : and where theangler will 
 meet with many recent observations, not to be 
 found in any other halieutic production, which 
 I make no doubt will be equally well received : 
 I may say, without boasting, that it is uni versally 
 liked, few noble or gentlemen anglers not giv- 
 ing it a place in their libraries. Angling is 
 of very great antiquity, which good old Isaac 
 Walton, the Father of anglers, has fully de- 
 monstrated. Not only kings and princes, but 
 even queens and ladies of the first rank, have 
 taken a delight in this rational and pleasing re- 
 creation. In the various authors who have writ- 
 ten on this subject, I huve never observed the 
 name of our immortal Bard, Shakenpear, men- 
 tioned; he certainly was alover of this diversion^ 
 
 ivi8ftS955 
 
PilEFAG£i 
 
 and no doubt often reclined, with his rod in his 
 hand, on the banks oi Xh^'^ swett-Jiowing Avon,'* 
 There is scarce a Play of his, wherein there is 
 not some simil or allusion to this amusement. 
 1 shall conclude this preface with some quota- 
 tions from this Child of Mature, 
 
 L'jon, ] am angling now, 
 
 I'hu }'ou perceive m-e not how I give line. 
 
 Wintee'sTalbI 
 
 FoK And 1 fear the ai^le that plucks our son thithej*. 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 3 Gm. And that which angle for mine eyes. 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 Pol, " ^— — See you now 
 
 Yuii bait of falbhood takes this Carp of truth* 
 
 Hamlet. 
 
 Hcmi. A man may ^5^ with a ivorm that hath eat of a 
 King, and eatofa^i-^ that fed of that worm. 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 ILini, 1 hi own out his angle for my proper life. 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 CAt). Give me ?////?e angle we'll to the river j there 
 
 My music playing far off, I will betray 
 Tar:ny 'fin fish \ my bended hojok shall pierce 
 'rheii- slimy jaws: and as I draw them up, 
 rU think them every one an Anthony, 
 And say, Ah ah ! you're caught. 
 
 Anthony AND Cleopatra. 
 
 \^har» 'Twas merry when 
 
 You wager'd on your angling y when your diver 
 Did hang a sdltfish on his hook, which he 
 With fervency drcxv up. 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 Ciau, Bait iht hook well, the fish will bite. 
 
 Much ado about Nothing. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Vrt, The pleasant'st angling is to see ihtjish 
 
 Cut with her golden oars the silver streams 
 And greedily devour the treacherous bait ; 
 So ansile we for Beatrice, 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 Maria, Here com^s the Trout that must be caught 
 By tickling. 
 
 Twelfth Night. 
 
 1 could produce many more examples, to make 
 my observations good respecting our matchless 
 Poet, but these 1 think are quite sufficient. The 
 jirt of Angling opens a wide field for the Na- 
 turalist, including so great a part of Natural 
 Philosophy \ so that we not only reap arayse- 
 ment, but instruction from it — And the more u'6 
 contemplate the works oj Nature^ the more we shall 
 admire the wisdom of God; and the more zee 
 reverence his wisdom^ the greater will he the 
 pleasure kc shall derive from the contemplation of 
 natural objects ! 
 
 T. B, 
 
 a3 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PJRT L 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 A Description of Fishes, according to Nalurat 
 Histori/y with the best methods of Breedings, 
 kind Feeding Carp, i^c. 
 
 CHAP. n. 
 
 17ie best Manner of Making and Choosing Rods^ 
 Lines, Hooks, S^c^ 
 
 CHAP. m. 
 
 The general Baits used in JngUng, where found ^ 
 and how preserved. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of natural Flif-Fishing^ with a Description of 
 Flies generally used, and a choice collection of 
 Rules and Hints to be observed in jingling. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 va 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 A Description of the Fish generally angled for in 
 England and IVales, icitk the proper Times and 
 Seasons, to fish for them; their peculiar Haunts^ 
 spate ning TimCy and most killings Baits t 
 
 7'he Salmon Chub 
 
 Trout 
 
 Greyling 
 
 Carp 
 
 Bream 
 
 Pike 
 
 Perch 
 
 'i'ench 
 
 Flounder 
 
 Barbel , 
 Eel 
 
 Hoach 
 
 Ptud 
 
 Dace 
 
 Gudgeon 
 
 Pope 
 
 Bleak 
 
 Minnow 
 
 Loach 
 
 Bull-head 
 
 Sticklebach 
 
 Guinniad 
 
 Red Charr, or Welch Torgoch 
 
 The Guilt, or Gilt Charr 
 
 Gold and Silver- Fishes^ 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 The most scientific method of making Fishponds, 
 Stews, i^c. to which is added several Arcana in 
 the Art of Angling. 
 
 PART. IL 
 
 CHAP. !• 
 
 Observations concerning Artificial Fly-An^iug^ 
 zvith proper Directions for the Angler* s Kods^ 
 Linesy S^c. 
 
 CHAP-IL 
 
 A List of the Materials necessary for an Angler to 
 have, and the best method to make the Falmir 
 and Mayfly^ 
 
\'U1 CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 The Names and the best Manner of dubbing the 
 different jJrtificiai FlieSy zchkh are geneiully 
 known, a?id zmll kill Fish on any" Water from 
 the beginfii?ig of March to the end of' Sep^ 
 tember, 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 A second List of very killing Flies. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 The best Rules Jor Artificial Flyfishings 
 
 CHAP. VI 
 
 Of the principal Rivers in England, and parti- 
 cularly of the Thames* 
 
 CHAR VIL 
 
 Of the Game Laws relative to Angling* 
 
 CHAP. vm. 
 
 Prognostics of the Weather, independent of t?ie 
 Barometer, extracted from the best Authorities^ 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 Rules to Judge of the Barometer. 
 
 Nobb's Art of Trolling. 
 
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BEST^S 
 ART OF ANGLING- 
 
 CHAP.!. 
 
 4 Description of Fishes^ according to Natural 
 . History J with the best methods of Breeding, 
 Feedings ^x» 
 
 Many assert that fishes have not that part 
 called the meatus auditoriuSy and are quite 
 deaf. Others are quite of a contrary opinion. 
 However by the first proposition of the second 
 book of Newton's 'Principia, it is proved that 
 Avater is a non-conductor of sound ; if so, wh}' 
 should animals be provided with organs of hear- 
 ing, when they live in a medium where sounds 
 cannot be heard ? — 
 
 Fishes in natural history are animals that live 
 in the water, as their proper place of abode. 
 Naturalists observe a w^orld of wisdom and de- 
 sign in the structure of fishes, and their con- 
 formation to the element they reside in. 
 
 Tiieir bodies are cloathed and guarded in the 
 best manner, with scales or shells, suitable to 
 their respective circumstances, the dangers they 
 are exposed to, and the motion and business 
 they are to perform. 
 
 B 
 
BESTS ART OF ANGLIiNG. 
 
 The centre of gravity is placed in the Httest 
 part of the body for swimming, and their shape 
 most commodious for making way through the 
 water, and niost agreeable to geometrical rules. 
 
 They have several parts peculiar to them- 
 selves ; as fins, to balance and keep them up- 
 right ; an air bladder, or swim, to enable them 
 to rise or sink to any height or depth of water, 
 at pleasure ; gills, or hranchia, whereby they 
 respire, as land animals do by lungs ; the tail, an 
 instrument of progressive motion, which serves 
 to row them forward ; eyes peculiarly formed to 
 enable them to correspond to all the convergen- 
 cies and divergencies of rays, which the varia- 
 tions of the watery medium, and the refractions 
 thereof may occasion ; in which respect they 
 bear a near resemblance to birds. 
 
 In most fish, beside the great fin tail, we find 
 two pair of fins upon the sides, two single fins 
 on the back, and one upon the belly, or rather 
 between the belly and the tail. The balancing 
 use of these organs is proved in this manner: Of 
 the large headed fishes, if you cut off the pecto- 
 tal fins, i. e, the pair which lie close behind the 
 gills, the head falls prone to the bottom : if the 
 right pectoral fin only be cut oflT, the fish leans 
 to that side ; if the ventral fin on the same side 
 be cut away, then it loses its equilibrium en- 
 tirely : if the dorsal and ventral fins be cut off, the 
 fish reels to the right and left. When the fish 
 dies, that is, when the fins cease to play, the belly 
 turns upwards. The use of the same parts for 
 motion is seen from the following observation 
 upon them when put in action. The pectoral 
 and more particularly the ventral fins, serve to 
 raise and depress the fish : when the fish desires 
 to have a retrograde motion, a stroke forward 
 
GKsliRAL DlsSCKIP riON OF FISHES. 3 
 
 wiib the pectoral fin efiectuaily produces it: if 
 the fish desires to turn either way, a single blow 
 with the tail the opposite way sends it round at 
 once : if the tail strike both ways, the motion 
 produced by the double lash is progressive, and 
 enables the tish to dart forwards with an astonish- 
 ing velocity. The result is not only in some 
 cases, the most rapid, but in all cases the most 
 gentle, pliant, easy, animal motion, with which 
 we are acquainted. However, when the tail is 
 cut off, the fish loses all motion, and gives itself 
 up where the water impels it. 
 
 Fishes are distinguished into sea, or salt water 
 fish, pisces marini; as thewhale, herring, macka* 
 rel, &,c. river or fresh water fish, pisces Jiuviales : 
 as the pike, trout, &c. and pond or lake iish : as 
 the carp, tench, &c. to which may be added, 
 others which abide indifferently in fresh water, 
 or salt, as salmon, shad fish, &c. 
 
 There are also an amphibious kind, which live 
 indifferently on land or water : as the castor, 
 otter, &c. 
 
 Aristotle, and after him Mr. Willoughby, 
 more accurately distinguish Jishes into cetaceous, 
 cartilaginouSy and spinous. 
 
 The cetaceous kind, called also belluna^ marints, 
 have lungs, and breathe like quadrupeds ; they 
 copulate also like them, and conceive and bring 
 forth their young alive, which they afterwards 
 suckle with their milk. 
 
 The cartilaginous sort are produced from large 
 eggs, like birds; which are also excluded tlie 
 womb like those of birds. 
 
 The spinous kind are also oviparous ; but their 
 eg^s are smaller, and they Uave spinae up and 
 down their iiesh to strengthen it. 
 
 Willoughby thinks it would be vet more pro- 
 is 2 
 
BF«<TS 4RT OF ANGLING. 
 
 per to i\i\'if\eJi!ihes'\nto such as breathe zmth /ungs, 
 and such as breathe zmth gills ; and then to sub- 
 divide those that breathe with giHs, not into 
 cartilaginous and spinous, but into viviparous 
 and oviparous. 
 
 The viviparous kind, that breathe zeith gilts^ 
 he subdivides into longy such as the galei and 
 mneSy or sharks and (\ogJish : and broad; such 
 as the pastinaca, raja, Sec. &c. the subdivisions 
 of each whereof, he gives in his chapter of car- 
 tilaginous jfeA^s in general. 
 
 The oviparous kind that breathe ZJSDithgil Is j are 
 the most numerous ; and these he subdivides 
 into such as are what we usually caWJiat-^sh; 
 and such as swim with their backs upright, or 
 at right angles to the horizon. 
 
 The plain or Jiat^-fish kind, called usually p/«wi 
 spinosi, are either quadrati, as the romhi and 
 passer esy or those of the turbo t and flounder 
 kind ; or longuisculi, as the solo^, or sole kmd. 
 
 Such as swim zmth their backs erect y are either 
 long and smooth, and without scales, as the eel 
 kind, or shorter and less smooth ; and these have 
 either but one pair of fins at their gills, which 
 are called orbes and congeneres, or else another 
 pair of fins also on their bellies ; which latter 
 kind he subdivides into two kinds : 1. Such as 
 have no prickly Jins on their backs, but soft and 
 flexible ones. 2. Such as ha\e prickly Jins on 
 their backs. 
 
 T^hos^e fishes which have only soft and flexible 
 fins on tlieir backs, may be divided into such as 
 have three^ tzco, or but one single fin there. 
 
 No fish but the aselli have tliree fins on their 
 backs. 
 
 Fishes with ttcofins on their backs, are either 
 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF FISHES. 5 
 
 the truttaceous, trout kind;; or the gobionites, 
 loch, or gudgeon kind. 
 
 Fishes with but one soft backjin^ are of three 
 sorts. The first kind have one long continued 
 fin, from head to tail, as the hipparus of Ron- 
 deletius, &c. 
 
 The second have their fin but short, and 
 placed just in the middle of their back : and 
 these are either marine^ as the herring kind ; or 
 fluviatile, as those we call les^theY-moutkedJishes ; 
 such as carp, tench, &c. 
 
 Fishes which have prickly fins on their backs, 
 Are of two kinds. 1. Such as have two prickly 
 fins on their backs; and in these the interior radii 
 of their fins are always prickly. 2. Such as 
 have but one prickly fin there. 
 
 The English fishes that we have in our ponds, 
 rivers, &c. are as follow: 1. Cyprinus, the 
 Carp. 2. Tinea, the Tench. 3. Cyprinus latus, 
 the Bream, or Bruma, 4. Orfus germa?iorum, 
 the Rudd, Oerve, or Nersling. 5. Capito seu 
 Cephalus the Chubb, or Chevin. 6. Barbus, the 
 Barbel. 7. Leucissus, the Dace, or Dare. 8. 
 Rutilus, seu Rubellio, the Roach. 9. Alburnus, 
 the Bleak, or Bley. 10. Gobiusfiuviatilis, the 
 Gudgeon. II, Cobites fiuviatilis barbatula, the 
 Loche, or Loach. 12. Farius, seu phoxinus lavis, 
 the Pink, or Minnow. 
 
 These twelve are called Malacostomi, or lea- 
 ther-mouthed fishes ; because they have no teeth 
 in their jaws, but only deep dow^n in their 
 mouths. To proceed. 13. Passer fiuviatilis, 
 sive amphibious, the Flounder. 14. Anguilla, 
 the Eel. 1^. Gobio fiuviatilis, the Bull-head, 
 or Miller's Thumb. I6. Thyniallus, the Grag- 
 hng, ox Grayling, or Umber. 17. Salmo, the 
 Saluion, 18. Trutta iiuviatilis duum genermn, 
 b3 
 
6 BKS'i's AK1 Ol< A^iGLl^G. 
 
 the Troiu. 19. Albuiamlmoju dmilk, the Guin- 
 iiiad. 20 T utta Salmonatay the Sahnon Trout. 
 £1. Trutta LacmtriSy the Scurf, or Bull Trout. 
 22. Umbla minor Gesn, the Red Charr, or Welch 
 Torgoch. 2 J. Carpio lams Benad, the Guilt, 
 or Gilt Charr. 24. Lnclus, the Pike, or Pickerel. 
 
 25. FercaJiuviatiHsy minor sen aurata^ the RufF. 
 
 26. Piscis aculeatm vulgaris, seupungitius Alberti, 
 the Common Prickle Back Sharpling, or Ban- 
 sticle. 27. Fiscis Jcu/eatus minor, the Lesser 
 Prickle Back. 28. Percaftuviatilis, the Perch. 
 
 The eyes of fishes, compared with those of 
 terrestrial animals exhibit certain distinctions of 
 structure, adapted to their state and element. 
 That part of it called the crystalline lense, is 
 much rounder than the eye of terrestrial animals. 
 The eyes of fishes, in their natural and indolent 
 state, appear to be adjusted to near objects, in 
 this respect differing from the human eye, as 
 well as those of quadrupeds and birds. The 
 ordinary shape of the fish's eye, being in much 
 higher degree convex, than that of land ani- 
 mals, a corresponding difference attends its 
 muscular conformation, viz. that it is thoroughly 
 calculated for flattening the eye. 
 
 The iris also in the eyes of fishes does not 
 admit of contraction. This is a great difference, 
 of which the probable reason is, that the dimi- 
 nished light in water is never too strong for the 
 retina. 
 
 In the Eel, which has to work its head through 
 sand and gravel, the roughest and harshest sub- 
 stances, there is placed before the eye, at some 
 distance from it, a transparent horny convex 
 case or covering, which, without obstructing the 
 sight, defends the organ. How wise is Provi- 
 dence ! 
 
BHEEDJ NG FISHES. 
 
 The share of hfe which some fish possess, is 
 worthy the notice of every curious angler. — The 
 eel, being cut in pieces, retains hfe and motion 
 for several hours. A carp will move vigorously 
 some time after the intestines are taken out of 
 its body ; but I shall say more on several of 
 these heads in treating of each particular species 
 of fish. 
 
 Fish, considered as a food, make a consider- 
 able addition to the furniture of the table ; and 
 the breeding, feeding, &c. thereof, is a peculiar 
 art, and it is very necessary, for the sake of eco* 
 nomy, that every country gentleman should know 
 something of the method. To this relate the 
 ponds, stews, &c. which shall be described in 
 their proper places. 
 
 It may not be here unacceptable to give the 
 reader some general rules on the subject. 
 
 RULE I. 
 FOR BREEDING FISHES. 
 
 The quahty of the pond, water, &c. proper 
 to this end, is scarcely determinable by any cer- 
 tain symptom or rule : for some very promising 
 ponds do not prove serviceable that way. One 
 of the best indications of a breeding pond, is 
 when there is a good sloi*e of rushes and grazing 
 about it, which gravelly shoals, such as horse- 
 ponds, usually have ; so that when a water takes 
 thus to breeding, with a few Milters and Spazcn- 
 erSy two 01' tiiree of each, a whole country may 
 be stocked in a short time. Eels and perches 
 ^are of a very good use to keep down the stock of 
 fiSh; for they prey much upon the spawn and 
 fry of bred fish, and will probably destroy the 
 
BESTS ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 -superfluity of them. As for pikes, tenches, 
 roaches, perches, &c. they are observed to breed 
 almost in any waters, and very numerously ; but 
 eels never breed in standing waters that are 
 without springs, and in such are neither found, 
 nor increase by putting in ; yet where springs 
 are, they are never wanting, though not put in. 
 
 With respect to the growth of'fishes, it is ob- 
 served, that among Carps particularly, the first 
 year they grow to about the size of a leaf of a 
 willow-tree ; and at two years they are about four 
 inches long. They grow but one inch more the 
 third season, which is five inches. Those of 
 four 3'ears old are about six inches ; and seven 
 after the fifth. From that to eight years old 
 they are found to be large, in proportion to the 
 goodness of the pond^ from eight to twelve 
 inches. 
 
 RULE IL 
 
 FOR FEEDING FISHES 
 
 Observe the following remarks : 
 
 1. In a Stew thirty or forty carps may be kept 
 from October to March without feeding; and by 
 fishing with trammels or Jiezos, in March or April, 
 you may take from your great waters to recruit 
 3^our stews ; but you must not fail to feed them 
 all the summer, from March to October again, 
 as constantly as cropped chickens are fed ; and 
 it will prove profitable. 
 
 2. The constancy and regularity of serving the 
 fish, conduces very much to their eating well 
 and thriving. 
 
 3. Any sort of grain boiled is good to feed 
 with, especially pease and malt coarse ground : 
 
FEEDING FISHKS. 
 
 the grains after brewing, while sweet and fresh, 
 are very proper ; but one bushel of nuilt, not 
 brewed, will go as far as two of grains ; chip- 
 pings of bread, and ores of a table, steeped in tap- 
 droppings of strong beer, or ale, are excellent 
 food for carp. Of these the quantity of two 
 quarts to thirty carps is sufficient ; and so fed 
 morning and evening, is better than once a day 
 onl;^. 
 
 Inhere is a sort of food for fishes, that may be 
 called accidentaj, and is no less improving than 
 the best that can be provided; and this is when 
 the pools happen to receive the waste of commons 
 where sheep have pasture ; the water is enriched 
 by the soil, and will feed a much greater number 
 of carp than it otherwise would do ; and further, 
 the dung that falls from cattle standing in the 
 water in hot weather, is also a very great nou- 
 rishment to fish. 
 
 The best food to raise pikes to an extraordinary 
 size or fatness, is eels : and without them is not 
 to be done, but in a long time. Setting these 
 aside, small perches are the best meat. Breams 
 put into a pike pond, breed exceedingly, and are 
 fit to maintain pikes ; who will take care they do 
 not increase over much. The numerous fry of 
 roaches, and other small fish, which come from 
 the greater pools into the pike quarters, will like- 
 wise be good diet for them. Pikes in all streams, 
 and carp in all hungry springing waters, being 
 fed at certain times, will come up, and take their 
 meat almost from your hand. 
 
 The best feeding-place is towards the mouth of 
 the pond, at the depth of about half a yard ; for 
 by that means the deep will be kept clean rnd 
 Deat; the meat thrown into the water, without 
 other trouble, will be picked up by the fishes, and 
 
10 B- -^i'S \::T of ANGLliNG 
 
 notliing be Jost : yet there are several devices 
 for giving them food, especially pease ; as a 
 square board let down with the pease upon it. 
 
 Where fishes are fed in large pools or ponds, 
 when their numbers are great, malt boiled, or 
 fresh grains, is the best food. Thus carp may be 
 fed and raised like capons, and tenches will feed 
 as well, but perches are not for a stew in feeding 
 time. 
 
 As to the benefits that redound from keeping 
 fish, besides furnishing the table, and raising 
 money, your land will be improved, so as to be 
 really worth, and yielci more this w^ay than by any 
 other employ whatsoever. For suppose a mea- 
 dow of tz0o pounds per acre ; four acres in pond, 
 will return every year a thousand fed carps, from 
 the least size to fourteen or fifteen inches long ; 
 besides pike, perches, tenches, and other fry : 
 the carps are saleable, and will bring sixpence, 
 ninepence^ and perhai s one shilling each, amount- 
 ing in all to twenty-Jive pounds, which is six pounds 
 Jive shillings per acre. 
 
 Vou should make choice of such a place for 
 your pond, that it may be refreshed with a little 
 rill, or wiJi rain-water running or falling into it; 
 by so doing fish are both more inclined to breed, 
 and are refreshed and fed the better. 
 
 There are many circurasmnces that conduce 
 much to the feeding of pikes, perches, chubs, 
 carps, roaches, daces, and breams, particularly 
 convenieney of harbour, for those fish that lie 
 amongst weeds and boggy places are the fattest^ 
 though not the sweetest ; in these kind of places 
 they are secured from the assaults of their nume- 
 rous enemies, and enjov a more safe and content- 
 ed repose ; rest and quietness being as natural 
 and helpful to their feeling as to other creatures. 
 
F E E D 1 Ni (i M S H K S . 11 
 
 Some waters are more nourishing than others ; 
 a thick kind, if it is not foul or muddy, is of a 
 better consistency, and the parts better disposed, 
 and qualified for nutrition than those of a more 
 thin and rarified substance ; no element that is 
 pure, and without mixture, is well adapted for 
 nourishment, neither can fishes live by pure 
 water, respiration, or sucking in those slender 
 particles of their beloved element alone, without 
 the concurrence and assistance of some grosser 
 and terrene qualities, which are intermingled with 
 those liquid bodies. 
 
 Having mentioned that fishes are exposed to 
 numerous enemies, I shall conclude this chapter 
 by giving the reader a poetical enumeration of 
 them. 
 
 A thousand foes the finny people chace, 
 
 Nor are they safe from their own kindred race: 
 
 The pike, fell tyrant of the liquid plain, 
 
 With rav'no us waste devours his fellow-train ; 
 
 Yet, howsoe er with raging famine pin'd. 
 
 The tench he spares, a salutary kind. 
 
 Hence too the perch, a like voracious brood, 
 
 Forbears to make this gen rous race his food ; 
 
 Tho' on the common drove no bound he finds. 
 
 But spreads unmeasur'd w^asteo'er all the kinds, 
 
 Nor less the greedy trout and gutless eel. 
 
 Incessant woes, and dire destruction deal. 
 
 The lurking water rat in caverns preys ; 
 
 And in the weeds the wily otter slays. 
 
 The ghastly newt, in muddy streams annoys ; 
 
 And in swift floods the felly snake destroys; 
 
 Toads, for the shoaling fry, forsake the lawnj 
 
 And croaking frogs xlevoui the tender spawn. 
 
 Neither the 'habitants of land nor air, 
 
 (So sure their doom) the fishy numbers spare! 
 
 The swan, fair regent of the silver tide, 
 
 Their ranks destroys, and spreads their ruin wide. 
 
 1 he duck her offspiing to the river leads, 
 
 And on the destin'd fry insatiate feeds ', 
 
V2 Br ST*S AKT^ OF ANGLING. 
 
 On fatal wings the j>ouricing bittein soars, 
 And wafts her pray from the defenceless shores. 
 The watchful halcyons to the reeds repair. 
 And from their haunts the scaly captives bear ; 
 Sharp herns and corm'rants too their tribes oppress, 
 A harass*d race peculiar in distress ; 
 Nor can the muse enumerate their foes, 
 Such is their fate, so various are their woes I 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 The best Manner of Making and Choosing Rods 
 Lines,~Hooks, 3^c, 
 
 The best time to provide stocks is in the 
 winter solstice, when the trees have shed 
 their leaves, and the sap is in the roots, for after 
 January: the sap ascends again into the trunk and 
 branches, at which time it is improper to gather 
 stocks, or tops ; as for the stocks they should be 
 lower grown, and the tops the best rush ground 
 shoots that can be got ; not knotty, but propor- 
 tionable and slender, for if otherwise they will 
 never cast nor strike so well, and the line by rea- 
 son of their unpliableness, must be much endan- 
 gered. ]Sow when both stock and top are gather- 
 ed in one season, and as strait as possible to be 
 got, bathe them over a gentle fire, and never use 
 them till they are well seasoned, which will be in 
 one year and four months, but longer keeping 
 them will make them better: and for preserving 
 them when made into rods, both from rotting and 
 being worm-eaten, rub them over thrice a year 
 
MAKING AND CHOOSING RODS, &C. 13 
 
 with sal lad, or linseed oil : if they are bored 
 pour in either of the oils, and let them soak there- 
 with fv>r twenty-four hours, then pour it out again 
 and it will preserve them from the least injury. 
 In general the length of the rod is to be deter- 
 mined by the breadth of the river you angle in, 
 but a long i*od is always of more use than one 
 too short ; provided it is truly made, one of 
 about five yards and a half long you will experi- 
 mentally find to be quite sufficient. When you 
 have taken your stocks and top from the place 
 that you put them in for seasoning, (where they 
 must have remained sixteen months at least,) 
 match them togetlier in just proportion ; and let 
 the rodconsistof fiveor six pieces; if you ferrel 
 it, observe that they fit with the greatest nicety, 
 and in such a manner as when put altogether 
 they may not wriggle in the least, but be in pro- 
 portion, and strength, as if the whole rod were 
 but one piece. If you bind them together, it 
 - must be with thread strongly waxed, having first 
 cut the pieces with a slope, or slant, that they 
 may join each other with the greatest exactness, 
 and then spread a thin layer of shoemaker's wax 
 over the slants, or a glue, which I have set down 
 in the arcana for the angler's use ; afterwards 
 you must cut about six inches off the top of the 
 rod, and in its place whip on a smooth, round 
 and taper piece of whalebone, at the top of that 
 a strong loop of horsehair; than the whole will 
 be completed, and thus made will always ply 
 with a true bent to the hand. Your fly rods may 
 be made in the same manner ; but note, must 
 be much more pliant than the others, and more 
 taper from stock to top. It is of service to them 
 to lay by some time before you use them. 
 Your top for the running line must be always 
 c 
 
14 BEST S ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 gentle, that the fish may the more insensibly run 
 away with the bait, and not be checked by its 
 being too stiff. 
 
 For all fishes that bite tenderly, a rod made of 
 cane, reed, or bamboo, is the best ; only be care- 
 ful when you choose such a one that it will strike 
 well, and that the medium between the ferrel 
 and the joint that goes in, is not cut too fine; 
 for if it is, when you strike a good fish, it is ten 
 to one you will lose some part of your rod, your 
 line, and of course the fish ; a misfortune that 
 has often happened to me, before I was ac- 
 quainted with the above rule. 
 
 A general rod, is one which serves for trolling, 
 dibbing, and the ground; for the former purpose 
 small brass rings must be whipped all the w^y 
 up it, at about a foot distance, for the trolling 
 line to run through ; it may likewise be bored 
 in the stock to hold the tops you are not using ; 
 that which you use for the troll must be strong, 
 and have a ring on the top whipped on with a 
 piece of quill, to prevent the line being cut 
 when the voracious pike runs off with your bait 
 to his hold : one of the others must not be so 
 stiff, which will serve for carps, tenches, &c. and 
 the other fine and elastic for dace and roach 
 fishing. These kind of rods, which are called 
 bag-rods, and go up in a small compass, are to 
 be had of all the fishing-tackle shops in Lon- 
 don. 
 
 These rods when put altogether, should be 
 sixteen feet long, which will do for pike or bar- 
 bel ; ^hey should be ringed to a nicety, using a 
 brass multiplying winch at the butt, and a strong 
 spike, which will be found of great use; for by 
 
 retiring from the river, and fixing the rod up- 
 right in the ground, (by means of the spike) 
 
MAKING AND CHOOSINCJ RODS, Sec. \5 
 
 you will keep a tight line, your rod will play 
 with every stroke the fish makes, and you will 
 easily land him with your net. 
 
 Rods for roach, dace, tench, chub, bream, and 
 carp, should not have the top so gentle as those 
 for the fly, btxt pretty stiff, that the rod may ex- 
 actly answer the motion of the hand. Roach 
 and dace only nibble, and if you strike not in 
 that very moment (especially if you fish with 
 paste or any tender bait), you miss them be- 
 cause the top is tQO pliant. 
 
 I with much pleasure recommend the angler 
 to that of Mr. William March, of Fleet-street. 
 
 Angling Line, To make this Line, first note, 
 that you are to take care that your hair be round 
 and clear, and free from galls, scales, or frets ; 
 for a well-chosen, even, clear round hair, of a 
 kind of glass colour, will prove as strong as three 
 tmeven scabby hairs ; then put them in water 
 for a quarter of an hour, when made into 
 lengths, and you will thereby find whi.ch of them 
 shrink; then twist them over again; some in 
 the twisting intermingle silk, which is errone- 
 ous, yet a line of all silk may do pretty well, 
 though I prefer hair in every mode of angling, 
 except trolling, and then a silk line is best* 
 Now the best roiours for lines are sorrel, white, 
 and grey ; the two last colours for clear waters, 
 and the first for muddy waters, neither is the 
 pale watery green despicable, which is made 
 thus ; put a pint of strong alum water ; half a 
 pound of soot, a small quantity of juice of wal- 
 nut leaves, in a pipkin, boil them about half an 
 hour, then take it off the fire, and when it is 
 cold steep your hair in it ; or else boil an handful 
 of marygoid flowers, with a quart of alum water, 
 till a yellow scum arises, then take half a pound 
 c 2 
 
It) best's art of angling. 
 
 of green copperas, with as much verdegrese, and 
 beat them together to a fine powder, and put 
 them and the hair into alum water, and let them 
 lie in it ten hours or more, then take them out 
 and let them dry.* Hair is made brown by 
 steeping it in salt and ale. The best way of 
 forming the hair into lines, is with anew-invent- 
 ed engine, to be bought at any of the shops, 
 and is to be used thus. To twist links with this 
 engine, take as many hairs as you intend each 
 shall consist of, and dividing them into three 
 parts, tie each parcel to a bit of fine twine, 
 about six inches long, doubled and put through 
 the hooks which impend from the machine : 
 then take a piece of lead of a conical figure two 
 inches high, and two in diameter at the base, 
 with a hook at the apex,, or point; tie your 
 three parcels of hair into one knot, and to this 
 by the hook hang the weight. 
 
 Lastly, I'ake a common bottle cork, and 
 into the sides, at equal distances, cut three 
 grooves ; and placing it so as to receive each 
 division of hairs, begm to twist. You will then 
 find the links twist with great evenness at the 
 lead ; as it grows tighter shift the cork a little 
 upwards, and when the whole is suflBciently 
 twisted, take out the cork, and tie the links into 
 a knot, and so proceed till you have twisted 
 links sufficient for your line, observing to les- 
 sen the number of hairs in each hnk, in such 
 proportion that the line may be taper, 
 
 Mever strain your hairs before they are ma.de 
 
 into a line, if you do they will shrink when used. 
 
 Your links thus prepared, tie them together 
 
 * Hair or gut steeped in gin and ink, Jbccome a curious water* 
 colour. 
 
MAKING AND CHOOSING HOOKS, &C, 17 
 
 into a water knot ; then cut off the short ends, 
 about a straw's breadth from the knot, and then 
 whip some waxed silk about the knots, which is 
 much better than inclosing them with wax. 
 
 Never, either at ground or fly angling, fix any 
 hooks to a line that consists of more than three 
 or four links at the most ; but always make a 
 small loop at the iop and bottom of your line ; 
 the use of the one is to fasten it to your rod, 
 and of the othei* to affix or remove your armed 
 hooks. The line should always be leaded accord- 
 ing to the rapidity or quietness of the river you 
 angle in; therefore, as nearly as you can guess, 
 always lead it in such a manner as will sink tHe 
 bait to the b6ttom, and permit its motion, with- 
 out any violent jogging on the ground. Carry 
 the top of your rod even with your hand, be- 
 ginning at the head of the stream, and letting 
 the bait run downwards, as far as the rod and 
 line will permit, the lead dragging and rolling on 
 the ground. No more of the line must be in the 
 water than will permit the lead to touch the bot- 
 tom ; for you are to keep the line as straight as 
 possible, yet so as not to raise the lead from the 
 bottom. When you have a bite, you may per- 
 ceive it by your hand and the point of your rod 
 and line ; then strike gently and upwards, if you 
 cannot tell which way the fish's head lies ; but 
 if you can, the contrary way from where it does ; 
 first allowing the fish, by a little slackening the 
 line, a small time to pouch the bait. That is 
 called angling by hand, and is very killing for 
 trout, grayling, &c. 
 
 Your rods, lines and hooks cannot be too 
 fine, when you fish for roach and dace. I think 
 the Londoners excel in this part of angling. 
 c 3 
 
18 BEST^'s ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 I shall treat ofjloat Jishing under the descrip- 
 tion of each fish. 
 
 As for your Jishing hooks, they ought to be 
 made of the best tempered steel wire, longish 
 in the shank, and somewhat thick in the circum- 
 ference, the point even, and straight ; let the 
 bending be in the shank. For setting the hook, 
 more scientifically speaking, arming it, use 
 strong but small silk, lightly waxed with shoe- 
 maker's wax ; and lay the hair on the inside of 
 the hook, for if it be on the outside, the silk 
 will fret and cut it asunder. There are several 
 sizes of hooks, large ones and small ones, made 
 according to the fishes they are designed to 
 take, which, when I come to treat of the diffe- 
 rent fish, the number of the hook proper for 
 each will be fully expressed. 
 
 Ford and Kirby's hooks are excellent ones, 
 but the best I ever had were from Red-bridge 
 in Hampshire.* 
 
 Floats, for angling, are of divei**s kinds: some 
 made of Muscovy duck quills, which are the best 
 for slow waters, but for strong streams, sound 
 cork, without flaws or holes, bored through with 
 an hot iron, into which is put a quil of fit pro- 
 portion, is preferable ; pare the cork to a pyra- 
 midical form, grind it smooth with a pumice- 
 stone, then colour it according to your fancy. 
 Floats, whether quill or cork must be poised 
 with shot, when on the line, as to make them 
 cock ; that is to stand perpendicular in the wa- 
 ter, that the least nibble or bite may be appa- 
 rent. 
 
 When a float is split or bruised, there is no 
 remedy for the mischance, but getting a new 
 
 ♦ To make hooks, vide the arcana at the end of the 
 last part. 
 
MAKING FLOATS, &C. 19 
 
 one, but you may save the plug, and it will serve 
 for another. But if the water gets in at the top 
 of your float, a little sealing-wax will prevent it : 
 if the plug of your float is loose, pull it out, and 
 fasten it with one of the following cements. 
 
 Take bee's zvax bruised small, chalk scraped 
 fine, and black rosin powdered, of each an equal 
 quantity ; melt them in a spoon, or small tin ves- 
 sel, and see that they are well mixed ; or take 
 brick-dust sifted very fine, and common rosin, 
 pulverised; put one part of the brick-dust, to 
 two parts of rosin, and melt them as before 
 directed ; dip your plug in either of these, and 
 put your float immediately u|X)n it. When you 
 join two floats together, let the plug be a little 
 thicker in the middle than at the ends, which 
 ends are to go into the quills ; dip one end into 
 the cement, and put one quill upon it, then do 
 the like by the other, and you have a double 
 float : or you make it by dipping the ends of 
 both quills, when prepared, in the cement, and 
 fixing them together, which, when the cement 
 is cold, will be very strong. 
 
 To dye quills red, which for still waters are 
 better than other floats, take what quantity 
 you please of urine, and put it in as much pow- 
 der of Brazil-wood as will make it redden a piece 
 of white paper ; then take some clean water, into 
 "which put an handful of salt, and a little argol, 
 And stir them till dissolved ; then boil them well 
 in a sauce-pan. When the water is cold, scrape 
 your quills, and steap them in it for ten or twelve 
 days, then dry-rub them, and rub them with a 
 woollen cloth. 
 
 Every angler should have two panniers^ — one 
 for pike, barbel and chub — the other for trout, 
 perch roach, dace, bream and gudgeons: how- 
 
20 best's art of angling. 
 
 •ever he should be possessed of one, about four- 
 teen inches wide. He should always take out 
 with him, lines coiled up. Spare links. Two 
 worm bags, one for brandlings, 8cc. and the 
 other for lob-worms. A plummet to fix the depth 
 of the water of a pyramidal form. A gentle 
 box. Floats and spare caps. Split shot. Shoe- 
 -makers wax in a piece of leather. Silk. Hooks, 
 some whipped on and some loose. Jl clearing 
 7ing, which is of use to disengage the hook 
 when entangled, A laviding net, to land large 
 fish with. The disgorger, which when a fish 
 has gorged the hook, by putting it down his 
 throat till you touch the hook, at the same 
 time pulling the line, it will easily come away. 
 
 CHAP. HI. 
 
 The general Baits used in Angling, where founds 
 and how preserved 
 
 The reader being furnished with the best rules 
 relative to his rods^ lines, hooks, &c. I shall give 
 him a list of the baits in general of use in ang- 
 ling; but must desire him to observe, that fish 
 take all sorts of baits, most eagerly and freely, 
 when he presents them to them in such order 
 and manner as nature affords them, or as they . 
 themselves generally gather them. 
 
 THE LOB-WORMy DEWmWORM, GARDEN-WORM, 
 TJFATCHELy OR TREACJIET, 
 
 Poifnd in a garden or church-yard, late in a 
 summer's evening, with a lanthorn ; when the 
 
BAITS USED IN ANGLING. 21 
 
 summer proves a very dry one, they may be 
 forced out of their holes with the liquor pro- 
 duced by bruising walnut-tree leaves in water : 
 the best of these are those who have a red head, 
 a streak down the back, and a broad tail, from 
 which they derive the name of squirrel tails. 
 
 This is a principal worm for Salmoriy Chub, 
 Trout f Barbel^ and Eels, 
 
 BRANDLINGS, GILT-TAILS^ AND RED 
 WORMS, 
 
 Found in old dunghills, rotten earth, cows dung, 
 hogs dung ; but the best are those to be met 
 with in taimers bark after it is thrown by. 
 
 These, especially the two first, are for Trouts, 
 Grayling, Salmon-smelts, Gudgeon, Perch, Tench, 
 and Bream; the three last take the red-worm, 
 well-scoured, exceedingly well. 
 
 MARSH, OR MEADOW-WORMS, 
 
 Found in marshy ground, or the fertile banks 
 of rivers ; are a little blueish, require more 
 scouring than the brandling or gilt-tail, and are 
 taken from Candlemas until Michaelmas. 
 
 1 his is a choice worm in March^ Jpril, and 
 September, for Trout, Salmon-smelts, Gudgeon, 
 Grayling, Flounder, Bream, and Perch. 
 
 TAG TAIL, 
 
 Found in marled lands, or meadows after a 
 shower of rain, or early in the morning in 
 March or April, if the weather is mild and tem- 
 perate ; and is a most excellent bate. 
 
£2 best's art of angling. 
 
 This is an excellent bait for a Trout, if you 
 angle with it whilst the water is discoloured by 
 r^in. 
 
 HOrr TO SCOUR AND PRESERVE WORMS. 
 
 Get a quantity of moss, the best is that which 
 is soft and white, and grows on heaths, but as 
 this is scarce to be had in some parts, in lieu of 
 it any kind that is fresh and sweet ; rinse it well 
 from the earth that hangs about, and then wring 
 it, (not too dry) ; put it into an earthen pot and 
 squeeze it down hard ; then strew the worms 
 upon it, and those that are not bruised, will soon 
 creep into the moss : those that lay at the top 
 you must pick off; cover it close that they do 
 not crawl away , and set it in a cool place in sum- 
 mer, and in winter in a warm one, which will 
 prevent the frost from killing them : change the 
 moss every fourth day in summer, and once a 
 week in winter, or at least let the old moss be 
 taken from them, washed, squeezed pretty dry, 
 and put it to them again. If you want them to 
 be quickly scoured, a little hole armoniac put to 
 them will accomplish your desire: or you may 
 put them in water for three or four hours, and 
 they will soon be scoured, yet be very weak, but 
 being put to good moss, they will speedily re- 
 cover. When the knot near the middle of the 
 brandling begins to swell, he is sick, and should 
 be thrown away : never keep your worms in 
 moss to scour them above ten days, in which 
 time they will be perfectly fit for use. 
 
 There is another way of cleansing and pre* 
 serving s??or/«s, recommended by many anglers, 
 and is a very good one for every kind of them 
 except the lob-worm : take a piece of very coarse 
 
TO SCOUR AND PRKSERVE WORMb. 23 
 
 cloth, which has never been shrunk in the Full" 
 ing-miUy wash it very clean, and let it dry : then 
 soak it in the liquor where a fat piece of fresh 
 beef has been boiled, and wring it out, but not 
 so hard as to press out all the liquor ; then lay it 
 in a deep earthen pan, that has a large bottom, 
 and put your worms thereon, that they may 
 crawl in and out and so scour themselves : w hen 
 they have remained there twenty-four hours, 
 wash out your cloth as before, but do not dry it; 
 then wet it again with some of the same liquor, 
 and having placed your worms thereon, keep 
 them in a close cellar ; repeat this every other 
 day during the heat of the summer, and you 
 will not only preserve your worms alive for three 
 weeks or a month, but make them very red, 
 clear, and tough. When you take them out for 
 angling put them into moss that has been well 
 washed and not wrung dry ; and when you come 
 home at night put them again into the pan, by 
 which they will recover and gather fresh 
 strength; take care that there is no salt in the 
 beef hquor, for if there is your worms will purge 
 themselves to death. 
 
 Mr. Gay^ in his Rural Sports, is particularly 
 partial to the Gilt-tail i as is apparent by the 
 following lines : 
 
 You must not every worm promiscuous use. 
 Judgment wili tell, the proper baits to choose 3 
 The worm that draws a long immoderate size , 
 The trout abhors, and the rank morsel flies ; 
 And if too small, the naked fraud's in sight. 
 And fear forbids while hunger does invite. 
 Those bails will best reward the fisher's pains. 
 Whose polished tails a shining yellow stains : 
 Cleanse them from filth, to give a tempting gloss, 
 Cherish the sully'd reptile with moss ; 
 Amid the verdant bed they twine, they toil. 
 And from their bodies wipe their native soil* 
 
^4 best's art of angling. 
 
 IpAlmer^fly, palmeH^worm, wool-bed, or 
 
 CANKERS^ 
 
 Foiirid on herbs, plants and treies, where they 
 are bred, if not a perfect caterpillar, yet un- 
 doubtedly a species thereof 5 they gain the name 
 of wDol-beds from their outward parts being 
 woolly ; these and the May-fly are the founda- 
 tion ofj^y angling. 
 
 These are good baits either for Trout ^ Chub, 
 Grayling, Roach, or Dace. 
 
 BOBS, 
 
 Found in sandy and mellow ground, and got by 
 following the plough in autumn, are worms^ as 
 big as two maggots, have red heads, and their 
 bodies full of guts : put them in a tub with 
 some of the mould that you gather them in, 
 keep them in a warm place, and they are an ex- 
 cellent bait from the first of November till the 
 middle of April : you may boil them the morn- 
 ing you intend angling, in milk and water for 
 two minutes, which will make them tough : and 
 put them in a box where gum ivy has been 
 rubbed. 
 
 These are choice baits, from the beginning 
 of November until after the middle of April, for 
 ChubjFoach, Dace, Salmon-smelts, Trout, Bream^ 
 Tench, and Carp* 
 
 COW-TURD BOB^ OR CLAP^BjtJT^ 
 
 Found under a cow-turd from the beginning of 
 May to Michaelmas ; it is bigger than a gentle, 
 
FLAG-WORMS, OR DOCK-WORMS. 25 
 
 but very like one ; it is best kept in the same 
 earth you find it in. 
 
 This is an excellent bait for a Trout, if you 
 angle with it on the top of the water, with a 
 bristled hook '^. 
 
 FlAG^^WORMS, OR DOCK^WORMSj 
 
 Found among flags, in old pits or ponds, in little 
 liusks among the strings Or fibres of the roots; 
 are small worms, pale, yellow, or white, as a 
 gentle: these are very good baits. 
 
 These are excellent baits for Graylings, Tench, 
 Bream, Carp, Roach, and Dace, 
 
 BARK-WORM, OR ASHmGRt/S, 
 
 Found under the bark of an oak, ash, elder, or 
 beech, especially when felled, and they have 
 lain some time, or in the hollow of these trees 
 when rotten ; it is to be used from Michaelmas 
 to May or June. It is very full and white, 
 bent round from the tail to the head ; and the 
 parts resembhng a young dor or humble-bee. 
 
 This is an excellent bait for Trout and Gray^ 
 ling \ it is very tender, and curious to be baited 
 with. 
 
 COD' BAIT, CAD'BAITf CADIS-BAIT, OR 
 
 CASE-WORM, are thus differentli/ called, 
 and are of three sorts. 
 
 1st. Found under stones that lie loose and 
 hollow, in sniall brooks, shallow rivers, or very 
 
 * The method of doing this, you will find under the de- 
 scription of the TwnU 
 
 D 
 
26 best's akt of angling 
 
 fine gravel, in case or husk, and vvlien fit for 
 use they are yellowish, are bigger than a gen- 
 tle, with a blackish head. Another sort is 
 found in pits, ponds, ditches, in rushes, water- 
 weeds, straw, &c, called ruff-coats, or straw- 
 worms. The next is a green sort, found in pits, 
 ponds, or ditches, in March, coming in before 
 the yellow ones, which are not to be fished w ith 
 till April, and in July they go out of season ; the 
 last sort is to be used in the month of August. 
 When you take them to fish with, carry them in 
 wollen bags, for the air kills them. 
 
 These are excellent baits for all kinds of fish, 
 particularly a large Chuh. 
 
 GENTLES^ OR MAGGOTS^ TO BREED AND 
 PRESERVE. 
 
 Take a piece of beast's liver, scotch it with a 
 linife, and hang it up in the shade ; when you 
 see it flyblown sufficiently, take it down, and 
 put it into a large pipkin or small barrel ; then 
 when you see the gentles have attained their 
 proper size, put some oatmeal and bran to them, 
 and in two days they will be scoured, and fit 
 for use. Thus gentles may be created till after 
 Michaelmas. But if you desire to keep gentles 
 all the year then get a dead cat, or kite, and let 
 it be fly-blown, and when the gentles b.gin to 
 be alive and stir, then bury it and them in moist, 
 soft earth, but as free from frost as you can, and 
 these you may dig up at any time when j ou 
 want to use them : these will last till March, and 
 about that time tuy n into flies *". 
 
 ♦ If you want them to be scoured quickly, put dry white 
 sand to them. 
 
HOW TO PRESERVE CATERPILLARS. 27 
 
 Gentles are not only the most universal, but 
 also the most alluring bait, and an angler should 
 never go out a fishing without taking some with 
 him. Trouts have been taken with them, when 
 they have refused all kinds of worms and artifi- 
 cial flies ; to every kind of fish they are an ac- 
 ceptable bait, {Pikes and Salmons excepted) but 
 1 do not doubt they would be so to them, were 
 it possible to fix them on a hook large enough 
 to->i[ioldi the above mentioned fishes. 
 
 /ioifiiv 
 
 *MOir, so FIND AND PRESERVE CATERPILLARS^ 
 ,^ OAK.WORMSy CABBAGE^WORMS^ COLWART^WORM 
 (Jk GRUB, CRAB^TREE-WORM OR JACK, AND 
 *^P GRASSHOPPERS. 
 
 Fottnd by beating the branches of an oak, crab- 
 tree, or hawthorn, that grow over a public path 
 or highway ; or upon cabbages, coleworts, &c. 
 Grasshoppers are found in short sun-burnt grass, 
 the latter end of June, all July and August. 
 To preserve these baits, cut a round bough of 
 fine green barked withy, about the thickness of 
 one's arm, and taking off the bark about a foot 
 in length, turn both ends together, into the 
 form of an hoop, and fasten them with a needle 
 and thread ; then stop up the bottom with a 
 bung cork, into this put your baits, and tie a 
 colewort leaf over it, and with a red-hot iron 
 bore the bark full of holes, and lay it in the 
 grass every night; in this manner your cadsmsLy 
 be kept till they turn to flies : to your grass^ 
 hopper put grass. 
 
 D 2 
 
£8 BEST'b art of A^G1.ING. 
 
 Are variously compounded, according to the 
 angler's fancy, but there should always be a little 
 cotton, wool, fine lint, or flax, to keep the parts 
 together, that wash not off the hooks ; the fol- 
 lowing compositions make very good pastes : 
 
 The blood of sheeps' hearts mixed with honey 
 and flour, and worked to a proper consistence : 
 old cheese grated, a little butter, sufficient to 
 \Tork it, and coloured with saffron. In winter, 
 fat rusty bacon instead of butter. Crumbs of 
 bre&d, worked with honey, and moistened with 
 gum-ivy water. The inside of a French roll, or 
 crumbs of bread, worked well with clean hands 
 with water alone. What fishes each of these 
 pastes are proper for, the reader will find under 
 the description of each fish, therefore I shall 
 only make the following observations concerning 
 pastes, which may be of use to young anglers, 
 because founded on experience; — JNote, that ia 
 Sept( mber, and all the winter months, when you 
 angle for chubs, carps, and breams, with paste, 
 let the bait be as large as a hazle-nut ; but for 
 roach and dace, the bigness of a pea is sufficient : 
 choose a still place, use a quil float, a small hook, 
 and strike at the first biting of the fish. 
 
 When you wish to have your paste of a yel- 
 low colour, use a little Turmerick; when of a 
 fiesh, or salmon colour, Fermillion or Red-lead. 
 
 BAITS SJNGVIARLY KILLING TO FISU WITH»^ 
 
 Sheeps^ blood, placed on a trencher till it becomes 
 pretty hard, then cut into small pieces propor- 
 tioned to the size of the hook 5 put a little salt 
 
SINGULARLY KILLING BAITS. 29 
 
 to it ; and it will prevent its growing black. 
 Wheaty or malty boiled soft in milk, and the husk 
 taken off, a good bait either in wdoter or sum- 
 mer. The ant-fly, found in June, July, August, 
 and the beginning of September, in mole-hills 
 or ant-nests, where they breed ; take some of the 
 earth, and the roots of the grass which grow 
 upon it, and put all in a glass bottle, then gather 
 some of the largest and blackest ant flies, and 
 put them into the bottle; these are a deadly bait 
 for roach, dace, and chub ; you must angle w^ith 
 them under water a hand's breadth from the 
 bottom. The young brood of wasps, hornets^ 
 and humble-bees y are likewise very good. Also 
 mvmozeSy loachesy sharplingSy and bull-heads. 
 Snail^y black and white ; the black ones bellies 
 ^lit to shew the white* Likewise clierrieSy blacks 
 berviesy cheese kept a day or two in wet rags, 
 which makes it tough, or steeped in a little 
 honey. Also salmon spazcn, which must be 
 boiled till it is hard enough to stick on the hook ; 
 and if you wish to preserve it, sprinkle a little 
 salt over it, and get a glazed earthen pot, and 
 put a layer of wool at the bottom of it^ and then 
 a little salmon spawn upon that; then wool 
 again, and then spawn, and so proceed alter- 
 nately till the pot is filled : it is a most destruc- 
 tive bait in the winter and spring, especially if 
 angled with where salmon are known to spawn; 
 for there every kind of fish resort in order to 
 devour it. 
 
 Let all the baits for the Pike be alive on the 
 morning you use them; for stale ones, will not 
 entice him so soon. The best baits are gudgeons, 
 roach, small dace, and bleak, li is a common 
 notion that the pike will not attack the perch, 
 being fearful of the spiny finS; which the perch 
 D 3 
 
30 BESTS ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 erects on the approach of the former. This may 
 be true in respect to large fish; but I know that 
 small ones are the most tempting bait that can 
 be laid for the pike : the other fishes are the 
 best for trolling. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of Natural Fly-Fishing, with a Description of 
 Flies generally/ used ; and a choice Collection of 
 Rules and Hints to be observed in the Art of 
 jingling. 
 
 Natural fy fishing, which comes under the 
 heads of Dibbling^ Vapering, and Dabbing, is a 
 method with which the largest fish are taken, 
 and requires a deal of nicety and circumspec- 
 tion. The general rule in this way of angling 
 is, to fish with a line about half the length of 
 your rod; but if there is wind stirring, with as 
 much as it will carry out ; but you need hardly 
 ever fish with more than the first length, as 
 jiibbling must be performed as near as possible 
 to the bank that you stand on; therefore a long 
 rod and a short line is the best, which you will 
 command with ease, and be able t^ shelter your- 
 self from the sight of the fishes, behind bushes, 
 stumps of trees, &c. The line you dib with 
 should be very strong : for when you have 
 struck a good fish you will have a hard bout 
 vyith him before you kill him, for want of a 
 greater length of line: therefore, whenever I dib 
 1 always use a ringed rod, with a winch for my 
 
OAK-FLY^ ASH-FLY, &C, 3l 
 
 line fixed on it, by which nneans 1 can always 
 keep my line to any length, without the trouble 
 ol changing it; and when I have hooked a good 
 fish, can always give him as much scope as I 
 think necessary, and kill him with great ease 
 and certainty ; this method I would by all means 
 advise the angler to use, who will be thoroughly 
 convinced of Us utility at the first trial he makes. 
 Let the top of your rod be a stifif one. When 
 you see a hsh rise near you, guide your fly over 
 him immediately, and he's your own, if the fly 
 you use is strong on the water. When you dib 
 for chuby roach, and dace, move your fly very 
 slow w^hen you see them make at it, or let the 
 stream carry it down towards them ; if it be in a 
 still deep, shady hole, draw the fly sideways by 
 them, and they will always eagerly pursue it. 
 The roach takes flies the best a little under water. 
 The best for the angler's use in this method of 
 angling, are as follow : 
 
 OAK^FLY^ ASH-FLY^ Oil WOODCOCK'' FLY, 
 
 Found on the body of an oak, or ash, w^itii his 
 head -downward in general, and near the bot- 
 tom of the tree; it is a brownish fly, and is 
 taken from the beginning of May till the end of 
 August. 
 
 I'his fly is reported to breed in those little 
 balls which grow on the boughs of large oaks, 
 commonly called oak apples ; they are provided 
 with a hollow instrument, with which they per- 
 forate the tegument of leaves, fruits, or buds, 
 and through the hollow of it, inject their eggs 
 into the wounds which they have made, where, 
 in process of time, they hatch and are nourish- 
 ed : through this discovery, the formation of 
 galls is accounted for. 
 
S2 best's art of angling. 
 
 STONE-FLY^ 
 
 Found under hollow stones, at the side of rivers ; 
 is of a brown colour with yellow streaks on the 
 back and belly ; has large wings, and is in sea- 
 eon from April to July. 
 
 ORE EN DRAKE y 
 
 Found among stones by river sides, has a yel- 
 low bod}*, ribfeed w^ith green, is long and slender, 
 with wings like a butterfly, his tail turns on his 
 back, and is easily taken from May to Midsum- 
 mer. Put the point of the hook into the thickest 
 part of his body, under one of his wings, run it 
 directly through, and out on the other side, then 
 take another and put him on in the same man- 
 ner, but with his liead the contrary way ; they 
 will live so near a quarter of an hour. 
 
 The Green, and Grey-drake, are taken both 
 in streams and still waters, at all hours of the 
 day, while in season ; the Stone-fli/ chiefly in the 
 morning and evening. 
 
 GREY DRAKEy 
 
 Found in general where the Green-drake is, and 
 in shape and dimensions perfectly the same, but 
 almost quite another colour, being of a paler and 
 more livid yellow ; and green and ribbed with 
 black quite down his body ; w^ith black shining 
 wings, diaphanous and very tender : it comes in, 
 and is taken after the green-drake, and when 
 made artificially, as directed in part the £d, for 
 the month of May, kills fish \evy well. The 
 followins^ curious account of it from Bowlker;, 
 -cannot fail to amuse the reader. 
 
GRt V DRAKE. 33 
 
 " 1 happened to walk by the /iver-sicle, at that 
 season of the year when ttie May-Jiies (he moan& 
 the grey sort) which are a species of Libei/a^ 
 comeLOut ot' the water^ where ihey he in their 
 husks for a considerable time, at the bottom or 
 sides jof the river, near the likeness of the 
 Nj/mph of the small common Libeila^ but when 
 it is mature, it splits open its case, and then, 
 with great igihty, up springs the new little ani- 
 mal, with a slender body, four blackish veined 
 transparent wings, with four black spots on the 
 upper wings, and the under wings much smaller 
 than the upper ones, with three long hairs in its 
 tail. The husks which are left behind, float in- 
 numerable on the water. It seemed to me a 
 species of Ephemera ; and I imagined it was 
 the same insect described by Goedart and Szi:am^ 
 merdam, but a few days convinced me to the 
 contrary \ for I soon found them ta be of a 
 lorlger duration than theirs. The first business 
 of this creature, after he is disengaged from the 
 water, is flying about to find cut a proper place 
 to fix on, as trees, bushes, &c. to vvait for ano- 
 ther surprising change, which is eflected in a 
 few days. The first hint I received of this 
 wonderful operation, was seeing the Exuviae 
 hanging on a hedge : 1 then collected a great 
 many, and put them into boxes, and by strictly 
 observing them, I could tell when they were rea- 
 dy to put off* their husks, though but so lately 
 put on. I had the pleasure to shew m3' friends 
 one that I held in my hand all the while it per- 
 formed this great work. It is surprising to see 
 how easily the new back part of the fly split open, 
 and produced the new birth ; which I could not 
 perceive partakes of any thing from its parent, 
 but leaves head, body, wings, legs, and even its 
 
34 best's art of angling. 
 
 three-hairecl tail, behind on the case. After it 
 has reposed itself a while, it flics with great 
 briskness to seek its mate. In the new fly a 
 rtmarkable difterence is seen in their sexes, 
 which I could not easily perceive m their first 
 state, tlie male and female being then much of 
 a Size; but now the male was much the smallest, 
 and the hairs in its tail much the longest. I was 
 very careful to see if I could find tliem engen* 
 dering, but all that I could discover was, that 
 the males separated, and kept under cover of 
 the trees, remote from the river ; hither the fe- 
 males resorted, and mixed with them in their 
 flight, great numbers together, with a very brisk 
 motion of darting and striking at one another 
 when they met, with great vigour, just as house- 
 flies will do in a sunny room : this they conti- 
 nued to do for many hours, and this seemed to 
 be their way of coition ; which must be quick 
 and soon performed, as they are of so short a 
 duration. When the females were impregnated, 
 they left the company of the males, and sought 
 the river, and kept constantly playing up and 
 down on the water. It was very plainly seen, 
 that every time they darted down they ejected a 
 cluster of eggs, which seemed a pale bluish speck, 
 like a smaU drop of milk, as they descended on 
 the water ; then, by the help of their tail they 
 spring up again, and descend again, and thus 
 continue until they have exhausted their stock 
 of eggs, and spent their strength, being so weak 
 that they can rise no more, but fall a prey to the 
 fish ; but by much the greater number perish on 
 the waters, which are covered with them : this 
 is the end of the females; but the males never 
 resort to the rivers^ as I could perceive, but after 
 ihey have done their oflice,drop down, languish 
 
GRfc^Y DRAKE. 
 
 and die under the trees and bushes, I observed 
 that the females were most numerous, which 
 was very necessary, considering the many ene- 
 mies they have, during the short time of their 
 appearance, for both birds and fish are very fond 
 of them, and no doubt under the water they are 
 food for small aquatic insects. What is further 
 remarkable in this surprising creature is, that in 
 a life of a few days it eats nothing, seems to 
 have no apparatus for that purpose, but brings 
 up with it out of the water, sufficient support 
 to enable it to shed its skin, and to perform the 
 principal end of life with great vivacity. The 
 particular time when I observed them very 
 numerous and sportive, was on the £6th of 
 May, at six o'clock in the evening. It was a 
 sight very surprising and entertaining, to see 
 the rivers teaming with innumerable, pretty, 
 nimble, flying insects, and almost every thing 
 near covered with them. When I looked up 
 into the air it was full of them, as high as I 
 could discern, and being so thick, and always 
 in motion, they made almost such an appear- 
 ance as when one looks up, and sees the snow 
 coming down : and yet this wonderful appear- 
 ance in three or four days after the last of May, 
 totfilly disappeared*/' 
 
 HAWTHORK'FLYf 
 
 Found on every hawtliorn bush when the leaves 
 come forth. It is used for dibbing, in some 
 rivers, for trouts. 
 
 » That there should be a tribe of flies, whose duration ex- 
 tends but to a day, seems at first surprising ; but the wonder 
 will increase, when we are told that some of this kind seem to 
 br born and die in the space of a tingle hour. 
 
36 B K st's ^ RT OF ANGLING. 
 
 GREAT Morn, 
 
 Found where tlieve is a little breeze in summer 
 evenings, in gardens ; has a great head not un- 
 like an owl, whitish wings, and yellowish body. 
 The chub takes this exceedingly well. 
 
 BLACKmBE£:, OR HUMBLE-BEE^ 
 
 Found in clay walls, and is an excellent bait for 
 the chub. Some cut off his legs and upper 
 wings. 
 
 THE COCKCUAFEn, OR BROWN BEETLE. 
 
 This is aa excellent bait for dibbing, for large 
 trout or chub ; they may be seen flying about 
 in hot summer evenings, or found in the day 
 time, on the oak, maple, or ozier ;.they must be 
 kept in tin boxes, with holes in the iids, with 
 some of the leaves of the trees they are found 
 on. 
 
 BLACK BEETLE, 
 
 Found under fresh horse or coW'-dung; the 
 holes are easily observed, where they creep to 
 deposit their eggs ; keep them in some of the 
 earth that you dig up to find them. 
 
 N. B. The reader will find the peculiar me- 
 thod of dibbing for chub, under the description 
 of that fish. 
 
 RULES AND HINTS TO BE OBSERVED IN 
 ANGLING) 
 
 N 
 
 1st. Every brother angler should be possessed 
 of a great deal of patience and resignation, and 
 
RULES AND HINTS IN ANGLING, 37 
 
 not be cast down with bad luck, or be elated 
 with good ; for the same success cannot always 
 attend him. 
 
 2d. Never angle in glaring colours, for they 
 are the easiest to be discerned by the fishes ; al- 
 ways turn out early in the morning, for that is 
 the best time of the day ; keep your tackel always 
 neat, and let your baits be in the highest per- 
 fection. 
 
 3d. When you angle shelter yourself as much 
 as possible from the sight of the fishes, for they 
 are timorous and easily frighted ; and when you 
 angle for trout, you need never make above one 
 or two trials for him in the same place, for he 
 will in that time either take the bait or let it 
 alone ^, 
 
 4th. When the nights prove dark, cloudy or 
 windy, you will the next day have but little sport 
 in respect to catching large fishes, especially 
 trouts; for in those nights they range about and 
 devour small fishes ; but if the nights are bright 
 and the moon and stars are out, and the days 
 follow^ing should be overcast, dark, and gloomy, 
 you may depend on having good sport ; for 
 fishes are then as timorous as in sun-shiny days, 
 and never stir from their holds : therefore, hav- 
 ing abstained from food all night, they are hun- 
 gry and eager, and being encouraged by the 
 darkness and gloominess of the day to range 
 about, they then bite boldly and eagerly. 
 
 5th. If you wish to know what ground-bait 
 fishes like best, the first you take open his sto- 
 mach, and there you w^ill find what he fed on 
 last, and bait acordingly. 
 
 * This observation holds good for pikes or perch. 
 E 
 
38 bkst's art of angling. 
 
 6th. If before you go out to angle, you 
 should imagine, by the looks of the weather, that 
 it will prove showery, or thunder^ always take 
 three or four night lines out with you, and whilst 
 you angle for other fish, lay them in according 
 to your judgment; baited with well-scoured 
 lob-worms, and you may depend on catching 
 large eels, trout, &c. 
 
 7th. The best way to bait your hook, for this 
 kind of fishing, or for zmrm-fisMng in general, 
 either with lob-worms, brandlings, &c. is thus; 
 if you bait with one worm, put your hook into 
 him somewhat above the middle, and out again 
 a little below the middle ; having so done draw 
 your worm above the arming of your hook: but 
 note, you must enter the hook at the tail of the 
 worm, and not at the head ; then having drawn 
 him above the arming of your hook before- 
 mentioned, put the point of your hook again 
 into the very head of the worm, till it comes 
 near the place where the point of the hook first 
 came out, and then draw back that part of the 
 worm that was above the shank or arming of 
 the hook : if you fish with two worms, then put 
 the second on before you turn back the hook 
 on the first worm. 
 
 8th. If when you are angling in any particular 
 spot, and have had good sporty the fishes should 
 suddenly leave off biting, you may conclude that 
 some of the fish of prey are come to the part 
 you are fishing in ; therefore put a minnow on 
 your hook alive, sticking it through his upper 
 lip, or back fin : let your tackel be strong in 
 case the pike should be there, but for a cer- 
 tainty you may depend that either he or the 
 perch vvill take it. But the best way is to have a 
 trimmer or two with you, which may be applied 
 
RULES AND HINTS IN ANGLING. 39 
 
 with great advantage, whilst you angle forotiier 
 fish, 
 
 9th. When you have struck a good fish, keep 
 your rod bent, which will prevent him from 
 running to the end of the hue, whereby he might 
 break his hold. 
 
 10th. In ponds angle near the fords where 
 cattle go to drink; and in rivers angle for 
 breams in the deepest and quietest parts : for 
 eels^ under trees hanging over banks ; for chubs, 
 in deep shaded holes ; for perches, in scours ; for 
 roaches, in winter in the deeps, at all other times 
 where you -dugle for perches ; and for trouts in 
 quick streams. 
 
 1 1th. It is good angling in whirlpools, under 
 bridges, and at the falls of mills, and in any place 
 where the water is deep and clear, and not dis- 
 turbed with wind or weather; also at the open- 
 ing of sluices, and mill-dams, and if you go 
 with the course of the water, you will hardly 
 miss catching fishes, that swim upon the stream 
 10 seek what food the water brings down with it. 
 
 12th. When you fish for roach, dace, &c. in a 
 stream, cast your ground-bait above your hook, 
 and always remember to plumb j^our ground. 
 
 13th. Never trust to the strength of your rod 
 or hne when you have hooked a good fish, but 
 always use your landing net. 
 
 14tb. Your rod must neither be kept too dry 
 nor too moist, for the one will make it brittle, 
 the other rotten, and in sultry weather always 
 wet the joints of your rod, which will make 
 them adhere; and if by being wet they should 
 stick so that you cannot easily get them asun- 
 der, never use force, for then you Vv ill strain your 
 rod ; but turn the ferrel of the joint that is fast, 
 £ 9 
 
40 best's art of angling. 
 
 a few tiiixes over the flame of a candle, and it 
 will separate. 
 
 15. The best times for angling are from April 
 till October, and the best time of the day from 
 three till nine in the morning, and three in the 
 evening till sun-set. The south wind is the best 
 to angle in ; the next best point to that is the 
 west ; the cooler these blow in the hottest 
 months, is the best time to fish. 
 
 l6th. Never angle in an easterly wind, for 
 your labour will be in vain ; but you may if the 
 wind blows from any other point, provided not 
 too sharply. Fishes will never bite before a 
 shower of rain ; this hint may save you many a 
 wet skin.^ 
 
 17th. In the morning, if there happens to be 
 a hoar frost, either in the spring or advancing of 
 the season, fishes will not bite that day, except 
 in the evening : and after they have spawned, 
 very ill, till with grass and weeds they have 
 scoured themselves, and by that means recover- 
 ed their appetite. 
 
 18th. The best time for the trout to be taken, 
 and other fishes with the ground-line, is morning 
 and evening, in clear weather and water ; but 
 if the day proves cloudy, or the water muddy, 
 you may angle all day long. 
 
 19th. The angler may depend on catching 
 store of fishes, in a dark, close, gloomy, or low- 
 ering day, if the wind be southerly, and when, 
 as the poet observes. 
 
 ** The stealing show'r is scarce to patter heard 
 •* By such as wander thro* the forest walks, 
 *• Beneath th' umbrageous multitude of leaves,'* 
 
 * Vide the Prognostics. 
 
FISH IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 41 
 
 isiOth. Lastly, when seated under a shady tree, 
 on the side of a pleasant river, or moving about 
 on the banks of it, or otherwise pursuing your 
 recreation; when the gliding of waters, the 
 singing of birds, the bleating of flocks, the 
 lowing of cattle, the view of delightful pros- 
 pects, and the various occupations of rural in- 
 dustry, shall dispose you to thought and reflec- 
 tion ; let the beauties of nature, the power, wis- 
 dom, and goodness of the Almighty, as mani- 
 fested in the production of his creatures ; the 
 order and course of his providence in their pre- 
 servation, the rewards of a good life, and the 
 certainty of your end, be the subjects of your 
 most serious ineditation ! 
 
 Having given the reader every necessary in- 
 struction, in regard to the breeding and feeding 
 of fishes; with the best advice concerning his 
 rodSf lines, floats, hooks, baits, <5rc. and a set of 
 very choice rules, hints, and cautions, I shall now 
 tell him the best methods of taking the fishes in. 
 general angled for in England-dwd Wales, 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Jl Description of the Fish generally angled for in 
 England and Wales, with the proper Times and 
 Seasons, to fish for them; their peculiar Haunts 
 spawning Time, and most killing baits, ^-c. 
 
 The Sa//«ow, according to the opinion of some, 
 
 breeds in the sea ; but that of others seems' 
 
 E 3 
 
42 best's art of angling. 
 
 better warranted, that he breeds in the clear, 
 sandy, parts of rivers, not far from the mouths 
 thereof. It is entirely a northern fish, being 
 found both at Greendtand and Kamschatka, be- 
 ing never so far south as the Mediterranean. 
 
 The Salmon-trout migrates hke the salmon up 
 several of our rivers, spawns and returns to the 
 sea. The flesh, when boiled is red, and tastes 
 like the salmon. 
 
 The White-trout, appears much of the same 
 nature, migrates out of the sea into the river 
 Esk in Cumberland^ from July to September. 
 
 The Samlet is considered by Mr. Pennant, as 
 a distinct species, and not as the fry of the sal- 
 mon, as some have supposed : it seldom exceeds 
 six or seven mches in length. 
 
 They commonly spawn [in October, and the 
 young become samlets the following year, and 
 in a few months a large salmon. The milter 
 and spawner having performed their office, be- 
 take themselves to the sea, and we are told that 
 when they have been obstructed in their passage, 
 they have grown so impatient, that clapping 
 their tails to their mouths, with a sudden spring, 
 they have leaped clear over w^eirs and other ob- 
 stacles that stood in their way ; and some by 
 leaping short, have by that means been taken.* 
 If they happen to meet with such impediments 
 that they cannot get to sea, they become sick, 
 lean, and pine away, and die in two years. The 
 principal occasion of their dying is this ; the 
 salmon being a fish by nature tender, and very 
 chill, cannot in the winter season endure the 
 
 * Salmon will sometimes ascend up a river four or five hun- 
 dred miles, only to cast their spawn, and secure it in banks 
 of sand till the young be hatched and exuded, and then re- 
 turn to the sea again. 
 
 Ray. 
 
FISH IN ENGLaNO) /. \ • V. \ ES. 43 
 
 extreme frigidity of the fresh river water, by 
 reason of its tenuity, especially being so lately 
 weakened by spawning ; and, therefore, by in- 
 stinct, they make the sea their winter habita- 
 tion, the sea being naturally warm. But if they 
 spawn in the mean time, from thence proceeds a 
 small salmon, called a Skegger, which never grows 
 large. The female salmon is distinguished from 
 the male becai^se its nose is longer, and more 
 hooked, its scales not so bright, and its body 
 speckled over with dark browm spots ; its belly 
 flatter, and its flesh not so red ; more dry, and 
 less delicious to the taste. 
 
 The growth of this fish is so extraordinary, 
 that a young salmon being taken at Warrington y 
 and which weighed seven pounds on the 7 th of 
 February, being marked with scissars on the 
 back fin, was again taken on the 17th of March 
 following, and was then found to weigh seven- 
 teen pounds and a half. 
 
 The principal rivers in England for salmon^ are, 
 1st, The Thames, whose salmon beats ali others 
 for taste and flavour ; the Severn and the Trent ; 
 the Lon at Lancaster, about Cockersand ALoey ; 
 at Workington in Cumberland ; Byzvell in North- 
 umberland; Durham, and Nez0castle on Tyne ; 
 the -Dee in Cheshire; and the rivers Usk and 
 Wye \n Monmouthshire Besides the salmon-leap 
 in Pembrokeshire, there is another in the river 
 Ban i:i Ireland : this river is in the mountains 
 of Mourn in the county of Dozm, and it passes 
 through Lough Eaugh, or Lough Sidney, a large 
 lake in the county of Colrame, Mr. Cambden 
 says it breeds salmons in abundance, above all 
 other rivers iu Europe, because it is thought to 
 exceed all others for cleanitss, in vv hich sort of 
 water salmons delight. He bites best about three 
 
44 BEST S ART OF x^NGLlJ^G. 
 
 in the afternoon, in May, June, July, and 
 August, if the water be clear and a little breeze 
 of wind stirring : especially if the wind and 
 stream are contrary. You must fish for him 
 like a trout, with a worm, fly, or minnow, or 
 hh'Worm is an excellent bait for him, well scour- 
 ed in moss, wdll make it tough, clean, and 
 lively. When you have struck him, he will 
 plunge and bounce in the water -very much, 
 therefore it is necessary to have a strong rod, 
 ringed the same as a trowling rod, and a winch, 
 with a strong line on it forty yards long, with 
 which length, and a proper playing him, you 
 may kill the largest sized one. He has not a con- 
 •stant residence like a trout, but removes often, 
 and you should always angle for him as near the 
 spring-head as possible, in the deepest and 
 broadest pans of the river, near the ground. 
 Put two large lol-worms on at a time, and you 
 may fish without a fioat, that is with a running 
 line. Let one yard next to your hook be gimp, 
 and your hook a proper sized salmon-hook, 
 ]No. 1. 
 
 jV. B. When I come to treat oifly-juhing, the 
 proper flies for the salmon, &c. will be clearly 
 expressed. 
 
 TRVTTA^ 
 
 The Trout, is a delicious fresh water fish, 
 speckkd with red and yellow; coming in and 
 going out of season with the buck, and spawn- 
 ing in the cold months of Octoler^w^ November, 
 whereas all other fishes spawn in the hot summer 
 months. There are several species of this fish, 
 all valued very much ; but the best are the 
 red and yellow; and of these the female, distin- 
 guished by a less head and deeper body, is pre- 
 
THE TROUT. 45 
 
 ferred ; by the largeness of their backs you may 
 know when they are in season, which may serve 
 as a rule for all other fishes. All winter long 
 they are sick, lean, and unwholesome, and fre- 
 quently lousy. As the spring advances, desert- 
 ing the still deep waters, they repair to the gra- 
 velly ground, against which they continue to 
 rub, till they have got rid of their lice, which are 
 a kind of worm, with large heads ; from that 
 time they delight to be in sharp streams, and 
 such as are very swift ; w^here they wait for 
 minnows, m<iy-jiiesy &c. The latter part of May 
 they are in the highest perfection. 
 
 The colours of the trout, and its spots, vary 
 greatly in the different waters, and in different 
 seasons ; yet each may be reduced to one spe- 
 cies. In Llyndivi, a lake in South Wales, are 
 trouts called coch-y-dail, marked with red and 
 black spots, as big as sixpences ; others unspot- 
 ted, and of a reddish hue, that sometimes weigh 
 near ten pounds, but are bad tasted. 
 
 In Lough-Neagh, in Ireland, are trouts called 
 there buddaghsj which sometimes weigh thirty 
 pounds. 
 
 Trouts (probably of the same species) are also 
 taken in Ulles-water, a lake in Cumberland, of a 
 much superior size to these of Lough-Neagh ; 
 these are supposed to be the same with the trout 
 of the lake of Geneva. He is usually caught with 
 s. worm, minnow, or fly, either natural or artificial ; 
 the different baits for him are the earth-worm, 
 dung'Z0orm, and the maggot, ox gentle, but the best 
 are the /o&-ayorm, and brandling. His haunts are in 
 'purling brooks^ running very swift over chalk 
 stones, gravel, &e. he is oftener taken in the side 
 of the stream, than in it, though the large ones 
 ai:e often caught in, the deepest part of it. Ho* 
 
46 best's art of angling. 
 
 delights to shelter himself behind larg':^ stones, 
 or small banks that hang over the river, which 
 the stream running against, creates a foarn ; also 
 in the txldies between two streams ; his hold is 
 usually and' r the roots of trees, and in hcillow 
 banks in the deepest parts of rivers. When you 
 angle for him at the ground, let the link of your 
 line, next the hook, be the best silk worm gut 
 you can provide ; and have a nice elastic rod, 
 which will enable you to strike true, and to feel 
 him when he bites. Angle for him with a run- 
 ning hne, and begin at the upper part of the 
 stream, carrying your line with an upright hand, 
 and feeling your lead run on the ground about 
 ten inches from the hook, leading your line ac- 
 cording to the swiftness of the stream ; as before 
 directed. If you bait eittier with one or two 
 worms, follow the manner of baiting with them 
 which 1 have laid down in the rules, and you 
 will run on the ground without being entangled. 
 There is a very killing method likewise for a 
 large trout ; make a pair of wings of the feather 
 of a land-rail, and point your hook with one or 
 more cadises ; your hook should be bristled, that 
 is, when you whip on your hook, fasten a hog's 
 bristle under the silk, with the end standing out 
 about a straw's breadth at the bead of the hook, 
 from under the silk, and pointing towards the 
 line^ by which means the head of the cadis will 
 be kept close to the wings ; angle with a rod 
 about five yards long, and a line about three ; 
 cast the wings and cadis up the stream, which 
 will drive it down under the water towards the 
 lower part of the hole; then draw it up the 
 stream very gently, though irregularly, at the 
 same time shaking your rod, and in a few casts 
 you will be sure to hook him, if there is one iu 
 
THE TROUT. 47 
 
 the hole. You may angle the same way with 
 two brandlings. If you use two cadises with the 
 wings, run your hook in at the head and out at 
 the neck of the first, and quite through the other 
 from head to tail. 
 
 The Minnow is the most excellent of all baits 
 for the trout ; when you fish with one choose the 
 whitest, and middle-sized ones, these being the 
 best ; and you must place him on your hook in 
 such a manner, that being drawn against the 
 stream he may turn round. The best way of 
 baiting with a minnow is thus : put your hook 
 in at his mouth, and out at his gill, drawing it 
 through about three inches : then put the hook 
 again into his mouth, and let the point and 
 beard come out at his tail; then tie the hook and 
 his tail with a fine white thread, and let the body 
 of the minnow be almost sfraight on the hook ; 
 then try if it turns well, w^hich it cannot do too 
 fast. Angle with the point on your rod down the 
 stream, drawing the minnow up the stream by 
 little and little, near the top of the water. When 
 the ti'out sees the bait, he will come most fiercely 
 at it, but b: careful not to snatch it away, which 
 at first you may be apt to do; and never strike 
 till he has turned with the bait. 
 
 N. B. In this way of angling a ringed rod is 
 to be always used, with a w inch for your line, 
 which should have two or three swivels on it ; 
 by which means the mmnow will spin the better. 
 
 Trouts are most voiacious fishes, and afford 
 the angler excellent diversion ; the passion for 
 the spoit of angling is so great in the neigh- 
 bourhood of London, that the liberty of ang- 
 ling in some of the streams of the adj. cent' 
 counties, is purchased at the rate of ten pounds 
 per annum. 
 
48 best's art of angling. 
 
 These fish shift their quarters to spawn, and, 
 like the Salmon, make up towards the heads of 
 rivers to deposit their roes. 
 
 The rivers most famous for trout are the Ken- 
 net near Hungerford in Berkshire ; the Stower, 
 in Kent, which runs through Canterbury/, and is 
 said to breed the best trouts in the south-east of 
 Efigfand, those in the Wandle, near Cashakon in 
 Surry ; the Jmerhj, in Sussex ; the Dove, Wye, 
 LatJikin, Sind Bradford, in Derbyshire; Ribble 
 and Irk, in Lancashire ; and in the Usk and 
 Jf^ye, in Monmouthshire, are accounted excellent 
 trouts ; but to speak impartially, no one can ab- 
 solutely determine in what particular river or 
 brook are the most and best trouts. This, how- 
 ever, is certain, that trouts are better or worse, 
 bigger or less, according to the nature of the 
 soil on which the river runs : pure, clear, trans- 
 parent streams, running on rocks, pebbles, or 
 more especially lime-stones ox feints, are experi- 
 mentally found to breed, and afford the most 
 delicate and best trouts. 
 
 The hook No. 2 or 3. 
 
 THYMALLUS, 
 
 The Gragling, Grayling, or Umber ; thrs fish 
 has three different names given it, according to 
 the different parts of England where ii is found ; 
 he is by no means a general fish, and what 
 anglers seldom meet with, except in the rivers 
 Dove and Trent, and some other siiiall streams, 
 particularly in that vhich runs b, Salisbury. 
 The haunts of the grayhng are nearly the same 
 as the trout ; and in fishing for either of them 
 
THE CARP. 4f9 
 
 you may catch both. They spawn the begin- 
 ning of Aprily when they Jie mostly in sharp 
 streams; in December he is in his prime, at 
 which time his gills and head are blackish, 
 and his belly dark grey, studded with black 
 spots. He bites very freely, but is often lost 
 when struck, his mouth being very tender. The 
 largest that has been heard of, was taken near 
 Ludlow ; it was half a yard long, and weighed 
 four pounds six ounces. Angle for him about 
 mid-water, he being much more apt to rise than 
 descend ; and when you angle for him alone, 
 and not for the trout also, use a quill float, with 
 the bait about six or seven inches from the 
 ground. He takes brandlings, gilt-tails, meadozv 
 worms, gentles, Sac. but the most excellent bait 
 for him, in March or April, is the tag-talL 
 The hook No. 10. 
 
 CYPRlMUSy 
 
 The Carp; is allowed to be the queen of fresh 
 water fishes (as the salmon is the king) and lives 
 longer than any other fish, (except the eel) out 
 of its element. They breed several times in 
 one year ; but their first spawning time is in 
 May, Mr. Ray assures us that in Holland they 
 have a speedy way of fattening them, by hang- 
 ing them up in a net in a cellar, and feeding 
 them with bread and milk. Patience is highly 
 necessary for every one to be endowed with who 
 angles for carps, on account of their sagacity 
 and cunning ; the haunts are in the deepest part;, 
 of ponds and rivers, and in the latter where tht 
 streams run slow. When the weather in April^ 
 May, June, July, and August, is hot and fine 
 you cannot be too early or late at the spoil. 
 
 F 
 
50 best's art of angling. 
 
 He seldom refuses the red-worm iu April, the 
 cadis ia May, or the grasshopper in June, July, 
 and August. You must anii^le for him with a 
 strong rod and line, a quill float, and strong iTut 
 at bottom ; the hook m the medium of size ; be- 
 ing a leather-mouthed fish he seldom breaks his 
 hold, if your tackle is strong and you play him 
 properly. But whenever you intend to fish for 
 him particularly, and in good earnest, over 
 night lay in a ground bait of garbage ; as 
 chicken's guts, blood mixed with cowdung, or 
 any coarse paste; also ale grains and blood in- 
 corporated with clay, and at the same time that 
 you throw any of these ground baits in, plumb 
 the ground to two depths, (for it is best to angle 
 for carps with two rods,) one about mid-water, 
 the other four or five inches from the ground. 
 The next morning lay your lines in very cauti- 
 ously, and success will attend you. Gentles are 
 very good bait for the carp, also a paste made 
 of honey and bread, and one made with bread 
 and water alone tinctured with read lead, but 
 nothing in my opinion beats a green pea, par- 
 boiled, having killed more with that than any 
 other bait. 
 
 The Carp is one of the naturalized fish in 
 England, having been introduced here by 
 Leonard Maschal, about the year 15 14, to whom 
 the English are also indebted for that excellent 
 apple the pepin. The many good things which 
 this island wanted before that period, are 
 enumerated thus : 
 
 Tu ikies. Carps, Hops, Pick i el, and Beer, 
 Came all into England in one year. 
 
 Polish Prussia is the chief seal of the carp (they 
 abound in the rivers and lakes of that country, 
 
TH li BR Ex vl. 51 
 
 particularly in the l^nsch and Curisch-haff, where 
 they are taken of a vast size. Theyhveto a great 
 age, and grow almost to an incredible weight. 
 
 A carp weighing fifteen pounds seven ounces, 
 was some time back taken out of the water in 
 Lord Eiete/'s grounds at Burghley. 
 
 The hooks for this fish No. 3 or 4. 
 
 In fine shun-shiny days, carps will often prime 
 about noon, and swim about the edges of a 
 pond, to catch such flies as fall upon the surface 
 of the water : let the angler then take a strong 
 rod, and pliable at the top, a strong line, and a 
 hook large enough for a loh-worm; then finding 
 a place free from w^eeds, about the compass of 
 the crown of a hat, let him drop his bait without 
 a float, and with only one large shot upon the 
 line, which he must lodge upon the leaf of some 
 adjoining weed, so that the bait may not be 
 above eight inches in the water ; then retiring, 
 but so as to keep his eye upon the shot, let him 
 wait till he sees it taken away, with about a foot 
 of the line, and then strike : w^ien he has hooked 
 his fish, let him keep him tight, and not sufler 
 him to entangle himself among the weeds : but 
 either draw liim out by main force, or pull him 
 into a clear place and there kill him. 
 
 N. B. The foregoing method is an excellent 
 one, and great numbers of carp may be taken by 
 it in ponds which are well stocked. 
 
 The hook No, 3. 
 
 CYPRJNUS LATUSANT BRUM Ay 
 
 The Bream; he spawns in June ; his chief re^- 
 sidence is in ponds ; he is a bony fish and very 
 slow in growth. From Saint James's tide io Bar- 
 Uwlomew tide is the best lime to .angle for him, 
 
 F 2 
 
52 best's ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 and the best titoeof theday in that season is, from 
 Sim rise, to eight o'clock, in a gentle stream, the 
 water being rather thick, and curled with a good 
 breeze. Some say that breams and roaches will 
 mix their eggs and milt together, therefore the 
 angler in many places will meet with a bastard 
 breed of breams, that never come to be either 
 good or large, but very numerous. There is 
 more time thrown away in angling for this fish 
 than I think he is worth ; being in my opinion 
 very insipid. He delights in the deepest and 
 widest parts of the w ater, and if the bottom is 
 clear itnd sandy it is the better. His baits are 
 gentles^ red-worms, giU'tailsy and grasshoppers: 
 when he takes your bait he makes for the oppo- 
 site shore, therefore give him play, for though 
 he is a strong-made fish, he will not struggle 
 much, but in tw o or three turns, fall on one side, 
 and you may land him very easily. Angle for 
 him with a strong line, with gut at bottom, the 
 hook No. 4, and throw in the place you intend 
 to angle for him, a ground bait made of malt, 
 grains, bran, blood, and clay, the night before ; 
 and you may fish with two or threelines, plumbed 
 to different depths, and follow the method which 
 is laid dow^n for the carp. 
 
 The French esteem this fish highly, and have 
 this proverb concerning him ; that he zdio has 
 Ireams in his poncU is able to bid hisjriend welcome. 
 The best part of a bream is his belly and head. 
 
 LUCIVSy 
 
 The Pike\ is a very long-lived fish, according 
 to Lord Bacon and Gesner\ who say he outlives 
 all others. He is called the tyrant of the waters^ 
 and will almost seize upon any thing, nay unna- 
 
THE PIKE. 53 
 
 turally devour his own kind. These fish were 
 introduced into England in the reign of Henry 
 the VIII. in 1537. They were so rare, that a 
 pike was sold for double the price of a house- 
 lamb, in February, and a pickerel for more than 
 a fat capon. He spawns in February or March ; 
 the best pike are those that are found in rivers, 
 those in ponds are not near so good ; the larger 
 he is, the coarser the food, and so vice versa. He 
 feeds on small fishes, and frogs, and on a weed 
 called pickerel, from which some assert he derives 
 his being ; he is a solitary, melancholy, and bold 
 fish, always being by himself, and never swim- 
 ming in shoals, or in company with other fishes* 
 There are two ways of angling for the pike, by 
 the ledger bait and the walking bait. First, the 
 ledger bait is that fixed in one certain place, and 
 which tlie angler may leave and angle for other 
 fish ; of this kind the best is some living bait, as 
 a dace, gudgeon, roach, or live frog. To apply it, 
 if a fish, stick the hook through his upper lip, or 
 back fin, then fastening it to a strong line tenor 
 twelve yards long ; tie the other end to some 
 stake in the ground, or stump of a tree, near the 
 pike's haunt; letting the line pass over the fork 
 of a stick, placed for the purpose, and suspend- 
 ing the hook, by a yard of the line in the water; 
 but so as when the pike bites, the fork may give 
 way, and let him have line enough to go to his 
 hold, and pouch the bait. If you bait with a 
 frog, but the arming wire in at his mouth, and 
 X)ut at his gill ; then tie the frog's leg above the 
 upper joint to the armed wire. Seconaly, The 
 walking bait is that which the fisher attends to 
 himself, and is called trowling, from the French 
 jof trolUr^ to move or walk about. Before X 
 f3 
 
54 best's art of angling. 
 
 proceed any further in this mode of angling for 
 the pike, I shall give the angler a description of the 
 kind of rod, line, and hooks, necessary to be used. 
 Your rod must be a strong one, and ringed for 
 the line to pass through, and about three yards 
 and a half long ; your line about thirty yards 
 long, wound upon a winch, to be placed on the 
 butt end of your rod, and with which you may 
 always keep your line to any length; and at the 
 end of your line next the hook let there be a 
 swivel. The hooks that are most general are 
 the two following ones ; they are formed and 
 baited in this manner. The first is no more than 
 two single hooks (though you may buy them 
 made of one piece of wire) tied back to back, 
 with a strong piece of gimp between the shanks; 
 in whipping the gimp and hooks together, make ' 
 a small loop, and take into it two links of chain, 
 about an eighth of an inch diameter; and in the 
 lower link (by means of a staple of wire) fasten 
 by the greater end a bit of lead, of a conical 
 figure, and angular at the {>oint. The second 
 hook may be either single, or double, with a long 
 shank, and leaded two inches up the wire, with 
 a piece of lead about a quarter of an inch square ; 
 at the greater or lower end fix to the shank an 
 armed wire about four inches long, and at the 
 top of the wire, about half a yard of gimp, with 
 a loop at the top of that ; to bait this hook, you 
 must have a brass needle, about seven inches 
 long ; put the loop of the gimp on the eye, or 
 small curve of the needle, then thrust it into the 
 mouth of the fish, and bring it out at his tail, 
 drawing the gimp and wire along with it, till 
 the lead is fixed in tht. belly of the bait-fish, and 
 the hook, or hooks, are come to his mouth; thei> 
 turn the points of the hooks tovvards his eyes, if 
 
THE PIKE. 55 
 
 a double hook, but if a single one, directly in a 
 line with his belly, and tie his tail to the arming- 
 wire, very neatly, with white thread. To bait 
 the former, put the lead into the mouth of the 
 bait fish, and sew it up ; the fish will live some 
 time ; and though the weight of the lead will 
 keep his head downwards, he will swim with 
 nearly the same ease as if at liberty. Either of 
 the former hooks being baited and fastened to 
 the swivel, cast it into the water, and keep it in 
 constant motion ; sometimes letting it sink, and 
 at others raising it gradually, chiefly throwing it 
 into the parts of the pond, meer, or river, where 
 his haunts are most usual ; as near banks, under 
 stumps of trees, by the side of bullrushes, water- 
 docks, weeds, or bushes, but in any of these 
 places you need never make above a trial or two 
 for him, for if he is there, he will instantly sieze 
 the bait. When you draw your bait near the 
 bank, play it longer there, first deep, then raise 
 it higher and higher by degrees, till you bring it 
 so near the top, that you can see it glitter; take 
 it not hastily out, because he often rakes it near 
 the top. When he has taken it give him line, 
 and let him run to his hold and pouch it; allow 
 him in general five minutes law, then strike him, 
 and divert yourself with him as you please. But 
 if after he has run on with the bait to his hold, 
 ©nd rests there but about a minute, and then 
 runs quickly off with it again, do not strike him 
 until he has rested a second time: and not then, 
 iintil the five minutes are expired, unless he runs 
 ofi:' again bef<3re they are ; which if he does, 
 draw a tight line and strike him immediately ; if 
 he resists very much give him iine enough, which 
 will soon exhaust his strength; and when you 
 pull him toward you do not do it violently; for 
 
56 best's art of angling. 
 
 if you do he will lavinch and plunge in such a 
 inanner, that though he may not be able to break 
 your tackel, yet he will tear away his hold; nay, 
 even his entrails if he is hooked there; but if you 
 feel him come easily towards you, wind up your 
 line, until you see him ; then if he struggles again 
 very much, give him line again ; and so proceed 
 till you have killed him ; by following which 
 methods you will soon accomplish. The pike 
 bites best from the middle of summer, to the end 
 of autumn, about three in the afternoon, in clear 
 water, ruffled with a gentle gale; but in winter 
 all day long ; and in the spring he bites early in 
 the morning, and late in the evening. The best 
 baces for him are small roaches, daces, lleaks, &e. 
 if the day be dark or cloudy ; but a gudgeon is 
 the best, if the water is clear, and the day bright 
 ^nd fine. Your live baits should be kept in a tin 
 kettle, with holes made in the lid, that you may 
 change your water often, which will keep them 
 alive a long while; your dead ones in a tin box 
 made for that purpose, with bran, which dries 
 up the moisture that hangs about them, and 
 contributes to preserve them longer. Angling 
 for the pike at the snap is to let hi in run a little 
 and then to strike him the contrary way from 
 wheiice he runs, with two strong jerks; in this 
 method you must use a double springhook which 
 is to be had at any of the shops, and your tackle 
 must be very strong* Tne snap is best used in 
 March, when they are spawning; at which 
 time they are sick, and lose their stomach; 
 though they will then take your bait, but imme- 
 diately throw it out of their mouths; therefore 
 striking them when they first take the bait is the 
 only way to be even with them; which is called 
 miglingsitsjiap. The waylo bait the snap hook is 
 
THE PTKE. 57 
 
 thus ; make a hole with a sharp peu-knife in the 
 side of the bait-fish; then put the gimp that is 
 fastened to your hook into it, and draw it out at 
 the mouth, till the spring hook comes to the 
 place where the incision was made; which when 
 it is, put it into the belly of the fish, then have 
 a piece of lead, about the size of a hor^e-bean, 
 though of an oval form, with a hole through it 
 from end to end, large enough for the gimp to 
 go through ; draw it down to the fish's mouth, 
 then put it in it and sew it up. Or you may 
 make an incision in the skin onlj;, and draw the 
 gimp out at ttie bone beliind the gills, then enter 
 it again under the gills, and bring it out at the 
 mouth, which I think is the best method, be- 
 cause the hook has only the skin to hinder its 
 fixing in the pike ; whereas in the first method 
 it must pierce through the flesh and skin before 
 it can touch him ; and if it is not very large, 
 may hook him so slightly as to spoil all your 
 sport. There used to be a way also of taking 
 pike, called huxing, but as the use of trimmers is 
 now so generally known, it w^ould be needless for 
 me to insist farther upon it. 
 
 I shall now communicate to the reader a me- 
 thod which I have taken more pikes and jacks 
 with than any other way. The hook which you 
 must use, is to be like the first hook that I have 
 mentioned, with this exception only, that the lead 
 of a conical figure must be taken away : then, 
 before you fix the swivel on the botiom of the 
 line, put on a cork float that will swim a gud- 
 geon, then put on your swivel, and fix your hook 
 and gimp to it : put a swan shot on your gimp, to 
 make your float cock a httle,and of such a weight, 
 that when the hook is baited with the gudgeon, 
 it may do so properly* Your gudgeons must be 
 
58 best's art of angling. 
 
 kept alive in a tin kettle : take one and stick the 
 hook either through his upper lip or back fin, 
 and throw him into the likely haunts before- 
 mentioned, swimming at mid-water. When the 
 pike take it, let him run a little, as at the snap, 
 and then strike him. In this method of pike 
 fishing, you may take three kinds of fish, viz. 
 pikes, perches, and chubs. 
 
 These fishes are to be met with in most of the 
 Jakes of Europe, but the largest are those taken 
 in Laplandj which, according to ScluBffer, are 
 sometimes eight feet long : the largest fish of 
 this kind which I ever heard of and saw a draw- 
 ing o^, weighed, to the best of my memory, 
 thirty-five pounds. This I saw in the kitchen 
 of Sir Richard Hill, of Hawkestone, Salop, 
 
 At the Marquis of Trentham's canal, at TreU" 
 tham, a pike seized the head of a swan, as she 
 was feeding under water, and gorged so much of 
 it as killed them both. 
 
 Small fishes shew the same uneasiness and de- 
 testation at the presence of this tyrant, as the 
 little birds do at the sight of the hawk or owl. 
 
 Rules to be observed in trowling. September 
 and October are the best months for trowling^ 
 because the weeds are then rotten, and the fishes 
 are fat with the summer's feed. March is the 
 best for the snap, because, as I have said before, 
 they then spawn, and are sick, and therefore 
 never bite freely. 
 
 A large bait intices the pike to take it the 
 most, but a small one takes him with greater 
 certainty. 
 
 Always, both at trowl and snap^ cut away one 
 of the fins, close at the gills of the bait fish, and 
 another at the vent on the contrary side^ which 
 makes it play better. 
 
THE PERCH. 59 
 
 Let no weeds hang on your bait, for if they 
 do, the pike will not touch it : and always throw 
 it into the water gently. 
 
 When you have a bite, and the fish goes 
 down the stream, it is commonly a small one ; 
 but on the contrary, if he sails slowly upwards 
 with the bait, it is a sign of a good one ; great 
 fishes in general bite more calmly than small 
 ones ; for the small ones snatch and run away 
 with the bait without any deliberation, but old 
 fishes are more wary. 
 
 Be careful how you take a pike out of the 
 water, for his bite is venemous; therefore if you 
 have not a landing net> put your finger and 
 thumb into his eyes, and take him out that 
 way. 
 
 Both at trowl and snap^ always have one or 
 more swivels on the line, which will prevent its 
 kenking, and make it play better in the water. 
 
 Whenever you find your bait-^sh water-sopt, 
 change it directly. The hooks for this fish are 
 various. 
 
 PERCA FLUVIATILIS, 
 
 The Perch; is bow-backed like a hog, and arm- 
 ed wiih stiff gristles, and his sides with dry thick 
 scales. He is a very bold biter, which appears 
 by his daring to venture upoji one of his own 
 kind with more courage than even the ravenous 
 luce. He seldom grows above two feet long, 
 spawns oncea-year, either in February or March, 
 and bites best in the latter part of the spring. 
 
 Our Perch and tnat of Aristotle and Ausonius 
 is the same. It was much esteemed by the 
 Romalns, nor Js it less admired at present, as a 
 firm and delicate fish^ the Dutch, indeed, are 
 
60 best's art of angling. 
 
 particularly fond of it when made into a dish 
 called water-sonchy. The perch is a fish very 
 tenacious of life: they are often carried near 
 sixty miles in dry straw, and survive the jour- 
 ney. One w^as once taken in the Serpentine- 
 river, Hyde-park, that weighed nine pounds ; 
 but that is very uncommon. The colours are 
 beautiful ; the back and part of the sides being 
 of a deep green, marked with five broad black 
 bars pointed downwards; the belly is white, 
 tinged with red, the ventral fins of a rich scar- 
 let; the anal fins and tail of the same colour, 
 but rather paler. 
 
 His haunts are chiefly in the streams not very 
 deep, under hollow banks, a gravelly bottom, 
 and at the turning of an eddy. If the weather is 
 cool and cloudy, and the water a little ruffled, he 
 will bite all day long, especially from eight to ten 
 in the morning, and from three till six in the 
 evening. If there are thirty or forty of them 
 in a hole they may be all caught at one standing : 
 they are not like the solitary pikCy but love to 
 accompany one another, and swim in sholes, as 
 all fishes which have scales are observed to do. 
 His baits are minnows, littleyrogs or brandlings, 
 if well scoured ; when he bites give him time 
 enough, and you can hardly give him too much ; 
 for as he is not a leather-mouthed fish, without 
 you do, he will often break his hold. Angle for 
 him, if you bait with brandling, with an indifl'e- 
 rent strong line, and gut at bottom, your hook 
 No 4, 5, or 6, and about five or six inches from 
 the ground. But if you rove for him with a min- 
 now ox frog (which is a very pleasant way) then 
 your line should be strong, and the hook armed 
 with gimp, and the bait swimming at mid-water 
 suspended by a cork float. I for my own pat al- 
 
THE TENCH. 6l 
 
 ways use my trowl, that in case a pike should 
 take it, I may be prepared for him. Keep your 
 minnows in a tin kettle, and when you bait with 
 one, stick the hook through his upper lip or back 
 fin. If you use the frogy stick it through the 
 skin of his hind leg. These directions being care- 
 fully attended to, I dare insure the angler success. 
 The perch is much esteemed in Italy, especially 
 when small: Gesner prefers the perch and pile 
 before the trout, or any fresh fish. The Ger- 
 mans say proverbial!}', viore wholesovie than a 
 perch of the Rhine I 
 
 The Tench; (the fish's physician) so called 
 because its slime is said to be very healing to 
 wounded fishes; and what is more strange, the 
 voracious pike is so sensible of his sovereign vir- 
 tue, that he will not hurt a tench, although he 
 will seize any other fish of his own size that comes 
 in his way 5 and when he orany other fishes are sick, 
 they find relief by rubbing themselves against his 
 body. He is a delicious , fresh water fish; has 
 small scales, yet very large and smooth fins, a red 
 circle about the eyes, and a little barb hanging at 
 each corner of his mouth. His haunts are chiefly 
 in ponds amongst weeds ; he thrives very ill in 
 clear waters, and covets to feed in foul ones; 
 yet his flesh is nourishing and pleasant. 
 
 The Tench is esteemed as most delicate food 
 among us; but the Germans dislike it much, 
 and by way of contempt, call \i shoemaker, Ges- 
 ner even says, that it is insipid and unwholesome. 
 It does not commonly exceed four or five pounds 
 in weight; but they have been met with of a 
 much larger size. 
 
 G 
 
62 best's ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 They spawn the beginning of July : the pro- 
 per time to angle for them is early and late in the 
 months of May, June, the latter end of July, and 
 in August. You must use a strong line with gut 
 at bottom. The hook, No. 2 or 3, and a quill 
 float; the depth about two feet. He bites best 
 at red worms^ if you dip them first in tar j at all 
 sorts of paste made up with strong- scented oils, 
 and at one made with the inside of a roll and 
 honey. Also at cad-worms y lol-worms, flag- 
 worms, gentleSy marsh-worms^ and soft boiled 
 Iread'grain. Besides the river Stour in Dorset- 
 shire^ so particularly recommended for plenty of 
 tench and eels, there is Brecknock Mere ^ in Breck- 
 nockshire, being two miles in length, and as much 
 in breadth, full of perches^ tenches^ and eels. 
 
 N. B. One river tench is worth ten pond. 
 
 JPASSER FLVVIATILIS SIVE AMPJIIBIOU!^^ 
 
 Tht Flounder*; may be fished for all day, 
 either in swift streams, or in the still deep, but 
 best in the stream, in the monthsvof April, May, 
 June and July, Yoyr line must be a single-haired 
 one, with a small float, and the hook. No. 6 or 7. 
 Let your bait touch the ground, which may be 
 any sort of small worms ^ wasps, or gentles. He 
 being a fish but seldom taken with the rod and 
 line, to enlarge on the subject would be totally 
 unnecessary. 
 
 CAPITO SEU CEPHALUS, 
 
 The Chul ; is a fish by no means in very much 
 esteem, his flesh being very coarse, and full of " 
 
 * The Flounder, and all its extensive genus of flat fish, are 
 distinguished from all others by one invuriable characteristic. 
 Viz ilat of having both the eyes oaUhe same side the head. 
 
THE CHUB. (J3 
 
 small bones ; yet he^ affords good sport to the 
 angler, especially to a Tyro in that art. 
 
 This fish takes its name from its head, not 
 only in the English, but in other languages j it 
 is called Chuh, according to Skinner, from the 
 old English copy a head; the French in the same 
 names, call it testard; the Italians, capilont. It 
 does not grow to a large size : we seldom meet 
 with them above five pounds weight; but Salvi.- 
 anus speaks of eight or nine pounds weight. 
 
 They spawn about the beginning of April; and 
 their haunU are chiefly in large rivers, having 
 clayey or sandy bottoms, in holes, shaded with, 
 trees; where many of them in general keep to- 
 gether. He bites best from sun-rising till eight, 
 and from three till sun-set. In March and April 
 you must angle for the chub with worms, in June 
 and July, with Jlies, snails^ and cherries; but in 
 August and September, use a paste made of 
 Parmesan or Holland cheese^ pounded in a mor- 
 tar with a little butter, and a small quantity of 
 saffron put to it to make it of a yellow colour. 
 In the winter, when the chub is in his prime, a 
 paste made of Cheshire cheese and iurpe?itine^ is 
 very good ; but no bait more killing for him, 
 than the pith of an ox or cow's back-bone: 
 you must take the tough outward skin off very 
 carefully, but take particular care that you do not 
 bruise the inward skin ; also the brains of the 
 above animals are excellent for him. Let your 
 line be very strong, with a quill float on it, strong 
 gut at bottom ; the hook. No. 3 or 4 ; the depth, 
 in hot weather, mid-water, in coldish near the 
 bottom, and in quite cold weather on the ground. 
 The most pleasant way of taking him is by dibbing, 
 which is thus performed : In a hot summer's day 
 go to any hole that you know they haunt, and 
 G 2 
 
64 best's art of angling. 
 
 you will find perhapS^ thirty or forty of them 
 basking themselves on the surface of the water; 
 then take your rod, which must be very strong 
 and long, your line the same, but about a yard 
 in length : and bait the hook with a grasshopper : 
 you must shelter yourself behind some bush or 
 stump of a tree, so as not to be seen ; for the 
 chub is very timorous, and the least shadow will 
 make him sink to the bottom, though he will 
 soon rise again. Having therefore fixed your 
 eye upon the largest and best, drop your bait 
 with great caution before him, and he will in- 
 stantly take it, and be held fast; for he is a lea- 
 ther-mouthed fish, and seldom breaks hold if 
 played properly. 
 
 N, B. In dibbing, where you cannot get ^ 
 grasshopper^ anyj?y, heethy or moth^ will equally 
 answer the purpose. 
 
 When you are roving for perch with a minnow 
 you will often take large chub. 
 
 The fearful chevin loves the shaded stream , 
 Sharp liils delight the trout, and pools the bre&m: 
 In deeps, the speckled samlet loves to rove> 
 And marly swifts, allure the barbel drove; 
 Unwary roach, the sandy bottom choose, 
 And carp the weeds, and eels the muddy ooze. 
 
 Moses Browne 
 
 BARBU^^ 
 
 The Barlel ; so called on account of the barb, 
 or beard, that is under his nose or chops, is a lea- 
 ther-mouthed fish 3 and though he seldom breaks 
 his hold when hooked, yet if he proves a large 
 one, he often breaks both rod and line. The 
 jnale is esteemed much better than the femalcj^ 
 
THE BARBEL. 
 
 but neither of them are very extraordinary. 
 They swim in great shoals, and are at the worst 
 in Aprily at which time they spawn, but soon 
 come into season again ; the places they chitfly 
 resort are such as are weedy, gravelly rising 
 grounds, in which this fish is said to dig, and 
 rout his nose like a swine. In the summer he 
 frequents the strongest and swiftest currents of 
 water, as under deep bridges, weirs, &c. and is 
 apt to settle himself amongst the piles, hollow 
 places and in moss and weeds. In the autumn he 
 retires into the deeps, where he remains all the 
 winter and beginning of the spring. The best baits 
 for him are salmon- spawriy lol-wormsy gentles ^ bits 
 of cheese wrapt up in a wet linen rag to make 
 it tough, or steeped in honey for twenty-four 
 hours, dXi& greaves : observe, that the sweeter and 
 cleaoer your baits are kept the more eager he 
 takes them. You cannot bait the ground too 
 much for him, when you angle for him with any 
 kind of garbage: as lob-worms^ cut in pieces, 
 malt and grains incorporated with blood and clay, 
 &c. The earlier and later you fish for him in 
 the months of June, July, and August, the better. 
 Your rod and line must be very strong; the 
 former ringed, and the latter must have gimp at 
 the bottom, but I think twisted gut is better: 
 a running plummet must be placed on your line, 
 which is a bullett* with a hole through it : place 
 a large shot a foot above the hook, to prevent 
 the bullet falling on it. The worm will of course 
 be at the bottom, for no float is to be used, and 
 when th% barbel takes the bait, the bullet will lie 
 on the ground, and not choak him. By the bend- 
 ing of your rod you will know when he bites, and 
 
 » I have found lately that the flat plummet is much b«tt«r. 
 6 3 
 
66 best's akt of angling. 
 
 also when your hand will feel him give a strong 
 snatch; then strike him, and he will be your 
 own, if you play him wellj but if you do not 
 manage him with dexterity, he will break your 
 tackle. You must have on your rod a winch, 
 and a line on it about thirty yards long. 
 
 Barbels are the worst and coarest of fresh- 
 water fishes, and seldom eaten but by the poorer 
 sort of people, who sometimes boil them, with a 
 bit of bacon to give them a relish. They are 
 sometimes taken of the length of three feet, and 
 eighteen pounds in weight. 
 
 The most famous places near London for bar- 
 bel-angling are Kingston- br id ge^^w^ Shepperton* 
 deeps •, but Walton-deepSy Cher fsey- bridge, Hamp^ 
 ton-ferrjy and the holes under Cooper's- kill are in 
 nowise inferior. You may likewise meet with 
 them at all the locks between Maidenhead and 
 Oxford, 
 
 N. B, Their spawn acts as a violent cathartic 
 and emetic. His liver is likewise unwholesome. 
 The hooks for this fish. No. or 2. 
 
 AlsGUlLLA. 
 
 The "Eel'i authors of natural history, in regard 
 to the eel, have advanced various conjectures 5 
 and in some measure contradicted each other 
 entirely on this head, namely : Whether they 
 are produced by generation or corruption, as 
 worms are, or by certain glutinous drops of 
 dew, which falling in May and Juilb, on the 
 banks of some ponds or rivers, are by the heat 
 of the sun turned into eels. Abr. Mylius, in a 
 treatise on the origin of animals^ describes a me- 
 thod of producing them by art. He says, that if 
 you cut up two turfs ^covered with May-dew, 
 
THE EEL 67 
 
 and lay one on the other the grassy side inwards^ 
 and thus expose them lo the heat of the sun, in 
 a few hours there will spring from them an in- 
 jBnite quantity of eels. The doctrine of sponta- 
 neous or equivocal generation is now universally 
 exploded ; and all the phenomena that seem to 
 support it are accounted for on other principles. 
 These conjectures are therefore all nonsense: for 
 the immediate generation of Eels, has been suf- 
 ficiently proved to be efP&cted in the ordinary 
 course of nature, and that they are viviparous. 
 Eels are distinguished into four kinds, viz. the 
 silver eel: a greenish eel, called a grey : a blackish 
 eel, with a broad flat head ; and lastly, an eel with 
 reddish fins. The eel's haunts are chiefly amongst 
 weeds, under roots and stumps of trees, holes, and 
 clefts in the earth both in the banks and at bottom, 
 and in the plain mud; where they lie with 
 only their heads out, watching for prey: also 
 about flood-gates, wears, bridges, and old mills, 
 and in the still waters that are foul and muddy; 
 but the smallest eels are to be met with in all 
 sorts of rivers and soils. They conceal them- 
 selves in the winter for six months in the mud, 
 and they seldom rove about in the summer in the 
 day time, but all nightlong; at which timeyoumay 
 take a great number o^ them, by laying in night- 
 lines, fastened here and there to banks, stumps of 
 trees, &c. of a proper length for the depth of the 
 water, leaded so as to lie on the ground, and a 
 proper eel-hook whipped on each, baited with 
 the following baits, which he delights in, viz. 
 garden-wdrms or lobsy minnows, herC s-guis^ fish 
 garhage^ loaches^ small gudgeons, or miller's 
 thumbs, also small roaches, thfc hook being laid 
 in their mouths. There are two ways lo take 
 them in the day time, called sniggling and 
 bobbing. Sniggling is thus perfonDed : take a 
 
68 best's ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 Strong line, and bait your hook with a large loh" 
 worm^ and go to such places abovementioncd 
 where heels hide themselves in the day-time, put 
 the bait gently into the hole, by the help of a 
 cleft stick, and if the eel is there he will ceriainly 
 bite, let him tire himself by tugging, before you 
 offer to pull him out, or else he will break your 
 line. The other method is called bobbing. In 
 order to perform this you must scour some large 
 lobs, and with a needle run a twisted silk, or 
 worsted, through as many of them from end to 
 end, as will lightly wrap a dozen times round 
 your hand 5 make them into links, and fasten 
 them to strong packthread or whip-cord, two, 
 yards long, then make a knot in the line about 
 six or eight inches from the worms, afterwards 
 put three quarters of a pound of lead, made in a 
 pyramidal form, on the cord ; the lead must be 
 made hollow three parts of the way up it, and 
 then a hole must be bored through it, big enough 
 to put the cord through, and let the lead slide 
 down to the knot. Then fix all to a manageable 
 pole, and use it in muddy water. When the 
 jishes tug, let them have time to fasten, then 
 draw them gently up, and hoist them quick to 
 shore. A boat called a punt is very useful in 
 this kind of fishing. Some use an eel spear to 
 catch eels with, which is an instrument with three 
 or four forks or jagged teeth, which they strike 
 at random into the mud. 
 
 Common eels grow to a large size, sometimes 
 so great as to weigh fifteen or twenty pounds, 
 but that is extremely rare. The eel is the most 
 universal of fish, yet is scarce ever found in the 
 Danube, though it is very common in the lakes 
 and rivers of Upper Austria. 
 
THE EEL. 6\Q 
 
 The Romans held this fish very cheap^ proba- 
 bly from its likeness to a snake. 
 
 ** For you is kept a sink-fed snake-like eel.** 
 
 JUVENAL, SAT. V. 
 
 The Conger Eel grows to an immense size : 
 they have been taken ten feet and a half long, 
 and eighteen inches in circumference in the thick- 
 est part. The best way to kill eels, is to strike 
 them on the navel. 
 
 The rivers Stozuer in Dorsetshire ; Aiilham in 
 Lincolnshire ;. and Irk in Lancashire -, are famed 
 by their respective neighbours for very excellent 
 eels. Mr, Pope has celebrated the river Kenneth 
 in Berkshire^ on the same account in his Wind- 
 sor Forest, 
 
 The Kqnnet swift, for silver eels renowiiM. 
 
 In Ramsej/'mere, in Huntingdonshir e^ are a 
 great quantity of eels and large pikes ^ which they 
 call Hagest'^ but Cambridgeshire boasts of hav- 
 ing the most and best eels^ if you credit the 
 natives. 
 
 Eel-pouts, another fish somewhat resembling 
 the eely but more esteemed, are also found in 
 some rivers. Their haunts are the same as the 
 eel's, and they are to be taken in peals of thunder 
 and heavy rain, when they leave their holes. I'he 
 best bait is a small gudgeon. Hooks^ the double 
 or single ones. 
 
 RUTJLUSy SEU JtUBELLIO, 
 
 The Roach ; is as foolish as the carp is crafty : 
 he ig by no means a delicate fish 5 the river cues. 
 
70 best's art of angling. 
 
 are much better than those bred in ponds. They 
 «pawn in May, and will bite all day long^ if the 
 weather is not in either of the extremes, on the 
 top of the water. Their haunts are chiefly in 
 sandy or gravelly deep waters ; delighting to be 
 in the shade. In April their baits are cads and 
 worms. In summer, white snails ox flies. In 
 Autumn, a paste made of fine white bread, 
 moulded in your hands with water, and a little 
 cotton added to it, to keep it from washing off 
 the hook. In winter, gentles are the best bait for 
 him I you should iish with a line made of single 
 hairs, a quill float, and the lead about a foot from 
 the hook ; and when you angle for roach always 
 cast in a ground bait, made of bran, clay, and 
 bread, incorporated, together*; and when you 
 angle with tender baits^, always strike at the least 
 nibble that is apparent. Sprouded malty the 
 young brood of wasps^ lees dipt in bloody and the 
 dried blood of sheep^ are nostrums in this kind of 
 angling. 
 
 Bread being now, at so extravagant a price, to 
 use it as a groimd-bait, when our poor stand so 
 much in need of it, would be presumptuous and 
 wicked. Therefore let the considerate angler con- 
 tent himself with moulding bran and clayey soil 
 well together, and throw it in, in small balls, 
 about the size of a nonpareil. 
 
 The largest roach in this kingdom are taken in 
 the Thames f where many have been caught of two 
 pounds and a half weight; but roach of any size 
 are hard to be taken without a boat. 
 
 The people who live in the fishing towns alone 
 the banks of the Thames, have a method of 
 
 * Coarse bran and flour make an excellent ground-bait, but 
 tbey must not be too much raoulde4. 
 
' THE RUD, &C. 71 
 
 dressing large roach and dace, which it is said, 
 renders them a very pleasant and savoury food ; 
 it is as follows : without scaling the fish, lay him 
 on a gridiron, over a slow fire, and strew a little 
 flour on him, when he begins to grow brown 
 make a slit, not more than skin deep, in his 
 back, from head to taih and lay him on again; 
 when he is broiled enough, the skin, scales and 
 all, will peel off and leave the flesh, which will 
 be by that time very firm and perfectly clean ; 
 open the belly, take out the inside, and use an- 
 chovy and butter for sauce. 
 
 Red-paste is an excellent bait coloured with 
 Vermillion or red-lead, as I have before laid down, 
 bus it is best to take with you gentles, white-paste^ 
 and their other baits, as they are very fond of 
 change, and will refuse one minute what they will 
 take the next. Their hooks. No, 11 or 12* 
 
 ORFUS GERMANORVM, 
 
 ThQ Rud, Oerve, or Nersling , I think is the 
 lastard roach which old Walton speaks of; they 
 are found chiefly in the channel, near Oxford, in 
 the fens, near Holderness, It appears to be the 
 same fish with the shallow of the Cam, 
 
 The rud, a kind of roach, all tinged with gold. 
 Strong, broad, and thick, most lovely to behold; 
 High on the surface will with freedom bite 
 At small red- worms, or flies, bis like delight ; 
 But angler, when you ve hooked him, then take care. 
 He struggles long, and breaks the single hair. 
 
 Moses Browne. 
 
 LEUCISSUS, 
 
 The Dace or Dare; this fish, and the roach, 
 are much of the same kind, therefore, the direc- 
 
72 BEST S ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 tions given for one will serve for the other. They 
 spawn about the middle of March, and will take 
 any fly, especially the stone c adew -fiy , May-jly^ 
 the latter end of April and most part of May ; 
 and the ant-Jly, in June, July, and August. 
 When you angle for the Dace with the ant-fly 
 under water, let it be about two hands breadth 
 from the ground. They never refuse a fly in a 
 w arm day on the top of the water. The best bait 
 for them in the winter, is the earth hohj it is the 
 spawn of the beetle, and is to be found by fol- 
 lowing the plough in sandyish grounds ; put them 
 into a vessel with some of the earth from whence 
 they are taken, and use them all the winter as an 
 excellent bait, as I have before mentioned in the 
 description of baits. As for your line, &c.. the 
 directions given for the roach, will serve in all 
 respects for the dace or dare. 
 
 Dace may be also taken with flesh-flies, upon 
 the surface of the water ; into whose backs, be- 
 tween the wings, you must put your hook, which 
 should be very small : they bite in the morning 
 and evening; you musi then provide a cane-rod^ 
 which is the lightest of any, and let it be seven- 
 teen feet, at least, in length, and your line, which 
 should, from the middle downwards, consist of 
 single-hairs, be a little longer than your rod; 
 then provide a sufficient quantity of house'-fiiesy 
 which keep in a phial, stopped with a cork. With 
 these repair, especially about? seven or eight 
 o'clock in a summer's evening, to a mill-stream, 
 and having fixed three or four hooks, with single 
 hair-links, not above four inches long, to your 
 line, bait them with the flies, and angle up the 
 surface of the water on the smoothest part, at 
 the end of the stream ; the dace will rise freely. 
 
THE RUFF, ^C. 73 
 
 especially if the sun does not shine on that part 
 oF the water where you cast the flies, and yon 
 may take two or three at a time. This sport 
 will continue as long as day-light will permit you 
 to see the flies. in the same manner dace will 
 also rise at the ant-Ji}/ upon the surface of the 
 water, if used in the morning at the foot of a 
 current or mi /'Streamy or on the scour before the 
 sun comes on the water. If the water is high, 
 so as to be almost equal with its banks, lake your 
 Jii/'rod, and i''dstei\ to your rod Q.n artlficia/-Jli/f 
 called the catevpillar-jiij ^ or a small red-palmer^ 
 then take a lav ge yellow gentle^ the yellower the 
 better, run the hook through the skin of it, and 
 draw it up to the tail of thejij/ : this being done, 
 whip it on the surface of the water, and if you 
 are diligent and expert, you will have good di^ 
 version. If you angle where two mill-streams 
 are going at the same time, let it be in the eddy 
 between the two streams: first make use of your 
 plummet; if the water is deep, angle within a 
 foot of the bottom, and perhaps you will find 
 but poor sport; but if it proves to be shallow, 
 that is, about the depth of two feet, or not ex- 
 ceeding three, your sport may be better; bait 
 your hook witli three large gentles ^ use a cork* 
 Jioaty be very attentive and strike at the very first 
 bite ; :f there ^re any large dace in the milt-pool^ 
 they will resort to the eddy between the two 
 streams. 
 
 This fish, like the roach is gregarious, hauntt 
 the same places, is a great breeder, very lively, 
 and durmg the summer is very fv)nd of frolicing 
 near the suiface of the water; it is seldo n above 
 ten inches long, and has been taken of o.ie 
 pound and a half weight. 
 
 JN, 13t Whenever you fish for roach or dace^ 
 
 H 
 
74 BKST S AK T OF AN(iLl NG. 
 
 at ground, without }ou use a ground bait, the at- 
 tempt is almost useless ; after great heats, wheu 
 the weather gets cool, you will be sure to hav^. 
 good sport. 
 
 The hooks, No. U or 1 2, 
 
 GOBI us FLUFIATJLIS, 
 
 The Gudgeon ; is a fish that affords the youn|^ 
 angler an amazing deal of diversion ; being one 
 that bites very free, and when struck is never lost, 
 t)tcau»c he is a leaiher-rnoutlied fish. They spawn 
 three or four times in the summer, and their feed- 
 ing is like the barbel's, in the streams and on 
 gravel, slightingall manner of flies Their baits 
 are chiefly wmps^ gentles, and cads^ but the small 
 red-zeorm is best. When you angle for them, be 
 provided with a gudgeon-iake, with which rake 
 the ground every ten minutes, which gathers 
 them together. A single-haired line is best, with 
 '^ quill or cork float, ac cording to the rapidity of 
 the stream ; your hook, ISo, 8 or 9> and your 
 bait on the ground. You may angle for him 
 with a running line, by hand, without a float. 
 
 The gudgeon is of a small size ; those few, 
 liowever, that are caught in the Kt'////e^and Coie, 
 are three times ihe weight of those taken eise- 
 where. One was once taken near Uxbridge, 
 that weighed ha fa pound. 
 
 The author " Un Anghug in the liitex Ttenty^ 
 gives us a new method of catching them : he 
 iirst desires us, " never to continue in the water 
 iongy though he haa been in it for six hours logi" 
 i/W;" he then observes with his usual circum- 
 aipection, " that the best isoay >f catching them, iS 
 bij going into the water, and staling up the baud 
 and giuveiJ* This surely may be teraKd gad*- 
 
geofi'iu .ling more iiiaii guig^Oi-jUking : Pi^tkup^ 
 they nre of a (hffertrit bpecieo in ihe Trent than lu 
 ike T/iam:s, S)X. c>t. // 
 
 FEliCA FLUriATlLISy MTXOR SEU ATTHAT.l^ 
 
 The Pope oi* Ilu(j\ tbis fisli with a- double 
 name, is small, and rarely grows bigger timn u , 
 gudgeoii ; in shape very like the perch, but ii 
 better food, being in the taste as pleasant as any 
 fish wliatever- 
 
 It is armed witti spines like the perch, but 
 has only one back fin. It is oF a dirty green, 
 almost transparent, and spotted W4th black. It 
 seldom exceeds six inches in length. 
 
 His haunls are in the deepest running parts of a 
 gravelly river, the exact bottom wdiereof, having 
 found by plumbing, bait your hooks vvith smad 
 red'Z^orms or brandlings; for you may angle with 
 two or three, and have excellent sport. He bites 
 very greedily, and as they swim in shoals^ you 
 may catch twenty or thirty at one standing, in 
 a cool, gloom\^ day. Aiways bait the ground 
 with earth, and use the same tackle as for the 
 gudgeon. The river Yare'm ^orfolk^ is uhnos»t 
 peculiar for plenty of ruffs. 
 
 Hook, Kg, 9. 
 
 ^LBUJiNUS, 
 
 The Bleak or B/ej/,* on account of its eager-^ 
 ness to catch flies, is called by some the river^ 
 swallow, and by others the fresh-zcater sprat, 
 because of its resemblance to the sea-bprat. He 
 bites very eagerly at all sorts of zvormSyJUes^ 
 pastes, and cheep's blood. You may fish for him 
 with six or seven small hooks at a time. He rs 
 H 2 
 
76 BEi«.T's AKT OF ANGLING 
 
 an eAcelitiii lisli to initiate a young angler in 
 Jiy-Jti^^ni'gf by his whipping for them in a hot 
 siaiimer^s evening, with a small artificial black 
 gnat. Yonr tackle must be fine and neatly 
 formed. He is a capital bait for the pike. 
 
 Hook, Ko. 13. 
 
 'J he bleak seldom exceeds five or six inches in 
 length ; artificial pearls are made with the scales 
 of this fish, and of the dace. They are beaten 
 into a fine powder, then diluted with water, and 
 introduced into a thin glass bubble, v»hich i» 
 afterwards filled with wax. The French wer© 
 the inventors of this art. Dr. Lister says, that 
 T-'hen he was at Paris, a certain artist used in 
 €ne winter, thirty hampers full gf fish in tbift 
 inanufacture. 
 
 VATtlVS^ SEU PIIOXINUS LJEVJS, 
 
 The Minnow or Pink; though one of the 
 smallest fishes, is as excellent a fish to eat as any 
 of the most frimed. They are generally found in 
 iMaich and April, and remain nil the cold wea- 
 ther compels them to retire to their winter-quar- 
 ters. He is of a greenish, or wavy sky colour, his 
 telly very w'hite, his back blackish ; and is a most 
 excellent bait for any of the fish of prey : namdy, 
 the pike, trout, perch, &c. His bails are small 
 TecUtconns, wa.'^psj cads, &:c. ]f you can catch 
 enough of th(=m, they will make an excellent tan- 
 sey, their heads and tails being cut oflf; and fried 
 in eogs, w ith a sauce made of butter, sugar, and 
 verjnice. The smallest of hooks. The minnow 
 is a most killing bait for the large trout^ percli^ 
 and chub. 
 
TH K I.OACH, &C. / 7 
 
 COBITES FLUriATItIS BARBATULA, 
 
 The Loach or Locke ; this fish is very sma;l, 
 but eats very well, and is nourishing food for 
 sick persons. 
 
 Tlie loach is the first genus of abdominal 
 
 fishes^ or those which have the ventral fins behind 
 
 the pectoral, that is, nearer the tail, as in the 
 
 salmon. It never exceeds four inches in length. 
 
 He is found in clear swift brooks and rivu- 
 lets, and his food is gravel. He is bearded like 
 the barbel, and freckled with black and w^hite 
 spots. You may take him with a red-zvormy at 
 ground ; he delights to be near the gravel, there- 
 fore is hardly ever seen on the top of the water.. 
 
 The smallest of hooks. 
 
 GOBIO FLUFIATJLIS^ 
 
 The Bull-head, or Miller' s-thumh; this fish,ou 
 account of its uglmess, is in some places called 
 the fiesh-zmter devil; he has a broad head and a 
 large mouth, no teeth, but Uis lips are like a file, 
 witn which he nibbles at the bait. They spaw^n 
 in April, and are full of spawn most of the sum- 
 mer. Their haunts in summer are chiefly in 
 holes, or amongst stones in clear-water ; but in 
 winter they lie in the mud like the eel. The 
 worst of anglers may take this fish ; for if you 
 look above the water in a hot day, you may see 
 him sunning himself on a fiat stone, put )OUi: 
 hook upon it, ba.ted with a small rerf- iorm, and 
 he will take it directly. The taste of thi^fisii iis 
 Tery good. 
 Hook; No. 13. 
 
78 rkst's akp of angfjng. 
 
 PI SCI S ACULEATUS VULGARIS^ SEU PUNGITIUS 
 ALBERT I J 
 
 The Stickleback, Sharpling, or Burnt ickle; this- 
 fish, with three names, as lie is called b}^ in diffe- 
 rent counties, is a small prickly fish, and not 
 M'orth the angler's notice, in regard to himself, 
 but that he is an excellent bait for the trout,who 
 "vvill take it sooner than the minnow. His-prickles^ 
 must be broke off, and baited according to the 
 directions given for baiting the minnow, under 
 the description of the trout. 
 
 In the fens of Lincolnshire, they are found irt 
 such numbers, that they are used to manure the 
 land. Tliere are three species of them, the 
 common, or three spiried, the ten spined, and the 
 Jifteen spined. The two first seldom reach the- 
 iength of two inches, the latter sometimes grows, 
 to that of six, and is found in the sea only. 
 
 N. B. The tackle, baits, 8cc. for this fish^ and; 
 the foregoing ones, must be the same,, and very 
 fine. 
 
 There are three fishes which I omitted in the 
 first edition, and what angler^ in general seldom/ 
 meet with, because they are Ibcal, and peculiar 
 to certain waters ;. but as they are held in high 
 estimation where they are taken, I shall de- 
 scribe them as well as I can for the reader's in*- 
 formation. 
 
 "^ALBULAr SALMONT SIMIZTS, 
 
 The Guiiiniad; according toCamden and others,. 
 is peculiar to Pembk'-Met^ in. Cheshire. " The 
 
 * Huhe-water Rshtrmtn^ in 1775, toak near eight thousaad 
 U.oi\Q draught, it is about tkveA inches long,, 
 
THE RED CllARK. 79 
 
 river Dee (says this author) which runs by Clies^ 
 ter, springs in Merionethshire, and it runs to- 
 wards Chester ; it passes through the said Femdie-^ 
 Meie, which is a large water, and it is observed, 
 that though the river Dee abounds with sabnOTiy 
 and Fembfe-Mere with guinmad, yet there are 
 never any salmons caught in the iUere, nor any 
 gidnniads in the river J' . 
 
 VM'BRA MINOR GESIST — THE RED CHARR, OR 
 WELCH TORGOCU. 
 
 The red charr is a fish whose make is longer 
 ^nd more slender than that of a trout, for one 
 of about eight inches long w^as no more thanaa 
 inch and a half broad. The back is of a greenislx 
 olive, spotted with white. The belly, about the 
 breadth of half an inch, is painted with red, ia 
 some of a more lively, in others of a paler colour,, 
 ftnd in some, especially the female, it is quite 
 -white. The, scales are small, and the lateral lines 
 straight. The mouth is wide, the jaws pretty 
 equal, except the lower, which is a little sharp- 
 er and more protuberant than the upper. The 
 lower part of the fins are of a. vermilion dye^ 
 The gills are quadruple, and it has teeth both in 
 the jaws and on the tongue ;. in the upper jaw 
 there is a double row of them,. The swimming- 
 bladder is like that of a trout; the liver is not 
 divided into lobes ; the gall-bladder is large ; the 
 heart triangular ; the spleen small and blackish ; 
 and the eggs of the spawn large and round. The 
 flesh is more soft and tender than that of a trout, 
 and when, boiled can scarcely be allowed to be* 
 ued, l;t is in: the highest esteem where known, 
 and ia Wales is accounted the chief dish at the^ 
 tables of people of fashion*. 
 
80 BJ st's art of angling. 
 
 The chief place in England where this tibh is 
 taken is Winander-Mere : hut in Ifaies they are 
 to be had in five different places, viz. Llamher- 
 vis, LUu' Umber, Festiniog^ and Beit us, in Caer^ 
 narvonshhe, and near Casageddor, in Merioneth^ 
 shire. In this last county they are smaller than 
 in the former, and are taken in October ; but in 
 Carnaivons/iire, in one of the lakes, they are 
 caught in November; in another in December, 
 and in the third in January, and when the fishing 
 in one ends, it begins in another. Dr. Leigh 
 says the Charr, in Consington-Mere, wliich is 
 not far from IVinander-Mere, are much better, 
 but there are reasons to suppose he was preju- 
 diced in this article. According to Camden, the 
 latter Mere is the largest standing water in this 
 kit>gdom, being ten miles in length ; and some 
 say it is as smooth at the bottom as if it was 
 paved with polished marble. They swim to- 
 gether in shoaJs, and though they appear on the 
 surface of the water in the summer-time, yet 
 t^liey will not suffer themselves to be taken, 
 either with the angle, or with nets ; therefore 
 the only season for fishing is w^hen they resort to 
 the shallow parts of the lakes to spawn : at these 
 times they set trammel nets, baited, and leave 
 them for whole days and nights, into which the 
 fish enter of their own accord. 
 
 *CjiRP10 LACUS BENACI — TBE GUILT, OR 
 GILT CHARR. 
 
 The Latin writers called the Gilt Char, Car^ 
 pio lucm Benaci, because they imagined it was 
 
 • The inhabitants of Westmoreland distinguish the charrs 
 into different kinds accordiPg to tb«ii colours j bur tUey appcijf 
 )o be lathei Yarietks. 
 
THE GILT CHAKK. Si 
 
 ©nly to be met with in that particular lake, 
 ^vhere it is called Roetel ; but it has since ap- 
 peared to be the same fish with our gill charr, 
 which is bred in Winander-Meiey in the county 
 of Westmoreland. It is pro[)ortionably broader 
 than the trout, and the belly is more prominent ; 
 but its length, when greatest, never exceeds 
 twelve inches : the scales are small, the colour 
 of the back is more lively than that of the trout, 
 and is beautified with black spots, the belly and 
 sides, beneath the lateral line, are of a bright 
 silver colour; the skull is transparent, and the 
 snout blueish : it has teeth in the lower jaw, on 
 the palate and the tongue; the swimming-blad- 
 der is extended the whole length of the back^ 
 and the gall-bladder is large. The flesh of the 
 gilt charr is red, and is accounted so very deli- 
 cious amongst the Italians, that they say it ex- 
 cels all other pond and sea-fish whatever ; and 
 they esteem the nature of it so wholesome, that 
 they allow sick persons to eat it. 
 
 Some have doubted \^hether the WeJih and 
 Ettg/ish fish are of the same, kind or not ; but 
 Mr. Raij thinks there is no room to make a 
 doubt of it. The Welch name Totgoch, signifies 
 a red belly, which distinguishes the lied Charr 
 properly enough ; the Gilt Charr i-, indeed, 
 quite a different species, and is about twic.^ as 
 gmcill as the red : the belly of the former is red, 
 the flesh white, and the spv>ts on rtie back white 
 likewise; whereas the belly of the latter is of a 
 silver colour, the flesh red, and the back is 
 spotted with black. 
 
 *' The charr and guinniad never change their shires^ 
 ♦* But live ia Winander and l^emble-Meers*" 
 
^*2 B K ?»t's a liT OF ANGLING 
 
 BOLD yiND SILFi'JR FISHES. 
 
 These fish are quite naturalized in Europe, and 
 breed as fVeely iu the open wtuers as theeommori 
 rarp. They were first iutri)duced into Lnglaud 
 ftbout the year i^Q!, but were not generally 
 known till 1728, when a great number were 
 brought over, and presented first to Sir Matthew 
 IJekker, and by him circulated round the neigli- 
 bourhood of London, Vvhetice they have beeu 
 «iistributed to most parts of the country. In 
 China the most beautiful kinds are taken in a 
 small lake in the province of Che-tbyang. Every 
 person of fashion keeps them for amusement, 
 either in porcelain vessels, or in the small basons 
 that decorate the courts of the Cliinese houses. 
 The beauty of their colours, and their lively mo- 
 tions, give great entertainnjent, especially to the 
 ladies, whose pleasures, by reason of the cruel 
 
 folicy of that country, are extremely limited.— 
 n form of the body, they bear a great resemb- 
 lance to a Carp. They have been known ia 
 Europe to arrive at the length of eight inches ; 
 in their native place they are said to grow to the 
 size of our largest herring. Their nostrils are 
 tubular, and form a sort of appendages above 
 the nose; the dorsal fin and the tail vary greatly 
 In shape ; the tail is naturally bifid, but in many 
 is trihd, and in some even quad rifid ; the anal 
 fins are the strongest characters of this species, 
 being placed not behind one anotber as in other 
 fish, but opposite each other, like the ventral 
 fins. Theircolours vary greatly; some are marked 
 with a fine blue; with brov/n, and with bright 
 silver; but the genend predominant colour h 
 gold, of a most auiazing splendor ; but theic 
 
jcoiois and roiin need noi be dv.eit on, since 
 llio^e ulio vvuiit tlie i ppoiiuiuty ot seeing liie 
 livuig ii:ih, may survey iticm exprcssea in tiie 
 must auiiaated mauntr in die vvoikg ul Air, 
 
 CHAP, VI. 
 
 The most scientijic method of making Fish-ponds, 
 S teres, S^c» to which in added several Arcana m 
 the Art of Jngling. 
 
 It is agreed, that those grounds are best that 
 are full oi sprnigs, and apt to be nioonsh r 
 the one breeds iheui weii, and the other prefcervet 
 them from being stolen. 
 
 '1 he situation ot' the pond is also to be consi- 
 deied, and ibe Laiure ol tiie currents tliat tail into 
 it; hkewise that it be letVeshed with a iittli 
 brook, or with rain-uater tliai iahs troin \h<k 
 adjacent hilly ground. And that those pondi 
 winch receive tlicfetaie and dung ot' horses, breed 
 ihe largest and iattest iishes. 
 
 In making the pond, observe that the head 
 be at the lowest part of the ground, and the 
 trench of the flood-gate, or sluice, has a good 
 *wiit fall, that it ma^ not be long in emptying* 
 
 If tlie pono carries six feet of \v;jtei u \% 
 cnotgh \ but it must be eight feei deep, to re* 
 ceive tlie freshes and rains that &t>ould fall 
 into It. 
 
 It would be also advantageous to have shoals 
 «5n the sides, foi the iishes to &un thcn»sCi\L> in, 
 and lay their spawu on j besiUes iu ottiei piiioea 
 
8i BKb IS ARr OF ANGLING. 
 
 certain boles, hoilow banks, slieives, roots of 
 trees, islands, ik.c. to serve as their retiring places. 
 Consider, further, whether your pond be a breed- 
 er ; if so, never expect any lar^e curpa from 
 thence ; the greatness of the number of spazvn 
 overstocking ihe pond. 
 
 Mr. Tally in order to prevent the excessive in- 
 crease of fish in his ponds, first practised cas- 
 tration on them, which made them grow larger 
 than their usual size. But I think the operation 
 peculiarly cruel, and the purposes of it only a de- 
 testable piece of i\p*'cian reHnement. 
 
 For large carps a store-pond is ever accounted 
 best ; and to make a breeding-pond become a 
 store-pond, see what quantity o^ carps it will con- 
 tain ; tht n put in all milters or ail spaz&ners; where- 
 by in a little time you may have carps that are 
 both large and exceedingly fat. Thus by put- 
 ting in one sex, there is an impossibility of the 
 increase of them ; yet the roaches, notwithstand- 
 ing this precaution, will multiply. Reserve some 
 great waters for tht head-quarters of the fishes, 
 whence you may take, or wherein you may put, 
 any quantity thereof. And be sure to have stevv^ 
 and other auxiliary Waters, so as you may convey 
 any part of the stock from one to the other; sq 
 to lose no time in the growth of the fishe>, but 
 employ your water as you do your land to th€ 
 best advantage. View the grounds, and find out 
 some fall between the hilis, as near a flat as may 
 be, so as to leave a proper current for the water. 
 If there be any dilficulty of judging of such, 
 take an opportunity, after some sudden rain, or 
 breaking up of a great snow \i\ winter, and you 
 will plainly ste which way the ground casts, Idr 
 the water will take the true full, aad ruu accord* 
 ingly. 
 
MAKING FISH PONDS, &C. 85 
 
 The condition of the place must determine th^ 
 quantity of the ground to be covered with water* 
 For example, I may propose in all fifteen acres in 
 three ponds, or eight acres in two, and not less ; 
 md these ponds should be placed one above an- 
 other, so as the point of the lower may almost 
 reach the head or bank of the upper, which con- 
 trivance is no less beautiful than advantageous. 
 
 The head, or bank, which by stopping the cur- 
 rent^ is to raise the water, and so make a pond, 
 must be built with the clay or earth taken out of 
 the pan or hollow, dug in the lowest ground above 
 the bank : the shape of the pan to be a half oval, 
 whereof the flat to come to the bank, and the 
 longer di':"^eter to run square from it. 
 
 For two .arge ponds, of three or four acres a* 
 piece, it is ad v; sable to have four stews, each two 
 rods wide, and ; aree long. The stews are usually 
 in gardens, or near the house, to be more handy 
 and better looked to. The method of making 
 them, i^ to carry the bottom in a continual de- 
 cline from one end, with a mouth to favour the 
 drawing them with a net. 
 
 It is proper to :t in bavins in some places not 
 far from the sides, : li the most sandy spots, for the 
 fishes to spawu upon, and to defend the young fry, 
 especially the spawn of carps and tench. 
 
86 bi:st's art of angling. 
 
 - AMCAMA 
 THE ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 J'O CATCH FISMEIS* 
 
 Take Coculus Indicus^ which is a poisonous 
 narcotic, called also hacc^p piscatorice^ fisher's ber- 
 ries, and pound them in a mortar, then make balls 
 of the paste which will be produced (by adding a 
 sufficient quantity of water) about the size of a 
 pea, and throw them into a standing-water ^ the 
 fish that taste of it will be very soon intoxicated, 
 and will rise and lie on the surface of the watery 
 put your landing-net under them, and take them 
 out, 
 
 Coculus Indicus is a little berry, about as big 
 as a bay-berry, but more of a kidney shape, hav- 
 ing a wrinkled outside, with a seam running 
 lengthways from the back to the navel : it is of 
 a bitterish taste, being the fruit of a tree describ- 
 ed in the seventh volume of the Hortus Mala- 
 laricusy under the name of Naslatum^ bearing 
 leaves in the shape of a heart, and bunches of 
 five-leaved white flowers, which are succeeded 
 by their berries. They grow in Malabar in the 
 East Indies, They are seldom used in physic^ 
 being accounted to be of a hurtful and pernici- 
 ous nature, but their principal use is for catching 
 fishes: the famous Cardan^s celebrated receipt 
 
TO CATCH FISHES. 8? 
 
 for this purpose runs thus : take off the berrieS 
 of the Oriental Cocus^ a quarter of an ounce ; of 
 cumin and boiling water, each two ounces ; of 
 cheese, one ounce, and of meal three ounces; 
 after bruizing them, together, form them into 
 small balls. Oihers mix the berries with old 
 cheese, honey, and wheaten meal, of which they 
 form small balls, to be thrown to fishes. Others 
 for this purpose mix a variety of other substances 
 with these berries ; but after all their pains there 
 is no necessity for so troublesome an apparatus, 
 since I have known by experience, says Ray, 
 that a simple ball of the pow^der of these intox- 
 cating berries, made up with wheaten meal and 
 water, is equally efficacious for stupifying, and 
 at last killing fishes ; for that fishes, as some as* 
 sert, are by eaten balls of this kind only ren^ 
 idered vertiginous and stupid for a while, but 
 soon return to their natural state, is not confirm- 
 ed by experience; for my own experience, says 
 Mr. Ray, quadrates with the opinion of those 
 fishes spoken of by the learned Condronchius, 
 who affirms that fishes are soon killed by balls 
 of this kind. But I do not know whether, a« 
 they assert, they soon become putrid, and fall 
 into pieces^ unless they are speedily taken out of 
 the water. If, says Condronchius, any should 
 object, that, upon taking these balls, the fishes 
 «wim up and down with uncommon haste and pre- 
 cipitation, by which means their intoxication, or 
 tvertigo is produced ; I answer, that they do not 
 ramble thus in coiisequence of their vertigo, but 
 in consequence of the intolerable pain they feel 
 from that unfriendly -substance; just as other 
 animals do, especially men, when they are racked 
 with any intense pain. I readily grant that by 
 iUese i)^Us fishes are rendered vertiginous, and 
 I ^ 
 
88 best's art of angling. 
 
 as it were intoxicated ; but at the same time, I 
 ajBirm, that they are soon after killed ; for I am 
 not much of an opinion that they are rendered 
 vertiginous, and killed by the bitter and acrid, 
 or by some hitherto unknown qualities of these 
 berries. I will not, however, take upon me to 
 determine, whether fishes killed in this manner 
 may be safely eaten, but with Condronchius, I 
 am of opinion, that no danger attends the use of 
 them as an aliment, if they are gutted and boil- 
 ed as soon as taken. That these berries are hot, 
 and by no means cold, as all opiates certainly are, 
 as also Matthiolus, and others maintain, not- 
 withstanding their narcotic quality, is sufficientr 
 ly obvious from their acrid and bitter taste, as 
 also by the other effects produced by them, as 
 Condronchius has evidently demonstrated. This 
 same author is of opinion, that these berries are 
 by no means possessed of a poisonous and dele- 
 terious quality, and it is not by this, but by their 
 bitterness and primary qualities, that fishes are 
 killed ; but the contrary to me seems plain, from 
 a story related by Arnatus. A certain school- 
 master asking for cubebs from an ignorant apo- 
 thecary, received these berries in their stead. 
 When the school-master had devoured three or 
 four of them, he was seized with a nausea, hic- 
 cough, and anxiety, which symptoms together 
 with the danger they threatened, were immedi- 
 ately removed by administering a vomit : the 
 reasoning is weak, and more about words than 
 facts, and may be equally said of opium 5 the 
 absurdity of which is evident to all who know 
 the nature and operation of hypnotics. 
 
 This description of the Oriental Cocus, I am 
 indebted to the late ingenious Dr. Cook for, but 
 I must beg leave to make some observations, 
 
TO CATCH Fl-tlES. 89 
 
 which seem to have escaped the Doctor, and the 
 ^grcat authorities that he has quoted. 
 
 1 . r know from actual experience, that there 
 iieeds no other process for making these berries 
 <tUpy than that which I have set <lown 5 as for the 
 wheaten-meal, which Mr. Ray mentions, it is to- 
 tally useless, the plain berries pounded, and made 
 into a paste by adding water, being a sufficient 
 preparation, 
 
 2. It not only depends upon the size of the 
 fishes, but upon the quantity of the paste which 
 they pick up, which makes these berries kill the 
 ijshes, or only renders ihem vertiginous or intoxi* 
 ^ated I If you take them out with a landing-net, 
 and put them into a sufficient quantity of water, 
 those will soon recover who have only bad a 
 small share of the paste, and may be eaten when 
 well gutted and cleaned, with the greatest safety, 
 
 S. That these berries are of a deleterious nature, 
 is sufficiently obvious by what has been said be- 
 fore^ A porter- brewer in London, some time 
 ago, forfeited a considerable sura for fining his li- 
 quor with these berries. It is but necessary to 
 %now these secrets; but I am sure no true lover 
 of angling will ever make use of them ; only by 
 'being acquainted with them, it will enable him 
 to detect poachers, and I hope when he meets 
 -with any, that he will put in full force the laws 
 against them, so judiciously appropriated to clear 
 the country of such a s^t of rascals. 
 
 ^G TAKM.Ji PiKE AS HE LIES BASKJNC, i^" 
 MdflCli OJl AUGUST. 
 
 Take a long pole or rod, that is light and 
 straight, and on the small end fasten a running 
 
 ,i .3 
 
90 . best's art of ANGLIISG. 
 
 loop of tvMsted horse-hair and silk^ of a large 
 compass ; which gently draw five or six inches 
 over th.c gills, and then hoist him to shore as 
 quick as possible. If it is a small one draw it not 
 on so far; keep very silent ; you may also take 
 him with a hand-net, by putting it under him 
 very gently, and then taking him up as quick at 
 you can. 
 
 OINTMENTS TO ALLURE FISHES TO BITE. 
 
 As many of my brother anglers may wish to try 
 the efficacy of chemicals, towards encreasing their 
 pastime, I here present them with a few re- 
 ceipts, and leave them to make their trials as they 
 please. 
 
 Take gum-ivy, and put a good deal of it into 
 a box made of oak, and chafe and rub the inside 
 of it with this gum. When you angle put three 
 or four worms into it, but they must not remain 
 there long, for if they do, it will kill them ; then 
 take them out and fish v/ith them, putting more 
 in their places as you want them out of your worm 
 ^bag. Gum- ivy is tears which drop from the body 
 of large ivy-trees, being wounded^ and is of a yel- 
 lowish .red colour, of a strong scent, and sharp 
 taste ; that which is sold in the shops is counter- 
 feit, and good for nothing. Therefore, to get 
 gum-ivy about Michaelmas, or in the spring, 
 drive several great nails into large ivy-stalks, wrig- 
 gle the same till they become very loose, and let 
 them-remain, and the gum will issue thereout. 
 
 Also slit several great ivy-stalks, at the time 
 above-mentioned, and viyt them once a month, 
 and gather the gum which flows from the wound- 
 
TO CATCH FISH' S. 91 
 
 cd part. This will very much improve the ang- 
 ler's success. Probatum est. 
 
 Take -assafoetida, three drachms^ camphor, one 
 ditto, Venice turpentine, one ditto, pound alto- 
 gether in a mortar, with some drops of the che- 
 mical oil of lavender, or spike. When you angle, 
 anoint eight inches of your line with it, next 
 your hook, and it is excellent for trout in muddy 
 •water, and for gudgeons in clear. Probatum 
 est. 
 
 Assafoetida grows in Media, Lybia, and 
 Syria J it is a gummy^juice of Laser, Laserpi- 
 tium, or Sylphion, gathered from the root or 
 stalk when cut open ; choose that which is pure, 
 fine, and clammy, and smelUng almost like garlic. 
 It will keep many years, but is often aimlterated 
 by mixing meal, bran, and the gum Segapenum 
 together. 
 
 Camphor is a resinous gum, partly flowing of 
 its own accord, but chiefly by incision, from a 
 tall tree growing in India: the Bornean Camphor 
 is best. Choose that which is white and clear like 
 chrystal, strong-scented, will easily crumble be- 
 tween the fingers, and being set on fire is diflicult 
 to be extinguished. There is a fictious sort, 
 .which being put into a hot loaf will parch, but 
 the true will melt : it will keep many years in 
 flax-seed if it is not exposed to the air, otherwise 
 it will evaporate and consume to nothing. 
 
 Mr. Walton, in his Complete Angler, says, 
 that if you dissolve gum-ivy in oil of spike, anoint 
 your bait for a pike with it, that he will take it 
 the sooner. 
 
 I shall now give the reader the ne plus ultra of 
 all these kind of ointments, composed by Mons. 
 Charras^ apothecary-royal io Louis the Fourteenth. 
 Take cat's fat, heron's fat, and the best assafc*- 
 
SS B E S t's art of a N G L I SG, 
 
 tiia, of each two drachms, mtammy, -Sneiy pow^ 
 tiered, ditto, cummin seed, finely powdered, two 
 iSCrMples, m^d camphor, galb^num and Venice 
 turpentine, of each one drachm, and civet tw® 
 'grains. Make them, secundum artem^ into a 
 thinnish ointment, with the chemical oils of 
 lavender, anniseed, and camomile, and keep it 
 m a narrowvqiouthed, and well-glazed gallipot, 
 covered with a bladder and leather, and it will 
 ifeeep tvv© years. When you want to use it, pat 
 •^o^e into a sm^ll taper pewter box, and anoiat 
 your bait with it, and about eight or nine inches 
 ^of the line, and when it is washed off, repeat the 
 ^Wiction. JProbatumesL 
 
 ** All arts and shapes, the wily ang^br tii«s 
 '«* To^^loak his fraud, and tempt the finny pri^c : 
 '** 'r^cii sight, iheii- smell, l]e carefully explores, 
 , -♦< And43lends the dm legist's and the chemist's stores ?> 
 ^ Devising stijl, with fancy ever new, 
 '^'-Pastes, oflsj.and m^i^ueats, t)feach scent and hwnf 
 
 Til order to make a goo<^ hook, ttere at'e re- 
 jfjuisiti'j a kammt?', ^ hiije^ a pair of pinc^rs^ au 
 nvon semi-cleam, a ^/^, a wresiy a bender^ tongs'. 
 330th long and short;, an anvil^ and &teei needies 
 of different sizes. Htat a needle of the size yon 
 -want, in a eharcoal fire, and raise the beard with 
 •your knife, then let H cool. Sharpen the pointy 
 -^either with a Hie or (►n a grindstone, then put it 
 into the iire again^ and bend it into what shape 
 you please; make the upper part of the shank 
 ■four square, and file the eilges smooth, then put 
 it into the fire a third time, ^nd heat^t gently.: 
 take it out suddenly and plunge it into water, aisid 
 vour -qperation h finished^ 
 
A GLUE FOR ANGIING-EODS. QS 
 
 Use not a small hook for great baits, nor a larg^ 
 oneforsMiall ones: — Barbels and chubs masl. have 
 large ones, but perches^ tenches^ hrearnsj and eels^ 
 much smaller. Trouts in clear waters, g'*'^yli^gs^ 
 salmon-smelt Sf roach and dace^ ruffs and gudgeons^ 
 must have small hooks ^ and, though many angle 
 for trouts with large hooks in thick waters, yet 
 small ones are the best. Experience will point 
 out the inconvenience of large hocks. The noble 
 salmon alone must have a large one. 
 
 A GLUE FOR ANGLING-nODSf 
 
 Pour some water on some quick-lime, until the 
 ebullition ceases, then pour the water from it^ 
 and boil your glue very gently with this water, 
 and it will make a very good glue, 
 
 J. RECEIPT THAT RENDERS LEATHER MORM 
 CAPABLE TO KEEP OUT WET. 
 
 As dry feet are very necessary to heahh, I have 
 copied an excellent receipt for the angler's use, 
 that win prevent his boots or shoes letting in wa- 
 ter. Take a pint of linseed-oil, with halt a pound 
 of mutton suet, six or eight ounces of bees-wax, 
 and half pennyworth of rosin; boil all these in a 
 pipkin together, and then let it cool till it be luke- 
 warm ; take a little hair brush, and lay it on your 
 boots; but it is much better to be laid on the 
 leather before the boots are made, and brushed 
 with it once over when they are ; as for your old 
 boots or shoes, you must brush them with it, 
 when they are dry. As I am now acting the part 
 of physician, let me advise you, whenever vou 
 are out in the heat of summer, fishing, and are 
 thirsty, never to drink water, as the consequen* 
 ees arising from such an indiscretioa may prove 
 
94 BKST S ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 fatal; but, either take a little brandy or rum out 
 with you, in a wicker bottle, or wait till you come 
 to some house where you can have a little : the 
 effects it has of querching the thirst, and cooling 
 the body, are instantaneous. 
 
 The angler being i.ow Furnished with' every re* 
 quisite for the art of ground-angling, his strictly 
 adhering to ^he theory laid ucv ii, in his practice, 
 is the only thing he has to do, and he may de- 
 pend on his eiichavours b^^ing crow -'.d wiih sue* 
 cess. The seccnJ part of his little essay, will 
 treat of artificial fyfihmg, under ev2ry head 
 that can prove of utility to the angler; which 
 <;ertainly bears the bell in that delightful recrea* 
 tion^ that adds strength and vigour to ^he body, 
 keeps the mind in a perfect state of sereizity 4nd 
 triuiqiiiility, and alleviates the cares and troubles 
 attendant pn mortality. 
 
 Jn«hor:t, howdehghtful is every species of this 
 4iv«rsiGu, in such a paradise as the Poet describes: 
 
 Behind, ^vhere alders from the weather sc4*een. 
 Before, the lawn presents its lengthened scene : 
 Close on that side trills soft the emptying br^oJc, 
 While this fresh \Yv:>ods and sloping bills oerloo^; 
 Tihick over head the rose and woodbine meet. 
 Uniting shade to shade, and sweet to sweet : 
 The pea and blooming bean their odours yield, 
 Afid new-mown hay perfumes the fragrant field. 
 To hear the nightirigal^ delights the meads, 
 i^«d grasshoppers diirp shrill amid the reeds : 
 While from the pinfold, there, the bleating sheep 
 Cheer the still twilight, and divert from sjeepj 
 The gale', perfume, the echo's mimic sound, 
 Th«inight bird's song, and lowing kine around i 
 111 vholiow banks tht; hum of must' ring bees^ 
 Aad zephyrs whisp'ting soft amid the trees, 
 
 .£N,D OF THE flRSJ PART. 
 
PART ir. 
 
 THE 
 
 COMFJLETE FJLY-FISHEE! 
 
 OK, 
 
 EVERYMAN HIS OWN FLY-MAKER. 
 
 "With pliant rod athwart the pebbled brook. 
 
 Let me with judgment cast the feathered hook> 
 
 Silent along the mazy margin ?tray, 
 
 And with a fur-wrought fly delude the prey* 
 
 To frame the little animal, provide 
 
 All the gay hues that wait on ft male pride. 
 
 Let Nature guide thee : sometimes golden witfe 
 
 The shining bellies of the fly require ; 
 
 The peacock's plumes thy tackle must not fail> 
 
 Nor the dear purchase of the sable*s tail. 
 
 lEach gaudy bi.'d some tender tribute brings, 
 
 And knds the growing insect proper v ings: 
 
 Silks of all colours must their aid impart, 
 
 And every fur promote the fishct's art, 
 
 GA¥. 
 
THB 
 
 COMPLETE FLY-FISHER. 
 
 CHAP L 
 
 Ohsenutiom concerning Artificial Fly^Anglingf 
 with proper Directions for the Angler's Roas, 
 Lines, S^'c. 
 
 Th e art of artificial fly-fishing certainly has 
 the pre-eminence over the other various me- 
 thods that nre used to take fishes in the art of 
 angling. It requires a great deal of ingenuity 
 and attention, and the variety which attends it, 
 makes it at once both pleasant and agreeable. The 
 angler is not confined to any particular part of the 
 water in fly-fishing, but roves from one plade to 
 anotlier, trying his fortune, by throwing his flies 
 into the different eddies, and the most likely 
 places he meets with, to make a captive of the 
 speckled trout ; enjoying at the same time the 
 harmonious w^arblings of the numerous songsters 
 of the groves ; beholding the diversity of the 
 prospects spread around him, and gaining that 
 health and serenity of mind, not to be purchased 
 by all the riches in the universe. The imita- 
 tions of nature, in regard to the flies necessary 
 fur use ; suiting the different colours so exactly 
 K 
 
98 best's art of angling. 
 
 as to resemble the natural fly ; and observing the 
 greatest nicety in regard to its symmetry ; con- 
 tribute to make it still more delightful. When- 
 ever he makes a fly, let him have the natural one 
 always before him, which will enable him to be 
 a competent judge of the materials most neces- 
 sary to dub it with ; a list of which^ and of the 
 best way to make the Palmer and May-Jiy^ 
 (which are the ground of artificial fly-angling, 1 
 shall give him by and by ; for if he is not able to 
 make his own flies, he never will be a good fly- 
 fisher, nor experience that pleasure, which he will 
 receive by taking fishes with oneof hisow^nmak- 
 ing. Me must never think a fly ill made, because 
 it will not kill fishes as well in any other river as 
 that he particularly angles in ; because the same 
 flies differ very much both in colour and size in 
 different counties ; besides which,^2>5 that will 
 be taken on their peculiar water one year in 
 April, will not perhaps be taken in the next till 
 the middle of May, the whole depending oh the 
 warmth or coldness of the season. Mr. Taylor 
 in his treatise, where he describes the superiority 
 ^^ fiy-Jishing, to the other branches of angling, 
 with great humour observes, that the angler is 
 surprised at the manner in which the^.s^ take 
 t\\ejlies; and by seeing their surprize y when they 
 find they are hooked, by rising at the Jlies I!! I 
 shall now proceed to give the angler a descrip- 
 tion of the rods and lines, best calculated for 
 artificial fy'Jishijig ; but before I do, shall make 
 this one observation ; that theory, without prac- 
 tice, can never make a man a proficient. 
 
AKTIFICIAL FLY-FISHING, &C. 9;^ 
 
 HODS AND LINES PROPER FOR ARTIFICIAL FiF- 
 FISBING^ &e. 
 
 As for your artificial Jliz-rod, the directions 
 given in the first part of tliis treatise are suffi- 
 cient, only be careful that the materials which it 
 is composed of are ^rell seasoned, and free from 
 knotSj and that the whole is exactly perfect in 
 regard to symmetry. 
 
 The length of the fly-rod is generally from 
 about fourteen to seventeen feet long ; which is 
 long enough for any one who understands fly- 
 fishing to throw twelve yards of line, with one 
 hand» and seventeen with both. 
 
 To make a fly-rod, that will be exceedingly 
 neat and pleasant in hand, you must observe 
 the following method. 
 
 Procure a nice breadth of ash plank, free from 
 knots, perfectly sound, and about seven feet 
 long; let it be turned in the lath so as to run 
 taper from the but end, which should be so thick 
 and no more than you can with ease grasp in. 
 your hand ; then have it ferrelled, or bind it to 
 a piece of hazel seven feet long, and in exact 
 taper proportion to the ash.- As you may not be 
 ^ble to get a piece of hazel so long, that will run '^ 
 perfectly taper, it may consist of two or three 
 pieces ; then add to the hazel a nice piece of 
 yew (in the same proportion to the hazel as that 
 is to the ash) two feet long, made round, taper 
 and smooth, and to that, piece a bit of small, 
 round, and taper whale-bone, six inches long ; 
 then the rod will be completed ; and if just sym- 
 metry is observed through the whole, it will be 
 a most excellent one. 
 
 Some use deal for making the bottom of the 
 
 K 2 
 
100 best's akt of angling. 
 
 rod, because they say it is more light ; but I, in 
 answer to that aver, that it is not half so strong 
 nd lasting, and that the ash, on account of its 
 itrength, may be turned in the lath, or planed 
 rlowh to be every jot as light as the deal, and 
 f hat the angler, when he has hooked a good fish, 
 iieed never fear its snapping short, as deal will, 
 because it is the nature of the wood to bend 
 almost double, and will always, if well seasoned, 
 return to its former strailness. Let \'our rod, 
 thus made, be ringed for the line to pass through, 
 with small brass rings, about a foot distant from 
 each other, and at the but end let there be a spike 
 made to screw in, which you will find very con- 
 venient ; and you may, if you like to alter the 
 colour of your joint (though it does not signify 
 $o much in ash as in deal, whose whiteness 
 would scare the fish), first warm it before the 
 fire, and then dip a feather in aquafortis, put it 
 on the ash, and then chafe it in with your hand, 
 and it will make it a cinnamon, or rather a jmce, 
 or flea colour. 
 
 Your fly-line should be about thirty yards 
 Jong, and wound on a small brass multiplying 
 ivinch, w^bich is to be placed on tUe but of your 
 rod ; then you must run the line through the 
 rings before- mentioned, and you may always, 
 command the length without the trouble of 
 changing the line, and shorten it when you come 
 to places encumbered with wood. The general 
 length that you should have off your reel must 
 be about four yards longer than your rod, nay, 
 sometimes the line must be twice the length of 
 the rod ; for to fishjine and/cfr off is the standing 
 rule for trout fishing. But it will be a long time 
 befoi-e you are able to t4irow at dib-line with 
 nicety at the general length, yet as you c^u 
 
ARTIFICIAL FLY-FISHING, &C. 101 
 
 always lengthen or shorten it by means of the 
 %vinch, you may, if you are expert, and are a 
 true lover of angling, after some trials, accom- 
 plish it. Never incumber yourself with too 
 much line at first, but increase the length of it as 
 you find you make improvement; and as it is 
 ten to one, that you loose a fiy every time you 
 cast your line, until you are arrived at some 
 degree of perfection in doing it, it will not be 
 amiss to practice sometimes without one. But 
 let me return to the subject : your line should rua 
 taper from the top of your rod down to the fly, 
 that is, if the first link is composed of thirty-five 
 hairs, the next must be of thirty-four; so leaving 
 out one hair in each link, till the whole is com- 
 pleted; then comes the silk worm-gut, on which 
 you should whip all your hooks. 
 
 But the best lines for artificial fly angling 
 are those that are wove, and are all one piece, 
 and are to be hought at any of the shops in 
 London where fishing-tackle is sold, and run 
 taper like the lash of a coach whip, and may be 
 had at any lengfeli; as from thirty to forty 
 yards, 8cc. 
 
 These are the only lines that can be used on a 
 winch ; because they have no knots to prevent 
 them running gibly through the rings of the 
 rod. 
 
 By the line being made taper, you will be able 
 to throw it into any place you like with a grea- 
 ter exactness, and it will fall much lighter on 
 the water, which will very much increase your 
 sport. 
 
 The reader now being informed of the rod 
 and lines best calculated for artijicialfly-fishingy 
 I shall in the next chapter give him a list of the 
 materials he must be in possession of before he 
 
102 best's art of angling. 
 
 attempts to make flies, and afterwards give biin 
 the best instructions for making them. 
 
 The directions which I have given the angler 
 respecting his rods and lines, are the best I be- 
 lieve now extant ; however, I would advise every 
 young angler to make a purchase of his first 
 tackle at the London shops; he will there get 
 rods and other tackle in the highest perfection, 
 and neatness, which he should always be careful 
 to keep in good order ; and to never regard what 
 bunglers and slovens tell him ; but believe neat- 
 7iess in his tackle, and a nice and curious hand in 
 all his w^ork (particularly in fy-making) to be 
 absolutely accessary. 
 
 CHAP. ir. 
 
 A List of the Materials necessary for an Angler to 
 have^ and the best method to make the Palmer 
 Mud May-fly 
 
 JlOQ^S DorvK^ 
 
 Combed from the roots of the bristles of black, 
 red^ zMtish, and sandy-cohmed hogjs ; the 
 white down you may have dyed to any colour 
 you like. It is excellent dubbing, because it 
 Svill stand the water and shines well. To be a 
 competent judge of the real colour of any dub- 
 bing, you must hold it between the sun and your 
 eyes. This is a standing rule when you imitate 
 
camel's hair, &c. 103 
 
 &AMEL*S HAIR, 
 
 Of a dark and light colour^ and one in the 
 medium of both. 
 
 BADGER^ S HAIR / 
 
 The brown ^oh fur which is on the skin, and 
 the blackest. 
 
 BEAR S HAIR, 
 
 Gray^ dun, lightj and dark coloured, bright 
 brown f 'dndshming brown. 
 
 spaniel's HAIR, 
 
 From the different parts of a spaniel, especially 
 from behind the ear, brown, dark brown, light 
 brown, and black. 
 
 SHEEP^S rrooL^ 
 
 Of all colours, both natural and artificial j you 
 may have it dyed to any colour. 
 
 SEAL^S FUR, 
 
 To be had at the trunk-makers'; get it dyed 
 from the lightest to the darkest brown, and 
 you will find it much better dubbing than cow 
 or calves' hair. 
 
 MOHAIRS^ 
 
 Of all colours, black, blue, purple, zvhite, violet, 
 yellow, and tawneij,^hilomot, from feuilie ?norte, 
 
104 bist's aut of angling. 
 
 a deaf leaf; and Isabeliay which is a whitish yel- 
 low, or soiled buff-colour. 
 
 COW^S HAIRy 
 
 The softest you can get from a hlachy Iriiided, 
 and red cozi^ ; and of these colours, have brozcn^ 
 dark bron^n, light brown, and black. 
 
 colt's or CALF^S HAIRy 
 
 These afford very good dubbing, and a variety, 
 especially those liides that have been tewed, or 
 dressed in a skinner's lime-pit ; but, as I said be- 
 fore, seal's fur dyed is much better than either 
 cow's or either of the hairs of these two ; because 
 it is not so harsh, and does not require so much 
 trouble to work on the hook ; and observe fur- 
 ther, that this fur is for small flies^ and hog's 
 down for large ones. 
 
 CAMLETSy 
 
 Both hair and worsted of all colours, blue^yeU 
 lozCf dun, brozvn^ dark brozen, light brocon, red 
 violet, purple, black, hore-Jiesh, pinky and orange* 
 
 Off the squirrel, especially his tail ; a Iiarc, the 
 . part off ihe neck which is a whithered fern co- 
 lour ; foxcuh from the tail where it is downy and 
 of an ash colour; an old fox and old otter, otter- 
 cubyfutimart, or filmert : d.mole, a black cat's tail ; 
 a house-mouse^ and water-rat ; a marten, particn- 
 kirly from off the gills, or spots under the jaw^s, 
 
HACKLES, &C. 10^ 
 
 which is of a fine yellow. These are all to be 
 had at the furriers. 
 
 HACKLESy 
 
 These are the feathers that hang from the hear! 
 of a codxy down his neck, and likewise near his 
 tail, they are particularly^ used in making the 
 palmer fly; get the following colours of them, 
 viz. ;W, dun, yellowish, white, orange, and black ; 
 let not the fibres of them be above half an inch 
 long. Whenever you meet with a cock, whose 
 hackle is of a strong broztm red, buy him, and 
 make the most of the hackles. Note, the fea- 
 thers of a bantam or cock-chick ^ are good for 
 nothing. 
 
 r:EATiri:RS. 
 
 To make the wings of artificial flies, 8cc. it i$ 
 necessary to be provided with all kinds of fea- 
 thers ; procure therefore those from the back, 
 and other parts of the wild mallard or drake ; of 
 t^ partridge, particularly the red ones in the tail ; 
 those of a cock-pheasant^ s breast and tail ; also the 
 wings of a stare ox starling, jay, land-rail, black- 
 bird, Ihrosle, fieldfare, water-coot, and a brown 
 hen; likewise the top, or cop, of a pevit, plover^ 
 or lap-zcing, peacock's her], green, copper-colour- 
 ed, and white, also black ostrich's herl, and fea- 
 thers from the neck and wings of a heron. Ob- 
 serve, that in many instances hereafter that you 
 will meet with, where the mallard's feather is 
 «et down for the wings of an artificial fly, 
 that the starling will be preferable, because it it 
 of finer grain, and will not imbibe the water s^ 
 much. 
 
I0(i best's art of angling. 
 
 CARPETS AND BLANKETS. 
 
 There is very good dubbing to be got from 
 llankcis, also from an old J'wkej/ carpet ; untwist 
 the yarn, and pick out the wool, then separate 
 the colours, wrap them up in different papers, 
 and lay them by. 
 
 SILKS, ^C. 
 
 In this drawer, which is the last, keep small, 
 though strong silk of all colours, wrapt on little 
 reels; also raw silk ^ gold and s'lher patted wire, or 
 twist ; kooks in smad chip boxes, with the num- 
 ber of the size of each marked on the outside : 
 wax of all colours, and needles; a sharp pen- 
 knife, and a small sharp pair of scissars, made 
 quite angtilar, with large bows for the fingers. 
 
 N. B. When you make the palmer-Jly suit the 
 colour of the silk to the hackle you dub with ; a 
 dun hackle requires yellow silk ; a black hackle, 
 sky-blue silk; a brozmi^ 6x red hackle^ red silk-; 
 when you make flies that are not jjalmers, dub 
 vf'\i\\ silk that resembles the colour most predo-r 
 minent in the fly ; and in making your flies, re- 
 inember to mix bear's hair and hog's down, with 
 your other dubbing, because they repel the wa- 
 ter ; make your flies always in hot sun-shiny 
 weather, for your waxed silk w^ill then draw 
 kindly; and when you take the dubbing to imi- 
 tate a fly, always wet it, and then you will be 
 perfect in your imitation; for although the dub- 
 bing when dry may suit, yet wdien it is wet it 
 may be quite another colour. Marten's fur is 
 the best yellow you can use. 
 
TUb PALMER AND MA\-FLY. 107 
 
 HOW TO MAKE THE PALMER AND MAY-FLT* 
 
 First lay all the materials by the side of you, 
 viz. hrilf a yard of tine round even sUk worm gut: 
 half a yard of red silk well waxed with wax of 
 the same colour, a hook, the size No. 6 : a 
 needle : some strands of an ostrich's feather, and 
 a fine red hackle: then lake the hook, and iiold 
 it by the bend, between the fore-finger and t'iumb 
 of your \eh hand, with the shank t(jvvards your 
 right hand, and w ith tlic point and beard of your 
 hook not under your fingers, but nearly parallel 
 with the tops of them : afterwards take the silk, 
 and hold it likewise about the middle of it, w ithi 
 your hook, one part laying along the inside of it 
 to your left hand, the other to the right ; then 
 take that part of the silk which lies towards your 
 right hand, between the fore finger and thumb 
 of that hand, and holding that part towards 
 your left, tight, along the inside of the hook, 
 whip that to the right, three or four times 
 round the shank of the hook towards the right 
 hand ; after which take the silk worm gut, and lay 
 either of its ends along the inside of the shank ~ 
 of the hook, till it comes near the bend of it: 
 then hold the hook, silk, and gut^ tight between 
 the fore-finger and thumb of your left hand, and 
 afterwards give that part of the silk to your right 
 hand, three or four whips more over both hook 
 and gut till it comes near the end of the shank, 
 and make a loop and fasten it tight: then w hip it 
 neatly again over both silk, gut, and hook, till 
 it comes near the bend of the hook : after which 
 make another loop, and fasten it again : then if 
 the gut should reach farther than the bend of 
 the hook, cut it of}, and your hook will be 
 
108 BKST*S AKT OF ANGLING. 
 
 tr=: ■ ' ■ - I- ... ^ ^ — J . 
 
 whipped on, and the parts of the silk hang from 
 the bend of it* 
 
 Having proceeded so far, wax the longest end 
 of the silk again, and take three or four strands 
 of an ostrich's feather, and holding them and 
 the hook, as in the first position, the feathers to 
 the left hand, and the roots of them in the 
 bend of the hook w'ith the silk that you waxed 
 hist, whip them three or four times round, make 
 a loop, and fasten them tight; then turning the 
 strands to the right hand, and twisting them and 
 the silk together, with the fore-finger and thumb 
 of your right hand, wind them round the shank of 
 the first hook till you come to the place where you 
 fastened, then make a loop, and fasten them 
 again ; if the strands should not be long enough 
 to wind as far as is necessary round the shank, 
 when the silk gets bare you must twist others on 
 it. Having performed this, take your scissars 
 and cut the body of the palmer into an oval form, 
 that is', small at the bend and the end of the 
 shank, but full in the centre* do not cut too much 
 of the dubbing off. Now^ both the ends of the 
 silk are separated, one at the bend, another at 
 the end of the shank, wax them both again ; then 
 inke the hackle, hold the small end of it between 
 the fore-finger and thumb of your left hand, 
 and stroke the fibres of it with those of your 
 right, the contrary way from which they are 
 formed ; hold your hook as in the first position, 
 and place the point of the hackle in its bend, 
 with that side which growls nearest the cock up- 
 wards, and then whip it tight to the hook ; but in 
 fastening it tieas few fibres in as you can possibly 
 avoid : the hackle being fast, take it by the great 
 end, and keeping the side nearest the cock to the 
 left band, begin with your right hand to wind it 
 
GREAT PALMER, OR HACKLE. 10^ 
 
 up the shank upon the dubbing, stopping every 
 second turn, and holding what you have wound 
 tight with your left fingers, w^hilst with the needle 
 you pick out the fibres you will unavoidably take 
 in ; proceed in this manner till you come to the 
 place where you first fastened, and where an end 
 of the silk is : thea clip off those fibres of the 
 hackle which you held between your finger and 
 thumb, close to the stem, and hold the stem close 
 to the hook, afterw^ards take the silk in your right 
 hand, and whip the stem very fast to the hook : 
 then make up a loop, and fasten it tight : take 
 your pen-knife and if that part of the stem next 
 the shank of the hook is as long as the pait of the 
 hook which is bare, pare it fine, wax your silk,*^' 
 and bind it neatly on the remaining bare part of 
 the hook : then fasten the silk tight, and spread 
 some shoemaker's w^ax very lightly on your^ast 
 binding : ^fter that clip off the ends of the re- 
 maining silk, both at the shank and the bend of 
 hook, and all fibres that start or stand ill-condi- 
 tioned, and the whole is completed. 
 
 This is called ih^ palmer Jly ox plain hackle^ and 
 may, instead of the ostrich's feather above-men- 
 tioned, be dubbed with black spaniel's fur, and is 
 a very excellent killer. There are three more 
 palmers, which are all to be made in the same 
 manner as I have laid down, only with different 
 articles, which are as follows : 
 
 GREAT PALMER^ OR HACKLE. 
 
 Dubbed the same as the plain hack e with the 
 strands of an ostrich's feather, or a black spaniel's 
 fur, and warped with red peacock's hackle, im- 
 trimmed, that is, leaving the whole length of the 
 hackle staring out (tor sometimes the fibres of the 
 
 L 
 
110 bkst's art of angling. 
 
 hackle are to be shortened all over, sometimes 
 barbed only a little, and sometimes close under- 
 neath) leaving the whole length of fibres on the 
 top, or back of the fly, which makes it swim better, 
 and on a whirling round water, kills great fisht 
 Your hook for this palmer ^ No. 5. 
 
 OOLDEN PALMER, OR HACKLE. 
 
 The same dubbing, ribbed with gold twist and 
 Jt red hackle over all. 
 
 SILVER HACKLE. 
 
 Made with black body also, silver twist over 
 that, and a red hackle over all. 
 
 The variation that is to be observed in making 
 the ^oZcZ and silver palmers is this, that when you 
 whip the end of the hackle to the bend of the 
 hook, you must also do the same to the gold or 
 silver twisty and first wind either of them on the 
 dubbing, observing that they lie flat on it, and 
 then fasten off; afterwards proceed with the 
 hackle as directed : or you may wind the hackle 
 on the dubbing first, and rib the body with either 
 of the twists afterwards. 
 
 These are the standard hackles in fly-fishings 
 and are taken any month in the year, from nine to 
 eleven in the morning, and from one to three in 
 the evening, and upon any water; though you 
 must have different sizes of them, and dubbed 
 with different colours, that you may always be able 
 to suit either a clear or dark water, or a bright and 
 cloudy atmosphere ; observing, that small light- 
 coloured Jiies are for clear zcaters and skies, and 
 the largest for dark and cloudy ones. 
 
 These palmers (as fsard before) being tiaken 
 
ARTIFICIAL FLY 111 
 
 every month in the year, when I come to treat of 
 the flies proper for each month, I shall not take 
 any notice again of the four which T have set 
 down, for that would be totally unnecessary; but 
 the others that deviate in their size and dubbing 
 from the general rulf, will be fully expressed. 
 
 The angler should always try {he palmers first, 
 when he fishes in a river that he is unaccustomed 
 to ; and even in that which he constantly uses, 
 without he knows what fly is on the water, and 
 they should never be changed till he does ; the 
 only way to come to the true knov/ledge of 
 which, he must observe an old established rule 
 laid down for that purpose ; and as it is poeti- 
 cally described by Mr. Gay, I shall give it him 
 in that dress. 
 
 Mai k well the various seasons of the year, 
 
 How the succeeding insect race appear, 
 
 in this revolving moon one colour reigns, 
 
 Which in the next the fickle trout disdains. 
 
 Oft have I seen a skilful angler try 
 
 The various colours of the treach'rous fly ; 
 
 When he^vith fruitless pain hath skim'd the brook. 
 
 And the coy fish i ejects the skipping hook, 
 
 He shakes the boughs, that on the margin grow, 
 
 Which o*er the stream a weaving forest throw ; 
 
 When if an insect fall (his certain guide) 
 
 He gently takes him from the whirhng tid^ : 
 
 Examines well his form with curious eyes. 
 
 His gaud) vest, his wings, his horns, and size 5 
 
 Then round his hook ihe chosen fur he winds. 
 
 And on the back a speckled feather binds ; 
 
 So just the colours shine through ev'ry part. 
 
 That Nature seems to live again in art. 
 
 THE BEST MBTHOD T9 MAKE AN ARTIFICIAL 
 FLY, NOT A PALMER, 
 
 First hold your hook fast betwixt the fore- 
 jSnger and thumb of your left hand, with the 
 
112 . best's art of angling. 
 
 back of the shank upwards, and the point towards 
 your right hand; then take a strong small silk, 
 of the colour most predominant in the fly you 
 intend to make, wax it well with wax of the 
 same colour and draw it between your finger 
 and thumb to the end of the shank, then whip 
 it twice or thrice about the bare hook, which 
 prevents its slipping, and the shank of the hook 
 from cutting the gut: which being done take 
 your gut and draw it likewise between your finge 
 and thumb, holding the hook so fast as only to 
 suffer it to pass by, till the end of the gut is 
 near the middle of the shank of the hook, op 
 the inside of it: then whip the silk twice or 
 thrice about both gut and hook, as hard as the 
 strength of the silk will permit ; after that take 
 the wings, which before you began to make your 
 fly you had stripped off the stem for its wings, 
 and proportional to it, and which lie with your 
 other materials by you, (as they always should 
 before you begin) and place that side downwards 
 which grew uppermost before, upon the back 
 ,,of the hook, leaving so much only, to serve for 
 the length of the wings of the point of the 
 plume, laying it reversed from the end of the 
 shank upwards, then whip your silk twice or thrice 
 about the root-end of the feather, gut, and hook; 
 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 gut till you 
 come to the bend of it ; and then, if the gut 
 goes beyond the bend of the hook, cut it off, 
 and make all fast; take then ihe dubbing which 
 is to make the body of your fly, as much as you 
 think will do, and holding it lightly with your 
 hook, between the finger and thumb of your 
 left hand, take the ailk with your right hand, 
 
ARTIFICIAL FLY. IIS 
 
 and twisting it between the finger and thumb of 
 that hand, the dubbing will spin itself about the 
 silk, which, when it has done, whip it about the 
 armed hook, till you come to the setting on of 
 the wing^ : afterwards take the feather for the 
 wings, divide it into two equal parts, and turn 
 them back towards the bend of the hook, the 
 one on the one side, the other on the other side 
 of the shank, holding them fast in that posture, 
 between the fore-finger and thumb of your left 
 hand ; which being done, warp them so down 
 as to stand, and slope towards the bend of the 
 hook ; and having warped up to the end of the 
 shank, hold the fly fast between the finger and 
 thumb of your left hand, and then take the silk 
 between those of your right, and where the 
 warping ends, and pinch and nip it with your 
 thumb-nail against your finger, and strip away. 
 the remainder of your dubbing from the silk, 
 which wax again, and then with the silk which is 
 newly waxed and bare, whip it once or twice 
 about, make the wings stand properly, then 
 fasten and cut it off; after which, with the point 
 of a needle, raise up the dubbing gently from 
 the warp, twitch off the superfluous hairs of 
 your dubbing, leave the wings of an equal length, 
 for your fly will never swim true) and the whole is 
 completed. 
 
 In this manner you are to to make the May- 
 fy or greeU'drale^ and all other flies that are not 
 palmers. The materials to make the green-drake 
 are the following : Your hook must be No. 5, 
 and you must have the white-grey feathers of a 
 mallard for the wings, dyed yellow ; the dubbing 
 camel's hair, bright bear's hair, yellow camlet, 
 and the soft down that is combed from the bris- 
 .tles of a hog, well mixed tog^^ther j the body 
 l3 
 
1J4 best's ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 must be long, and ribbed about with green silk, 
 or rather yellow, waxed with green wax, and 
 three long hairs for his tail, from those off a 
 sable's. 
 
 Or, the May^jly may be dubbed after this me- 
 thod. The body of seal's fur, or yellow mohair, 
 a little fox-cub down, and hog's down, or light 
 brown from a turkey carpet, mixed together, 
 warp with green and yellow, pale yellow, or red 
 cock's hackle under the wings, which are to be 
 the same as in tlie other method of dubbing it. 
 
 As I shall not mention the green-drake when I 
 come to describe other flies taken in the month 
 of May, I will here give you every particular 
 concerning it, tie comes on the water the /rcrew- 
 iieth of that month, and is taken all day lo'ngy hut 
 best from two to four in the evening, and kills most 
 Jish from the end of May to the ninth of June, 
 
 HOW TO DYE THE MALLARD^S FEATHER 
 YELLOW, 
 
 Take the root of a Barbary tree, and shave it, 
 -and put to it woody viss^ with as much alum as a 
 walnut, and boil your feathers in it with rain 
 water, and thev will be of a fine yellow ; or get 
 a little weld and rocoih and boil your feathers with 
 ^hcm, and it will answer the same purpose. 
 
THE PALMERS. 1 15 
 
 CHAP. IIL 
 
 The Names, and the best Manner of dubbing the 
 different Artificial Flies, iihich are generally 
 known^ and will kill Fishes on any Waieryjroiti 
 the beginning of March to the end of Sep^ 
 tembej\ 
 
 I SHALL l)egin fly-fishing with the month of 
 March, that being soon enough to throw a fly oa 
 the water ; nay, in spme years is too soon, owing 
 to the' backwardness of the season. The incle- 
 ipency of the weather, before that time, renders 
 the attenipt not only unpleasant, but fruitless, to 
 endeavour to take fishes with the fly; and the risk 
 a man runs of impairing his health, standing by 
 the water-side before the weather is mild and tem- 
 perate, forms an objection more strongly against 
 it. Let the angler be ever so fond of fly-lishing 
 he will certainly have enough, perhaps a satiety, 
 between the months of March and September; 
 besides the mind of man is fond of variety, and 
 the amusements of the field very pleasant and con- 
 ducive to health ; for I myself am entirely of Te- 
 rence's opinion^ that — 
 
 Adj^rime in vita^sse utile, ut nequid nimis^ 
 MARCPL 
 
 TUB PALMER'S. 
 
 1. The Dark Brozcn, ' 
 
 2. The Green Whirling 
 
 Dun. 
 
 3. The Early Bright 
 
 Brown. 
 
 4. TheThorn^ or Hawthorn 
 
 Tree Fly, 
 
 5. The Blue Dun. 
 
 6. The Little Black Gnat, 
 
 7. The late Bright Brown. 
 
116 best's art of angling. 
 
 1. Dubbed with the brown hair off the shank 
 of a brinded cow, and the grey feather of a drake 
 for wings. 
 
 2. Dubbed with the fur from the bottom of a 
 squirrel's tail, and the wings of the grey feather of 
 a drake. Or, dubbed with squirrel's fur, mixed 
 with about a sixth part of fine hog's down, the 
 wings of a pale orange colour, taken frgm the quill 
 feather off a ruddy hen, the head to be fastened 
 with ash-coloured silk, and a red unbarbed cock^s 
 hackle may be warped under the wings, and a 
 turn or two lower towards his tail. 
 
 This is a ver^j kiHing Jly, and is taken best late 
 in the evening of a blustering warm day. 
 
 3. Dubbed with the brown hair off a spaniel, 
 •taken from behind the ear, or with that off a red 
 cow^s fiank; the wings, the grey feather off a 
 wild drake. 
 
 4. Dubbed with seal's fur, dyed a perfect black, 
 mixed with a little Isabella- coloured mohair, the 
 body made s-mall, and the wings off a bright 
 mallard's feather. A hitiingjly, 
 
 5 Dubbed with the down combed from the 
 4ieck of a black greyhound, or the roots of a 
 fox- cub's tail, mixed with a little blue violet 
 -worsted, upon a hook, the size No. 9, the wings 
 ofiP the pale part of a starling's feather. 
 
 Thisjly is a killing Jly^ and is taken from eight 
 to eleven^ and from one to three. 
 
 6. Dubbed \\ith black mohair, upon a hook 
 -the size No. 9, and the wings the lightest part off 
 a starling's feather. 
 
 7, Dubbed with the hair off a cow, or calf's 
 hide, which has been dressed in skinner's lime- 
 pit; if you hold it between your eyes and the 
 «un, it will appear of a bright gold, or .amber co- 
 lour ; the wings off a feather of a brown hen« 
 
PALMERS. 1 17 
 
 APRIL. 
 PALMERS, 
 
 4. The Yellow Dun, 
 
 5. The Horse-flesh Fit/.- 
 
 6. The Small Liright 
 
 Brozcn, 
 
 1. Th^' Dark Brown. 
 
 2. The Violet Fly, 
 
 3. The Little iVhlrling 
 
 Dun, 
 
 1. Dabbed on a small hook, No 8 or 9, with 
 brown seal's fur, or with brown spaniel's fur, that 
 looks ruddy, by being exposed to the weather, 
 mixed with a little violet camlet ; warp with yel- 
 low silk, and the wings oflF a grey feather of a 
 mallard. Kills lest from eight to tleve?i, 
 
 2. Dubbed with dark violet stuff, and a little 
 dun bear's hair mixed with it ; the wings off the 
 grey feather of a mallurd. 
 
 Kills ijery well from the sixth to the tenth ofthk 
 month. ^' 
 
 3. Dubbed with fox-cub down, alHi-coloured 
 at the roots, next the skin ; ribbed about with 
 yellow silk, the wings of a pale grey feather of a 
 mallard. Or, dubbed with the same down, and 
 a little ruddy brown mixed, warped with grey, or 
 ruddy silk, a red hackle under the wings, which 
 must be made from the feather of a landrail, or 
 ruddy brown chicken^ whicti is better. 
 
 This fiy comes on the zcater the tuelf/h of this 
 month^ and is taken in the middle of the day, and 
 all the month through, and in blustering zceafher 
 to the end of June. 
 
 4. Dubbed with camel's hair, and marten's yel- 
 }o\v fur, mixed together; or with a small quantity 
 af pale yellow cruel, mixed with fox- cub down 
 from the tail, warped with yellow silk } and the 
 wings of a pale starling's feather. 
 
118 best's art of angling. 
 
 This Jiy is taken from eight to eleveuy and from 
 two to Jour, 
 
 5. Dubbed with blue mohair, and with pink 
 and red colour i<immy mixed, a brown head and 
 light-coloured wings. 
 
 Thisjlif ii taken all the month two hours before 
 sun^set till twilight, 
 
 6. Dubbed with spaniePs fur, the wings the 
 lightest part off d stare'^ feather. 
 
 Taken very well in a bright daij and clear 
 wuter, 
 
 MAY. 
 
 PJLMt:RS» 
 
 The llay-Fly. 
 
 1. The Dun Cut, \ 5. The Grey Drake. 
 
 g. The Stone Fly. 6. The Camlet^Fly, 
 
 3. The Black May-Fly. \ 7. The Cow-Dung Fly. 
 
 4. The Little Yellow ' 
 
 May-Fly, 
 
 1. Dubbed with bear's hair, of a brownish co- 
 lour, with a little blue and yellow mixed with it; 
 the wings of a brown hen, and two horns at the 
 head from the hairs of a squirrel's tail. Or, dub- 
 bed with bear's cub fur, a little yellow and green 
 cruel mixed with it, vvarped with yellow, or green; 
 wings of a land -rail. 
 
 A great killer in the evening of a showery day, 
 
 2. Dubbed with dun bear's hair, mixed with a 
 little brown and yellow camlet, so placed that the 
 fly may be more yellow on the belly and towards 
 the tail, than any where else; place two or three 
 hairs of a black cat's beard on the top of the hook, 
 in the arming it, in such a manner that they may 
 
DUN CUT, &c. i\g 
 
 be turned up when you warp on the dubbing 
 and stand almost upright, and start from the 
 other, rib the body with yellow silk, and make 
 the wings very large off the dark grey feathers of 
 a mallard. The hook. No. 3. 
 
 This is a verT/ great killer, and comes on the 
 water about the middle of April , and continues tilt 
 the end ofJun^e : it is generally used in swift 
 streams, but if there is a good wind stirring it 
 will be taken in the deeps; it is taken but iridif- 
 ferently in the middle of the day, but excellently 
 late and early, 
 
 3. Dubbed with the strands ofFa black ostrich's 
 feather, ribbed with silver twist, anda black cock's 
 hackle over all. 
 
 A good killer, hut not to be compared with the 
 Green-drake or Stone~fly, 
 
 4. Dubbed with yellow camlet, or yellow mar- 
 ten's fur, the wings off a mallard's feather dyed 
 yellow. This fly is to be made very small, but 
 exactly in shape of the drake. 
 
 3, Dubbed with whitish hog's down, mixed 
 with black spaniel's fur, ribbed with black silk : 
 black cat's beard for the whisks of the tail, and 
 the wings off the black grey feather of a mallard. 
 Or, dubbed with white ostrich's feather: the 
 end oi the body, towards the tail, off peacock's 
 herl, warping of ash-colour, with silver twist, 
 and black hackle, and the wings a dark grey fea- 
 ther of a mallard. 
 
 A very killing fly ^ especially towards an evening, 
 when the fishes are glutted with the green-drake, 
 6. Dubbed with dark brown shining camlet, 
 ribbed over with very small green silk, and the 
 wings off the double grey feather of a mallard. 
 
 It zcill kill small fishes, and continues till the 
 end of June* 
 
120 best's art of A>NGL1NG. 
 
 7. Dubbed with light brown and yellow mixed 
 or dirty lemon-coloured mohair, with the same 
 coloured hackle under the wings, which may be 
 either made of the feather off a land-rail^ or a dark 
 grey feather of a mallard. 
 
 The size of the hook, No. 7. 
 
 Thisjly is used in cold windy days. 
 
 JUNE. 
 
 1. The Ant-Fly. 
 
 2. Purple Gold Palmer. 
 
 3. The Little Black Gnat. 
 
 4. The Brown Palmer. 
 
 TBE PALMERS. 
 
 5. The Great Red Spin- 
 ner 
 
 6. The Small Red Spin- 
 
 ner, 
 
 1. Dubbed with brown and red camlet mixed 5 
 the wings the pale part off a starling's feather.^ 
 
 2. Dubbed with purple mohair, ribbed with 
 gold twist, and red cock's hackle over all. 
 
 3. Dubbed with the black strands off an os- 
 trich's feather, upon a hook, the size No. 9, and 
 the wings off the lightest part of a starling's 
 feather. 
 
 A great killer after a shower of rain, especially 
 in an evening, 
 
 4. Dubbed with light brown seal's hair war- 
 ped with ash-coloured silk, and a red hackle 
 over all. 
 
 5. Dubbed with seal's fur dyed' red, and brown 
 bear's hair mixed together, but there must be 
 bear's hair sufficient to make the body appear of 
 a dullish red, ribbed with gold twist, the wings 
 off a stare's feather*, and red cock's hackle over 
 the dubbing. The hook, No. 7. 
 
THE MAY-FLY. J 21 
 
 This flu kills very well till the latter end of 
 Augxtst^jrom six o*ctock till twilight, upon a dark^ 
 €oloure(i water, 
 
 6. Dubbed with the yellow of a spaniel, taken 
 from behind the ear, ribbed with gold twist, a 
 red hackle over all, and the wings oil* a starling's 
 feather. The hook, No. 8 or 9- 
 
 This fly kills exactly at the same time the othc 
 spinner does, but when the water is very dear. 
 
 JULY. 
 
 THE PALMERS. 
 
 The Black Silver 
 
 Palmer, 
 The July Dun. 
 
 1. The Badger Fly* 
 
 2. The Orange Fly. 
 
 3. The Wasp Fly. 
 
 4. The Black Palmer. 
 
 1. Dubbed with the soft brown furr off a bad- 
 ger's skin, warped with red silk, the wings off 
 the dark grey feather of a mallard ; the head 
 must be red. 
 
 This fly is an excellent killer, and in some rivets 
 is taken in March and April. 
 
 2. Dubbed with orange-coloured wool; the 
 wings off the feather of a black-bird's wing. Or, 
 dubbed with raw orange silk, warped with silk 
 of the same colour, ribbed with gold twist, and 
 a black or red hackle over all. 
 
 This fly is taken in June, zohen the May -fly is 
 over, in hot gloomy zaeather, and till the end of 
 this month. 
 
 3. Dubbed with brown bear's hair, or the fur 
 off a black cat's tail; ribbed with yellow silk ; 
 and the wings off the pale feather of a stare's 
 wing, 
 
 M 
 
122 best's art of angling. 
 
 4. Dubbed with the herl off a copper-coloured 
 peacock's feather, with a black cock's hackle 
 over it. 
 
 5. Dubbed the same as the Black Palmer; 
 ribbed with silver twist and black hackle over all. 
 
 6. Dubbed with the down off a water-mouse, 
 mixed with blueish dyed seal's fur; or, dubbed- 
 with the fur off a mole, mixed with a little mar- 
 ten's fur ; warped with ash-coloured silk; the 
 wings off the feather of a blue pigeon's wing. 
 The size of the hook, No. 9. 
 
 ji good killer. 
 
 AUGUST. 
 
 THE PALMERS. 
 
 1 . The Late Ant Fly 
 
 2. The Fern Fly, 
 
 3. The JVlilte Palmer. 
 
 4, The Hearth Fly. 
 
 5, 'The Pale Blue, 
 
 6, The Ha rrij Long Legs, 
 
 1. Dubbed with the hair off a cow that is of 
 a blackish brown ; warp some red in for the tag of 
 his tail, the wings off the feather of a brown hen. 
 
 An excellent killer, 
 
 2. Dubbed with the fur off a hare's neck of a 
 fern colour: the wings off a darkish grey feather 
 off a mallard's. 
 
 3. Dubbed with the white herl off a peacock^s 
 feather, and a white hackle over all. 
 
 4. Dubbed with the wool off an aged black 
 ewe, mixed with some grey colt's hair ; the wings 
 off those of a starling's. 
 
 5. Dubbed with very light blue fur, mixed 
 with a little yellow marten's fur, and a blue 
 hackle over all, the wings oft' the feather of a 
 blue pigeon. The hook. No. 3. 
 
THE LATE BADGER. 
 
 A very kliilng fiy from ten in the morning till 
 three in the evening, 
 
 6. Dubbed with flarkish beards hair, mi.vcd 
 with a little blue wool, and a brown hackle over 
 all. Or dubbed with hghtish bear's hair, mixed 
 with a few hairs of light blue mohair, and a little 
 fox-cub dovTn, warped with light grey or pale 
 blue silk, and a dunnish hackle over all; the head 
 made large. The hook, No. .5. ^ 
 
 Taken chiefly in a cloudy zcincly day, 
 
 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 THE PALMERS. 
 
 1 . The Peacock ^ Hadle. | 3 . The Late Badger. 
 
 2. The Camel Brown, | 4-. The September $ Dun, 
 
 "I. Dubbed with Peacock's ruddy herl ; w^arped 
 with green silk, and a red cock's hackle over all. 
 
 2. Dubbed with the hair pulled out of the 
 liaie of an old wall; warped with red silk, and 
 the wings off the dark grey feather of a mallard. 
 
 3. Dubbed with the fur off a black badger's 
 skin, mixed with the softest 3^ellow down of a 
 sanded hog, and the wings off the feather off a 
 dark grey mallard. 
 
 4. Dubbed with the down off a mouse; 
 warped with sad ash-coloured silk ; and the 
 wings off the dark-coloured feather of a stare's. 
 'The hook, No. 9. 
 
 I have given the reader forty-seven of the best 
 flies used in Jly-Jishing^ and what are generally 
 known ; w^ith the best methods of dubbing them: 
 and which, if he pays attention to, and makes 
 his exceptions with judgment, he may in time 
 become an excellent iiy-fisher. 
 M o. 
 
VZ4 
 
 BEST S ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 j1 Selection from the foregoing List of Flies, that will 
 kill fish in any part of England and Wales , particu* 
 larly Trout* 
 
 TIIJS PALMKR^ 
 
 5. Great Dun, 
 <>. Dark Brown, 
 
 7. Early Bright Brown, 
 
 8, Late Ditto. 
 g. Black GnaL 
 
 10. Yellow Dun. 
 
 1 1 . Great Whirling Dun, 
 
 12. Little ditto. 
 
 13. Dun Cut. t 
 
 14. May Fly. 
 
 15. Grey Drake » 
 \6, Camlet Fly. 
 
 17. Cow dung Fly, 
 
 18. Little Ant Fly. 
 
 19. Badger Fly. 
 
 20. Fern Fly. 
 
 21. Stone Fly. 
 
 N. B. There are two Salmon-flies, which are 
 the principal ones, called tlie Dragon and King's^ 
 fisher, about two inches long, which may be 
 made according to fancy ; but of the most 
 gaudy feathers there arc, especially the pea- 
 cock's, for they will rise at any thing gaudy, and 
 where they are plenty at Trout-flies. 
 
 There are likewise two moths which I have 
 omitted, great killers about twilight in a serene 
 evening; and the humble-bee^ a famous chub- 
 killer, any time of the day. They are dubbed in 
 the following manner : 
 
 The brown-moth — xhe wings off the feather of 
 a brown owl; dubbed with light mohair, with a 
 (!ark grizzle cock's hackle for the legs ; and a 
 red-head. 
 
 'Jlie white-moth — dubbed with the white 
 i5trands of an ostrich's feather , wings off tiie 
 
T ! I H W I n T E MOT H . 1 25 
 
 feather of a white pigeon's wing: a white- 
 hackle for the legs, and a black head. The 
 hooks- for both, No. 2. 
 
 The hnmble-hee — dubbing with black spaniel's 
 fur; a black cock's hackle over that ; the tag of 
 the tail to be of a deep orange colour ; and the 
 wings off the feather of a crow's wing. The 
 hook, No. 2. 
 
 W hen artful flies the angler wou'd prepare. 
 This task of all deserves his utmost care : 
 Nor verse or prose can ever teach him well 
 What masters only know, and practice tell. 
 Yet thus at large I venture to support. 
 Nature best foliow'd, best secures the sport. 
 Of flies the kinds, their seasons, and their breed, 
 /rheir shapes, their hue, with nice observance heed : 
 Which most the Trout admires, and where obtain'd 
 Experience best will teach you, or some friend : 
 For several kinds must ev'ry month supply, 
 So great's his passion for variety : 
 Nay, if new species on the streams you find, 
 Try — you*ll acknowledge fortune amply kind. 
 
 Moses BkownEv 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 The list of flies which I have given the angler^ 
 he may depend are the standard for artificial 
 fly-fishing; but as I am willing to give him as 
 much scope as possible, to enable him to be- 
 come an adept in this pleasant and ingenious 
 recreation, I here present him with a second 
 list, which he must make use of as his experi- 
 ence in artificial fly-fishing increases ; and I 
 dare affirm, that if he makes a judicious applica- 
 tion of this and the former list, and observes 
 the rules laid down for the weather; proper for 
 
l^i) best's AliT OF ANGLING. 
 
 this sport, he will never go home with an empty 
 pannier. 
 
 THE RED FLYy 
 
 Comes on about the middle of February, and 
 continues till the end of March : its wings are 
 made artificially, of a dark drake's feather; the 
 body of the red part of squirrel's fur, with the 
 red hackle of a cock, wrapped twice or thrice 
 under the but of the w ing ; has four w ings, 
 and generally flutters upon the surface of the 
 Vv'citer, which tempts the fishes, and makes them 
 take it the more eager. The size of the hook, 
 Np. 6. 
 
 THE BLUE DUN FLYy 
 
 Comes on the beginning of March, and con- 
 tinues to the middle of April ; its wings are 
 made of a feather out of the starling's wing, or 
 the blue feathers that grow under the wing of a 
 duck widgeon ; the body is made of the blue 
 fur off a fox, or tjie blue part of a squirrel's fur, 
 mixed with a httle yellow^ mohair, and a fine 
 blue cock's hackle wrapped over the body, in 
 imitation of the legs: as it swims down the 
 water, its wings stand upright on its back ; its 
 tail forked, and of the same color of its wings. 
 It appears on the water about ten o'clock in the , 
 forenoon, and continues till about three in the 
 afternoon; but the principal time of the day 
 is from twelve till two ; the flies then come 
 down in great quantities, and are always more 
 plentiful in dark, cold, gloomy days, tiian in 
 bright sun-shiny weather. Your mornings Jish- 
 ing, till the flies come on, should be zcith the worm 
 
THE BROWN I'LY, &C. 127 
 
 or miiiHoro. The size of ibt- hook tliis lly is made 
 on, is No. 7; but it' ihe water is very low aiid 
 fine. No. 8. 
 
 THE BROWN FLY J OR DUN DRAKEy 
 
 Comes on about the middle of March, and 
 continues till the latter end of April ; its wings 
 are made off the feather of the pheasant's wing 
 which is full of fine shade, and exactW resetn- 
 bles the wing of the fly ; the body is made of 
 the bright part of hare's fur, mixed with a little 
 of the red part of squirrel's fur, ribbed with 
 yellow^ silk, and a partridge's hackle wrapt 
 over twice or thrice under the but of the wing : 
 as it swims down the water, its wings stand 
 upright upon its back, its tail is forked, and 
 the color of its wing : it comes upon the water 
 about eleven o'clock, and continues on till two, 
 appearing on the water in shoals, or great 
 quantities ; in dark gloomy days, at the ap- 
 proach of the least gleam of sun, it is amazing 
 to see, in a moment's time, the surface of the 
 water almost covered with ten thousands of 
 these pretty little flying insects, and the lishes 
 rising and sporting at them, insomuch that you 
 would think the whole river was alive ; it is 
 a pleasing sight to the angler, and affords him 
 great diversion ; in this manner they appear on 
 the water every successive day, till the end of 
 their duration. The blue dun, and the brown, 
 are both on at the same time ; the blues are 
 most plentiful in cold and dark days, aud the 
 browns in warm and gloomy days, though I 
 have often seen blues, browns, and gran am s, on 
 at the same time, vyhen they have refused the 
 other two sorts, and have taken the browns 
 
1^8 beat's art of ajsgling. 
 
 only : there cannot be too mucli said in com- 
 mendation of this fly, both for its duration, and 
 the sport it affords the angler : The size of the 
 hook it is made on, is No. 6. 
 
 THE G^ANAM FLYy OR GREEN-TAIL, 
 
 Comes on about the beginning of i\pril/ if 
 the weather is warm, being a very tender fly, 
 and cannot endure the cold. When they first 
 appear on the water, they do so iri great quan- 
 tities, in bright mornings, you may begin to 
 fish with them from six o'clock in the morning 
 till eleven ; then you will find the browns come 
 on, which you must use, as the fish will not 
 touch the granams as long as the browns con- 
 tinue ,• about five o'clock in the evening you 
 may use the granams again with success, the 
 browns having then totally disappeared for that 
 day. The granam-fly is a four winged fly : as 
 it swims down the water its wings lie flat on its 
 back, it has a small bunch of eggs, of a green 
 colour, which gives it the name of the Green-tail 
 Jly\ as soon as it lights on the w^ater, it drops 
 its eggs ,* it is of short duration, not lasting 
 above a week, and then totally disappears for 
 that year. The wings are made from a feather 
 out of the wing of a partridge or pheasant, 
 which is shaded like the wing of a fly ; the 
 body is made of the fur from a hare's face, or 
 ear, and a grizzled hackle of a cock wrapt 
 under the but of the wings. The hook, No. 8. 
 
 THE SPIDER FLY, 
 
 Comes on about the twentieth of April, if 
 the weather is warm, and continues on about 
 
BLACK CATEliPlLLAR, &C. 129 
 
 a fortnight : they are bred in beds of gravel by 
 the water-side, where you may find them in 
 bunches engendering, to prepare for their pro- 
 duction the next year : in cold and stormy 
 days they hide themselves in the gravel, not 
 >eing able to endure cold. You may fish with 
 it from sun-rise till sun-set ; being a very kilU 
 ing fly, too much cannot be said in its praise. 
 The wings are made from a woodcock's feather, 
 out of the but of tlie wing ; the body of lead- 
 coloured silk, with a black cock's hackle wrapt 
 twice or thrice under the wings. This Jiy catk^ 
 not be made too fine. The hook. No. 8 or 9* 
 
 THE BLACK CATERPILLAll, 
 
 Comes on about the beginning of May, and 
 continues on about a fortnight, and is to be 
 fished with after hot sun-shiny mornings ; if 
 winds and clouds appear, they then grow weak 
 for want of the sun^ anct fall upon the waters iu 
 great quantities. The wings are made from a 
 feather out of a jay's wing, the body of an 
 ostrich's feather, which is preferable to the 
 plover's and fine black cock's hackle wrapt over 
 the body. It is a very killing fly in small brooks. 
 The hook, No. 7. 
 
 TBE LITTLE IRON^BLUE FLY, 
 
 Comes on about the seventh of May, and! 
 continues on till the middle of June. In cold 
 5tormy days tViey come down the waters in great 
 quantities, but in warm days there are but few 
 to be seen. As it swims down the water, its 
 wings stand upright on its back ; its tail is 
 forked, and the colour of its wing ; it is a neat 
 
130 best's art of angling. 
 
 curious fly, and cannot be made too fine ; it is 
 to be fished with from about eleven o'clock in 
 the forenoon till three in the afternoon. When 
 these flies are on, the fishes refuse every other 
 sort, and take these only, every sort of fish 
 being fond of them. The wings are made from 
 a cormorant's feather that grows under the 
 wing, or oft' the feather of a dark-blue hen, that 
 grows on the body, under the wings ; the body 
 is made of water-rats fur, ribbed with yellow 
 silk, and a sooty blue hackle of a cock, wrapt 
 over, the body. The hook, No. 8 or 9* 
 
 THE YELLOW SALLY FLYy 
 
 Comes on about the twentieth of May, and 
 continues on till about the tenth or twelfth of 
 June* It is a four-winged fly ; as it swims 
 down the water its wings lie flat on its back. 
 The wings are made with a yellow cock'a 
 hackle, and the body of martin's fur, taken 
 from the spots under the jaws, which is a fine 
 yellow. It is one of thosejiies that prepare the 
 Jish to look for the Mdy-ji}/) o.r Green-drake, The 
 hook, No. ?• 
 
 THE OAK, ASH, WOODCOCK, CANNON, OR BOTTN* 
 BILL FLY. 
 
 Comes on about the sixteenth of May, and 
 continues on till about a week in June ; it is to 
 be found on the buts of trees, with its head al- 
 ways downwards, wdiich gives it the name of 
 the Down-hili-fly.^ It is bred in oak-apples, 
 
 * Vide description of this fly, part 1st, UQder Natural Kly 
 fisbing. 
 
.THE SnOUN F! Y, &.C. 151 
 
 and is the best of ail flies for bobbing at the 
 bush in the natural way, and a good ily for the 
 dab-line, wlicn made artificially. The wings 
 are niade iVom a feather out of the wing of a 
 partridge or woodcock, the body with a bittern's 
 feather, and the head with a little of the brown 
 part of hare's fur. The hook, No. 7. 
 
 N. B. Some dub it with black wool and Isa- 
 bella-coloured mohair, and bright brownish 
 bear's hair, v.arped on with yellow silk, but the 
 head of an ash colour; others dub it with an 
 orange tawney and black ground; and others 
 with blackish wool and gold twist; the wings 
 oif the brown part of a mallard's feather. 
 
 THE SHORN FLY, 
 
 Comes on about the same time as the Cannorr- 
 fly, and continues on till the latter end of July. 
 They are generally found in mowing grass ; it 
 is of the caterpillar kind, has dusky wings of a 
 dark brown colour, with fine clear blue wings 
 under them, which it makes use of in its flight : 
 it is in greatest perfection in June: and for the 
 time that it continues on the water, is a most 
 excellent killer in rivers or brooks. There are 
 three sorts of them ; the one I have described : 
 there is another with a dull redwing: and a 
 third with a dark blue wing, all of which the 
 fish take very well, but the preference must be 
 given to the red sort : it is to be iished with 
 any time of the day, from sun-rise to su'n-set. 
 The wings are made of a red cock's hackle, with 
 a black list up the middle ; the body with a 
 peacock's herb The hook, No. 6, if for a river ; 
 
132 BKST*S ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 but if for a dead, heavy, running brook, the fi/ 
 must be made larger, as on ^io. 4 or 5. 
 
 TUE ORL FLY J 
 
 Comes on the latter end of May, and con- 
 tinues on till the latter end of June. It is a 
 four-winged fly, generally flutters along die 
 surface of the water, and is what fishes are re- 
 markably fond of; yon may fish for it success- 
 fully after the May-fly is gone, from four o'clock 
 in the morning till about seven in the evening, 
 at which time the sky-blue comes on, then 
 change it for the sky-blue. The wings of the 
 Orl-fly are made with a dark grizzle cock's 
 hackle, and the body of peacock's herl, worked 
 with dark red silk. The hook. No. 6. 
 
 THE SKY'COLOUJRED BLVE, 
 
 Comes on about the same time as the orl- 
 fly, and continues on till the middle of July. 
 It is a neat, curious, and beautiful fly; its wings 
 are transparent, stand upright upon its back, 
 and are of a fine blue colour, its body is of a 
 pale yellowy its tail forked, and the colour of 
 its wmgs ; it is a fly the fishes take extremely 
 well from seven o'clock in the evening till sun- 
 set. The wings are made from the light blue 
 feather of a hen ; the body is made with pale 
 yellow mohair, mixed with light blue fur, and 
 ribbed with a fine cock's hackle, dyed yellow. 
 The hook, No. 8, 
 
 THE CJDISS FLY. 
 
 Comes on about the tentVrof June; it is a large 
 
THE BLUE GNAT, &C. 133 
 
 four-winged fly, of a bufF colour, and its body 
 the same colour of its wings : it continues on the 
 water till about the middle of July ; it is bred 
 from the cod-bait, a curious little insect : while 
 in the state of a grub it is greatly to be admired, 
 the outside husk that it lives in, being curiously 
 wrought with gravel or sand : this fly is taken 
 best at the clearing of the water, though I think 
 him a fly worth the least notice of any in the ca- 
 talogue, there being many sorts far preferable to 
 it. The wings are made from a feather taken 
 from a bufi^-coloured hen; the body is made of 
 buff-coloured mohair, and the legs of a pale yel- 
 low hackle. The hook, No. 6. 
 
 THE BLUE GNAT, 
 
 Comes on the water about the same time as 
 the spinners (vide list, the first under June) and 
 continues on about a fortnight : if the water is 
 low and fine the fishes take them very well, and 
 as long as they remain on the water. The wings 
 of this gnat are made of a small pale blue cock's 
 hackle, and the body with light blue fur, mixed 
 with a little yellow mohair. The hook, No, 8 or 9. 
 
 THE LARGE RED ANT-FLY, 
 
 Comes on about the middle of June, if hot 
 ^nd sultry weather, and continues on until about 
 the 15th or 16th of July appearing mostly in 
 hot, close, gloomy days : it is to be fi;^hed vvith 
 from about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, till 
 about six in the evenmg j then make use of the 
 evening Jlies dtscnbed before. The ant-flies, 
 when in perfection, are great killers, and all sorts 
 
 N 
 
134 BliST^S ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 of fishes that rise at flies, are very fond of them 5 ^ 
 and you may take fish with them in dead heavy 
 waters, as well as in streams. The wings of this 
 fly are made from a feather out of a stare's wing, 
 and the body of peacock's herl, made pretty large 
 at the tail, and fine towards the wing, with a fine 
 ginger -coloured cock's hackle wrapt twice or 
 thrice under tlje but of the wings. The hook, 
 No. 8. 
 
 THE LARGE BLACK ANT-FLY, 
 
 Comes on at the same time with the red, and 
 is to be fished with at the same time, and after the 
 same manner. The wings of this fly are made 
 with the lightest sky-blue feather you can get, 
 and with the greatest gloss; but it is difficult to 
 find any that can come up to the glossiness of the 
 natural wings, except the thistle, which makes 
 them the best' of any thing I know of, but is not 
 lasting; the body is made with a black ostrich's 
 feather, and a black cock's hackle wrapt under 
 the but of the wings j it is to be made in the 
 same form as the red one. The hook, No. 8. 
 
 THE WELSHMAN'' S BUTTON y OR HAZLE FLY, 
 
 Comes on about the latter end of July, and 
 continues on about nine days; it is in form like 
 a round button, from which it derives its name : 
 it hrs four wings, the^ uppermost husky and hard, 
 the undermost of a fine blue colour, soft and 
 transparent; it is to be found on hazle-trees, or 
 fern: it is an excellent fly for bobbing at the bush, 
 or dvib line; but is rather diflficult to make, on 
 account of its shape and form ; the wings are 
 made from the red feather that grows upon the 
 
THE LITTLE WHIRLING BLUE, &C. 135 
 
 '^ump or tail of a partridge; the body is made 
 with a peacock's herl, and an ostrich's feather 
 mixed, and the legs of a fine black cock's hackle. 
 The hook, No. 7. 
 
 THE LITTLE RED AND BLACK ANT*FLIES, 
 
 Come on about the tenth or twelfth of Au- 
 gust, are to be seen in warm gloomy days, till 
 the latter end of September ; to be fished with 
 from about twelve o'clock, till four in the even- 
 ing, and are to be made in the same form as the 
 large ones, and with the same materials, but very 
 small. The hook, No. 9. 
 
 rjarjs little whirling blue, 
 
 Comes on about the tenth or twelfth of Au- 
 gust, and continues on about three weeks ; as it 
 swims down the water, its wings stand upright 
 on its back; it has a forked tail, the colour ot its 
 wings; it is to be fished with from eleven o'clock 
 in the forenoon, till three in the afternoon. The 
 wings are made from a feather out of the wings of 
 a starling; the body is made with spaniel's fur, 
 mixed with a little yellow, and a fine red hackle 
 over the body. The hook. No. 8. 
 
 THE little pale BLUEy 
 
 Comes on about the same time as the Whirl- 
 ing blue, and continues on till about the latter 
 end of September; as it swims down the water. 
 Its wings stand upright on its back; it has a 
 forked tail, and the colour of its wings ; it is a 
 jieat, curious, little fly, and what the graylings 
 ^ 2 
 
136' bestS art of angltng. 
 
 are very fond of: it is to be fished with from 
 about ten o'clock in the morning, till three in 
 the afternoon, and generally affords the angler 
 great diA-ersion. The wings are made from a 
 feather off the sea-swallow : the body is made 
 of the lightest blue fur you can get, mixed 
 with a •. ery little yellow mohair, with a fine pale 
 blue hackle wrapt over the body. The hook, 
 No. 8. 
 
 THE WILLOW FLY^ 
 
 Comes on about the beginning of September, 
 and continues on till the latter end of October : 
 it is a four-winged fly, and generally flutters 
 upon the surface of the water: it is to be fished 
 with in cold stormy days, being then most 
 plentiful on the water 5 but in warm gloomy 
 days make use of the pale-blue. The wings 
 are made of a blue grizzled cock's hackle, and 
 the body of the blue part of squirrel's fur, 
 mixed with a little yellow mohair. The hook. 
 No. 7. 
 
 The three last-mentioned flies conclude the 
 season iox fly -fishing. From the middle of May 
 till August, you will find great variety of flies 
 and gnats upon the water every day, so that you 
 must observe it as a general rule to fish with the 
 first fly that comes on in the morning 5 that fly 
 being the first which is on the water on the day 
 that is first mentioned in every month, and then 
 you will see the other flies and gnats, eoming 
 down every day in regular succession, every suc- 
 ceeding day till August. The great number of 
 flies and insects that are on the water, all the 
 hot summer's months^ and the great variety of 
 
THE WILLOW FLY. ' 137 
 
 food that fishes have, both at top and bottom, 
 makes them very nice, and more difficult to be 
 taken, than in the spring or in the autumn ; the 
 great number of flies and insects which are on 
 the water all the summer months, totally disap- 
 pear about the middje of August, so that your 
 diversion is as certain with the three autumnal 
 JlieSy viz. the Litde Whirling Blue, the Pale 
 Blue, and the Willow-fly, as with the three spring 
 Jiiesy which are the Red-fly, the Blue Dun, and 
 the Brown. In these two seasons of the year, 
 if the weather is favourable, and the water in 
 order, you will find your sport more certain and 
 regular than in the hotter months. This last list 
 of flies may be deemed the standard of artificial 
 fiy-jishing ; they are the ingenious Bowlker's, of 
 Ludlow in Shropshire. For their excellency they 
 are not to be equalled. They will kill fish in 
 any county of England and Wales, and are what 
 I call the angler^ s treasure. 7'heir names are uni- 
 versally known : as for the flies called Lochaber's 
 Golden Sooty^s^ &c. &c. which are to be met with 
 in a late publication, they are not sufficiently 
 known to be of general use. 
 
 Not only those flies that are most useful iji 
 the recreation of angling, but myriads more 
 come under the angler's observation, when in 
 pursuit of his pastime, which will not only till 
 his mind with wonder and admiration, at the m- 
 comprehensible works of Nature, but like- 
 wise make him praise that ^Imighty Power, 
 from whom both himself and ihem derive their 
 being. v 
 
 There is so beautiful a passage a-propas to this 
 subject, in Mr. Thomson's hummer, that I think 
 the insertion of some part ot it, must prove ac- 
 ceptable to the informed and pious mind : 
 N 3 
 
138 best's ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 Nor shall the muse disdain 
 
 To let the little livelv summer- race 
 Live in her lay, and flutter thro' her song : 
 Not mean, tho' simple; to the sun allvM, 
 From him they draw their animating fire. 
 
 Waked by his warmer ray, the reptile young 
 Come wing'd abroad, by the light air upborne. 
 Lighter and full of soul. From ev'ry chink 
 And secret corner, where they slept away 
 Their wintry storms, or rising from their tombs 
 To higher life, by myriads forth at once, 
 Swarming they pour, of all the varied hues 
 Their beauty-beaming parent can disclose. 
 Ten thousand forms, ten thousand dift'erent tribes, 
 People the blaze. To sunny waters some 
 By fatal instinct fly, where on the pool 
 They sportive wheel ; or falling down the stream, 
 Are snatch'd immediate by the quick-ey'd trout 
 Or darting salmon. Thro' the green-wood glade 
 Some love to stray, there lodg'd, amus'd, and fed. 
 In the fresh leaf: luxurious, others mak-e 
 The meads their choice, and visit ev'ry flow'r 
 ■ And ev'ry latent herb, for the sweet task 
 To propagate their kinds, and where to warp. 
 In what soft beds, their young, yet undisclosed. 
 Employs their tender care j some to the house, 
 The fold, and dairy, hungry bend their flight, 
 Sip round the pail, or taste the curdling cheese: 
 Oft, inadvertant from the milky stream 
 They meet their fate, or welt'ring in the bowl. 
 With pow'rless wings around them warp'd, expire. 
 
 Resounds the living surface of the ground j 
 Nor undelightful is the ceaseless hum 
 To him who muses through the woods at noon. 
 Or drowsy shepherd as he lies reclin'd. 
 With half-shut eyes, beneath the floating shade, 
 Of willows grey, close crowding o'er the brook. 
 
 Gradual from these what numerous kinds descend. 
 Evading e'en the microscopic eye ! 
 Full nature swarms with life, one wondrous mass 
 Of animals, or atoms organ iz'd. 
 Waiting the vital breath, when parent heav'» 
 Shall bid his spirit blow."* 
 
AUTIMCIAL FLY-VISHING. 139 
 
 Let no presuming impious railer tax 
 Cjeative wisdom, as if auii;ht was fonn'd 
 In vain, or not for admirable ends : 
 Shall little haughty ignorance pronounce 
 His works unwise, of which the smallest par-t 
 Exceeds the narrow vision of her mind? 
 
 CHAP. T. 
 
 The he^t Rules for Artificial Fly-fishing. 
 
 It is the best fishiag in a river somewhat dis- 
 -turded with rain, or in a cloudy day, when 
 -the waters are moved with a gentle breeze : the 
 south and west winds are the best : and if the 
 wind blows high, yet not so but that you may 
 conveniently guide your tackle, the fishes will rise 
 in the still deeps; but if there is little wind stir- 
 ring, the best angling is in swift streams. 
 
 In casting your line do it always before you, 
 and in such a manner that the fly may fall first 
 on the water, and as little of your line with it as 
 
 Eossible, but if the wind is high, you will then 
 e forced to drow^n a good part of it, that you may 
 keep the fly on the water ; and endeavour, as 
 much as you can, to have the wind at your back, 
 -and the sun in your face ; but the winding of the 
 river will frequently render that impracticable. 
 
 When you throw your line, wave the rod in a 
 small circumference round your head, and never 
 make a return of it before it has had its full scope, 
 for if you do the fly will snap off. 
 
 Although when you angle the day is cloudy 
 and windy, and the vvater thick, you must keep 
 the fly in continual motion, otherwise the fishes 
 will discern the deceit. 
 
il40 BESr*S ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 ** Upon the curling surface, let it glide, 
 " With nat'ral motion from your hand ^upply'd, 
 « Against the stream now gently let it play, 
 ** Now in the rapid eddy float away.'* 
 
 Let the line be twice as long as the rod, unless 
 the river is encumbered with wood: and always 
 stand as far off the bank as the length of your 
 line will permit, when you cast the fly to the 
 contrary side; but if the wind blows so that you 
 iiriust throw your line on the same side you are 
 on, stand on the very brink of the river, and cast 
 your fly at the utmost length of the rod and line, 
 up or down the stream as the wind serves. 
 
 You must have a quick sharp eye, and active 
 hand, to strike directly a fish rises : or else, find- 
 ing the mistake, he will throw out the hook . 
 
 Small light- coloured Jlies are for clear waters 
 and clear atmospheres ; large dark-coloured ^zVnJ 
 when vice versa. 
 
 When, after rain, the water becomes brown- 
 ish, an orange-coloured^y is taken greedily. 
 
 When fishes rise at the fly very otfen and yet 
 never take it, you may conclude that it is not 
 what they like : therefore change it for the one 
 they do. 
 
 When you see a fish rise, throtv your fly over 
 him, and draw it gently over the place where he 
 ^rose ; and if it is a proper fly for the season, and 
 you cast it with a nicety, the fish is your own. 
 
 When you angle in slow- running rivers, or 
 -still places, with an artificial Jly^ cast it across 
 the water, and let it sink a little in the water, 
 and then draw it gently over to you again, letting 
 the current carry it slowly down : this is the 
 best way for slow waters; but for quick ones 
 your fly must always swim on the top, under the 
 
ARTIFICIAL FLY-FISHING. 141 
 
 continual inspection of your eyes, which ought, 
 for this kind of angling, to be as sharp as the 
 basilisk's. 
 
 It is^a good plan to always carry some dub- 
 bing, gut, hooks, and silk, out with you in a 
 small pocket-book, that you may be able always 
 to imitate any fly you see the fish rise at more than 
 others. 
 
 The lighter your flies fall on the water the bet- 
 ter; this you will not accomplish by strength, 
 but by practice, always raising your rod by de- 
 grees, after you have made your cast. A young 
 angler should never use more than one fly on the 
 stretcher at first, but when he can throw out 
 pretty well, he may add to the stretcher one or 
 more droppers, observing always to let them be 
 one yard asunder. 
 
 I shall now conclude these rules by giving the 
 reader a passage relating to artificial fiy -fishing, 
 (with the alteration only of two or three mono- 
 syllables) from the Spring of that elegant and na- 
 itural descriptive poet, Mr, Thomson, which can- 
 not fail of contributing as well to his amusement, 
 AS instruction : 
 
 Soon as the first foul torrent of the brooks, 
 Swell'd with the vernal rains, is ebb'd away. 
 And, whit'ning, down their mossy tinctur'd streatu 
 Descends the billowy foam, then is the time, 
 While yet the dark-brown water aids the guile. 
 To tempt the trout. The well-dissembl*d fly. 
 To rod fine tap'ring^ with elastic spring, 
 Snatch'd from the hoary steed the floating line, 
 And all thy slender wat'ry stores prepare j 
 But let not on thy hook the tortur'd worm. 
 Convulsive twist in agonizing folds, 
 Which, by rapacious hunger swallowed deep. 
 Gives, as you tear it from the bleeding breast 
 Ofthe weak helpless uncom plaining wretch. 
 
142 best's art of angling. 
 
 Harsh pain and horror to ihe tender hand. 
 
 When with his lively ray the potent sun 
 
 lias pierced the streams, and rous'd the finny racc^ 
 
 Then, issuing cheerful to thy sport repair; 
 
 Chief should the western breezes curling play, 
 
 And light o*er ether-bear the shadowy clouds. 
 
 High to their fount, this day, amid the hills 
 
 A(.d woodlands warbling round, trace up the brooks; 
 
 Then next pursue their rocky channel'd maze 
 
 Dovvn to the river in whose ample wave 
 
 Their little naiads love to sport at large. 
 
 Just in the dubious point, where with the pool 
 
 Is mix*d the trembling stream, or where it boils 
 
 Around the stone, or from the hollow bank 
 
 Reverted plays in undulating flow, 
 
 There throw, nice judging, the delusive fly. 
 
 And as you lead it round in artful curve, 
 
 With eye attentive mark the springing game. 
 
 Straight as above the surface of the flood 
 
 They wanton rise, or urged by hunger leap, 
 
 Then fix with gentle twitch the barbed hook: 
 
 Some lightly tossing to the grassy bank, 
 
 And to the shelving shore slow dragging some. 
 
 With various hand, proportion'd to their force. 
 
 If yet too young, and easily deceived, 
 
 A worthless prey scarce bends your pliant rod^ 
 
 Him, piteous of his youth, and the short space 
 
 He has enjoy'd the vital light of heav'n, 
 
 Soft disen[,5age, and back into the stream 
 
 The speckled captive throw; but_should you lure 
 
 From his dark haunt, beneath the tangled roots 
 
 Of pendant trees, the monarch of the brook. 
 
 Behoves you then to ply your finest art: 
 
 Long time he, following cautious, scans the fly. 
 
 And oft attempts to seize it, but as oft 
 
 The dimpl'd water speaks his jealous fear: 
 
 At last, while haply over the shaded sun 
 
 Passes a cloud, he desperate takes the death 
 
 With sullen plunge : at once he darts along. 
 
 .Deep struck, and rur.s out all theiengthen*d line. 
 
 Then seeks the farthest ooze, the sheltering weed. 
 
 The cavern'd bank, his old secure abode; 
 
 .And flies aloft, and flounces round the pool, 
 
 Indignant of ihe guile. With yielding hand. 
 
 That feels him still, yet to his furious courso. 
 
PRINCIPAL RIVEKS IN EN( LAND. 14::> 
 
 Give way, you, now retiring, following no\7 
 Across the stream, exhaust his idle rage. 
 Till floating broad upon his breathless side. 
 And to his fate abandon'd, to the shore 
 You gaily drag your unresisting prize. 
 
 CHAP. VL 
 
 * Of the 'principal Rivers in England^ and 
 particularly of the Thames. 
 
 The rivers in England are said hy Dr. Heylinf 
 lo be three hundred and twenty- fiv^e, though 
 others increase their number to four hundred and 
 fifty. It would be superfluous here to treat par^ 
 ticularly of their diversities, their situations, their 
 distance and remoteness from each other, their 
 nearness or vicinity to the sea, the qualities of 
 their water, and the various species of fish they 
 contain. Those that have a more immediate in- 
 tercourse with the sea, partake of its influences, 
 and have the same vicissitudes, the same fluxes 
 and refluxess, the same salt water, and the same 
 sort of fish which frequent those seas where they 
 diserpbogue themselves. The mouth of rivers 
 are too deep to be fathomed by the cordage of a 
 line 5 but more inland and farther distant from 
 the common receptacle of waters, the rivers are 
 most proper for the angler's diversion. 
 
 The principal rivers in England, are, the 
 Thames, Severn, Trent, Tyne, Tweed, Medway, 
 Tees, Dove, Isis, Tame, Willey, Avon, Lea, 
 
 * The angler must observe, that the names of Wye, Atoh, 
 Ouse, Stone, and some others, are common to many rivers in 
 England, as that of Dulas is to numbers in Wales. 
 
144 best's art of angling. 
 
 Trevel, Lon, Ncn, Welland, Darvent, Calder, 
 Wharf, Nid, Don, Swale, Hull, Ouse, and Are. 
 The rivers in Wales are reckoned above two 
 hundred, the principal of which are^the Dee, 
 Wye, Conwy, Tivy, Chedlayday, Cluid, Usk, 
 Tovy, TafF, and Dovy. Several rivers in England 
 run under ground and then rise again, as a branch 
 of the Medway in Kent ; the Mole in Surry ; 
 Hans in Staffordshire-, the little rivers Allen in 
 Denbighshire, and Deverel in Wiltshire ; the ri- 
 ver Recall hides itself under-groundynearElmsley 
 in the North-Riding of Yorkshire; at Ashwell 
 in Bedfordshire, rise so many sources of springs 
 that they soon drive a mill ; at Chedder, near 
 Axbridge in Somersetshire, is a spring that drives 
 twelve mills in a quarter of a mile. In the midst 
 of the river Nen, south of Peterborough in North- 
 amptonshire, is a deep gulf, called Medeswell, 
 so cold, that in summer, no swimmer is able to 
 endure it, yet is not frozen in the winter. 
 
 I shall now give the angler the names of the 
 rivers in our Counties. 
 
 Bedfordshire. The Ouse navigable to Bedford, 
 and divides the county into two parts ; the Ivel, 
 Lea, and other smaller streams, 
 
 Berkshire. The Thames, Isis, Kennet, Loddon, 
 and the Lambourne ; the latter, contrary to all 
 others, is always the highest in summer, a'.id 
 lowest when winter approaches. 
 
 Buckinghamshire. The Thames, Ouse, Coin, 
 Wickam, Amersham, Isis, Tame, and Loddon, 
 
 Cambridgeshire. The Ouse, Cam, Welney, 
 and Neve, 
 
 Cheshire. Principal rivers; the Mersey, Dee, 
 Weelock, Croke, Dan, Fulbrook, Wever,Goyte, 
 Boiling, and Ruigay. 
 
 i 
 
PUINCIPAL RiVERS IN ENGLAND. 14J 
 
 Cornwall. The Tamer, Comer, Loo, Camel, 
 L>:dd, Fovvey, Haile, and Liver. 
 
 Cumberland. Principal rivers; the Eden, Aln, 
 Jet, Petterel, Cande, Derwent, Cocker, Duddon, 
 Levin, Esk, VV^iza, and Tyne. 
 
 Derbyshire. Principal rivers ; the Derwent, 
 Trent, Wye, Eri^sh, Crawlock, Uove, Compton, 
 llother, ibber, and iSore. 
 
 Devonshire. The Tame, Exe, Plym, Tor- 
 ride, Taw, Yalm, Otter, Oke, Dark, Tavy, Aven, 
 Erme, Calme, Teigne, Ax and Loman. 
 
 Dorsetshire. The most considerable river« 
 
 arc the Eroom, Brit, Piddle, Stour, and Liddon. 
 
 Durham. The principal rivers are the Teca, 
 
 Tyne, Were, Tame, Lune, Durwent, Gaunless, 
 
 and Skern. 
 
 Essex. The principal rivers are the Thames, 
 Black Waaler, Stour, Coin, Lea, Crouch, Chcl* 
 mer, and Roding. 
 
 Gloucestershire. The Severn, Wye, Coin, 
 Chein, Stroud, eminent for dyeing scarlet ; Lis, 
 »Avons, Fromcs, Siviiiate, Caron, Windrush, 
 Evondole, Lcden, Lathe, Isbourne, Chill, Badg- 
 worth, Evelm, Berkley, and Trim. 
 
 Hampshire. Its principal rivers are the 
 I thing, or Aire, the Tees, or Test, Anton, iivon, 
 Stour, Wey, Loddon, and Auborn. 
 
 Herefordshire. Its river :3 are the Wye, Lugg, 
 Munnow, Arrow,- Erome, Dolr, Leddon aiid 
 iame. 
 
 Hertfordshire. The pvinci[)al rivers *are the 
 Sea, Coin, Stort, Gade, Bean, Tame, Ribb, and 
 the New River, which supjilies London with 
 water. 
 
 Huntingdonshire. The principal rivers arc 
 the Ouse, Tsen, and Cam, with some smallet 
 streams, 
 
 # 
 
14(3 best's art of angling. 
 
 Kent. Its rivers are the Thames, Medway, 
 Stour, Rother, Dareut, Tun, Ravensbourne, and 
 Wantsheim. 
 
 Lancashire. Its principal rivers are the Dud- 
 don, Crake, Leven, Winster, Lon, or Lune, 
 Wyer, Calder, Hodder, Wenning, Ribble, 
 Douglass, Yarrow, Darent, Trevell, Roch, Alt, 
 Tame, Medlock, and Irk. 
 
 Leicestershire. Its chief rivers are the Stour, 
 Welland, Wreck, Avon, Anger, Swift, Seme, 
 and the Eye. 
 
 Lincolnshire. The principal rivers are the 
 Humber, Trent, Witham, Welland, Ancam, 
 Bane, Nen, Dun and Idle. 
 
 Middlesex. The Thames, Lea, Coin, Brent, 
 and the New River. 
 
 Monmouthshire. The principal rivers are 
 the Severn, Monnow, Wye, Usk, Rimney, and 
 Avon. 
 
 Norfolk. The rivers are the greater and les- 
 ser Ouse, Wesbech, the Yore, Waveney, Wen- 
 sor, Thyrn, Lynn, and some lesser streams. 
 
 Northamptonshire. The principal rivers are 
 the Ousc, Nen, Welland, Chenvill, and the 
 Leam. 
 
 Northumberland. Its rivers are the Tweed, 
 Tyne, North and South Tyne, Alne, Wensbech, 
 Coquet, Bramish, Usway, Blythe, Till, East and 
 West Alon. 
 
 Nottinghamshire. The principal rivers are 
 the Trent, Lyn, Ryton, Leane, Idle, Erwash, 
 Meden and Maun. 
 
 Oxfordshire. Its principal rivers are the 
 Thames, Cherwell, Isis, Tame, Swere, Clin Rea, 
 Oke, Windrush, Evanlode, and Sorbrook. 
 
 Rutland. The rivers are the Gnash, Eye, 
 Chater, and Welland.^.. 
 
PRINCIPAL RIVKRS IN ENGLAND. 14? 
 
 Shropshire. The principal rivers aie the 
 Tweed, Severn, Teem, Clun, Ony, Warren, Tern, 
 Corve, Rea, Kemlot, and Melo. 
 
 Somersetshire. Its principal rivers are the 
 Severn, Ivil, Avon, i\x. Car, £xe, Frome, Brent, 
 Parret, Brue, and Tone. 
 
 ■ Staffordshire. Its principal rivers are the 
 Trent, Manyfold, Chernet, Lime, Penk, Stove, 
 Tern, Dove, Boine, Sow, Blith, Team, and Smes- 
 tall, with very extensive navigable canals. 
 
 Suffolk. The principal rivers are the Stour, 
 Bret, Larke, Little Ouse, Orwell, Deben, Butley, 
 Aide, Waveney, and Blyth. 
 
 Surry. Its principal rivers are the Thames, 
 Wandel, Mole, Wey, and Loddon. 
 
 Sussex. The most considerable rivers are the 
 Cockmere, Little Ouse, Rothur, Adur, Rye, and 
 Arun. 
 
 Warwickshire. Its principal rivers are the 
 Avon, Tame, Alne, Anker, and Cole. 
 
 Westmoreland. The principal rivers are the 
 Eden, Ken, Lune, Tees, Belo, Lowther, Roatha, 
 -and Emont; besides Ulles, Broad and Horn's 
 waters, and that extensive piece called Wynander 
 Meer, the largest in England, being 10 miles 
 long, and 2 broad, with several islands in it, and 
 its bottom one continued rock. 
 
 Wiltshire, Its chief rivers are the two Avons, 
 the Kennet, Willey, Adder, Nadder, Duril, Were, 
 Calne, Rey, Welleborne, and the Thames, one of 
 whose heads is in this county. 
 
 Worcestershire. The principal rivers are the 
 Severn, Avon, Teem, and Stour, but enjoying 
 the benefit of some of the late constructed ca- 
 nals, it has, by the inland navigation, commu- 
 nication wuth the most considerable rivers in the 
 kingdom J which navigation, including its wind- 
 o 2 
 
148 best's ART OF ANGLING 
 
 ings, extends above 500 miles through different 
 counties. 
 
 Yorkshire. Its rivers are the Humber, Ouse, 
 You re, Wharf, Swale, Tees, JNid, Calder, Aire, 
 jiull, Dunderwent, Rye, Whisk, Ribble, Esk, 
 Skelfer, Recall, Lune, Barnes, Went, Rother, 
 Greta, Foulney, and Leven. 
 
 North Riding of Yorkshire. The principal 
 rivers in this Riding are the Ure, Wharf, Swale^ 
 Tees, Don, Lune, Rye, Whisk, Eden, Esk, Cod- 
 leach, Leven, and Recal, with the North Bank 
 of the Derwent. 
 
 East Riding of Yorkshire. The most consi- 
 derable riversr'in this division are, the Humber, 
 Hull, Ouse, Derwent, and Foulness. 
 
 West Riding of Yorkshire. The chief rivers 
 are the Ure, Don, or Dune, Went, Calder, Aire, 
 Ribble, Wharf, Dearn, Nidd, and Hodder; witb 
 a variety of smaller streams, 
 
 RIFERS JX NORTH WALES. 
 
 Anglese3\ The principal rivers are the Menai^ 
 and Keveny. 
 
 Carnarvonshire. Its principal rivers are the 
 Conway, and the Scint; it has also several lakes. 
 
 Denbighshire. Its principal rivers are the 
 Clujd, Dee, Conw^ay, Allen, Keriog, Kelyn, and 
 Elwy. 
 
 Flintshire. The principal rivers are the Dee, 
 Cluyd, Elwy, and Allen ; the most remarkable 
 places are the Dee's Mouth, the Cluyd's Mouth, 
 and St. Winifred's Well. 
 
 Merionethshire. Its principal rivers are the 
 Dee, Douay, Avon, and Deaunay. 
 
 Montgomeryshire. The most considerable 
 rivers are the Severn, Ravder, Turgh,and Tanct^ 
 Verniew, and some smaller streams. 
 
PRINCIPAL R1Vi:RS IN ENGLAND. 149 
 
 THE RIVERS IN SOUTH WALESk 
 
 Brecknockshire. Its. principal rivers are the 
 Hoducy Wye, Usk, and the Yrvon. 
 
 Cardiganshire. Principal rivers are the Tavy, 
 lihidal, and Iswith. 
 
 Carmarthenshire. Its principal rivers are the 
 Tavy, Cathy, Towy, Brane, and G willy. 
 
 Glamorganshire. The chief rivers are the 
 Taff, Khymmy, Ogmore, Avon, Cledaugh, and 
 Tavy; also a warm spring called Tave's Well, 
 and Swansea mineral spring. 
 
 Pembrokeshire. Its rivers are the Clethy, 
 Doiigledye, and the Tavy, with several lesser 
 streams. 
 
 ' Radnorshire. The most considerable rivers are 
 the Wye, Lug, Turne, Arrow, Somergill, Tame, 
 and several small streams. On the Wye is a re- 
 markable waterfall, called llhajadi-gwy. There 
 is also an excellent mineral spring at the village 
 of Llandrindod. 
 
 As the maps will give a better prospect of 
 these than any enumeration of them can do, let 
 every angler have a large one of England^ or at 
 least of the particular county where he usually 
 ansfles, and therein he may with delisrht observe 
 the spring head, scite distance, various passages, 
 %Yiiidings, turnings, and confluxes of each parti- 
 cular river, with what towns, castles, churches, 
 gentlemen's seats, and places of note, are on or 
 near the banks ; making, as he angles, remarks 
 proper to tlie nature of each. 
 
 The six principal rivers are as follow: 
 
 I. The Thames, compounded of tvyo rivers, 
 Tame and Isis. The Tame rises in Bucks, be- 
 yond Tame in Oxfordshire, and the latter in 
 Cotswold-hills^ near Cirencester in Gloucester- 
 o 3 
 
}oU BESTS A KT OF ANGLING. 
 
 shire. They meet togetjier ahout Dorchester io 
 Oxfordshire, and thence run united hetwixt that 
 county and Bucks, and between Buckingham- 
 shire, Middlesex, and Essex, on the one side, 
 and Surry and Kent on the other, wedding itself 
 TO the Kentish Medway in the; very jaws of the 
 ocean. This river is said to feel the violence 
 and benefit of the sea more than any other river 
 in Europe, ebbing and flowing twice a day, more 
 than sixty miles. Sir John Denham has given 
 so grand a description of the Thames, in his 
 Cooper*s-hill, that 1 think the insertion of some 
 part cannot prove unacceptable to the reader : 
 
 My eye desceocling from the hill, surveys 
 "Where Thames among the wanton vallies strays ; 
 'J'hames ! the most lov*d of all the ocean's sons 
 By his old Sire to his embraces rans. 
 Hasting to pay his tribute to the sea. 
 Like mortal life to meet eternity ; 
 Tho' with those streams he no resemblance hoId> 
 M^hose foam is amber and their gravel gold : 
 }Iis genuine and less guilty wealth t* explore. 
 Search not his bottom, but survey his shore; 
 O'er which he kindly spreads his spacious win^. 
 And hatches plenty for the ensuing spring ; 
 Nor then destroys it with two fond a stay, 
 Like mothei's, which their infants overlay : 
 Nor with a sudden and impetuous wave. 
 Like profuse kings, resumes the wealth he gave* 
 No unexpected inundations spoil, 
 l^he mower's hopes, or mock the ploughman's toil j 
 But god- like his un weary 'd bounty flows : 
 First ioves to do, then loves the good he does. 
 Nor are his blessings to his banks confin'd, 
 • But i'vQe and common as the sea or. wind ; 
 When he, to boast or to disperse his stores. 
 Full of the tribute of his grateful shores. 
 Visits the world, and in his flying tow' rs. 
 Brings home to us, and makes both Indies ours, 
 Fi?>ds wealth where 'tis, bestows it where it wan-ts. 
 Cities in deserts, woods in cities, plants. 
 So that to us no thing, no place, is strange, 
 VVhile his fair bosom is the world's excbau^e. 
 
PRINCIPAL RIVEKS IN ENGLAND. 161 
 
 The second river of note is the Severn, which 
 has its beginning in Plinilimon-hilJ, in Montgo- 
 meryshire, and its end seven miles from Bristol ; 
 washing in that space the walls of Shrewsbury, 
 Worcester, Gloucester, and divers other places 
 and palaces of note. It receives greater rivers, 
 and is farther navigable than the Thames, but 
 does not equal it for the quantity and quality of 
 its fish. 
 
 3. The Trent (so called on account of the 
 thirty different kinds of fish which are found iu 
 it| or because it receives thirty small rivers) has 
 its fountain in Staffordshire, and gliding through 
 the counties of Nottingham, Lincoln, Leicester, 
 and York, augments the turbulent current of the 
 Humber, the most violent stream of all the isle. 
 The Humber is not a distinct river, because it 
 has not a spring head of its own^ but is rather 
 the mouth ox cKstuarlum of divers rivers meeting 
 together; among which, besides the Trent, are 
 the Darvent and Ouse. 
 
 4. The Medway, a Kentish river, rises near 
 Tunbridge, passes by Maidstone, runs by lio- 
 cliester, and discharges itself into the mouth of 
 the Thames, by Sheerness ; a river chiefly re- 
 markable for the dock at Chatham, where ships 
 of the first rate are built and repaired for tlie 
 use of the English navy. 
 
 o. The Tweed, the north-east boundary of 
 England, on whose banks are seated the strong 
 and almost impregnable town of Berwick. 
 
 6*. The Tyne, famous for Newcastle and its in- 
 exhaustible coal-pits. These and the rest of 
 principal note, are thus described in one of Mr^ 
 Drayton's sonnets; 
 
152 best's art of angling. 
 
 1. 
 
 The flood's Queen, Thames, for ships and s^'ans is 
 crown'd. 
 
 And stately Severn for her shore is praised j 
 The chrystal Trent for fords and fish renown'd, 
 
 And Avon's tame to Albion's cliffs is rais'd : 
 
 Carlegion Chester vaunts her holy Dee : 
 York many wonders of her Ouse can tell: 
 
 The Peak her Dov^, whose banks so fertile be, 
 AikI Kent will say, her Medway doth excel. 
 
 3. 
 
 Cotswold commands her Tsis to the Tame : 
 
 Our nortliem borders boasts of Tweed's fair flood i 
 
 Our western parts extol their Willy's fame. 
 And the old Lea brags of the Danish blood. 
 
 But let me return to the Thames, of which, 
 and the rivers that fall into it, I shall treat some- 
 what particularly, as they are more the seat for 
 tlie diversion of angling than any others. The 
 higher an angler goes up the Thames, if within 
 about forty miles, the more sport, and the grea- 
 ter variety of fish he will meet with ; hut as few 
 Londoners go far from home, I shall mention 
 the best places for Thames angling from London 
 Bridge to Chelsea. 
 
 But before 1 proceed any farther on this sub^ 
 ject, it will be necessary to lay down some rules 
 which the angler must attend to. 
 
 If the air is cold, and raw, the wind high, the 
 vater rough, or if the weather is wet, it is totally 
 useless to angle in the Thames. 
 
 But when the sky is serene, the air temperate, 
 and the water smooth, success will attend you. 
 
PIUNCIPAL RIVERS IN ENGLAND. 153 
 
 The proper hours for angling, are from the 
 time that the tide is half ebbed, to within two 
 hours of the high water, provided the land 
 Hoods do not come down. 
 
 Always pitch your boat under the wind: that 
 is, if the wind be in south, then keep on the 
 Surry shore; if north, on the London side. 
 
 The best pljice for pitching a boat to angle ia 
 the Thames, are about one hundred and fifty 
 yards from York Stairs; the Savoy, Somerset- 
 house, Dorset Stairs, Black-Friar's Stairs ; the 
 Dung- Wharf near Water-Lane, Trig Stairs, and 
 Essex Stairs. On Surry side, Falcon Stairs; 
 Barge Houses; Cuper's, xulgo Cupid's Stairs; 
 the Wind-mill, and Lambeth. 
 
 There are very good roach and dace to be 
 caught at Westminster Bridge, if the weather 
 is favourable in the Autumn; the fifth arch on 
 the north side is best to pitch the boat. 
 
 When you go to angle at Chelsea, on a calm 
 fair day, the wind being in a right corner, 
 pitch your boat almost opposite to the church 
 and angle in the six or seven feet water, where, 
 as well as at Hattersea Bridge, you will meet 
 with plenty of ro^cA and dace, 
 
 Mortlake Deeps is the next place where roccA 
 principally resort, when the weeds are rotten ; 
 and here are good caip very often taken. 
 
 From the sides of the Aits opposite to Brent- 
 ford, Isleworth, and Twickenham, there is verj 
 good angling for roach, dace, gudgeons, and perch ; 
 very often you will meet witli troat and carp, 
 
 Teddington Banks are remarkable for good 
 gudgeon, roach, &c. 
 
 Kingston-wick and Kingston, are famous fov 
 barbel, roach, and dace. 
 
 At Hampton and Sanbury there is good ang-^ 
 
154 best's art of angling. 
 
 ling for barbel y roach, dace, chub , gudgeons, and 
 ikeggers ; and I'rom the Aits, for trout and large 
 perch, 
 
 Walton Deeps and Shepperton Pool abound 
 with large barbel and dace. 
 
 At and about Windsor is a variety of all sorts 
 offish ; but if a man be found angling in ano- 
 ther's water, (without leave) he is lined very 
 high by the court of that town, if he only 
 catches a single gudgeon, &c. 
 
 Of the rivers that empty themselves in the 
 Thames, and of others which are not far from 
 it, 1 shall begin with those on the north-side. 
 
 1. Ilford river, the upper part of which 
 abounds with roach, dace, and some perch, but 
 between Ilford and the'i'hames, especially about 
 three miles from the town, there is pike. 
 
 2. Woodford-river, stored with perch, chub, 
 roach, and dace. 
 
 3. Stratford-river affords the angler good di- 
 version for roach, dace, chub, perch, (S.c. 
 
 4. Bow-river, having the same fishing as 
 the Stratford-river. 
 
 5. Hackney-river, having pletity of laige bar^ 
 bel, chub, roach, dace, gudgeon, eels, and lamprtijs. 
 In this river the barbel^ eels, and .gudgeon, are 
 very fine. The river Lea runs here, and the 
 higher you go up it. the greater sport you will 
 have : I'he Kye-house, near Hoddeston (famous 
 for the plot) is an excellent part to go for diver- 
 sion. 
 
 6. Waltham-river, besides large barbel^ chub^ 
 roach, dace, gudgeon, and eels, has good store of 
 fine^;//ie, and ^ome carp. 
 
 7 . The i\ ew-river, pretty well stored with chub, 
 roach, dace, gudgeon, and eels, 
 
 8. Breutford-iiver; a good one formerly, but 
 
PRINCIPAL KIVEUS IN ENGLAND. 1.3.5 
 
 now much Mbused by poachers-^ but the angler 
 may meet vrirh some chiib^roach^ dace, and perch. 
 
 9- Houuslow-river, well stored with roachy 
 dacej pei'ch, pikCy and gudgeon. 
 
 The powder-mill tail, near Hoiinslow, is a very 
 good place tor angling. 
 
 10. Colne-river, abounding with chub^ roachy 
 dace, perch, and pike, 
 
 1 1 . UxbridQ-e-river, excellent for its ]an>:e and 
 fat troitts; but as the water is rented, not only 
 leave must be obtained to angle in it; but you 
 must pay so much per pound for what you kill. 
 Denham, near Uxbridge, is a very famous place. 
 
 Having now done with the north side, I pro- 
 ceed to the south of the Thames. 
 
 1. Deptford-river, nov/ very much decayed, 
 and has but a few fish in it, as roach, dace, and 
 flounders; though by chance you may meet with 
 a trout, 
 
 2. Lewisham-river in which arc some good 
 troutSy large roachy chub, gudgeouy perch, and 
 dace, 
 
 3- Wandsworth-river, well stored with gud- 
 geon, dace,Jiounders, perch, pike, and some cajpy 
 and trouts ; very large silver ee/s are often taken 
 there. 
 
 4. Mitcham-river ; its principal fish are trouts, 
 
 5, Merton-river, for trouts also. 
 
 C), Carshalton-river, abounding with trouts, 
 and other white fishes. 
 
 7. Moulsey-river, yielding perch, jack, roach, 
 dace chub, gudgeon, eels, flounders, barbels, and 
 trouts, 
 
 8. Esher-river, good for jacks, perch, chub, 
 roach, dace, gudgeon, eels, flounders, barbels, and 
 tronls. 
 
 9. Cobham-river, stored with plenty of good 
 
J 56 bkst's ahi of angling. 
 
 t routs, tat and large, as also dace, perck, chubs, 
 JackSy and gudgeons. 
 
 10. VVej bridge-river, affording good diver- 
 sion for carp, some of ^vhich vveigli eight or 
 nine pounds ; also jack^ roach, dace, flounders, 
 popes, large b/ake, barbel, and gudgeons. 
 
 1 1 . By fleet-river, wherein are very largep/Vces, 
 jacks, and tench : perch, of eighteen inclies long ; 
 
 good carp, hw^e Jloundets, bream, loach, dace, 
 gudgeon, popes, Targe chub, and ee/s. 
 
 i shall conclude this account of the Thames, 
 atid the principal rivers that fall into and com- 
 pose it, with the following beautiful }ines of 
 Air. Pope, 
 
 Tirst the fain'd autljors of liis ancient name, 
 'i]ie winding Isis, and the fruitful Thame ; 
 '1 he Kennet swift, for silver eels renowiiM ; 
 'I'lie TA)ddon slow, with verdent aldcis crown'd. 
 Cole, whose dark streams liis flow'ry islands lave 
 And chalky Wey, that rolls a milky wave : 
 The blue transparent Vandalis appears ; 
 The gulfy Lea his sedgy tresses rears ; 
 And sullen Mnle, that hides his dividing flood ; 
 Aiiu silent Darcnt, stain'd with Danish blood. 
 
 CIJAP. VIL 
 
 ©r TUE GAME Ljyvs IIELATJNG TO JNGLiyO, 
 
 \st. The Pennlty of Fishing in Ponds and olher 
 private Fisheries, 
 
 1. Any man may erect a fish-pond without^ 
 licence, because it is a matter of profit for lh« 
 increase of victuals. 2. lust. 199. 
 
 2. if any^ trespassers in ponds be therefocc 
 
 ■i 
 
GAME LAWS. 15? 
 
 attained at the suit of the party, great and large 
 amends shall be awarded according to the tres- 
 pass ; and they shall have three years imprison- 
 ment, and after shall make fine at the king's 
 pleasure, (if they have whereof) and then shall 
 find good surety that after they shall not commit 
 the like trespass ; and if they have not whereof 
 to make fine, after three years imprisonment, 
 they shall find like surety ; and if they cannot 
 find like surety, they shall abjour the realm. 
 And if none sue within the year and day, the 
 king shall have suit. 3. Ed. 1. c. £0. Note^ 
 those are trespassers in ponds, who endeavour 
 to take fish therein. 2. Inst. 200. 
 
 3. If any person shall unlawfully break, cut, 
 or destroy, any head or dam of a fish-pond, or 
 shall wrongfully fish therein, with intent to take 
 and kill fish, he shall on conv?ction, at the suit 
 of the king, or of the party, at the assizes or 
 sessions, be imprisoned three months, and pay 
 treble damages ; and after three months is ex- 
 pired shall S.nd sureties for his good abearing 
 for seven years, or remain in prison till he doth, 
 5, El. c. 21. s. 2. 6. 
 
 4. Wliereas divers idle, disorderly and mean 
 persons, betake themselves to the stealing, tak- 
 ing and killing of fish, out of ponds, pools, 
 mots, stews, and other several waters and rivers, 
 to the great damage of the owners thereof; it is 
 enacted that if any person shall use any net, 
 angle, hair, noose, troll, or spear: or shall lay 
 any wears, pot^, fish-hooks, or other engines; or 
 shall take any fish by any means or device what- 
 ever, or by aiding thereunto, in any river, stew, 
 pond, mot, or other water, without the consent of 
 the lord or owner of the water ; and be thereof 
 convicted, by confession, or oath of one witness^ 
 
 p 
 
158 'BPST's ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 before one justice, in one moiuh at'ier the of- 
 fence, every such offender in stealing, taking, or 
 killing fish, shall for every such offence _give to 
 the party injured such recompence and in such 
 time as the justice shall appoint, not exceeding 
 treble damages : and moreover sljall pay down 
 to the overseers for the use of the p( or, such 
 sum, not exceeding 10s. as the justice shall think 
 meet ; in default of payment, to be levied by dis- 
 tress ; for want of distress lo be committed to 
 the houseof correction, notexceedingonemonthy. 
 unless he enter into bond with one surety to the 
 party injured, not exceeding ^£10, never to of- 
 fend in like manner, 22 and 23 C. 2. c. 25. s. 7. 
 And the justice may take, cut and destroy all 
 such angles, spears, hairs, nooses, trolls, wears, 
 pots, fish-hooks, nets, or other engines, where- 
 with such offender shall be apprehended. S. 8. 
 Persons aggrieved may appeal to the next 
 sessions, whose determination shall be final, if 
 no title to any land, ro^ alty, or fishery, be there- 
 in concerned. S. 19* 
 
 5. Whereas, divers idle, disorderly, and mean 
 persons have and keep nets, angles, leaps, pich^s, 
 and other engines, for the taking and killing of 
 fish out of ponds, waters, rivers, and other fish- 
 eries, to the damage of the owwiers thereof; 
 therefore no person hereafter, shall have or keep 
 any net, angle, leap, piche, or other engine for 
 the taking of fish, other than the makers and 
 setters thereof, and other than the owner and 
 occupier of a river or fishery ; and except fish- 
 ermen and their apprentices lawfully authorized 
 in navigable rivers. And the owner or occupier 
 of the river or fish ; and every other person by 
 him appointed, may seize, detain, and keep to his 
 own use, every net, angle, l^ap, piche, and other 
 engine, w hich he shall find used or laid, or in the 
 
GAME LAWS. 159 
 
 possession of any person fishing in any river or 
 fishery, without the consent of the owner or oc- 
 cupier thereof. And also, any person authorized 
 by II justice's warrant, may in the day time 
 search the houses, out-houses, and other places, 
 of any person hereby prohibited to have or keep 
 the same, who shall be suspected to have or 
 keep in his custody or possession any net, angle, 
 leap, piche, or other engine aforessid, and seize 
 and keep the same to his own use, or cut and 
 destroy the same, as things by this act pro- 
 hibited to be kept by persons of their degree. 
 4. and 5. VV. c. 23. s. 5. 6. 
 
 6. Iff any person shall enter into any park or 
 paddock, fenced in and inclosed, or into any 
 garden, orchard, or yard, adjoining or belonging 
 to anydwelUng-house in or through which park 
 or paddock, garden, orchard, or yard, any stream 
 of water or river shall run or be, or wherein shall 
 be any river, stream, pool, pond, mote, stew, or 
 other water, and by any ways, means, or advice, 
 whatever, shall steal, take, kill, or destroy any 
 fish, bred, kept, or preserved therein, without 
 the consent of the owner thereof; or shail be 
 aiding or assisting therein; or shall receive or 
 buy any such fish, knowing the same to be sto- 
 len or taken as aforesaid ; and shall be convicted 
 thereof at the assizes, within six calendar 
 months after the offence committed; he shall be 
 transported for seven years. And any offender 
 surrendering himself to a justice, or being ap- 
 prehended, or in custody for such offence, or on 
 any other account, who shall make confession 
 thereof, and a true discovery, on .oath, of his 
 accomplice or accomplices, so as such accom- 
 plice may be apprehended, and shall on trial 
 give evidence so as to convict such accorar 
 p 2 
 
160 best's art of angling. 
 
 plices, shall be discharged of the offence so by 
 him confessed. 5 G. 3. c. 14. s. 1, 2. 
 
 And if any person shall take, kill, or destroy, 
 or attempt to take, kill, or destroy, any fish in 
 any river or stream, pond, pool, or other water 
 (not being in any park or paddock, or in any 
 garden, or orchard, oryard, adjoining or belong- 
 ing to any dwelling-house, but in any other in- 
 closed ground, being private property) he shall 
 on conviction befoie one justice, on the oath of 
 one witness, forfeit 61. to the owner or owners of 
 the fishery, of such river or stream of water, or 
 of such pond, pool, mote, or other water : and 
 such justice, on complaint, upon oath, may issue 
 his warrant to bring the person complained of 
 before him ; and if he shall be convicted before 
 such justice, or any other justice of the county 
 or place, he shall immediately after conviction 
 pay the said peuvilty of 5l. to such justice, for 
 the use of such person as the same is hereby ap- 
 pointed to be paid unto; and in default thereof, 
 shall be committed by such justice to the house 
 of correction, for any time not exceeding six- 
 months, unless the forfeiture shall be sooner 
 paid ; or such owner of the fishery may bring 
 an action for the penalty (within six calender 
 months after the offence) in any of the courts of 
 record at Westminster. S. S^ 4. 
 
 Provided, that nothing in this act shall ex- 
 tend to subject anj^ person to the penalties there- 
 of, who shall fish, take, or kill, and carry away, 
 any fish in any river, or stream of water, pond, 
 pool, or other water, wherein such person shall 
 have a just right or claim to take, kill, or carry 
 away such fish. S. 5. 
 
 7. By the Black act, if any person, being 
 ^rmed and disguised, shall unlawfully steal or 
 
GAMELAWS. 161 
 
 take away any iisli out of any river or pond ; of 
 (vvhether armed or disguised or not) shall unlaw- 
 fully and maliciously break down tlie head or 
 mound of any fish-pond, whr reby the fish shall 
 be lost or destroyed, or shall rescue any person 
 in custody for such offence, or procure any 
 other to join with him therein, he shall be guilty 
 of felony, w ithout benefit of clergy. 
 
 2dly. RULES CONCERNING THE ASSIZE, ANP 
 PRESERVING THE BREED OF FISH. 
 
 1. If any person shall lay or draw any net, 
 engine or other device, or cause any thing to be 
 <ione in the Severn, Dee, Wye, Tearae, Were, 
 Tees, Ribble, Mersey, Dun, Air, Ouze, Swale, 
 Calder, Wharfe, Eure, Darwent, or Trent, where- 
 hy the spawn or fry of salmon, or any kepper or 
 sedder saiiiion, or any salmon not \ 8 inches from 
 the eye to the extent of the middle of the tail, 
 shall be taken and killed; or shall set any bank, 
 dam, tiedge, stank, or net across the same, 
 whereby the saimon may be taken, or hiadred 
 from passing up to spawn, or shall between July 
 31, and November VI, (except in the Ribble, 
 where they may be taiien beivveen Jan. 1, and 
 Sept. 1 J,) take any saimon of any kind, in any 
 of the said rivers, or shall after Nov. 12, vtaily, 
 fish tiiere for salmon, with any net less *5uui 2 J 
 inches in the mesh ; he shall, on conviction, in 
 one month, before one justice, on view, con- 
 fession, or oath of one witness, forfeit ol. and the 
 fish, nets and etigines ; half tlie said sum to the 
 informer, and half to the poor, by distress ;■ for 
 want of distress, to be committed to the house 
 of correction or gaol, not more than three 
 months, not less than one, to .be kept to hard 
 p S 
 
l62 best's art of angling. 
 
 labour, and to suffer such other corporal punish- 
 ment as the justice shall think fit: the nets and 
 engines to be cut or destroyed in presence of 
 the justice ; the banks, dams, hedges, and stanks, 
 to be demolished at the charge of the offender, 
 to be levied in like manner : 1 G. st. £. c. 18. s« 
 14. Note. It is not said who shall have the fish ; 
 so that it seemeth they are forfeited to the king. 
 
 And no salmon out of the said rivers shall be 
 sent to London, under six pounds weight ; on 
 pain that the sender, buyer, or seller, on the like 
 conviction, shall forfeit ol. and the fish ; half to 
 the informer and half to the poor, by distress ; 
 for want of sufhcient distress, to be committed 
 to the house of correction or gaol, to be kept 
 to hard labour for three months, if not paid in 
 the mean time. Id. S. 15. 
 
 And person aggrieved may apq^eal to tlienext 
 Sessions. Id. JS. 17. 
 
 2. No salmon shall be taken in the Humber, 
 Ouze, Trent, Done, Aire, Darwent, Wharfe, 
 Nid, Yore, Swale, Tees, Tyne, Eden, or any 
 other water wherein Salmon are taken, between 
 Sept. 8 and Nov. II. Nor shall any young 
 salmon be taken at millpools (nor in otherplaces, 
 13 R. 2. St. I.e. 19.) from Mid- April to Mid- 
 summer, on pain of having the nets and engines 
 burnt for the first offence ; for the second, 
 imprisonment for a quarter of a year ; for the 
 third, a whole year ; and, as the trespass in- 
 creaseth, so shall the punishment. And over- 
 seers shall be assigned to enquire thereof. 13. 
 Ed. 1. St. 1. c. 47. That is, under the great seal, 
 and by authority of parliament. 2. Inst. 477* 
 
 And no person shall put in the waters of Tha- 
 jnise, Humber, Ouze, Trent, nor any other 
 ^vaters in any time oL the year, any nets called 
 
GAME LAWS. l63 
 
 •Stalkers, nor other nets or engines whatsoever, 
 by which the fry or breed of salmons, lampreys, 
 or any otlier fish, may in any wise be taken and 
 destroyed : on the like pain. 13. R. 2. st. 1 .c. IQ. 
 
 And the waters of Lon, Wyre, Mersey, Kib- 
 ble, and all other waters in Lancashire, shall be 
 put in defence as to taking of salmon from 
 Michaelmas^ to Candlemas, and in no other time 
 of the year. And conservators shall be appointed 
 in like manner. 13. R. 2. st.l, c. 19. 
 
 And the justices of the peace (and the mayor 
 of London, on the Thames and Medway,) shall 
 survey the offences in both the acts above-men- 
 tioned ; and shall survey and search all tlie wears 
 in such rivers ; that they shall not be very strait 
 for the destruction of such fry and brood, but of 
 reasonable wideness after the old assize used or 
 accustomed ; and they shall appoint mider-con- 
 servators, wlx) shall be sworn to make like sur- 
 vey, search, and punishment. And they shall 
 ^enquire in sessions, as well by their office, as at 
 the information of the under-conversators of all 
 <lefaults aforesaid, and shall cause them which 
 shall be thereof indicted, to come before them; 
 and if they be thereof convicted, they shall have 
 imprisonment, and make fine at the discretion 
 of the justices : and if the same be at the 
 information of an under-conversator, he sltall 
 have half the fine. 1 7. R. 2. c. 9.. 
 
 3. By the 1 Eliz. c. 17. iNo person, of what 
 estate, degree, and condition soever he be, shall 
 =take and kill any young brood, spawn, or fry of 
 fish ; nor shall take or kill any salmon or trouts 
 not being in season, being kepper and shedder ; 
 nor any pike or pikerel, not being in length ten 
 linches fis.h or more ; nor any salmon, not being 
 
l64 best's akt of angv^no. 
 
 in length sixteen inches fish ; nor any trout 
 not being in length eight inches fish ; nor any bar- 
 bel not being in length twelve inches: and no per- 
 son shall fisli, or take fish, by any device, but 
 only with a net or iraminel, whereof the mesh 
 shall be two inches and a half broad, (angling 
 excepted, and except smelts, loches, minnows, 
 bull-heads, gudgeons, and eels ;) on pain of for- 
 feiting ^Os, for every offence, and also the fish, 
 nets, and engines. Note. In some editions of 
 the statutes it is ^1. in others £0s. in the records 
 it is not distinguishable whether it is pounds or 
 •shillings. The latter seems more adequate to the 
 offence. 
 
 And the conservators of rivers may enquire 
 hereof by a jury ; and in such case they shall 
 have the fines. 
 
 The leet also may enquire hereof ; and then 
 the forfeiture shall go to the lord of the leet. 
 And if the st ward do not charge the jury there- 
 with he s-hallfbifeit 40 s. half to the kin^, and 
 half to him that shall sue. And if the jury con- 
 ceal the offence, he may impanncl another jury 
 to enquire of such concealment : and if it is 
 &Hmd, the former jury shall forfeit every one 
 20 s. to the lord of the lee*. 
 
 And if the offence is not presented in the leet 
 within a year, tUen it may be heard or deter^ 
 mined at the sessions or assizes, (savmg the right 
 cons.1 i -ators.) 
 
 And by th^ 33 G £. 3.27. No person shall 
 take, oriinowingiy have in his possession, either 
 in the water ot* on shoje, or sell or expose to sale, 
 -^ly spawn, fry, or brood of fish, or any unsizeable 
 fish, or fish out of season, or any smelt not five 
 inches long: and any person may seize the same, 
 logcthef with baskets and j:)ackage, and char^ 
 
GAME LAWS. 1 65 
 
 a constable, or other peace-officer, with the 
 offender and with the goods, who shall carry 
 them before a justice ; and on conviction before 
 such justice, the same shall be forfeited and de- 
 livered to the prosecutor ; and the offender shall 
 besides forfeit 20 s. to be levied by distress, by 
 warrant of such justice, and distributed, half to 
 the prosecutor, and half to the poor of the parish 
 Avhere the offence was committed, (and any inha- 
 bitant of such parish, nevertlieless may be a wit- 
 ness,) for want of sufficient distress, to be com- 
 mitted to the house of correction, to be kept to 
 hard labour for anj^ time not exceeding three 
 months, unless the forfeiture be sooner paid. 
 Provided, that the justice may mitigate the said 
 penalty, so as not to remit above one half. Per- 
 sons aggrieved may appeal to the next sessions; 
 And the form of the conviction may be this : 
 
 Be it reme^mbered , that on this day of 
 in the year of the reign of G. B. 
 
 is convicted before me one of his 
 
 majesty's justices of the peace, for the of 
 
 for and I do adjudge him 
 
 to pay and forfeit the sum of Given under 
 
 my hand and seal the day and year abovesaid. 
 S. 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. 
 
 4. No person shall fasten anj'' nets over rivers, 
 to stand continually day and night, on pain of 
 an hundred shilings to the king. 2 H. 6. c, 15. 
 
 Our plenteous streams a various race supply. 
 The bright ey'd peich, with fins of Tvrian-dye, 
 The silver eel, in shining volumes roli'd. 
 The yeilow carp, in scales be-dropp'd with gold, 
 Svvift trouts, diversified with crimson stains, 
 . /ind pikes, the tyrants of the wat'ry plains. 
 
 pope's WINDSOR FeREST, 
 
i66 best's akt of ngu vq. 
 
 CHAP. viri. 
 
 Prog72ostics of the Weather^ independent of the 
 Barometer, extracted fom the beat Authorities, 
 
 As it is highly necessary that an angler 
 ahouk] be able lo form a judgment of the change 
 of weather, on which liis sport entirely depends ; 
 if he observes the following signs, it will soon 
 become iamiliar to him. 
 
 SIGNS FROM rAPOuns. 
 
 If a white mist in an evening or night is 
 spread over a meadow, wherein there is a river, 
 it will be drawn up by the next morning's sun, 
 and the day will be bright afterwards. 
 
 Where there are high hills, and the mist which 
 hangs over ttie lower lands draw towards the 
 hills in a morning, and rolls up their sides till it 
 covers the top, there will be no rain* 
 
 In some places, if the mist hangs upon the 
 hills, and drags along the woods, instead of 
 overspreading the level grounds, in a morning, it 
 will turn to rain; therefore to judge rightly of 
 the appearances of a fog, it is in some degree 
 necessary to be acquainted with the nature of 
 the country* , 
 
 SIGNS FROM THE CLOUDS. 
 
 It is a very considerable symptom of fair 
 weather^ when the clouds decay, and dissolve 
 
^i(;\S FfsOM THE r«.OUf)S. \67 
 
 thcii; e'ves I'Mo aij; but it is otherwise when 
 they aic coii.cieo out of it* 
 
 In iiubem cogiteraer. ViRttiir* 
 
 Aeainst heavy rain, every cloud rises bigger 
 than the former, and all the clouds are in a grow- 
 ing state. 
 
 This is most remarkable on the approach of a 
 thunder storm, after the vapours have b( en co- 
 pious y elevated, suspended in the sky by the 
 heat, and are highly charged vvi' h electrical tire ; 
 sm.all fragments of liying clouds increase and 
 assemble together, till in a short space of time 
 they cover the sky. 
 
 When the clouds are formed like fleeces, deep, 
 and dense toward the middle, and very white at 
 the edges, with the sky very bright and blue 
 about them, they are of a frosty coldness, and 
 will soon fall either in hail, snow, or in hasty 
 showers of rain. 
 
 If clouds are seen to breed high in the air, in 
 thin white trauis, like locks of wool, or the tails 
 of horses, they shew that the vapour as it is col- 
 lected, is irregularly spread and scattered by 
 contrary winds above; the consequence of which 
 will soon b;j a wind below, and probably a rain 
 with it. 
 
 If the clouds, as they come forward, seem to 
 diverge froin a point in the horizon, a wind may 
 be expected from that quarter or the opposite. 
 
 When a general cloudiness covers the sky 
 above, and there are small black fragments of 
 clouds, like smoke, flying underneath, which 
 some call messengers, others Noah's Ark, be- 
 cause they sail over the other clouds, like the 
 ark upon the waters, rain ii not far off, and it 
 will probably be lasting. 
 
1(J8 bkst's aht of angling. 
 
 There is no surer sign of rain than two differ- 
 ent currents of clouds, especially if the under- 
 most flies fast before the wind; and if two such 
 currents appear in the hot weather of the sum- 
 mer, they shew that a thunder storm is gather- 
 ing: but the preparation which precedes a storm 
 of thunder, is so generally understood, that it is. 
 needless to insist upon it minutely. 
 
 SIGNS FROM THE DEfF^ 
 
 If the dew lies plentifully u[}on the grass after 
 a fair day, another fair day may he expected to 
 succeed it ; but if after such a day there is no dew 
 upon the ground, and no wind stirring, it is a 
 sign that the vapours go upwards, and that there 
 will be an accumulation above, which must ter- 
 minate in rain. 
 
 SIGNS FROM THE FACE OF THE SKY. 
 
 If those vapours which the heat of the day 
 raises from the earth, are precipitated by the 
 cold air of the night, then the sky is clear in the 
 morning ; but if this does not happen, and they 
 remain still in the air, the light of the morning 
 will be coloured as it was in the evening, and rain 
 Vvill be the consequence. 
 
 There is commonly either a strong dew, or 
 a mist over the ground, between a red evening 
 and a grey morning ; but if a red morning ^uc 
 ceeds, there is no dew. 
 
 It is a bad sjanptom when a lowering redness 
 is spread too far upwards from the hor-zon, 
 either in the morning or in the evening ; it is 
 succeeded either by rain or wind, and frequently 
 both. 
 
SIGNS FROM THE SUN, &0. l69 
 
 When such a fiery redness, together with a 
 raggedness of the clouds, extends towards the 
 zenith in an evening, the wiifd will be high from 
 the west or south-west, attended with rain, some- 
 times with a flood : before the late dreadful hur- 
 ricane of 1780, at Barbadoes and the other West- 
 India islands, a redness like fire was observed all 
 over the sky. When the sky, in a rainy season, 
 is tinged with sea-green colour^ near the horizon, 
 when it ought to be blue, the rain will continue 
 and increase ; if it is of a deep dead blue, it is 
 abundantly loaded with vapours, and the weather 
 will be showery. 
 
 SIGNS FROM TJIESVN^ MOON^ ANT) STARS* 
 
 When there is a haziness aloft in the air, so 
 that the sun's light fades by degrees, and his orb 
 looks whitish and ill-defined, it is one of the most 
 certain signs of rain. 
 
 If the moon and stars grow dim in the night, 
 with the like haziness in the air, and a ring or 
 halo appears round the moon, rain will be the 
 consequence. 
 
 If the rays of the sun, breaking through the 
 clouds, are visible in the air, and appear like 
 those horns of irradiation which painters usually 
 place upon the head of Moses, the air is sensibly 
 ^lled with vapours, which reflect the rays to 
 the sight, and these vapours will soon produce 
 rain. 
 
 If the sun appears white at his setting, or 
 
 shorn of bis rays, or goes down into a bank of 
 
 clouds, which lie in the horizon ; all these are 
 
 signs of approaching or continuing bad wea- 
 
 . ther. 
 
 If 'the moon looks pale and dim, we are to c»* 
 
170 best's art of angling. 
 
 pect rain; if red, it is a sign of wind; and if 
 white, and of her natural colour, and the sky- 
 clear, it will be fair weather, according to a poeti* 
 cal adage, 
 
 Pallida liina pluit, riibicunda flat, alba sereiiat. ■ 
 
 If the moon is rainy throughout her course, it 
 will clear up at the ensuing change, and the rain 
 will probably commence again in a few days after, 
 and continue ; if, on the contrary, the moon has 
 been fair throughout, and it rains at the change, 
 the fair weather will probably be restored about 
 the fourth or fifth day of the moon, and continue 
 as before. 
 
 Sin ortu quarto (namque is certissimiis antor) 
 Pura, neque obtusis per coeliim cornibus ibit, 
 Totus ct ille dies, et qui nascentur ab illo 
 Exactum ad meusem, pluvia ventisque carebunt. 
 
 Virg. Georg, 132. 
 
 But four nights old (for that's the surest sign). 
 
 With sharpen'd horns, if glorious then she shine: 
 
 Next day, not only that, but all the moon, 
 
 'Till her revolving race be wholly run, 
 
 Are void of tempests. Dryden. 
 
 N.B. A gentleman who cuts hay for his own 
 consumption, will seldom fail to find his account 
 in marking this observation ; but a farmer who 
 has much business to do, cannot contract his 
 •work into so, small a compass, as to save himself 
 by the benefit of this observation, because some 
 of his work must be done to make way for the 
 rest. 
 
S 1 G 1^ S O F T H E WEATHER. J 7 I 
 
 SIGNS FJtOM THE iriNDS, 
 
 When the wind veers about, uncertainly^ to 
 several points of the compass, rain is pretty sure 
 to foiiow. 
 
 Some have remarked, that if the wind, as it 
 veers about, follows the course of the sun, from 
 the east towards the west, it brings fair weather ; 
 if the contrary, foul ; but there is no prognostic 
 of rain more infallible, than a whistling or 
 howling noise of the wind. 
 
 FROM NOCTURNAL METEORS. 
 
 When an Aurora borealis appears, after some 
 warm daj-s, it is generally succeeded by a cold- 
 ness of the air : as if the matter of heat was 
 carried upwards from the earth to the sky. 
 
 MIGNS OF THE CHANGE OF WEATHER FROH THS 
 ANIMAL CREATION. 
 
 So long as the swallows fly aloft after their 
 prey, we think ourselves sure of a serene sky ; 
 but when they skim along near the ground, or 
 the surface of the water, we judge the rain is 
 not far off, and the observation will seldom fail : 
 in the year 1773, a draught of three months 
 continuance broke up at the summer solstice : 
 the day before the rain came upon us, the swal- 
 lows flew very near the ground, which tliey had 
 never done in the fine weather. 
 
 In the mountainous country of Derbyshire, 
 which goes by the name of the Peak, the inha- 
 bitants observe, that if the sheep wind up the 
 iiills in the morning to their pasture, and feed 
 9^ 
 
172 best's aut of angling. 
 
 near the tops, the weather, though cloiuiy and 
 drizzling, which is very frequently the case in 
 those parts, will clear away by degree^s, and ter- 
 minate in a fine day; but if they feed in the 
 bottoms, the rains will continue and increase. 
 
 Dogs grow sleepy and stupid before rain, and 
 shew that their stomachs are out of order, hy 
 refusing their food, and eating grass, that sorE 
 which is hence called dog^s grass: this they cast 
 up again soon afterwards, and with it the foul- 
 ness that offended their stomachs. Water-fowl 
 dive and wash themselves more than ordinary ; 
 and even the fish i.u rivers are affected, because 
 all anglers agree, that they never bite freely 
 "when rain is depending. Vide part 1st, rule l6th» 
 Flies, on the contrary, are particularly trou- 
 blesome, and seem to be more hungry than 
 usual ; and toads are seen in the evening, cr^twl- 
 ing across the road or beaten path, where thcj 
 seldom appear but w^hen they are restless with 
 an approaching change. 
 
 Before any considerable quantity of rain is to 
 fall, most living creatures are afiected in such 
 sort as to render them some way sensible of its 
 approach, and of the access of something new 
 to the surface of the earth, and of the aimos- 
 jihere. Moles work harder than ordinary, they 
 throw up more earth, and someiimes come 
 forth : the worms do so to ; ants are observed 
 to stir about, and bustle more than usually for 
 some time, and then retire to their burrows be- 
 fore the rain falls. All sorts of insects and 
 flies are more stirring and busy than ordinary. 
 Bees are ever on this occasion in fullest employ j 
 but betake themselves aP to their hives, if not 
 too far for them to reach before the storm 
 irises^ The common flesh-flies are more bold 
 
PROGNOSTICS CONTINUED. 173 
 
 and greedy; snails, frogs, and toads, appear 
 disturbed and uneasy. Fishes are sullen and 
 inade qualmish bj the water, now more turbid 
 than before. Bir^s of all sorts are in action : 
 crows are most earnest afier their prey, as are 
 also swallows and other small birds, and there- 
 fore they fall lower, and fly nearer to the earth 
 in search of insects and such other things as 
 they feed upon. When the mountains of the 
 north begin to be capped with fogs, the moor- 
 cocks and other birds quit them, fly off'in flocks, 
 and betake themselves to the lower lands for 
 the time. Swine discover great uneasiness ; as 
 do likewise sheep, cows, and oxen, appearing 
 more solicitous and eager in pasture than usual. 
 Even mankind themselves are not exempt from 
 some sense of a change in their bodies. 
 
 PROGNOSTICS CONTINUED, 
 
 l^. ^' A dark, thick, sky, lasting for some time 
 without either sun or rain, always become first 
 fair, then foul,^' i. e. changes to a fair, clear 
 sky, before it turns to rain. This the Rev. Mr. 
 Clarke, wdio kept a register of the weather for 
 thirty years, since put into Mr. Derham's hands, 
 by his grandson, the learned Dr. Samuel Clarke : 
 this, he says, he scarce ever knew to fail; at 
 least when the wind was in any of the easterly 
 points : but Mr. Derham has observed the rule 
 to hold good, be the wind where it will. And 
 the cause is obvious : The atmosphere is re- 
 plete with vapours, which, though suflScient 
 to reflect and intercept the sun's rays from us, 
 yet Avant density to descend ; and while the va- 
 pours continue in the same state, the weather 
 will do so to. 
 
 23 
 
1'74 best's art of angling. 
 
 Acc'ordiiigU', such weather is generally at- 
 tended with moderate warmth, and with little 
 or no wind to disturb the vapours, and an heavy 
 atmosphere to sustain them, the barometer 
 being commonly high. But when the cold ap- 
 proaches, and by condensing, dilves the vapours 
 into clouds or drops, then .way is made for the 
 sun-beams ; till the same vapours being, by fur- 
 ther condensation, formed into rain, fall down 
 into drops. 
 
 2°. " A change in the warmth of the weather, 
 is generally followed by a change in the wind.'^ 
 Thus, the northerly and southerly winds, com- 
 monly esteemed the causes of cold and warm 
 weather, are really the effects of the cold or 
 %varmth of the atmosphere : of which Mr. Der- 
 ham assures us he has had so many confirma- 
 tions, that he makes no doubt of it. Tlius it is 
 common to see a warm southerly wind suddenly 
 changed to the north, by a fall of snow or hail ; 
 or to see the wind, in a cold frosty morning, 
 north, when the sun has well warmed the earth 
 and air, wheel towards the south ; and again 
 turn northerly or easterly in a cold evening. 
 
 3°. " Most vegetables expand their flowers 
 m\d down in sun-shiny weather, and towards the 
 evening ; and against rain close them again ^" 
 especially at the beginning of their flowering, 
 when their seeds are tender and sensible. This 
 is visible enough in the down of dandelion, and 
 other downs : and eminently in the flowers of 
 pimpernel; the opening and shutting of which, 
 Gerard observes, are the countryman's weather- 
 wiser, wdiereby he tells the weather of the fol-. 
 lowing day. The riik^is, if the flowers are 
 
PROGNOSTICS CONTINUED. 173 
 
 close shut up, it betokens rain and foul wea- 
 ther: if they are spread abroad, fair weather. 
 Ger. Herb. Lib. 2. 
 
 Est et alia (arbor in T^^lis) similisy foliosior ta^ 
 men, roseicjue /for is ; quern noctu com pri mens ape- 
 rire incipit solis exhort u, mcridie expandit. ///- 
 colcB dormire eurndicunt, Plin. Nat. Hist. Lib, 
 12. C.2. 
 
 The stalk of trefoil, mj Lord Bacon observes, 
 swells against rain, and grows more upright : 
 and the like may be observed, though not so 
 sensibly, in Hie stalks of most other plants. 
 He adds, that in the stubble-fields, there is 
 found a small red flower, called by the country 
 people Kiitc op. pe : which, opening in the morn- 
 ing, is a sure indication of a fine day. 
 
 That vegetables should be affected by the 
 same causes that aff^ect the weather, is very 
 conceivable; if we consider them as so many 
 hygrometers and thermometers, consisting of 
 an infinite number of trachea? or air vessels; 
 by which they have an immediate communica- 
 tion w^ith the air, and partake of its moisture 
 and heat, &c. 1 hese tracheae are very visible 
 in the leaf of the scabiose, vine, &c. 
 
 Hence it is, that ail wood, even the hardest 
 and most solid, swells in moist weather ; the 
 vapours easily insinuating themselves into the 
 pores thereof, especially of that which is light- 
 est and driest. And hence we derive a very 
 extraordinary use of wood, viz. for breaking 
 ■ rocks and mili-stones. The method at the 
 quarries is this: Having cut a rock into a cy- 
 linder, they divide that into several lesser cylin- 
 ders, by making holes at the proper distances 
 round the great one : these holes they fill with 
 £0 many pieces of sallov/ wood^ dticd in an oven ^ 
 
176 best's ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 which, in moist weather, becoming impregnated 
 with tlie humid corpuscles of the air, swell ; 
 and, like wedges, break or cleave the rocks into 
 several stones. 
 
 The speedy drying of the surface of the 
 earth, is a sign of a northerly wind and foir 
 weather 4 and its becoming moist, of southerly 
 wind and rain. Hence tiie farmer may be in- 
 structed, never to trust a sun-shiny day, while 
 the surface of the earth continues wet ; and to 
 rely on a change to dry weather, as soon as he 
 observes the moisture dried up, even though the 
 appearance of the clouds should not be favora- 
 ble ; for the air sucks up all the moisture on the 
 surface of the earth, even though the sky be 
 overcast, and that is ti sure sign of fair wcctther ; 
 but if the earth continues moist, and water 
 stands in shallow places, no trust should be put 
 in the clearest sky, for ia this case it is deceit- 
 ful. 
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 MORE SIGNS FROM ANIMAIS, 
 
 Against rain fleas bite more than com- 
 mon, spiders cravvl abroad, bees stir not far 
 from their hives. On the contrary, spiders' 
 webs in the air, or on the grass or trees, foretel 
 very fair and hot weather ; so do bees when 
 they fly far from their hives, and come late 
 home ; and likewise a more than usual appear- 
 ance of glow-worms by night. If gnats play 
 up and down in the open air near sun-set, they 
 presage heat, if in the shade, w^'vrm and mild 
 showers j but if they jojn in stinging those that 
 
PKOG^O^Ji^S CONTINUED. 177 
 
 pass by them, cold weather and much rain ms^y 
 be expected. Larks rising very high, and con- 
 tinuing to sing for a long time, and kites flying 
 aloft, are signs of fair and dry weather, la 
 men, frequently aches, wounds, and corns, are 
 more troublesome, either towards rain or to- 
 wards frost. 
 
 Virgil's beautiful description of this sense in 
 animals, is thus rendered by Mr. Dry den : 
 
 Wet weather seldom hurts the most unwise; 
 
 So plain the signs, such prophets are the skies ; 
 
 The wary crane forsees it first, and sails 
 
 Above the storm, and leaves the hollow vales : 
 
 The cow looks up, and fiom afar can find 
 
 The change of heav*n, and snuffs it in the wind. 
 
 The swallow skims the river's watry face. 
 
 The frogs renew the creaks of their loquacious racp* 
 
 The careful ant her secret cell forsakes. 
 
 And draws her eggs along the narrow tracks. 
 
 Huge flocks of rising rooks forsake their food. 
 
 And, crying; seek the shelter of the wood. 
 
 Besides, the several sorts of wat'ry fowls. 
 
 That swim the seas, or haunt the standing pooh, 
 
 Then lave their backs with sprinkhng dews in vainji 
 
 And stem the stream to meet the promisM rain. 
 
 Then, after showers, 'tis easy to descry. 
 
 Returning suns, and a serener sky. 
 
 * * * « ♦ # 
 
 I'heir Utter is not tossM by sows unclean, 
 
 ♦ « » * « » 
 
 And owls, that mark the setling-sun, declare 
 A star-light ev'ning, and a morning fair. 
 
 Then thrice the ravens rend the liquid air. 
 And croaking notes proclaun the settled fair: 
 Then round their airy palaces they fly 
 To greet the sun, and seiz'd with secret joy 
 When storms are overblown, with food repair 
 To their forsaken nests and callow care. 
 
 The crow has been particularly remarked by 
 the ancients to presage rain, when she cavvs^ 
 
178 best's ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 and walks alone on the sea-sliore, or on the 
 l)ank.^ of rivers and pools. Thus Virgil, in the 
 first Georgic. 
 
 Turn cornix rauca pluviaii^ vocat improbavoce, 
 Et sola in sicca secum spatiatur arena. 
 
 The croNY ^vith clamorous cries the shower demands. 
 And single stalks along the desert sands. 
 
 DRYDEN. 
 
 Pliny makes the same observation, in the 
 S5th chap, of his 18th book : Et cum terrestes 
 Tolucres contra aquas clangores fundeutes sese 
 6ed maxime cornix : ' It is a sign of rain, when 
 land-fowl, and especially crows, are clamorous 
 near waters, and wash themselves." 
 
 Horace also expresses himself to the same 
 purpose, in the 17th Ode of the third book, 
 where he says, 
 
 • Aquae nisi fallit augur. 
 
 Annosa cornix. 
 
 " unless in vain 
 
 Cloaks the ojd crow presaging rain.** 
 
 Likewise in the 27th Ode of the same book, 
 he calls the crow, divinam imbnum imminm- 
 tium ; prophetic of impending showers. 
 
 MORE PROGNOSTICS OF THE 7FEJTHER, TAKEN 
 FROM THE SUN^ MOON, AND STARS. 
 
 1st Rule. If the sun rise red and fiery, wind 
 and rain. 
 
 2d Rule. If cloudy, and the clouds soon de- 
 crease certain fair weather. 
 
 These rules may be extended to all the hea* 
 
PROGNOSriCS CONT! NUKD. 179 
 
 veiiiy bodies ; for as their rays pass througb 
 the atmosphere, the vapours in the air have the 
 same effect on each. 
 
 When the farmer therefore sees the sun or 
 moon rise or set red and fiery, or sees the 
 clouds and horizon of that 'colour, he may ex- 
 pect wind and rain, owing to the unequal distri- 
 bution of the vapours, or to their being aheady 
 collected into watery globules by some preceding 
 cause. 
 
 But if, according to the second rule, the syn 
 rises cloudy, and the clouds soon decrease, the 
 vapours are more equally distributed in the at- 
 mosphere; which equal distribution is also pro- 
 moted by the warmth of the rising sun* Hence 
 we may account for an observation adopted into 
 all languages. 
 
 The evening red^ the morning g re ?/p 
 Are sure signs of o-Jiiit^ day. 
 
 For if the abundance of vapours denoted by 
 the red evening sky falls down in dew, or i"s 
 otherwise so equally dispersed in the air, that 
 the morning shall appear grey, vve may pro- 
 mise ourselves a fair day, from that equal state 
 of the atmosphere. 
 
 If in the morning, some parts of tlie sky ap- 
 pear green between the clouds, while the sky 
 is blue above, stormy weather is at hand. 
 
 The great Lord Bacon gives us the follow- 
 ing rules to j'Klge of tlie ensuing weather, from 
 the first appearance of the moon ; and it is said 
 that these rules of his have neter been known 
 to fail. 
 
 If the new moon does not appear till the 
 
180 best's art of angling. 
 
 fourth day, it prognosticates a troubled air for 
 the whole month. 
 
 U^ the moon, cither at her first appearance, or 
 within a few days after, has her lower horn ob- 
 scured or dusky, or any wise sullied, it denotes 
 foul weather before the full ; but if she be dis- 
 coloured in the middle, storms are to be ex- 
 pected about the full, or about the w^ane, if her 
 upper horn is affected in like manner. 
 
 \yhen the moon, on her fourth daj'', appears 
 fine and spotless, her horns unblunted, and nei- 
 ther fiat nor quite erect, but betwixt both, it 
 promises fair weather for the greatest part of 
 the month. 
 
 j^n erect moon is generally threatening and 
 unfavourable, but particularly denotes wand ; 
 though if she appear with short and blunted 
 horns, rain is rather expected. 
 
 Most of the foregoing rules are taken from 
 the following beautiful passage of Virgil: 
 
 Observe the daily circle of the sun, 
 And the short year of each revolving moon : 
 By them thou shalt foresee the following day ; 
 Norshalt a starry night thy hopes betray, 
 AVhen first the rnoon appears, if then slie shrouds 
 Her silver crescent, tipp*d with sable clouds. 
 Conclude she bodes a tempest on the main. 
 And brews for fields impetuous floods of rain. 
 Or if her face with fiery flushings glow, 
 Expect the rattling winds aloft to blow. 
 But four nights old, (for that's the surest sign) 
 With sharpen d horns if glorious then she shine, 
 Next day, not only that but all the moon, 
 ^Till her revolving race be wholly run. 
 Are void of tempests both by sea and land. 
 ♦ ♦**♦#** 
 Above the rest, the sun, who never lies, 
 Forctels the change of weather in the skies ; 
 For if he rise unwilling to his race. 
 Clouds on his brow and sjjots upon his face ; 
 
PU0GN06TICS CONTINUED. I8i 
 
 Or if thro' mists he shoots his sullen beams, 
 Frugal of light, in loose and straggling sti earns. 
 Suspect a drizzling day with southern rain. 
 
 « « • « • «#.• 
 
 Or if Aurora, with half open*d eyes, 
 And a pale sickly cheek, saluie the skies; 
 How shall the vine, her tender leaves defend 
 Her teeming clusters when the storms descend ? 
 
 But more than all the setting-sun jurvey. 
 
 When down the steep of heav'n he drives the day: 
 
 For oft we find him finishing his race. 
 
 With various colours erring on his face ; 
 
 If fiery red his glowing globe descends, 
 
 High winds and furious tempests he portends; 
 
 But if his cheeks are swoln with livid blue, 
 
 He bodes wet weather by his watVy hue ; 
 
 If dusky spots are varied on his brow. 
 
 And streaked with red, a troubled colour shew, 
 
 That sullen mixture shall at once declare. 
 
 Winds, rains, and storms, and elemental war. 
 
 «««« « «•« 
 
 But if with purple rays he brings the light. 
 And a pure heav'n resigns to quiet night; 
 No rising winds nor falling storms are nigh. 
 
 itORE PROGNOSTICS^ TAKES FROM ^UE 
 CLOUDS. 
 
 3d Rule. Clouds like, large rocks, great 
 showers, 
 
 4th Rule. If small clouds lucrease, much rain. 
 
 5th Rule. If large clouds decrease, fair wea- 
 ther. 
 
 6th Rule. In summer or harvest, when the 
 wind has been south two or three days, and it 
 grows very hot, and you see clouds rise with 
 white tops, like towers ^reat as if one were on the 
 top of another, and jouied together with black 
 on the nether side, there will be thunder and rain 
 suddenly. 
 
 R 
 
182 best's art of angling. 
 
 7th Rule. If two such clouds rise, one on ei- 
 ther hand, it is time to make haste to shelter, 
 
 Mr. Worlidge gives us the following Rules. 
 
 *^ In a fair day, if the sky seems dappled with 
 white clouds (which is usually termed a mackrel 
 sky) it generally predicts rain.'' 
 
 This is confirmed by a very ingenious gentle- 
 man, who has constantly observed, that '* in dry 
 weather, so soon as clouds appear at a great 
 height, striped like the feathers in the breast of a 
 hawk, rain may be expected in a day or so." 
 
 <^ In a clear evening, certain small black clouds 
 appearing, are undoubted signs of rain to follow : 
 or if black or blue clouds appear near the sun, at 
 any time of the day, or near the moon by night, 
 rain usually follows." 
 
 *^ If small waterish clouds appear on the tops 
 of hills, rain follows." 
 
 " If clouds grow, or appear suddenly, the air 
 otherwise free from clouds, it denotes tempests 
 at hand, especially if they appear to the south or 
 west." 
 
 ^* If many clouds, like fleeces of wool, are scat- 
 tered from the east^' they foretel rain within three 
 days." 
 
 When clouds settle upon the tops of moun- 
 tains, they indicate hard: weather. 
 
 When the tops of mountains are clear, it is a 
 sign of fair weather. 
 
 MORE PROGNOSTICS TAKEN FROM MIST. 
 
 8th Rule. If mists rise in low grounds and soon 
 vanish, fair weather. 
 
 9th Rule. If it rises up to the hill tops, rain in 
 a day or two. 
 
PROGNOSTICS CONTINUED. 183 
 
 10th Rule. Ageneral mist before the sun rises, 
 near the full moon, fair weather. 
 
 MORE PROGNOSTICS TuiKEN FROM RAIN. 
 
 1 1th Rule. Sudden rains never last long: but 
 when the air grows thick by degrees, and the sun, 
 moon, and stars, shine dimmer and dimmer, it is 
 likely to rain six hours usually. 
 
 12th Rule. If it begins to rain from the south, 
 wkh a high wind, for two or three hours, and the 
 wind falls, but the rain continues, it is likely to 
 rain twelve hours or more ; and does UGually rain 
 till a strong north wind clears the air: these long 
 rains seldom hold abovc^ twelve hours, or happen 
 above once a year. " In an inland country," 
 says Mr. Mills, *' it may not rain for more than 
 twelve hours successively ; but I doubt this will 
 hold a general rule, either of its duration or fre- 
 quency, in all places J for, near the sea, rains 
 happen often, which last a whole day." 
 
 I3th Rule. If it begins to rain an hour or two 
 before sun-rising, it is likely to be fair before- 
 noon, and to continue so that day; but if the 
 rain begins an hour or two after sun» rising, it is 
 likely to rain all that day, except the rainbow be 
 seen before it rains. 
 
 Mt. Worlidge's signs of rain are the following : 
 
 '^ The audibility of sound are certain prognos- 
 tics of the temper of the air in a still evening ; 
 for if th€ air is replete with moisture over us, it 
 depresses the sounds, so that they become audible 
 to a greater distance than when the air is free 
 from such moisture and vapours. From whence 
 you may conclude, that in such nights, or other 
 B 2 
 
lc?4 BbSl's ART OF ANGLING. 
 
 times, wh«?n you hear the sound of bells, noise 
 of water, beasts, birds, or any other sounds or 
 noises, more plamly than at other times, the 
 air is inclinable to rain, which commonly suc- 
 ceeds," 
 
 ** If the earth, or any moist or fenny places, 
 yield any extraordinary scents, or smells, it pre- 
 sages rain." 
 
 *• If dews lie long in the morning on the grass, 
 &c. it signifies fair weather ; but if they rise or 
 vanish suddenly and early in the morning, it pre- 
 sages rain." 
 
 *^ There is a small bird of the size and nearly 
 the shape of a marren, that at certain times flies 
 very near the water, which is a most sure prog- 
 nostic of tempestuous weather; never appearing 
 but against tuch weather as hath been constantly 
 observed by the b«)atmen on the Severn and the 
 channel, between the Isle of Wight and the main- 
 land." 
 
 " Ducks and geese picking their wings, wash- 
 ing themselves much, or cackling much, de- 
 notes rain." 
 
 *< If after rain comes a cold wind, there will 
 be more rain*'* 
 
 The nightly virgin, whilst her wheel she plies, 
 Foresees the storm impending in the skies. 
 When sparkling lamps their sputt'ring li^ht advance. 
 And in their sockets oily bubbles dance. 
 
 I>RYD£N*fi VIRGIL. 
 MORE PROGNOSTICS JTROM THE WIND. 
 
 14th Rule. When the wind turns to north-east, 
 and it continues there two days without rain, and 
 does not turn south the third day, nor rain the 
 third day J it is likely to continue north-east for 
 
PROG^JOSTTCS CONTINUED. 185 
 
 eight or nine days all fair^ and then to come 
 south again 
 
 15th RiVle. If it turn again out of the south to 
 the north east with rain, and continues in the 
 north east two days without rain, and neither 
 turns south nor rains the third day, it is likely to 
 eontinue north-east two or three months. 
 
 The wind will finish these turns in three weeks, 
 
 16th Rule. After a northerly wind, for the 
 most of two months or more, and then coming 
 s6uth, there are usually three or four fair days at 
 first, and then on the fourth or fifth day comes 
 rain, or else the wind turns north again and con- 
 tJhues'dry* 
 
 •17th Rule; If it returns to the south within a 
 day or two, without rain, and turns northward 
 with rain, and returns to the south in one or two 
 days, as hefore, two or three times together after 
 this sort, then it is likely to be in the south or 
 south-west two or three months together, as it 
 was in the north before. 
 
 The winds will finish these turns in a fortnight. 
 
 18th Rule. Fair weather for a week, with a 
 southerly wind, is likely to produce a great drought, 
 if there has been much rain out of the south be- 
 fore. The wind usually turns from the north to 
 south with a quiet wind without rain ; but returns 
 to the north wnth a strong wind and rain The 
 strongest winds are when it turns from south to 
 north by west. 
 
 19th Rule. If you see a cloud rise against the 
 wind, or side wind, when that cloud comes up 
 to you, the wind will blow the same way the^ 
 cloud came. The same rule holds of a clear' 
 place,, when all the sky is equally thick, except 
 one clear edge. 
 
 When the north wind first clears the. air, 
 R 3 
 
186 best's art of angling. 
 
 which is usually once a week, be sure of a fair day 
 or two. 
 
 The following are the observations of Lord 
 Bacon : 
 
 When the wind changes conformable to the 
 motion of the sun, that is, from east to south, 
 from south to west, &c, it seldom goes back, or 
 if it does, it is only for a short time ; but if it 
 moves in a contrary direction, viz, from east to 
 north, from north to west, it generally returns 
 to the former point, at least before it has gone 
 quite through the circle. 
 
 When winds continue to vary for a few hours, 
 as if it were to try in what point it should settle, 
 and afterwards begin to blow constant, they con- 
 tinue for many days. 
 
 If the south wind begins for two or thfee days, 
 the north wind will blow suddenly after it ; but if 
 the north wind blows for the same number of 
 liays, the south will not rise till after the east has 
 blown some time. 
 
 Whatever wind begins to blow in the morn- 
 ing, usually continues longer than that which 
 rises in the evening. 
 
 Mr. Worlidge observes, that *^ if the wind be 
 east or north-east in the fore part of the sum- 
 mer, the weather is likely to continue dry : and 
 if westward toward the end of the summer, then 
 will it also contique dry : if in great rains, the 
 winds rise or fall, it signifies the rain will forth- 
 with cease. 
 
 «* If the colours of the rainbow tend more to 
 ted than any other colour, wind follows 5 if green 
 ndT blue are predominant, rain.'' 
 
PROGNOSTICS CON I IN L hi). l87 
 
 THE SIQNS OF A TEMPEST ARE THESE T 
 
 For ere the rising winds begin to roaf. 
 
 The working sea advances to the shore; 
 
 Soft whispers run along the leafty woods, 
 
 And mountains whistle to the murm'ring floods j 
 
 And chaff with rddying win^s is toss'd around. 
 
 And dancing leaves are iifted from the ground, 
 
 And floating feathers on the water play. 
 
 dryden's viugiu 
 
 PROGNOSTICS CONTINUED. 
 
 20th Rule. If the last eighteen days of Fe- 
 bruary, and the first ten days of March,* are for 
 the most part rainy, then the spring and summer 
 quarters will be so too : and I never kn^w a ffreat 
 drought but it entered in at that season. 
 
 2l8t Rule. If the latter end of October and 
 beginning of November are for the most part 
 warm ana rainy, than January and February are 
 likely to be frosty and cold, except after a very 
 dry summer. 
 
 22d Rule, If there is frost and snow in Octo- 
 ber and November, than January and February 
 are likdy to be open and mild. 
 
 Mr. Claridge gives us the following observa- 
 tions made by our forefathers : 
 
 Janiveer freeze the pot by the fire* 
 
 If the grass grows in Janiveer, 
 
 It grows the worse for 'i all the year. 
 
 The Welshman had rather see his dam on the bier, 
 
 Then see a fair Februeer, 
 
 March wind and May sun 
 
 Makes clothes white and maids dim. 
 
 • Old Style. 
 
188 B ti ST 's A R T O F A N G L 1 N G . 
 
 When April blows his horn, 
 'Tis good both fa*' hay and corn. 
 An April flood 
 
 Carries away the frog and her brood. 
 A cold May and windy 
 Makes a fidl barn and a findy, 
 A May flood never did good, 
 A swarm of bees in May 
 Is worth a load of hay- 
 But a swarm in July 
 Is not worth a fly. , 
 
 The following Rules are laid down by Lord Bacon : 
 
 If the wainscot or walls that used to sweat be 
 drier than usual, in the beginning of winter^ or 
 the eaves of houses drop more slowly than or- 
 dinary, it portends a hard and frosty winter ; for 
 it shews an inclination in the air to dry weather, 
 which, in winter, is always joined with frost. 
 
 Generally, a moist and cold summer portends 
 a hard winter, 
 
 A hot and dry summer and autumn,' especially 
 if the heat and drought extend far into Septem- 
 ber, portend an open beginning of winter, and 
 cold to succeed towards the latter part, and begin- 
 ning of spring. 
 
 A warm and open winter portends a hot and 
 dry summer, for the vapours disperse into the 
 winter showers ; whereas cold and frost keep 
 them in, and convey them to the late spring and 
 following summer. 
 
 Birds that change cotnitries at certain seasons, 
 if they come early, shevv^ the temper of the wea- 
 ther, according to the country whence they came ; 
 as, in winter, woodcocks, snipes, fieldfares, &c. if 
 they come early, shew a cold winter ; and the 
 
PROGNOSTICS CONTINUKD. 189 
 
 cuckoos, if they come early, show a hot summer 
 to follow, 
 
 A serene autumn denotes a windy winter; a 
 windy winter a rainy spring; a rainy spring, a 
 jerene summer ; a serene summer, a windy au- 
 tumn ; so that the air, on a balance, is seldom 
 debtor to itself; nor do the seasons succeed each 
 other in the same tenor for two years together. 
 
 Mr. Worlidge remarks, that if at the beginning 
 •f the winter, the south wind blow, and then tht 
 4iorth, it is likely to be a cold winter ; but if the 
 north wind first blow, and then the south, it will 
 be a warm and mild winter. 
 
 When there are but few nuts, cold and wet 
 harvest generally follow; but when there is a great 
 show of them, hot, heavy, and dry harvests suc- 
 ceed. 
 
 If the oak bears much mast, it foreshews a 
 long and hard winter. The same has been ob- 
 served of hips and haws. 
 
 If broom is full of flowers, it usually signifie« 
 plenty. 
 
 Mark well tlie flow'ring almonds in the wood ; 
 If odVous blooms the bearing branches load, 
 The glebe will answer to the Sylvan reign. 
 Great heats will follow, and large crop of grail. 
 But if a wood of leaves o'ershade the tree. 
 Such and so barren will the harvest be. 
 In vain the hind shall vex the threshing floor. 
 For empty chatf and straw will be thy store. 
 
 DRYDEN's VIROIL. 
 
 In the preface to this new edition, I have lakea 
 notice, that I have not revised any impression of 
 this treatise since ihf: Jijt\ and at the conclusion of 
 that have observed, ** that through the uncer- 
 tainty of life I might not do so again," However, 
 through the blessings of the ALMIGHTY, I am 
 
190 best's art of angling. 
 
 enabled to present the reader with a new copy, 
 and again take my leave of himi wishing him 
 health, prosperity, and good sport. — I shall 
 now (following the example of my pious prede- 
 cessor Walton), address THAT POWER, who 
 penetrates and sustains all nature, who brings 
 round the grateful vicissitude of the seasons, who 
 has given us the inhabitants of the watery ele- 
 ment not only for our nourishment,but recreation, 
 and PPbom we are sure to please, by receiving his 
 blessings thankfully, and enjoying them with pro* 
 .priety. 
 
 Father of all !— all good ! — all wise ! 
 
 Who bid'st the tempest rage or cease ; 
 Whose glory fills earth, seas, and skies. 
 
 Thou only source of joy and peace 5 
 
 Thy wise decrees are right and just. 
 
 Let no one, impious ! tax thy will j 
 But on thy glorious mercies trust. 
 
 And see a good, thro' ev'ry ill : 
 
 Arm— arm, with fortitude my breast. 
 
 The various ills of life to bear; 
 And teach thy servant when at rest. 
 
 For storm'j and troubles to prepare : 
 
 But thro' whate'er distressful scene, 
 I'hy righteous hand may lead me still ; 
 
 Resign'd to what may evil seem. 
 Content my breast shall calmly fill : 
 
 And as the seasons onward roll. 
 And years revolving quickly fly y 
 • ' Sweet gratitude shall warm my soul. 
 For all the blessings I enjoy : 
 
 Still — still I'll praise that heav'nly source, 
 
 For what it pleases to. bestow -, 
 That petrifies the streamlet's course. 
 
 Or bids its silver current-flow j 
 
PROGNOSTICS COiNTfNUED. Jt>l 
 
 That regulates creation's laws, 
 
 Bids all in harmony^unite J 
 And is, — The universal cause. 
 
 Of ev'ry thing that's good and right ^ 
 
 TERMS USED BY ANGLERS EXPLAINED* 
 
 Bawij a knot in a hair or link. 
 
 Bed^ hairs bed well when they twist kindly. 
 
 Beddings the body of an artificial fly. 
 
 Breaky a knot in the joint of a rod. 
 
 Chine a salmon^ cut him up. 
 
 Cock, a float cocks when it swiras perpendicular in 
 
 the water. 
 Drag, slu instrument to disentangle the line. 
 Fin a chub, cut him up. 
 Brush a chub^ dress him. 
 Gildardy the link of a line. 
 Gobbet a trout, cut him up. 
 
 Grabble^ fishing on the grabble is when the line 
 
 is sunk with the running plummet fast to the 
 
 bottom, so that the hook-link plays in the water. 
 
 Hang a fishy hook him. 
 
 Kink, a line kinks in trowling, when it is twisted 
 
 between the top of the rod and the rmg, 
 hease offish^ three. 
 
 Pouch, a pike pouches when he swallows the bait. 
 Prime, fishes are said to prime when they leap 
 
 out of the water. 
 Shoai, any great number of fish together. 
 Soiay a bream, cut him up. 
 Splate a pike, cut him up. 
 
 Thrash, any thing which swims down the water. 
 Trounchton an eel, cut him up. 
 Tusk a barbel, cut him up. 
 Veer your dne^ kt it off the reel after striking. 
 
( 192 1 
 
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 MOON'S RISING AND SETTING. 
 
 At 4 dayi old it sets at and rhines till 
 about 10 at night. 
 5, about 11 
 •, about 13 
 
 7, at or near l in the morning. 
 M» at full, it rises about 6 Even. 
 
 16 at a quarter after 7 Even. 
 11 at lialf after . . a 
 
 18 . about . . 10 
 
 19 o , about . . 11 
 
 20 . . about . . 18 
 
 Kote. This Table sufficiently accurate for the purpose It is wanted ffvr, 
 tliat of afccrtaining Moon-light evenings. 
 
< I9S ) 
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 iVl I N N ow-fishing comes in about the middle 
 of March, and continues till the latter end 
 of August ; it is a most excellent bait, very 
 destructive, of strong exercise, being alvvaj^s 
 in motion, and affords the angler variety of 
 sport. To be angled with at any time of the day 
 from sun-vise till sun-set, and takes the best and 
 largest fish. 
 
 Cod'tait-fishing comes m about a fortnight ia 
 May, and continues till about the middle of June: 
 it is a very killing-bait and will take almost every 
 sort of fish, in deep standing-waters as well as 
 in streams, mornings and evenings, till the middle 
 of June. 
 
 Maggot, or gentle-Jishing comes in about the 
 beginning of May, and continues till the latter 
 end of February, in the next year ; it is the best 
 ^nd most killing ground-bait that ever was made 
 use of; it will take every sort offish that swims 
 in fresh water, except salmon or pike. 
 
 Grasshopper-JishiNg comes in about the latter. 
 ^nd of June, and continues till the latter end of 
 August. It is a curious fine bait, very natural to 
 fish, but very tender; to be drawn upon a leaded 
 hook, No. 2, after the same manner as the cod- 
 bait, and will take almost all sorts of fish, as 
 pike, trout, greyling, perch, chub, roach, dace, 
 &c. &c. 
 
 Cahbage-worm-fahingcom^s in about the middle 
 of June, and continues in their successive flightii 
 {ill the latter €»d of October. There are three 
 
194 best's art of angling. 
 
 sorts of which the fish are remarkably fond of, and 
 ai-e equal in goodness to the cod-bait and grass* 
 hopper, and will take the same sorts offish. 
 
 Wotrriy or BoUom-Jishing, comes in about the 
 middle of February, if the weather is mild, and 
 continues good all the year ; you may fish with 
 a worm, all or any time of the day, if the water is 
 discoloured by rain ; but if low, clear, and fine, 
 only mornings and evenings ; it is the most ge- 
 neral bait we have, and will take every kind of 
 fish ; the proper worms for angling are fully de- 
 scribed ill this treatise. 
 
 As in successive course the seasons roll. 
 So circling pleasures recreatt the soul : 
 When genial spring a living warmth bestows, 
 And o'er the year her verdent mantle throws. 
 No swelling inundation hides the grounds. 
 But chrystal currents glide within their bounds j 
 The finny brood their wonted haunts forsake. 
 Float in the sun , and skmi along the lake ; 
 With frequent leap they range the shallow streams. 
 Their silver coats reHect the dazzling beams. 
 Now let the fisherman his toils prepare, 
 And arm himself with every wat'ry snare ; 
 His hooks, his lines peruse, witii careful eye. 
 Increase his tackle^ and his rod re- tic. Gay. 
 
 Happy England !(says an elegant writer) where 
 the sea furnishes an abundant and luxurious re- 
 past, and the fresh waters are innocent and harm- 
 less pastime ; where the angler in cheerful soli* 
 tude stroles by the edge of the stream, and fears 
 neither the coiled snake, nor the lurking croco- 
 dile; where he can retire at night, with his few 
 trouts,(to borrow the charming descriptron of old 
 Walton) to some friendly cottage, where the • 
 landlady isgood, and thedaiighter innocent and 
 beautiful; where the room is cleanly, the sheets 
 smelling of lavender; and twenty ballads stuck 
 
TO JUDGE OF 'JHli HAROMErER. 195 
 
 about the wall ! There he can enjoy the compare 
 ny of a talkative brother angler, have his trouts 
 dressed for supper, tell tales, sing old tunes, gr 
 make a catch ! There he can talk of the w onders 
 of nature, with pious admiration, or find some 
 harmless sport to content him, and pass away a 
 little time, without offence to God, or injury to 
 ^an ! ! 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Rules to Judge of the Barometer. 
 
 By the help of the Barometer, we seem to re- 
 gain that foreknowledge of the weather which 
 still resides in brutes, and which we forfeited, 
 by not continuing in the open air, as they gene- 
 rally do, and by our intemperances, lessening our 
 sen sibility of external objects. 
 
 The changes that take place in the atmosphere, 
 are) principally marked by the rising and falling 
 of the Barometer, which apparently is caused by 
 heat and cold, the hands with which Nature per- 
 forms her meteorological operations ; by the for- 
 mer the atmosphere is rarefied, and consequently 
 becomes light; by the latter it is condensed, 
 and consequently becomes heavy. 
 
 The Barometer falls suddenly while the air is 
 expanded before a gale of wind, and rises again 
 gradually as the condensed air returns, and the 
 gale in like manner by degrees subsides. 
 
 An extraordinary fall of the mercury will 
 sometimes take place in summer, previous to 
 heavy showers of rain, particularly if attende^d 
 with thunder and lightning; but in Spring, 
 Autumn, and Winter, the sudden extraordinary 
 s 2 
 
196 best's art of angling. 
 
 descent of the Barometer indicates principally 
 Tiolent wind. 
 
 The Thermometer also, which measures the 
 degree of heat in the air near the earth, will 
 contribute towards denoting when changes are 
 likely to take place in the lower regions of the 
 atmosphere : The Hygrometer distinguishes the 
 ipantity of moisture in the atmosphere, and the 
 Electrometer will point out the quantity of 
 Electricity which prevails in it. 
 
 The words generally engraven on the plates^ 
 of the Barometer, serve rather to mislead than 
 inform ; for the changes of the weather depend 
 rather on the rising or the fallingof the mercury, 
 than of its standing at any particular height. 
 
 When the mercury is as high as fair, or at 30 
 degrees, and the surface of it is concave, begin- 
 ning to descend, it very often rains ; and on the 
 contrary when even the mercury is at 29 degrees^ 
 opposite to rain, when the surface of it is con- 
 vex, beginning to rise, fair weather may be ex- 
 pected: these circumstances not being known, 
 or not being duly attended to, is the principal 
 cause that farmers and others have not a pro- 
 per confidence in this instrument. 
 
 It must be observed that, cczieris 'paribus, the 
 mercury is higher in cold, than in warm weather, 
 and commonly early in the morning, or late in 
 the evening, then at noon, which seems occa- 
 sioned by the obvious causes of the atmosphere 
 being condensed by the cold of the night, and 
 rarefied by the heat of the day. 
 
 The following observations deserve attention.. 
 
 1. The least alterations in the mercury are ta 
 be observed (especially in a showery time). 
 
 2. The rising of the mercury, presages, m 
 general, fair weather, and its falling, fo«l. 
 
TO J DfiK OF THE B A IIO M ETER. 197 
 
 3. In very hot weather the falhng indicates 
 thunder. 
 
 4. In winter the rising presages frost; and in 
 fi'osty weather, if the mercury falls three or four 
 divisions, a thaw ; but in a continued frost, if it 
 rises, it will certainly snow. 
 
 5. When foul weather happens soon after the 
 falling of the mercury, expect but little of it; 
 and on the contrary, expect but little fair wea- 
 ther, when it proves fair shortly after the mer- 
 cury has risen. 
 
 t). In foul weather, when the mercury rises 
 much and high, and continues so for two or 
 three days, before the foul weather is quite over, 
 then expect a continuance of fair weather to 
 follow. 
 
 7. In fair weather, when tlie mercury fall$ 
 much and low, and continues so for two or three 
 days, before the rain comes — then expect a great 
 deal of wet, and probably high winds. 
 
 8. The unsettled motion gf the mercury, de^ , 
 notes changeable weather. 
 
 Q. If the mercury stands at much rain, and 
 then rises up to changeable, it presages fair wea- 
 ther, although not to continue so long as it 
 would have done if the mercury were higher: 
 So, on the contrary, if the mercury stood at fair, 
 and falls to changeable, it presages foul weather; 
 but fouler if it sinks down lower. 
 
 But to these remarks it may be added, that 
 when the Barometer suddenly falls two or three 
 tenths, without any material alteration in the 
 Thermometer, and the Hygrometer is not much 
 turned towards moist, a violent gale of wind 
 ipay be expected. 
 
 When tne Hygrometer inclines far towards 
 moist, with only a trifling descent in the Baro* 
 5 3 
 
198 best's aht of angling. 
 
 xieter, it denotes a passing shower and litll^ 
 wind ; and when the Barometer falls considerar- 
 bly, and the Hygrometer turns much toward* 
 moist, the Thermometer remaining stationary, 
 and rather inclining to rise than fall, both vio- 
 lent wind and rain are Ukely to follow in the 
 course of a few hours. 
 
 ADDENDA, 
 
 The Barometer, is highest during a long 
 frost, and generally rises with a North-East* 
 Wind : it is lowest during a thaw following a 
 long frost, and is often brought down by a 
 Souih-West Wind. 
 
 When the Barometer is near the high extreme 
 for the season of the year, there is very little 
 probability of immediate rain. 
 
 When the Barometer is low for the season^ 
 there is seldom a great weight of rain, though a 
 fair day in such a case is rare : the general tenor 
 of the weather at such times is, short, lieavy and 
 sudden showers, with squalls of wind from the 
 S. W. or N. W. 
 
 In summer after a long continuance of fair 
 weather, with the Barometer high, h generally 
 falls gradually, and for one, two, or more days 
 before there is much appearance of rain ; if the 
 fall be sudden and great for the season, it will 
 be probably followed by Thunder. 
 
 When the appearances of the sky are very 
 promising for fair, and the Barometer at the 
 same time low ; it may be depended upon the 
 appearance will not continue so long; the face 
 of the sky changes very suddenly on auch occa- 
 'Sions. 
 
 Very dark and dense clouds pass without rain 
 when the Barometer is high : whereas whea the 
 
TO JUDGE OF THE BAROMETER. 19(> 
 
 Barometer is low, it sometimes raiBs, without 
 almost any appearance of clouds. 
 
 All appearances being the same, the higher 
 the Barometer is, the greater the probability of 
 fair weather. 
 
 Thunder is almost always preceded by hot 
 weather, and followed by cold and showery 
 weather. 
 
 A sudden and extreme change of temperature 
 of the atmosphere, either from heat to cold, or 
 cold to heat, is generally followed by rain with- 
 in 24 hours. 
 
 In winter during a frost if it begins to snow, 
 the temperature of the air generally rises to 32 
 degrees of the Thermometer, and continues 
 there whilst the snow falls ; after which if the 
 weather clears up, expect severe cold. 
 
 The Aurora Boreaiis, is a prognostic of fair 
 weather. 
 
 Dr. Kirvan has deduced from a variety of 
 meteorological observations (to which he has 
 had access) made in England between the year 
 1677 and 17B8 the following probabiUties or hints 
 towards forming prognostics of the weather, viz. 
 
 '** That when there has been no storm before 
 or after the spring equinox, the ensuing summer 
 is generally dry ; at least five times in six. 
 
 '* That when a storm happens from any 
 Easterly point, either on the 19th, 20th, or 21st, 
 of March, the succeeding summer is generally 
 dry, four times in five. 
 
 " That when a storm arises, on the 25th, 26tb^ 
 or 27th of March, and not before in any point 5 
 the succeeding summer is generally dry, four 
 times in five. 
 
 *' If there be a storm at S. W. or W. S. W. 
 on the 19th, 20th, or22dof March, the succeed- 
 ing summer is generally wet 5 five times 10 six; 
 
 >7 
 
200 best's art of angling. 
 
 In September and October, the Winter con- 
 stitLilioij of the air begins to shew itself. The 
 great falls of the Barometer, from October to 
 April, are from 29,^ to 28,5, sometimes lower. 
 
 From April to October it selHom fails lower 
 than 29,5; it therefore follows, that a fall of one 
 inch during the Summer, is as sure an indica- 
 tion of ram, as a fall of between two or three 
 tenths is in the Winter. 
 
 I shall now conclude, with a few lines which 
 I have by me, in manuscript, written by a very 
 ingenious angler. 
 
 The months o*er which the nearer Sun displays 
 His warmer influence, and director rays. 
 Are most propitious to the angler's toil, 
 And crown his labours with the largest spoil. 
 When birds begin in brisker notes to sing 
 And hail with cheerful voice returning spring; 
 When western winds in cooling breeaes fly. 
 And brmh with downy wings the brightened sky j 
 When tender buds their virent issue yield, 
 And with their tender offspring grace the field > 
 Then let the angler, with delight and care, 
 His guileful arms and implements prepare. 
 Break Winter's truce, and wage the watVy war. 
 
 But when Autumnal blasts have stripped the woodj^ 
 And o'er the ground its yellow honors strew'd ; 
 When stormy Boteas re-assumes his reign 
 And with maliunaut vapours dulls the plain, 
 Let him awhile his favorite sport forbear; 
 Till, by the courseofthe re olving \ear. 
 The fairer order of the months returns, 
 And Nature with fresh bloom her face adorns : 
 'i'hen soon as morn has chasd the shades of nigbt, 
 And streak'd the purple east with rosy light ; 
 Soon as the lark ex tends her early wings. 
 And in the fragrant air her matin sings ; 
 The angler cheerful with the hopes ot prey. 
 Takes to the steaming brook his dewy way. 
 
 END OF Best's angling 
 
 .} 
 
r 
 
 On ike suggestion of some experu 
 eneeJ Anglers^ the follozcing excellent Treatise on 
 the Art of Trolling is added to this Work^ zchich 
 it is hoped zcill be of great use to the Juvenile^ as 
 2»ell as the more experienced^ Sportsman. 
 
 THE 
 
 COMPLETE TROLLER ; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE ART 
 
 or 
 
 TROLLING; 
 
 WITH 
 
 Dfucripihnt of nU Me Instruments, Tackle^ and Mat&rUUt^ 
 REQUISITE FOR A 
 
 GENTLEMAN TROLLER, 
 
 AND 
 
 pireciions h^w to use tkem* 
 
 Bt ROBERT NOBBS, Esq. A. M. 
 
 0.,M TRAHIT %VA ^VCMQUl TOLUPTAfc 
 
TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL 
 
 JAMES TRYON, ESQ. 
 
 OF 
 
 BULLWICK, 
 
 tH THE 
 
 COUNTY OF NORTHAMPTON, 
 
 (a fa TOREK or THIS ART,) 
 
 The author wisheth all Health and Honor here, and 
 Happiness hereafter. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 It is both mif duty and my debt to 
 return the improvement of my talent to you^ from 
 uhom I first received it ; and to pay my thanks for 
 those borrowed sparks which have since kindled and 
 increased into a flame. That debtor is too unm 
 grateful^ and deserves to have no favor shezced him 
 in the principal^ that never comes to pay^ much less 
 acknowledge^ an interest. This obligation^ Sir^ waa 
 one motive to address this piece to you^ having at 
 first been initiated in this little art I pretend to^ by 
 your brother and yourself ^ but fearing withal the 
 severe and critical censure of a more judicious eyem 
 Be pleased therefore to accept of this small tribute^ 
 not for any worth or desert of its own^ but as a 
 token of my gratitude. Your name^ I confess^ is 
 too great to stand in the front of so inconsiderable 
 a paper as this^ wherezvith 1 here present you^ and 
 might make a frontispiece for some more excellent 
 work. Whatever it be^ begs your candid acceptm 
 ance ; it may perhaps needy but I fear it deserves 
 noty so good a Fatron. Another reason^ Sir^ why 
 
204 DEDICATION. 
 
 I offer this tract to i/oii^ is an ambition 1 have to 
 bring the world better acquainted xsith so great a 
 part of its own treasure^ and to make known^ that 
 there are yet son'e such worthi/ persons as yourself^ 
 tchom even they that are enemies to this present 
 world cannot refuse both to love and honor, J shall 
 forbear at this time to display your merits^ in rem 
 ference to my ozin particular ; lest he that reads 
 this a. d sees your name prefixed, may expect more 
 by the epistle than is performed in the book, and so 
 I make myself guilty of his pride and indi cretion^ 
 that stts a fair porch before a sorry buildings 
 This only J Sir^ I .yhall endeavour^ and do beg you 
 to believe^ that 1 shall always be industrious to 
 manifest myself y 
 
 Right Worshipful^ 
 
 Youths in ali Christian Services^ 
 n. NO BBS. 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 It is not any desire either of profit or credit that in* 
 duced me to write this Piece, only the solicitations of 
 some priyate Friends, concurring with my own nature 
 and inclination, which was always addicted to this 
 sport : I never could see any thing of this subject in 
 particular: The Complete Angler hints the most at 
 it, as first of the nature and generation, and age of a 
 Pike, quoting the same Author, Gesner, that I do. 
 He also observes some physical efiiects of him, the 
 spawning time; all sorts of baits, especially of the 
 frog, he speaks much, and the ledger bait; he hah 
 inserted a story of the antipathy between a land frog, 
 which he conceives venemous, and a Pike, in a pond 
 in Bohemia ; he shows the way to bait the hook, as also 
 to play it with bladders, bull-rushes, &c, teaches a way 
 to charm and invite the fish, by sweetening the bait 
 with gum of ivy dissolved in oil of spike; as likewise 
 a receipt to roast a Pike, This is the sum of Mr. 
 Walton's discourse. Then there is The Gentleman's 
 Recreation^ hath one chapter, but much the same as 
 the other, as borrowed from him. I never could see 
 any other concerning trolling ; if there be, it must be 
 very old standing, and any thing new is more plensing, 
 because hominum est noritatis avida, I h ve not put 
 it in that ilorid dress of eloquenc e or rhetorical phrases- 
 nor ind( ed would the subject beat- it. 
 
 Oniarircs ispa negat^ content a doceri. 
 
 The thing itself is only w 11 conf- rt 
 To be for ust and iua ior oraaiiu \.:. 
 
 T 
 
206 TO THE READER, 
 
 I confess I have not had that experience in the art 
 which many have that hav^ made it their business for 
 the space of several years, and I but a late pretender ; 
 however this may invite some that are more judicious 
 and able to undertake the work ; in the mean time use 
 this till a better comes, and think of that of the* poet. 
 
 Si quid no visit rectius istis 
 Candidus imperii^ si non his utere mecum* 
 
 If any thing thou know'st that better is, 
 Impart it, else content thyself with this. 
 
 It cannot be expected that this work could be large, 
 these l;eing only the private sentiments and collections 
 of my own experience. The first edition is always the 
 least ; if it were worthy of a second impression, it 
 might receive some additions, as having the advantage 
 of being enlarged, by the help of some new and more 
 refined notions ; nor is the subject copious enough to 
 make a fuller treatise, it being confined to one par- 
 ticular manner of fishing, which if it had extended to 
 the generality of the art, and to all. the fresh- water in- 
 habitants, it might have made this diminutive piece swell 
 into a folio. 
 
 The design of it is only to give those some insight 
 and instructions who are wholly ij;norant, but desire to 
 learn : not that it can benefit those that are already 
 taught, and perhaps may find, or at least pretend to 
 find, many errors in it ; for this 1 can attest, that what 
 is said is as true as probatiim est * not having confided 
 to any man's judgment, but to my own experience. 
 Whether then it be approved of or not, it must take 
 its fortune, as all other books do, which are blamed by 
 some and commended by others : 
 
 Habent sua fata libelli — 
 
 -The Poet sings, 
 
 Books have their ehanee as well a& other things .^ 
 
TO THE READER. 207 
 
 As plain as it is it may be serviceable to some, and 
 if it had been better and mor^ accurately done, it might 
 have been condemned by others. Every man that is a 
 Fisherman hath some private thoughts of his own, 
 which he will still prefer before others : besides, the 
 diversion of fishing is now generally undervalued, it 
 being an art which few take pleasure in ; nothing pass- 
 ing for noble and delightful, which is not brave and 
 costly: as though men could not gratify their senses 
 without the consumption of their estates. 
 
 Hawking and Hunting have had their excellencies 
 celebrated with large encomiums, and though I desiga 
 not to slight or disparage those noble recreations, which 
 have been so much famed in all ages and by all de- 
 grees ; yet this I must affirm, that they fall not withia 
 the compass of every man to pursue, being as it were 
 only entailed on vast estates ; for if lower fortunes 
 should seek to enjoy them, Actaeon's fable might prove 
 a true story, and these ravenous birds make a prey 
 upon their masters. Besides, those recreations are 
 more obnoxious to choler and passion than these of 
 ours. Our simple art composes the soul to that quiet 
 and serenity, which gives a man the fullest possession 
 and fruition of himself, and all his enjoyments. 
 
 This clearness and equanimity of ;?pirit being a 
 matter of so high concern, is of much value and esteem 
 in the opinion of many profound philosophers. Wit- 
 ness that excellent tract of Petrarch, De Tranquilitatc 
 Animo^ and certainly he that lives Cibi et Deo^ leads 
 the most happy life. Though all these contentments, 
 and many more, both for health and pleasure, as well 
 to gratify the senses and delight the mind, do arise 
 from this cheap, and as some call it, mean, melancholy 
 art ; I say, though all these satisfactions do proceed 
 from it, and it propounds pleasure at such an easy rate; 
 yet I expect to meet with no other, entertainment in the 
 publishing of it than neglect, if not scorn and contempt. 
 Some few there are that have cast off their other recrea- 
 tions and embraced this^ and 1 never knew any repent 
 T 2 
 
208 TO TIIF BEADEK. 
 
 of their learning this, and withdrawing their aifections 
 from their beloved recreation. If this art therefore 
 should prove a noble rest to thy mind, it will be a 
 gr^at satisfaction to bis wbo is thy welUwishing friend 
 and servant, 
 
To his ingenioiH Friend 
 
 MR. ROBERT NOBBS, 
 
 ON HIS BOOK CALLED 
 
 THE COMPLETE TROLLER. 
 
 vXo on (dear brother) to display thine art, 
 
 Of thy experience lend the world a part; 
 
 Let thy light shine, that men miy see thereby. 
 
 There's nothing privSlte kept can edify. 
 
 Hide not thy talent : dread that cursed fate 
 
 Of him that hid it ; and communicate. 
 
 Blush not, nor fear thy secrets to unfold ; 
 
 For what thou say'st has been approv'd of old : 
 
 And practised too ; the difference only this. 
 
 Their sport in salt, thine in fresh water is. 
 
 The good disciples first catch'd fish, and then 
 
 They left their nets, and afterwards catch'd men ; 
 
 From which w6 may this observation make, 
 
 'Tis lawful fish as well as men to take. 
 
 Thy sacred function is divine, and all 
 
 Thy recreations apostolical. 
 
 Catch what thou long hast fished for, then go pray, 
 
 Catch one great fish, and throw thy net away. 
 
 Your truly humble Servant, 
 
 G. D. of Trin. Col. 
 
 t3 
 
T'o his etteemed Friend 
 
 MR. ROBERT NOBBS, 
 
 ON HIS 
 
 BOOK OF TROLLING, 
 
 aLdLr proud Actaeon chase the tim'rous hart, 
 And fair Diana pierce him with her dart ; 
 Let Pan the Satyrs and the Nymphs controul, 
 And briny Nereus on the billows roll ; 
 Whilst thou the brooks and silver streams dost greet. 
 Of Avon, Cham, VVelland, and Nine, that meet. 
 Thou dost not treat of that deformed race, 
 Which Neptune governs with his triple mace ; 
 Not of that monster in the ocean deep, 
 ^hich did in 's belly three days Jonah keep ; 
 Nor of the Orke that on Cephaean strand, 
 Bold Perseus slew with strong and mighty hand: 
 Nor of th' admirer of sweet harp, that bore 
 Arion safely on his back to the shore ; 
 Nor of that fish that bears a sword in 's snout, 
 Nor the fierce Thrasher that does fling about ; 
 Nor the Crocodile that weeps when he does wrong, 
 The Turbot, Sturgeon, or the Conger long : 
 These are the flock of Porteus' wat'ry fold. 
 And are too strong for slender lines to hold. 
 Thy recreation hath more easy been. 
 In rivers f^esh ador»'d with meadows green: 
 Checker'd with flowers, cloath'd in Ver's livery 
 Enameird round with Flora's tapestry. 
 These are thy country pastimes and delights. 
 Proud of good luck when greedy Lupus bites; 
 And cross the stream thy slender line does draw^ 
 jGorging thy ^U&t'ning bait in 's hungry maw ; 
 
TO MR. ROBERT NOBBS. 211 
 
 Then strike him gently, tire fiim, and lie down, 
 Take him by the eyes, and give him leave to drowm 
 
 In these diversions thou dost imitate 
 Those Twelve Christ Chose his word to propagate ; 
 This recreation they did countenance, 
 And by their practice did it much advance ; 
 Thou their example hast before thine eyes. 
 How they did use this harmless exercise ; 
 In this thou truly dost apostolize. 
 
 } 
 
 R.L. M.J. 
 
ON THE 
 
 ANTIQUITY AND INVENTION 
 
 OP 
 
 FISHING, 
 
 AND ITS PRAISE IN GENERAL, 
 
 W HEN God at first placed Adam in a seat, 
 So rare, so rich, so princely, and so great, 
 Eden's fair garden eastward to the Sun, 
 Through whose fat soil four silver streams did run ; 
 The first Euphrates, whose fair waves do kiss 
 The monarch's towers of proud Semiramis : 
 "Swift Pison thence, and Gihon did arise (Gen. 2. 
 Tigris the fourth to water Paradise ; 
 These in their kind were furnish'd to present 
 Adam with fish from the wat'ry element : 
 This added to his bliss ; by vvhich we see 
 Fishing derives an ancient Pedigree, 
 And bears its date from the forbidden tree. 
 Next unto him that built the wooden wall, 
 But for whose Ark the flood had drowned all. 
 Yet still the fish mov'd in their proper sphere, 
 They neither rain nor deluge deep did fear. 
 Noah with them himself might recreate, (Gen. 8. 
 Till Dove brought news the wat'^rs did abate. 
 Food sure was scarce, when Mr. Flood had left, 
 Few beasts but those for procreation kept. 
 Hunger might force eight persons to devise 
 A trick to take what fish to the top did rise. 
 Now this lo poets, fiction did afford 
 How the empty world should be with people stcyr'do 
 When good Deucalion and his Phyrrha dear^ 
 Were left of all that overwhelmed werej 
 
ON THE ANTIQUITY OF FISHING. 213 
 
 They to an ancient temple went that stood 
 
 Forlorn and wasted by the raging flood : 
 
 Prostrate they fell upon the sacred ground, 
 
 Devoutly praying the earth might re-abound. 
 
 The Goddess heard their prayers, and bid them take 
 
 Th4iir mother's bones and throw behind their back. 
 
 ^This oracle obscure and dark of sense, 
 
 Amaz'd their minds, what they might draw from thence. 
 
 They then view'd hill and dale, each rock and tree, 
 
 And thought the earth their mother well might be. 
 
 Therefore to try if it were false or true. 
 
 The scatter'd stones behind their backs they threw ; 
 
 Forthwith the stones as they had life conceived. 
 
 Began to move, and more and more received 
 
 The shape of man. Thus was the world again 
 
 Supply'd with people sprung with little pain ; 
 
 But yet no birds nor beasts for meat were found, 
 
 Since the great deluge all destroyed and drown'd. 
 
 Then did Deucalion first the art invent 
 
 Of fishing, and to woods and groves he went ; 
 
 There from the trees long rinds and crooks he brake^ 
 
 And made them hooks and lines the fish to take. 
 
 In this rude sort began this simple art, 
 
 The fish as yet had felt but little smart, 
 
 And were to bite more eager, apt, and bold, 
 
 In that first ag«, which was then all of gold : 
 
 But when in time the fear and dread of man 
 
 Fell more and more on the creatures, they began 
 
 To staad in awe of this usurping king. 
 
 That did both seas and earth in thraldom bring. 
 
 'Twas then a work of greater skill to take 
 
 The wary fish in any pond or lake, 
 
 So worse and worse two ages more did pass, 
 
 And hooks were made of silver and of brass ; 
 
 And Hues of hemp and fiax were framed new, 
 
 So still this art snore perfect daily grew. 
 
 But at the last the iron age drew near, 
 
 And hooks of hardest steel invented were ; 
 
 And rods of lightest cane and hazel plant. 
 
 And lines of silk and hair no skill did want* 
 
214 ON THE ANTIQUITY OF FISHING. 
 
 Thus far the fable, — next the truth presents 
 How fish of wonders have been instruments, 
 A monstrous fish God did prepare to save 
 The angry prophet in the Euxine wave, (Jon. i , 
 Which does for us an observation make, 
 That to a fish the great Jehovah spake. • 
 
 "Of great and strange effects he informed you may. - 
 If you'll give credit to Apocrypha ; 
 Where the fish's gall they dry and pulverize 
 To cure the whiteness of old Tobit's eyes ; (Tob. 6, 
 And of the heart's perfume is made a spell 
 To charm the devil sweetly into hell. 
 Whether or not this truth authentic be, 
 We will not here dispute authority : 
 Only believe it with a moral faith, 
 And now let's hear what Evangelium gaith. 
 
 When the collectors of the tribute went 
 To Christ for pay to the seas, he Simon sent, 
 Who opening the fish's mouth that he first took, 
 A piece of money with a silver hook. (Mat. 17. 
 When at Emaus, Christ alone appeared (Lu. 24. 
 To the two disciples that a spirit fear'd ; 
 He askeithem for meat, and the first dish 
 That he did eat of was a broiled fish. 
 When Christ another time appearance made, 
 He found 's Disciples at the fishing trade ; 
 Andrew, and James, and John were toiling sore, 
 Mending their nets when Jesus stood on the shore, 
 When Simon Peter saw it was the Lord, (Jn. 21. 
 Overjoyed he was and leaped overboard. 
 Naked, girt only with his fisher's coat, 
 He cast himself down headlong, from the boat, 
 This Petfcr durst not on the waters pass. 
 Without his Master, yet chief fisher was; 
 Chief Shepherd, and first Pope whose name (say some) 
 Descended to the old fisherman at Rome. 
 What if St. Peter ne'er to Rome was sent, 
 The Scripture says he oft a fishing went. 
 What if he ne'er sat Bishop in Rome's see, 
 .At sea he was with the soits of..Zebedee, (Mar. 1. 
 
ON THE ANTIQUITY OF FISHING. 215 
 
 Who long had toiPd and had nothing caught, 
 Till Jesus bid them let down for a draught : 
 In which a multitude though they did take, 
 It*s written there, their nets they did not break ; 
 But straight retired themselves frqm thence and fed 
 Upon their broiled fishes and their bread. (Mat. 4. 
 
 It's said' they took an hundred fifty-three, 
 Some of all kinds in the sea of Galilee; 
 By which all sorts of men is signified, 
 And the great fishing of the world implied; 
 How the Apostles by their preaching shall. 
 Both poor and rich, both base and noble call ; 
 And draw them with their nets from the world's sea, 
 To th' ship of comfort and felicity. 
 So Amos, Isaiah, Habakkuk compare (Isa. 19, 
 Things that of worth and great importance are. 
 To fishing, drags, and nets, and like to these, 
 Are the wiseman's fishpools in the Canticles : (Jer. 16. 
 So do Ezekiel and Jeremy 
 
 Call preachers fishers in their prophesy, (Eze. 47 y 10, 
 Whose doctrine is their nets, which from these toys 
 Do draw men's souls into eternal joys : 
 When Christ his power and Godhead did express 
 To th' hungry people in the wilderness; (Mat. 14* 
 He first made choice of loares, life's staff, and then, 
 Two little fishes fed five thousand men. 
 Another time a multitude he fed (Mat. 15. 
 With few small fishes and a little bread. 
 If we search Chronicles, we there may see 
 The art of fishing from antiquity ; 
 When Bishop Wilfrid turned to Christian faith 
 The Heathen Saxons (an historian saith;) 
 He teaches them this art at first, and makes 
 Those nets catch fish, which did before catch* snakes. 
 He, going with these Pa4:ans, to the brook 
 Three hundred fishes with their nets he took. 
 Straight he divides the spoil, and one part gets 
 Himself; then furnish'd them that own'd the nets ; 
 Thfi third part to the poor he did divide, 
 Which made his religion to be deified, 
 
,} 
 
 2lC) OS Tlifc ANTIQUITY OF FISHING. 
 
 And g jn^d him converts, when he d'd bestow 
 His prayers above with blessings here below 
 In fine, if you look np to the azure sky, 
 And view the circles in Astronomy, 
 You there may see a fish preferred so high 
 The heavens are with the constellation graced, 
 Pisces is next unto Aquarius placed ; 
 For lest the firmament a sign should lack, 
 A fish the twelfth is in the zodiac. 
 Thus from the ocean to the stars we can 
 Advance the praises of the Fisherman. 
 And 'tis from Gospel and the Prophets seen, 
 What honor, use of fish, and fishing's been. 
 
 R,NOBBS,M.J. 
 
THE 
 
 FISHERMAN'S WISH. 
 
 Would I might live n^ar Avon's flow'ry brink, 
 And on the vvdrid and my Creator think. 
 Whilst others strive, ill gottpn goods t' embrace, 
 Would 1 near VVelland had a dwelling-place. 
 
 Would I these harmless pastimes mi^ht pursue 
 And uncontroird might ponds and rivers view; 
 Whilst others spend their time in base excess. 
 In drinking, gaming, and in wantouneas. 
 
 Would I might let my fancy feed its fill, 
 And daily by fresh rivers walk at will, 
 Whilst others (oil in hunting are perplexed. 
 And with unquiet recreations vex'd. 
 
 Would I might view the compass of the sky, 
 The (laming chariot of the world's great eye^ 
 And fair Aurora lifting up her head, 
 Blushing to rise from old Tithoaus? bed. 
 
 Would I might walk in woods and forests long. 
 In whose cool bovvers the birds sing manj a 5>ong* 
 And in the verdant meadows, fresh and green, 
 Would r might eit aad court the summer's queen. 
 
 Sic Optaty R. X 
 
THE 
 
 COMPLETE TROLLER; 
 
 ORy 
 
 THE ART 
 
 OF 
 
 TROLLING. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 \ OJ the Name and Nature of a Vihe* 
 
 j\ pi»E is called in the Latin, Lucius, or Lucendo, 
 from his shining in the water, or else (which is more 
 \l,Kcc probable) from (he Greek word Lupus ; as the Wolf is 
 the most ravenous and cruel among^lleasts, so the Pike 
 fs the most greedy and devouring among fislies ; so that, 
 Lupis l^iscis is the most proper name for the Sea^Wolf, 
 yet it is often used for the Pike itself; the fresh- water 
 Wolf is of I so greedy and voracious a nature, that he 
 doth not only prey upon small fishes, frogs, &c. that 
 come ia his way, but sometimes upon Water F» wis, 
 &c. and (some say) he will fasten upon greater animals. 
 A German writer reports, for a certain truth, that 
 having his mule to drink at the river Rhine, she was 
 caught so fast by her netht r lip with a Pike, that being 
 sorely bit and terrified a( so unexpected an a sault, 
 she suddenly threw up her head, and cast the fish oa 
 shore, which became a prey to the master of the mule. 
 Out of this Pike were taken^ when it was opened; two 
 
^AME AND NATURE OF A PIKE. 219 
 
 you ni^ geese or goslings, a fen duck, and the foot of 
 a maid. 
 
 If this story is not credible because it is so far- 
 fetched as from Germany, yet this is certain, that a 
 moor-hen hath been found in the belly of a Pike taken 
 out of our rivers ; and I have seen n^yself that a Pike 
 hath risen and struck at a swallow, that hath dipt her 
 Avings upon the water ; and have knewn them that have 
 used a live sparrow for a bait at snap. An English 
 Physician made this observation in his travels in the 
 Low Countries, that as they were passing the rivers in 
 little boats, the Pikes struck so swiftly and greedily at 
 the small fry^ that sometimes they shot themselves so 
 -far out of the water, that they fell into the boat. This 
 is another foreign story, which we may parallel with 
 one at home/ how one that bad caught an eel, and was 
 pulling off the skin and washing it in a moat, a Pike 
 leaped at the Eel and fastened himself so to it, that he 
 drew out both Eel and Pike. Of all the small officers 
 under this groat captain, a Perch is the most secure 
 from his devourifigjavTs ; on which he seldom adven- 
 tures, except mere hunger compels him : yet Albert 
 says he will take a Perch by the head, and kill it with 
 his teeth first, lest if he should gorge it alive, the fins 
 and prickles might be offensive to his maw; nor does 
 he only tyrannize over the small inhabitants of his own 
 ilominions, and sometimes trespasses upon another ele- 
 ment, but often transgresses the laws of generation, 
 and those of his own species he unnaturally devours. 
 This commonwealth among the fiishes, is much like 
 Mr. Nobbs's state of nature, which is but Status Belli, 
 the great ones always devour the \(^ss; such is the 
 government or rather anarchy of the waters, where 
 ml^^'ot will overcome right, and the weakest go to the 
 wall. 
 
 A pike is a prince in his own liquid country, and 
 like a universal monarch, can command all the regi- 
 ments of the scaled army, can lord it over all his 
 vassals^, and like a potent tyrant can enslave all the 
 residents in his own territories without the least resiiet- 
 u 2 
 
220 NOBBS'S ART OF TROLLING. 
 
 ance: yet one professed enemy he hath, and that more 
 powerful than himself, which is a creature of an amphi- 
 bious nature, and can live by land as well as by water — 
 this is a cunning and a choice fisher ; he seldom takes 
 any but the best and biic^est fish ; he is much esteemed 
 ia some countries, especially in Sweden, where he i^ 
 kept tame for the purpose, and taught so much craft 
 and dexterity, that tlie cook uill send him out of ihi^ 
 kitchen when he wants a dish of fish, and he will go 
 straight to the pond and fetch them. It is a strange 
 tale if true, and we had better belieTe it, than go so 
 far to disprove it: I never looked upon an Otter to be 
 such a docile and serviceable creature; though perhaps 
 those of another country may difter much ia their n^ 
 ture from onrg. 
 
 GIIAP. II. 
 
 Of the Paris and Lineaments of a Ptke» 
 
 As to th*> ghapp and proportion of this great devourer^ 
 the figure of his body is very long, his back broad, and 
 Almost square, equal to the lowest. fins; his head i& 
 lean and very bony, which bones in his head, some 
 have resembled to things of mysterious consequence ; 
 one of which they commonly compare to the cros5, 
 another to the spear, three others to those bloody nails 
 -which were instruments of our Saviour's passion. If 
 those comparisons smell, any thing of superstition, as to 
 physical use, those bones may be profitable ; for the 
 jawbone beaten to powder may be helpful for pleurisies 
 and the sharpness of urine ; some approve of it as a 
 remedy for the pain in the heart and stomach ; others 
 affirm that the small bones pulverized may be fitly used 
 to dry up sores, and many the like medicinal qualities 
 are attributed to the Pike's head. 
 
 Ad ancient Author, wrkin^the nature of things^ doe« 
 
rAllTS AND LINEAME.VTS OF A PIKE. ^ZZi 
 
 discover a stone in the brain of a Pike much like a 
 chrystai; Ge!»ner himself, the great naturalist, testi- 
 fies that he found in the head of a little Pike, two white 
 stones. As to the shape of his head, his snout is long, 
 which some have compared to the beak of a goose. 
 His lower jaw is far longer than his upper: and in ifc 
 are placed many teeth orderly disposed in ranks : his 
 eyes are of a golden colour, and very quick-sightedj as 
 are all sorts of fish ; his belly is always white, but his 
 back and sides are of a black and speckled yellow ; his 
 ventricle is very large and capacious, and his throat 
 short, as we may see by his prey which he hath newly- 
 taken and not digested ; part of it will come up in his 
 mouth; but this is when he seizes upon a great prize. 
 
 An author affirms that he saw a Pike of that wonder- 
 ful bigness, that had another within him considerably- 
 great, and that within had a water-rat in its belly; 
 so that the ventricle of the great one must be exceeding 
 large and extensive. Gesner likewise observes, that 
 his heart and gall are very mediciiial to cure agues, 
 abate fevers, &c. and that his biting is venemous and 
 hard to be cured. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Of the Age and Growth of a Pike^ 
 
 As \o the increase and vivacity of this devouring fish 
 some historians have asserted that he will live to an in- 
 credible age ; and that he will carry half as many years 
 as scales upon his back. Our fore-quoted author, 
 Gesner, relates in his Natural History, that a Pike 
 was taken out of a pond of the emperor Frederick, 
 that had lived upwards of 260 years, which appeared 
 by the date in a brass ring, which lay hidden and 
 grown over in his gills: it had this inscription written 
 in' Latin, Ego sum illi piscis hiiic Stagno omnium 
 u 3 ^ 
 
•S22 NOBBS'S AllT OF TKOLLING. 
 
 primus impositus per Mundi Rcctoris Frederlci 
 secundi manus die quint o Octobris 1497 ; but uhe- 
 thf^r our faUh Avill give us leave to believe this or noty 
 it is not n-aterial : for though we cannot prove him ta 
 be so Iongevou§ as to r^ach hundreds, it is certain he 
 will live some scores of years; and one of 40 or 4^ 
 inches, ^vhich is of the largest size, may possibly con- 
 gist of as many years as inches ; and some of our own 
 countrymen have known and observed a Pike to come 
 xvithin 10 years of the distinct age af man, and had 
 lived longer had not fate hastened his death by a violent 
 hand. One of 40 inches (I said) might be of as many- 
 years old ; not that a Pike grows just about an inch in 
 a year, that is hard to determine, some grow fastf r, 
 some slower, according to the diversity of the water 
 and their food ; river fish are thought to grow much 
 faster than pond fish; except the pond is very large 
 and has a good stream run through it; there is nothing 
 helps so much the feeding of a Pike as fresh water. 
 That is the reason why a Pike will not bite well after a 
 great rain, Jacks or Pickeriils grow faster than great 
 ones, and I have observed in a clear and springing 
 brook, that a Jack spawned in March will take a bait 
 in October following, and will increase to 18 inches the 
 next March. In standing water, as moats and ponds, 
 he grows not so fast; to try the experiment, I have 
 taken one out with a cast.net in May, measured him 
 and marked him on his tail, and about Michaelmas I 
 have taken the same fish, as appeared by the mark, 
 and then measured him again, and he had not increased 
 in length above two inches, and very little in breadth : 
 a river fish will grow very fast till he come to be 2i or 
 near 20 inches, then he stands a little and spreads him- 
 self in thickness ; after w hich he will grow a long time, 
 and is much longer growing to his full bigness from 30 
 inches, than he was increasing to that proportion. 
 
 He is a great breeder and multiplier, as we may see 
 in those places that preserved them, how soon a river 
 is full stocked. Small Jacks shew themselves much 
 after a spring flood, every dttch is then full of Pick- 
 
AGE AND GROAVTll OF A PIKE 225 
 
 , , — -— - -— , ^ 
 
 eriils, and the fens are so abundantly stored with them, 
 that you may buy a hoi se-load for a shilling, it is the 
 spring. tide that brings them up, for about Midsummer 
 and after, they much decrease and diminish in tiieir 
 number ; some being taken with snares and bow.nets, 
 some with trolling, and many little ones devoured by 
 the greater: so tiiat in the stocking of a pond, the 
 wisest course is to put in all your Jacks as near as you 
 can of a bigness, for a Pike of 30 inches will make no 
 bones of one of 16. As to the increase of them, some 
 are apt to grow more in length, others more in breadth 
 and thickness; which latter sort are the best ied and 
 the firmest fishes ; for a lean slender Pike, though he 
 m jy seem to advance and improve in length, yet he is 
 commonly a waster; if he haih received any outward 
 hurt, or wound, either by an Otter, or by a stronger 
 of his own species, or is inwardly pricked by the hook, 
 or any casualty ; yet still he will live and eat his meat, 
 and be as hungry as Pharaoh's lean kine, which de- 
 voured the fat ones : he will be yet for plunder and as 
 greedy as ever, though he do not thrive ; this I ob- 
 served in a large Pike which 1 took in a wasting condi. 
 tion ; he had a long hook in his belly, and the end of 
 the wire hung out of his mouth ; he might probably 
 have been long in that declining state and so might have 
 continued a considerable time, though he fall away^ 
 and must at last die of a consumption. 
 
 There are several circumstances of time and place 
 which may be very advantageous, and conduce much 
 to the growth of a Pike ; a still, shady, untrequented 
 place, where he is not frightened, or disturbed, is very 
 commodious for his rest and repast; especially if his 
 shelter be thick and convenient : if a ditch join upou 
 the ri^er, a spring or small brook run into it, his abode 
 will be more pleasing: if it be a solitary and retired 
 corner, not beaten by fishers, or the often visits of his 
 flattering friends. 
 
^24 NOBBS'S ART OF TROLLING. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 The Harbour of a Pike, 
 
 The harbour of a Pike is usually amongst or near a 
 bank of needs ; for he does not always confine himself 
 to hissbed, and lie close like a fox in his den, but often 
 shoots out, and sports in the clear stream; (like the 
 great Leviathan) takes his pastime in the middle of i\iQ 
 -waters. The weeds indeed are his chief refuge. If he 
 be frightened by a net or the sudden disturbance of his 
 approaching enemy, he then strikes to his harbour, and 
 there keeps his garrison, Tliose weeds which he most 
 delights in, are flags and bull-rushes, candocks, reeds, 
 green fog, and a weed with a small leaf, which he often 
 frequents, especially about October, when they begin 
 to rot. If a place is very thick and weedy, you can, 
 not so easily guess where his lodgings are, but if the 
 river is free from weeds, only here and there a bank or 
 bed of bull. rushes, you may safely conclude those are 
 his retirements and baiting places ; if the river is broad, 
 deep, and straight, like a scour, it will be the more 
 diflicult to find his recess ; and if there are but few fish, 
 it will be next to seeking a needle in a bottle of hay ; 
 for in such false rivers, you may troll perhaps from 
 r.iorning till night and scarcely get a run. But if such 
 a place is litde beaten, and have plenty of fish, you 
 may have sport enough ; then you must arm yourself 
 with a deal of pati(-nce, and fish it \QTy true and slow. 
 There is not so much variety and deliglit in trolling such 
 a river, because it is all along even and alike, and you 
 cannot conceive where your prey lies: this you may 
 •call hap-hazard, and expect a run every throw, though 
 you i^o three or four hours, and neither see nor feel any 
 tish but your own bait, 
 ^ The best and securest w^y of fishing these wide 
 
THE IIAllBOUll OF A PIKF. 22^5 
 
 ^1 Mill— ■MMW^i n W «7 lB "M l 7 i r il» II I.I i7"n I II I III W I M M ■*^— MBMIMmIT? 
 
 reaches is by drawing the bait along the sides next to 
 you, except you can search (he breadth of it, and 
 throw over to the farther side ; but that is but dull and 
 slow sport, it will take a deal of time to troll the 
 length of a furlong. If your river consists of pits, 
 Tihich is the quickest and most delightful way of troll- 
 ing, you must have a special regard to the top and 
 bottom of the pit. A pike may be taken sometimes in 
 the middle, but his chief seat and habitation is at tl>e 
 bottom of ihp pit ; and this I have often observed, that 
 ^vhere one Pike hath been taken at the mouth, another 
 hath been found at the foot, or bottom of the pit. 
 
 These are the ordinary places ; yet according to the 
 variety of weather and seaspns of the year, a Pike will 
 alter aud change his dwelling. In the winter be 
 usually couches very nigh the ground, and gets into 
 the deepest and obscurest places ; about the latter end 
 of P\*bruary, or the beginning of March, he begins to 
 he weary of his melancholy repose, and to raise himself 
 a little from the bottom, and is more active in seeking 
 Ids food : at the latter end of March, or sometime* 
 the middle, he shoots in the scours, and there leave* 
 the spawn to multiply according to its kind : in April 
 and May, he still gets higher, and advances himself into 
 the shallows ; and if unmolested there he will so con- 
 tinue most part of the summer ; in September, he be. 
 gins to retreat again, and removes himself from his har- 
 bour to visit his v\ inter quarters, which will be much 
 the same as before, if no floods disorder him. Tliis is 
 his yearly course, to change according to heat or cold, 
 so that a Pike, like a person of quality, >^ath both a 
 winter and a summer. house. 
 
 As to his daily transaction, he thus disposes of him- 
 self: in a hot gleamy day, he gets to the surface of the 
 water, as if he had a desire to exchange his element to 
 enjoy the comfortable influence of the airy region : ho 
 then scorns to be tempted with a bait, and can live all 
 day with a little more nourishment than the motes ia 
 the sun ; for you can no sooner offer him the kindness 
 of a deceitful bait, but he is gone as swift as lightning 
 
2^6 ?«J0BB-'S ART OF TKOr.LJ:\G. 
 
 to his lowest retirements. There are some that vvill 
 make such brags of their art, that they have the confi- 
 dence to, say, they can find a Pike as easily in his ^eat, 
 as an old hare. finder can take Puss in her fiirra ; and 
 that thei?ame Pike will as infallibly take his bait, as an 
 hungry dog will leap at a crust: they Mould nr^ake you 
 believey they are good accomptants^ and such water- 
 arithmeticians, they can tell the number of fish in the 
 river, as well as graziers can count their sheep and 
 Jjeasfs in their pastures. 
 
 These stories are too romantic to gain the credit of 
 sober fishermen ; though one that hath had much expe- 
 rience', and made it Ids business, may give a near guess 
 where the tish lie : some places are more probable (haii 
 others, though you will often meet with them in the 
 middle as well as by the sides, and sometimes unex- 
 pectedly, where there is no convenieocy of shelter or 
 repast. 
 
 A ford that is clear and gravelly at the bottom, 
 especially if it have a pit adjoining tg it that is deep 
 and weedy, is looked upon as a probable place ; for 
 though they generall affect a deep water, yet they will 
 get as near as they can to a ford or shallow ; there 
 they dolioht themselves, and sport with the little fry ; 
 so scours and pits that are near mills, either above or 
 below them, are commonly well stored with fish: a 
 mill-dam that is deep and Aveedy is an approved recep« 
 tacle for them. Those rivers that are straight and 
 level, are not so good to fish as those that are crooked 
 and have many corners and turnings ; for the fish will 
 g^et into those creeks aud channels, and hide themselves 
 in private apartments. If the water is narrow, it is 
 more pleasing for the troUer ; for where it is very broad 
 and deep, there is more uncertainty : if it is narrow, 
 you may fish both sides, and sooner chop upon them; 
 you will then go on the faster and with more courage, 
 and drive forward to your journey's end ; but this is 
 chiefly as every one fancies, for some desire the widest 
 places they can find, and fix themselves two or thrqe 
 Lours without any considerable motion: I never ap- 
 
THE llAllBwUK OF A PIKK. ^27 
 
 proved ol that dull way, as thinking it needless and 
 impertinent to cast three or four times in the same 
 place, because a Fike, if he bites,- commonly rises at 
 it the first throw, though he may sometimes snap at it 
 when you have the least tlioughts of him. 
 
 As to the nature or constitution of the river, the 
 deeper is generally the better and the safest harbour; 
 although he delights in a middle retirement, about four 
 feet in depth is a right proportion, and the best pitch 
 for the Troller; for if it be much deeper, they are the 
 more difficult to stir, and harder to find ; and if 
 shallower, they will be apt to see you, and so shun 
 the enticements of a treacherous friend. Small Jacks 
 will often lie within two, or sometimes one foot in 
 water ; it is the wisest course in such places to keep at 
 a distance^ and not come nigh the river till the bait 
 IS in. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 The best Seasons for Trolling, 
 
 There are some that pretend to trollintf, and yet 
 observe no one time or season to be better than an- 
 other ; a Pike indeed will bite more or less at any 
 time, let him set out when he will ; but to go out at 
 all adventures,, is a very uncertain and insecure way: 
 as to the heat in Summer, and frost and snow in Win- 
 ter, he had better make hay in tiie one, and sit by the 
 fire in the other: some will bra^ of their hardy consti- 
 tutions, that they can break the ice with one hand, 
 and take out fish with the other, and slide a trolling 
 (like Dutchmen) on their skates, and not be sensible 
 of the inclemency of the air; they will be stiU for fish- 
 ing, when the weather is more proper for fowling; 
 they will pretend they can charm the fish at Christmas 
 with a sweet bait^ will present their landlord »with a 
 
"628 .NOIiBS's ART OF IIIOLLING. '^ 
 
 Pike at new-year's. tide ; these (1 confess) are artists far 
 beyond our profession, if their performances are as 
 iari^e as their promises. 
 
 There are some days (we grant) in the depth of 
 winter, as in December or January, tliat a man may 
 pick out to stand two or three hours by the river-side, 
 but the weather must be open and temperate ; the great 
 fish wiil be then soonest enticed with the bait at that 
 time of the year, because tl.ey lie deep, and are not 
 so careful of their own preservation. There is another 
 great advantage for the winter Troller, the weeds are 
 then down and rotten, which before was a great hin- 
 derance both for throwing the bait, and in keeping the 
 fish from the sight of it. Though a Pike deligiits much 
 among the weeds, and usually makes his abode there, 
 yet it is yevy diihcult to take him th^re, except it be 
 with the snap ; for if you give him tlie liberty of run- 
 ning and phiying with your bait, he winds himself so 
 fast about the weeds, that you may be in some danger 
 of losing both your fish and hook, if your line is not 
 very strong : if you take a snap, you will be troubled 
 with them, for they are great enemies to that. 
 
 To begin the year, February is the first, and none 
 of the worst months he can pitch upon for his sport ; 
 after Candlemas, if the season is moderate, and the 
 water in tune, which is very rare, for if it is not a 
 ^oody as it is often at that time, yet the ditches and 
 brooks are commonly so rank and full, that it is but 
 indifferent fishing ; but if it chance to be a dry season 
 and open, it is one of the best months. So is March 
 Tery seasonable to the Troller, excepting the time of 
 spawning, which usually begins about the middle^ un- 
 less ihe Spring is very forward ; and then they will be 
 sickBooner. The Snap is then the only way. If you 
 fish at Pouch, you may have many runs, but scarcely 
 take one except it be a male fish. These two months 
 will try the fistierraan's patience, whether he is wind 
 and weather proof; the next is April, which will make 
 liim amends for his former sufferings, and is a month so 
 inviting to sport, that it is both pleasant and profitable ; 
 
THE BEST SEASONS FOR TROLLING. 229 
 
 the chirping birds then begin to seek their mates, and 
 the long silent Cuckoo that forsook her cold climate, 
 does again salute her sprouting branches, and tell us 
 the news of an approaching Summer ; you may then 
 please yourself to see the tender Swallow so joyful at 
 her first flight, when she seems to make obeisance to 
 your bait, and displays her wings upon the surface of 
 the Writers. This month you will find most propitious 
 to your pastime, because the weeds which have couched 
 all Winter, have not yet erected their heads to annoy 
 the bait, or frustrate the hopes of an impatient fisher- 
 man. This month, I say, is usually successful for this 
 diversion, because the river is then clear of fog and 
 filth ; and also that the fish, which have lately cast their 
 spawn, are now more hungry and ready for their prey; 
 there is now little fear of their forsaking your bait as 
 they did in March. They are not yet arrived to that 
 fatness and firmness which they will get in Summer, 
 but are many of them flamp and thin ; the indimdium 
 decreasing to multiply the species. 
 
 The beginning of May is likewise very seasonable, 
 especially if it hits with the proverb, cold and windy ; 
 towards the latter end of it, the weeds spring up and 
 are very offensive to the hook ; then begins the Troll- 
 er's vacation, which continues till the latter end of 
 August, or the beginning of September ; yet those who 
 are afraid of an Ague at Spring, or Fall, may choose 
 themselves the coolest, cloudy day they can find in 
 June or July to exercise their skill ; but then they will 
 be sure to take more weeds than fish. 
 
 As to the Autumnal season, October is the principal 
 month, the weather being then temperate, and the 
 weeds which were strong and high before, now die and 
 fall to the bottom. The rivers are then generally low, 
 which is a great advantage, because the fish are more 
 easily found in their harbours ; they leave the shallows 
 and scours, and lodge themselves in pits and the deep, 
 est places. A Pike is now very firm and fat, having 
 had the benefit of the Summer's food : and if the wea- 
 th«r continues drj and not extraordinary cold, you 
 
 X 
 
230 NOBBS'S ART OF TROLLING. 
 
 may take in part of November, which will add much 
 to your sport, because the weeds will be more wasted 
 ^nd rotten ; but if a flood comes in October, or the 
 beginning of November, you may lay aside your tack, 
 ling for that season ; for great rivers (like great ves- 
 sels,) being long in filling, and slowly mounting to 
 their full height, are again long in falling and settling; 
 so that the water will be thick and out of order, except 
 frost or fair weather comes to clear it. In small 
 brooks and rivulets it is not so ; you may fish there 
 again within a week or less after the flood. If such 
 inconveniences put ofi" your designed sport, you must 
 desist till the following Spring, when the days will be 
 longer, though the weather colder. As to the time of 
 day, the morning and evening is best in Summer ; be- 
 cause towards noon the fish get to the top of the water, 
 and are more mindful of their play than their meat. 
 If the day be clear and calm, a snare is more proper 
 than a bait ; for the least motion you can make with 
 your line will afi'right a fish that lies high ; and if he is 
 once moved and put to the flight, all the art you can 
 use will not entice him to y«ur bait again ; besides it 
 will then be too hot for sport; for heat creates no 
 appetite in any thing, much Jess in fish : it is the wind 
 and the cooler clouds, when Zephyrus curls the waves 
 with a brisk gale that invites a fish to repast ; those 
 hot and sultry days are fittest for the float, when the 
 fish are for some light diet, and the Angler has the best 
 pastime with flies, bees, &c. At such a time of the 
 year, early or late is the best fishing, if it is in the 
 night. As to the Winter or Spring quarter, one part 
 of the day is as favorable as the other : for then the 
 Sun being not so hot, it neither molests the fisher, nor 
 takes away the fishes stomachs. If the day be dark 
 and cloudy you will find but little difference : if any, 
 noon is the btst time, or about ten or eleven o'clock, 
 you will be then glad of a warm blast, when your 
 lingers can scarcely fetl whether they are fish or flesh. 
 Some are very scrupulous concerning the wind, and 
 will not stir a foot except it stand in what corner they 
 
THE BEST SEASONS FOR TROLLING. 231 
 
 would have it, though upon such a nicety I scarcely 
 ever denied myself a day of diversion. A northern 
 wind indeed is more sharp and piercing, and will weary 
 the fisherman's patience, and the north-east carries a 
 proverb with it, enough to discourage a fresh-water 
 soldier ; yet this I have observed, that in a right and 
 seasonable time of the year, the fish will bite, let the 
 wind stand where it will. The south and the south- 
 west have the general applause, because they are more 
 pleasing to the Troller; and it is granted that the fish 
 are more brisk and quicker at the bait, and perhaps 
 they may then have more sport than when the wind is 
 contrary; yet this is certain, that the colder the wind 
 is, the closer the fish lie to the bottom, and farther in 
 their harbour, which may hinder you from having so 
 many 4)ites as when they lie out and more open in ^ 
 warmer day; yet the air being cold and sharp, k 
 makes them hungry ; and if you are careful, you may 
 have as many fish as bites : besides a fish of any J)igness 
 is too cunning to be cheated of his life, if he lies not 
 securely in the deeps, or invisible among the weeds ; 
 for as old birds are not to be taken with chaff, soan 
 old fish that hath been already pricked in the gills or 
 pouch, is yery cautious in making a second adventure. 
 AH the principal and chiefest time for Trolling may be 
 epitomized into four months, two of which jattend the 
 Spring, and two the Fall : part of March may con- 
 veniently be left out, which will only tantalize with 
 runs and afford you no fish, if you use the Pouch ; 
 neither will they then bite so freely as they will about 
 a fortnight after, they are then very averse and indif- 
 ferent in their feeding; the reason of which, some do 
 ascribe to the multitude of frogs which then engender 
 and breed in the waters : though 1 have not been of 
 that opinion ; for supposing the fish feed upon frogs, 
 which I could seldom observe, especially in the deep 
 streams ond running waters, where the frogs very 
 rarely come ; for they generate for the most part in 
 pits and standing pools, amongst filth and mire : yet 
 notwithstanding this^ the fish prey upon them at that 
 
 X.2 
 
232 NOBBS'S ART OF TROLLING. 
 
 time, yet it will not hinder your sport, but they will 
 often take your bait; for a Pike is of that greedy and 
 rapacious nature, that although he hath lately made a 
 good meal of frogs, yet he will taste a Roach for his 
 second course. He takes so much pleasure and delight 
 in eating, that he never cares to stint himself; or phy- 
 sically, for his health's sake, to be content with mode* 
 rate diet ; for I have often taken him so soon after his 
 feeding, that he hath had part of his meat in his 
 mouth ; having newly swallowed so large a fish^ that 
 his ventricle was neither capable to receive or digest it 
 quickly : sometimes I have taken him with two or three 
 baits in his maw ; sometimes with a great Roach or 
 Dace ; sometimes with one of his own species, very 
 seldom with a frog in his belly ; a frog is accounted a 
 good bait once a year, that is about hay-time, when it 
 looks bright and yellow, though (hen it is something 
 difficult to find ; in March they are very plentiful, but 
 are n^t of that golden colour, to make the fish ena- 
 moured with their beauty. This may be granted, that 
 a Pike will feed to that excess and fullness, that he 
 cannot gorge your bait, yet will rise and shew himself, 
 and make many offers, having a good will to do it, that 
 you may often catch him with the snap. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 The Food of a Pike, and zohen he is Fattest. 
 
 If you divide the year into four quarters, a Pike is 
 good 4hree of them ; the Spring only excepted. I 
 could never find any dilTerence in the eating. It is a 
 usual saying, that a Pike and a Buck are in season to- 
 gether ; that is in July and August: he is then very 
 firm, hard, and solid ; you will find little alteration in 
 September or October, which are the chiefest months 
 for the goodness of a fish ; for small Jack always eat 
 
THE FOOD OF A PIKF. 233 
 
 loose and washy : (like many terrestrial animals) grows 
 too fast to bt' fat, and therefore ought to be let alone 
 till he gets bigger. One about two feet^ or twenty-six 
 inches, is most grateful to the Palate ; a male fish of 
 that size is generally fat and delicious. 
 
 Physicians affirai that the chyle or juice of such a 
 fish concocted, is more wholesome to the stomach than 
 one of the largest proportion ; though all fish are 
 naturally light and of easy digestion. A Pike indeed 
 cannot be too big to make a present on a public occa- 
 sion, and the sauce answerable to the Pike ; for if it 
 swim nut in sauce and liquor, it had been better still 
 swimming in the river. Such a fish (which may b« 
 supposed about forty inches) will fe^d to an incredible 
 fatness : some say more, but I can testify that a quart 
 of fat hath been taken out of the belly of one : it must 
 be a great charge and expence to feed a Pike to that 
 bigness, that some have credibly affirmed that a Pike 
 is as costly and as long a feeding as an ox. Nmv as to 
 the difference of fish, one out of a river that is fat, is 
 far better and sweeter than one fed in a pond ; except: 
 he is taken out of the pond, and put into a running 
 stream, to clear awhile before he is eaten. Some that 
 are curious, have stews and fountains for that purpose, 
 and can draw them at their pleasure, choosing the 
 fattest, and throwing in the rest. 
 
 As to the food of a Pike, small fry will keep him 
 very well, though not to make him thrive and fatten ; 
 Grigs, or small Eels cut on the backs, and cast in a 
 few at a time, are his most nourishing and fattening 
 diet. The way of throwing bullocks' blood into a 
 pond, paunches and guts, are not wholesome food ; is 
 it possible that fish may feed upon such stinking and 
 noisome food, and grow fat? they are not only fit for 
 those to eat who feed them with such trash. You may 
 easily distinguish a fed Pike from one in a wasting con- 
 dition: they differ in the colour, which is usually yel- 
 low and spotted, but white and pale in a thin lean fish: 
 you may also distinguish them by the weight and bulk, 
 If they are much of a length; observing the breadth 
 X 2 
 
234 NOBBS'S ART OF TROLLING. 
 
 ^■' - ' --■- ' !_ 1 1 1,11,- " ' ' ' -■■■ - ■ ■• 
 
 of the back and sides : for those fish that have full and 
 extended bellies, are often deceitful, and may be full 
 of spawn instead of fat : the male Pike is generally 
 firm and inyiting to the eater, but the spawners or sow- 
 fish (as some call them) are out of season great part of 
 Summer ; for before and after they have spawned, they 
 are scarcely worth the TroUer's labour. Some observe 
 that they multiply twice a year: at the beginning of 
 Spring, and again the latter end of Summer, which is 
 not improbable. 
 
 There are many circumstances that conduce much 
 to the feeding of a Pike, as first a convenient harbour; 
 for they that lie among weeds and foggy places are 
 fattest; they are there secure from the assaults and dis* 
 turbance of enemies, and enjoy a more safe and con- 
 tented repose ; rest and quietness being as natural and 
 helpful to their feeding as to other creatures : there are 
 some waters that may be more feeding and nourishing 
 than others. A thicker sort of water, if not foul 
 and muddy, is of a better consistency, and the parts 
 V better disposed and qualified for nutrition, than those 
 of a more thin and rarified substance : it is a rule in 
 philosophy, that no element that is pure and without 
 mixture is consentaneous for nourishing ; so that they 
 have put it among their vulgar errors, that the camelion 
 cannot live by air alone, or the salamander by fire : so 
 we deny that fish can live by pure water, or by respira- 
 tion, or sucking in those slender particles of his beloved 
 element, without the concurrence and assistance of 
 some grosser and terrene qualiti-es, which are inter- 
 mingled with those liquid bodies. TJiis is the reason 
 why fish are the fattest, though not altogether the 
 sweetest, fed among weeds and thick fog; they live 
 and thrive with littltj more refreshment than what they 
 receive from that fatness which the soil imparts: if 
 there is great store of rubbish in the pond or ri?er, 
 t^ere needs a less supply of adventitious food. 
 
 It is a common observation, that aftf^r a glut of rain, 
 or some great showers, a Pike never bites well, because 
 he hath lately fed npon those fresh streams that come in 
 
THE FOOD OF A PIKK. 235 
 
 from the banks and ditches ; and indeed that reason 
 may be probably true ; for though rain.water of itself 
 can have but little or no more strertgthening quality 
 than the river ; yet it scouring through the channels, 
 and washing the land and tarth as it passeth. may from 
 thence receive a firmer and more solid substance, which 
 may make it more glutinous and congruous ior nutri- 
 tion. It is possible that a Pike may live a great while 
 in a clear pool, where there is n^^ither small fry for 
 prey, nor harbour to shelter, nor any kind of fog 
 which might give him subsistence; certainly he will be 
 dissatisfied with that course of life, and as much dis- 
 contented with those short commons, as one that hath 
 not been used to a prisoiulife, is there put in and fed 
 with nothing b«t bread and water. I could never hear 
 of any that made trial of this merely for expt riment^s 
 sake ; some persons have put a stock of f^ikes into 
 th^ir ponds, and have not regarded to put in meat pro- 
 portionable to their number, yet have preserved it 
 many years, denying both themselves and others the 
 liberty of fishing in it ; have drawn it afterwards, ex- 
 pecting a plentiful increase, and have found nothing 
 answerable to their expectations : so great a diminution 
 of them must either be caused by the devouring Otter, 
 or secret stealth {which is scarcely possible, they being 
 watched so narrowly ;) or else they must infallibly lan- 
 guish and die for want. 
 
 Some fish might escape such a mortality, and might 
 hiiW live and grow, but it must be thos« that were bred 
 i-n the place, and not those that were taken out of the 
 river and put in the pond to feed, for alteration of 
 water amoRg fish, as well as change of air or ground 
 among beasts, is of much consequence, being very 
 beneficial to some and destructive to others. Not but 
 they are much advanced that are translated froia a 
 worse to a better condition. 
 
 It is well known thdt fen- fish brought up into clear 
 waters will thrive, and are sweeter; but whether those 
 that are bred in brooks and small streams, c: rried and 
 p^t into fen.ditcbes, will change for the better or the 
 worse, is worth enquiry. 
 
1236 NOBBS'S ART OF TROLLING. 
 
 CHAP. VIL 
 
 Baits for Trolling* 
 
 Having already discoursed of the nature of a Pike, 
 and discovered his harbour and feed, and the time and 
 «easons most proper to take him ; the next will be to 
 provide Instruments and Tackle, and Baits fit and 
 suitable to every season. Some there are that vary 
 their baits according to the time of the year, using 
 small fish in Winter, and frog«, &c. in summer. I can- 
 not disapprove of that way, though I seldom made use 
 of others than a small fish, a Roach or a Dace, some- 
 times a Gudgeon, which if large is an excellent bait ; 
 it being a sweet fish : a Pike very rarely leaves it ; if 
 it is a dark colour, and therefore is most proper to be 
 used in a bright day, or when the waters are very 
 clear. 
 
 If the river is muddy, or the weather cloudy, then 
 a Roach, Dace, or a Bleak newly taken, are the best 
 baits that ran be used ; the fresher they are the better, 
 for fish are the soonest -stale of any thing, and a Pike 
 may chance to catch at a stale bait, and play with it 
 briskly at first, but it is great odds that he leaves it at 
 last, if he is not extraordinarily pinched with hunger. 
 A stale bait (we acknowledge) may make a good shift 
 sometimes, but it must be neither in Summer, nor in 
 spawning time ; in April or October they are not so 
 curious, but they can dispense with indifferent diet ; 
 and in cold weather a bait may keep two or three days, 
 and yet be very serviceable, especially at Snap, which 
 makes no difierence in baits, as to the sense of tasting ; 
 if they look bright and glisten in the water, it is not 
 material whether they are old or new ; which affords a 
 .greater variety of baits than that of Pouch. 
 
 Any thing that ma y affect the eye, may be used at 
 
BAITS FOR TROLLING, 237 
 
 Snap ; some will take a piece of hard cheese, or pack, 
 wax, a rasher of bacou, or sheep's gut, or almost any 
 thing that is radiant and shining ; some will float on the 
 top with a live bird, a Swallow or a Sparrow ; though 
 I judge that may be more out of curiosity than for pro- 
 fit or sport. I never admired this way of Snap, as 
 thinking it too quick and surprising, to give any diver- 
 sion; the sport of Trolling consisting more in the 
 managing the bite, in the playing of a Pike, and his 
 eager biting and running with the bait, than just a word 
 and a blow, snapping him up and putting him into th« 
 bag. 
 
 One time of the year the Snap is best, that is in 
 March, when they are sick and about casting their 
 spawn , for then if your Snap-hook is made the right 
 way, with springs to strike sure, you may take four or 
 five in the time the Pouch takes one ; some fancy the 
 Snap-hook plays the bait more lively and natural, 
 though there may be no great difference, especially if 
 the Pouch-hook be fastened to the line with a swivel, 
 which is very conducible to the playing of a bait. 
 
 Some there are that fish with live baits, and have 
 short hooks fashioned accordingly, with more joints 
 and without lead ; but that is rather a destroying and 
 poaching way, than any fair fishing : it makes such a 
 slaughter amongst the fish, that it is not fit to be used ; 
 for 1 have known some rivers that have been quickly 
 eased of their burthen of fish by that unlawful trade. 
 
 The method they use is to lay in three or four score 
 of these hooks, which may reach almost a mile ; after 
 they have lain four or five hours, or more, or presently 
 after they have lain the last, they begin to take up tbe 
 first ; so that they will kill perhaps a score of Pikes 
 and Jacks ; which way (if allowable) is the ready 
 course to empty a river, and engross all the sport to 
 themselves; two or three at a time is enough to content 
 any moderate Troller, that would have others partake 
 of the recreation as well as himself, and not fish above 
 once or twice in a season at the same place. The 
 means to preserve and contitiue this sport is to favour 
 
2 S V BB>'^A;.r prMiLMM., 
 
 and cht rish it. It is an e:isy raatftr hjr«ed to take 
 half ta dozrn or more, if he would stick at it a whole 
 day in the beginning of the year, before the waters are 
 beaten or dragged, then they are so plentiful, that they 
 shew themselves in every corner. 
 
 As for a sweet and delicioKS bait, a piece of an Eel 
 may be preft^rred, which if once taken and tasted, a 
 Pike wiil assuredly feed upon it; this may be experi- 
 enced i!i ponds and stews, when they throw in Grigs 
 to feed the Pikes. Of all the small fish, a Perch makes 
 the worst bait, yet that may be used in a case of neces- 
 sity, if you first cut off the fins and prickles on his 
 back, though when you have done all you can, it will 
 be but to little purpose ; for a Perch is like a Prince 
 among the fish, and a Pike is in so much fear of him, 
 and hath that antipathy against him, that he will sooner 
 fasten upon one of his own kiud than upon him ; yet I 
 have seen small Perch taken out of a Pikers belly, but 
 it was in a moat where he was kept short and had little 
 else to feed upon : but if you are confined to this bait, 
 and can get no other, it is best to scrape off some of the 
 scales, it being a dark fish, it will make it brighter ; 
 and still the Snap is the best hook for it, because if the 
 scales of the Perch are on, a Pike cannot easily gorge 
 or digest it. A small Jack is a far better bait, though 
 it seems unnatural, yet fish are not bound to observe 
 the laws of nature ; if it be a foot long, it may be cut 
 in two, and so made use of: a young Chub may be 
 very useful, or any fish that shines in the water: a 
 Bleak is a very bright bait. 
 
 The way to keep and preserve your 1)aits till you 
 have occasion to use them, is first to take a cast-net 
 and throw it, choosing those that are most fit for the 
 purpose; having a trunk ready to put them in, and then 
 to take them out by two or three as occasion serves. 
 In Summer time you may take them with an angle, but 
 that is very uncertain ; nor can you have any choice 
 that way, because they wiil often be too little or too 
 big, besides it spends too much time that is intended for 
 Trolling. Sometimes you may take with one bait fresh 
 
BAITS lOR TllOLLINTr. '1/^9 
 
 out of the trunk, three or lour Jacks, or me^re; for a 
 fish that bites greedily and swallows the bait presently, 
 does not tear it so much as one that plays with it in his 
 mouth and then leaves it ; a bait is not much worse for 
 being chopt and full of holes, provided it hangs well 
 upon the hook, and the lead is not seen ; for one Pike 
 will feed very well after another, and the bait will be 
 still the sweeter the more it is bitten, if not used so 
 long as to be water-sopt: the scales of a Roach or 
 Dace, are a great preservation to it, as also light and 
 perspicuous , which render it more visible to the eyes of 
 the great devourers : as to the definitive number of baits 
 it cannot be easily determined : two or three, if fresh, 
 will last long enough, if you have not very ill luck with 
 him ; for sometimes the first fish that bites will tear the 
 bait, so that it will make it unserviceable and yet not 
 take the Pike ; but the weeds are most destructive to 
 your baits, especially when they are strong and tough, 
 so that if you are not careful in tying the tail of the 
 bait fast to (he joint of the wire, the weed will consume 
 it before the Pike comes. Some fish will hold better 
 than others; a Dace is one of the hardest, and will 
 endure the longest : but a Gudgeon is but a tender fish, 
 and will soon burst. One fresh bait will wear out two 
 or three stale ones : besides these natural bates, there 
 are a sort of artificial ones which are made so exqui- 
 sitely to resemble the other, that they will delude the 
 eyes of some men, much more the fish ; if they only 
 look, and not feel or touch with the finger, there is no 
 doubt to be made of the reality of the fish. Some pre- 
 tend to fish at Pouch with these artificial baits, though 
 it is more probable they were designed for the Snap ; 
 for a Pike is endued with a perfect i^ense of tasting, and 
 therefore will scarcely be courted to gorge and digest 
 that which he can neither taste nor smell. There are 
 indeed some of those artificial baits made after the 
 Pouch fashion, whether for sight or service, I cannot 
 conceive ; for I more admire the curiosity and iniienuJty 
 of the artificer, than any extraordinary excellency or 
 usefulness i% the thing. A Pike must be very hungry 
 
240 NOBBS'S AllT OF 1 ROLLING. 
 
 that gorges one of them, and he must do it hastily and 
 greedily, for if he stays to consider, and plays much 
 with it, as some of them do, his curious and delicate 
 palate will presently distinguish a fresh and well-relish, 
 ing morsel from a dry and insipid bit. 
 
 Those that are coyetous may have two strings to 
 their bow, by taking a Gudgeon of a middle size, or a 
 large Minnowj for then they may be in hopes of taking 
 large Perches as well as Pikes, for a Minnow is an ex- 
 cellent bait for a Perch ; great baits invite a Pike, but 
 little ones are more secure to take him. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Pouch^Hook* 
 
 Of Pike or Jack hooks there are sever>il sorts, both 
 for the SAap and l*ouch, the latter of which we shall 
 only endeavour to describe in this place ; though the 
 spring. h<»oks are esteemed excellt^nt, and strike snre^ 
 the orr lary plain Snap.hook will miss often. Pouch- 
 hooks ( n!"^ are many sorts, though I never made use 
 of them ^t is best to choose them of a dark bluish 
 colour, the lead not very gross, but neatly covered, 
 without any Haws or hollows in it. 
 
 If it be pretty weighty, it plays the bait the better; 
 this is supposed of a single hook, though a double one 
 is the same as to the lead and joints of the wire. I 
 commonly made use of the single hook, which strikes 
 as sure as the other. The dduble hook hath one advan. 
 tage above the other, that if it meets with such resist- 
 ance in the water that it loses one side of it, the other 
 part, with a little filing, may be still as serviceable as 
 it was before : it is more troublesome in the water, and 
 more apt to check and take hold of the weeds and 
 roots ; it is best for a great bait, for if you put a small 
 and slender bait on a double hook, it will hang out and 
 
pouciuiiooK. 241 
 
 bear oif so much in the bending, that a Pike may not 
 only discover the delusion and craft, but if he takes it, 
 it may check him in his feeding, and so hinder him 
 from gorging it. There are two or three sorts of 
 double hooks, besides that of the Snap ; some are flat, 
 and are bent back to back. 
 
 There is another sort that is more sloped, and the 
 
 , bents closer together ; others that have a round bent 
 much after the form of the Snap, which must always 
 have a full bend and very large; that is bailed by fix- 
 ing the hook in the middle of the bait, and may havo 
 the lead fasteijed to rtie wire. The way to use, is to 
 strike soon after the fish bites, and as the Pike runs 
 one way to strike the coutrar) » 
 
 In the choice of hooks, you may have some regard 
 to the wire, that it is not rugged or knotty ; for if it is 
 not sound and strong, you may loose botli your fish 
 and hook. The first joint of it which is next the lead, 
 must be so long that the tail of the bait m-iy not reach 
 over it, for if it does, you cannot well fasten it to the 
 joint, though in time of necessity you may untsvist the 
 wire of the upper joint, and there fix the thread. 
 Some baits are short, as Roaches ; some are lor -er, as 
 Daces, Bleaks, or large Gudgeons, which r '^"ire that 
 the hook and wire are both long and proporuD^^p^ble to 
 it. The other joint which is fastened to the line must 
 be twice or thrice the length of the other ; lest riJen 
 the Pike hath gorged the bait deep into his ventricle, 
 the wire is not long enough to reach out of his mouth, 
 and so he cuts the line with his teeth; this joint had 
 need be very fine and smooth; if it be rugged, it tears 
 the bait when you put it on. If this is stitf and strong, 
 you need not that which they call the arming wire to 
 help you to thrust it out of the tail of your bait; you 
 may sometimes search your wire, lest it be faulty or - 
 broken, especially the lowest joint, for there it often 
 
 breaks, and may deceive you. 
 
 There are other sorts of hooks for ledger baits ; 
 those are used with live fish, and are not leaded : the 
 hook is rather shorter than the others, but the vvJr« 
 
 T 
 
'242 NOBBS'S ART OF TROLLING. 
 
 hath usually more joints. The lines for these need not 
 be so long as the trolling-line ; they are thrown into 
 the water, and so ga^ed with a stick ; for a Pike will 
 not so soon take a bait off the ground, as if it swims 
 about a foot or more from the bottom. The way of 
 fishing with ledger bails is too destructive to be made a 
 common practice, and far below the diversions of a fair 
 fisherman. 
 
 The best hooks are those that break and snap rather 
 than stand bent, or the least moved from their first 
 shape ; there is a variety in hooks, good and bad ; it 
 requires caution to choose the best. 
 
 When you fasten the wire to the line, be sure to tie 
 it with a right knot ; if your tackle is new and sound, 
 you need not fear to venture among fog or weeds, or 
 any thing but roots and stumps of trees, which may 
 hold play with a cart-rope. 
 
 The safest and most secure way of fastening, is first 
 to tie one single knot, and then one that will slip, or 
 else only the slipping knot, allowing it an inch or two' 
 of line, then drawing it close, first try it with all your 
 strength before jou put it into the water. It is a neat 
 iray to fasten it with a swivel, tying it close with a bit 
 of thread; this plays the bait better, giving it a turn 
 when you stir it, which makes it glisten and swim like 
 St live fish. 
 
 CIIAIMX. 
 
 *I'he Trolling Line. 
 
 Tin^ line is one of the most necessary members that 
 is requ'red, for an ordinary and inditierent hook may 
 be dispensed with, as also the rod ; but if your line is 
 not strong and of a considerable length, you can have 
 but little hopes of success. The best materials for a 
 line is green or blue silk, which cerulean colour is 
 
THE TROLLING LINE. 243 
 
 most resembling water. It may be only fancy that one 
 colour is of more consequence than another, yet some- 
 times pleasing the fancy does so much enliven and en- 
 courage the fisherman, that it makes him the morc^ 
 active; and if his fancy diverts him another way, he 
 will take the less care. 
 
 Next to silk, the best sort of green thread, though 
 it i? neither so handsome nor so durable as silk, yet it 
 may last a year or two; but wears like otlier things, 
 according to the care and good keeping of the user : for 
 if it is laid up wet and on a heap, as soon as you have 
 done fishing, and take no more care of it, you may rot 
 as many lines as you catch Pikes. The best way of 
 preserving it is to wax it sometimes with bees'-wax, 
 and when it is wet to wind it up loosely in long fold- 
 ings, that the air may come in to dry it, or else let it 
 dry at length and wind it upon a roll; with such usage, 
 a silk line will last beyond your expectation. 
 
 Silk and hair may be mingled in the making of a 
 line; some make them of silk and silver, thinking that 
 way to preserve it : though the addition of silver may 
 be rather to please their fancy and the gaiety of their 
 humour than to keep their line from perishing : such 
 as those should have silver hooks to their silver lines ; 
 if it cannot take fish itself in the water, it may take 
 them ready caught, and so be useful in saving their 
 credit. 
 
 There are other sorts of coarse lines very short, not 
 above half the length of the trolling-line, which are to 
 fish with a ledger-bait, or to lie all night, being tied to 
 a lloat, and cast into the water. 
 
 These are not made of such fine stuff, nor so well 
 twisted as the other, and only serve in some exigencies, 
 as when a Pike that will not be invited by trolling, may 
 be better pleased with a bait that is laid for him, he 
 will sometimes so humble himself as to take it off the 
 bottom ; but it is the wiser to tie a stick or a cork to 
 the line, that it may hang about a foot or more from the 
 ground, observing the wind, for if you throw it in 
 agairist the wind, it will drive it backwards, and 
 y 2 
 
214 NOBBS'S ART OF TUOLLING. 
 
 carry <he bait close to the side ; and though a Pike 
 often harbours by the side, yet the middle halh more 
 sc'ope and advantage of drawing him to it : for these 
 laying lines, the (Worst sort will serve because lying so 
 lon^ in the water will rot them. 
 
 As to the length of the line, it is good to have 
 fnough, for though a short line may do in a brook or 
 some narrow place, where the Pike must either run up 
 or down, and fo you may follow, yet if you come to 
 a broad reach, where the fish runs across the stream to 
 the farther side, you may often miss of your Pike for 
 want of a few^ yards of line; if he be the least curbed 
 or siopt \i) his sp<-edy career, and noc have his full 
 swing, he is checked, and leaves his suspicious prey : 
 this 1 have often found by experience, though my line 
 was lonsj enough, yet having a knot in it that would 
 not quickly pass* being so entangled that it shortened 
 it, by that nuans have lost v< ry good fish. 
 
 As to the l( ngth, about thirty yards is a good medi- 
 um for the Pouch, i cannot see any reason why it n» ed 
 he so long at Snap, for though they may throw out as 
 far at Snap, you strike as soon as he bites, and let him 
 run no further, whereas at Pouch he may go as far as 
 you please. 
 
 It is true that the line at Snap ought to be thicker 
 and stronger, for a sudden jerk may break it ; it need 
 not be so long, because that is only for casting in, and 
 a l^ike will sometimes run farther with it than it can be 
 thrown ; so that I have seen those that have fished at 
 Snap with no longer line than what was tied to the rod, 
 and so cast it up and down like an angle. 
 
 As to the managing of the line, you may wind it 
 upon a roll that turns upon a ling, with your finger in 
 itj having no more in your hand than you make use of, 
 so you may unwind it at your leisure. 
 
 Some draw it after them at length, which I approve 
 jis a very good way ; if there is no impediments, as 
 shrubs or bushes, to interrupt or make them go back ; 
 it will be ready to cast out, and you may throw it the 
 farthest; if you hold a great <leal loose in your hand, 
 
TME TROLLING LINK. 245 
 
 it will be apt to knot and entangle, which will try the 
 fisherman's patience. Some object drawing the line 
 upon the ground, it will wear it out sooner: it sooner 
 dries, and when it is dry it can take but little harm; 
 besides a Pike will sometimes be so hasty and furious, 
 that he will scarcely give you leave to unwind fast 
 enough, and therefore the surest way to trepan him is 
 to have your line at command, and in complete readi- 
 ness. 
 
 CIIAP.X. 
 
 The Rod. 
 
 Supposing your hook is good, and your line strong, 
 you may make shift with an indifferent rod ; though 
 some are more curious in their tackle and patient in 
 fishiui^, and will not stir a foot without all the formali- 
 ties of an exquisite fisherman : such precise crafts-mas- 
 ters as these can spend their time in admiring their in- 
 struments, and sufficiently delight themselves with the 
 commendation of their own materials. This is certain 
 and undeniable, that the longer the rod is, if it is 
 straight and light, you will find the more benefit in 
 playing the bait and throwing it, for if there are flags 
 and reeds between the bank and the main deep, you 
 can hardly play your bait with a short rod. 1 have 
 ofton put a ring upon my hand stick, and made use of 
 that instead of a rod, and have had the fortune some- 
 times to take a Pike : sometimes I have taken nothing 
 with me, but confided in the willows that grew next ta 
 the place designed for that day's recreation, cutting 
 down as good a stick as 1 could find, and so making a 
 bent at the end for tlie line to slip : and have left it at 
 the conclusion of the sport. 
 
 In a broad river, or a pond, being at a pinch, I have 
 had no rod, but took the bait in my hand, and cast it 
 
 TT 3 
 
no ^U)IJliS*S AllT OF TROLLING. 
 
 from me like a stone to the length of my line, the end 
 1 fasten about me. In some places, they fish that way 
 \¥here the river is deep and clear from weeds. I never 
 accustomed myself to a long rod, and 1 generally made 
 use of an elder as long as 1 could get, commonly about 
 three yards long, which I barked and kept dry for light- 
 ness and easy carriage : when it was thoroughTy ^dry it 
 was tough and light, that 1 could scarcely feel it in my 
 hand ; and there is no objection to be made that such a 
 stick is too weak ; for any thing is strong enough at 
 Pouch (hat will play the bait and throw it ; there is no 
 "U'eight or stress upon the rod, and but little upon the 
 line ; if you strike the fish gently and play him slightly 
 and dexterously, you may tire him with a sUnder line, 
 if it he long, and can keep him from weeds aud roots. 
 At Snap, your tackle mu^t be dttcd accordingly, your 
 line xery strong, and your rod on purpose, of a good 
 ash, witjiy, or hazel well dried: straight and tough, 
 that it may be able to draw him out nolens vole^is^ by 
 mere force. He that uses that way is scarcely a word 
 and a blow, for the mistaken fish no sooner lays his 
 mouth upon the deceitful bait, but he is brought up 
 into another element. The way of Pouch is far more 
 mild and flattering, though as much destructive and 
 pernicious. 
 
 If you use an ash or an hazel rod, you must have a 
 ring fixed to the end, some have two, or more, though 
 I see no necessity of that superfluity. If it be an elder 
 or a cane, or any hollow wood, you may have an iron 
 ring made io ecrew in at the top, or else that which 
 may be as well, a piece of dry alder that is cut sharp 
 and sloping, about three or four inches long, which 
 you may stick fast in the end of the rod : some have 
 only a ring with a little scre"w very short. If your rod 
 be of alder, it will be apt to crack, you may secure 
 that by binding the end of it hard with a waxed thread, 
 and then you may thrust in the top without any danger 
 of breaking or cleaving the rod. 
 
 A dry withy or hazel, bored about twelve or four- 
 teen feet, w ill mak« an excellent rod ; which may serve 
 
THE HOD. 247 
 
 for angling, only pntting a top into it, as also at Snap, 
 It is a groat ease to have a light rod, get it the proper 
 season, and let them stand near the fire, or in some dry- 
 place for the space of half a year or more; for if your 
 rod be green and heavy, it will tire you, and be a great 
 hinderance. 
 
 The truth is, if sport be quick, scarcely any thing 
 can vex or discompose the fisher ; for he is then so 
 attentive on his pleasure, that he takes little notice of 
 those inconveniences which otherwise might be trouble 
 and vexation ; he then regards neither wind nor wea- 
 ther, and disdains those slight perturbations of cold, 
 thirst, or hunger; he hath then gotten the Philosopher's 
 stone which sweetens all his other crosses, and turns all 
 disasters into gold. His sport is a cordial for all his 
 distempers, and the l^ike (like a good water-physician) 
 cures him of al! his diseases. If weary, his Sj.ort reJ 
 freshes him ; if co d, it warms him ; if melancholy, it 
 cheers him ; if drowsy, it revives him ; if in pain, it 
 eases him ; if sick, it recovers him : he then feels not 
 the weight of his rod, nor is concerned that his tack- 
 3ing is no better. This is the prosperity of the fisher; 
 but if you £e<2 him in adversity, when fortune does not 
 smiie on his endeavours, you shall find him much alter- 
 ed, and in a contrary condition; supposing (I say) the 
 thing called luck does not attend him, which should re- 
 fine all the dioss of outward misfortunes, lie is then so 
 much at a loss, and dejected, that he can expect but a 
 bitter portion. Patience and hope are the two chief 
 pillars that support the building of a fisherman ; for if 
 they are once disturbed or shaken, you mriy easily 
 foresee the ruins of Piscator. 
 
 If you desire to be private, you may walk out with 
 xin oak stick, or the like, in your hand, taking a ring 
 with a screvv at it: you -may deceive the expectations 
 of others, and pass on without the least suspicion. 
 
24S NOBBS'S AIIT OF TllOLLlNG. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 How to Bait J and Play the Bait. 
 
 Though you are perfectly furnished with all sorts of 
 tools and instruments that are required to make a fish- 
 erman, you are as thoroughly accoutred with all the 
 materials and utensils for fishing as Piscator himself 
 could possibly be; yet if you know not how to use 
 these implements, you will be soon w( ary, and despair 
 karuing the art of Trolling. Provided then your baits 
 are r^ady, take a couple of hooks at least with you; 
 you m^y bait them before you set out, especially if the 
 weather is cold, that it may not trespass on your pati* 
 ^nce when you come to the river. 
 
 The way then to bait your hook is first to thrust 
 your wire into the mouth of the fish, quite through the 
 belly and out at the tail. Some have, besides the run- 
 ning wire, a needle on purpose, but if the first joint of 
 your wire is slitf and stroui^^, it may be done with that: 
 the point of the hook must be even with the belly of 
 the bait ; for if it hang on eithf^r side, it may hinder and 
 check the Pike, who will probably lay his mouth upon 
 it ; for when his chops cross the fish, he may be prick- 
 ed, and so leave the bite : when you have put it 
 t^^irough the fish^ then tie the tail of the bait fast to the 
 joint of the wiro with strong thread, which will both 
 make it hang straight upon the hook, and preserve it 
 from outward violence; for if it is not well fastened, 
 the weeds will have so much power over it, that they 
 will soon tear it down to the gills, and separate the 
 hook from the bait : some fasten it with a needle. 
 
 The best V ay of fixing your hook to the line is with 
 a swivel, which if you have not, you may make it fast 
 with a slip knot^ wliich you may untie without cutting 
 your line* 
 
now TO BAIT, AND PLAY THE BAIT. 249 
 
 When you are thus prepared for 3our intended 
 sport, then drop in your bfsit before you. thi n cast it 
 on each side, and let the tliird throw be before you into 
 the middle: afterwards cast Jibout all places where you 
 think your game lies, or any where that you can tish 
 without annoyance; for a Pike often delights in a very 
 unlikely and improbable harbour; and therefore the 
 surest way to meet with him is to fish true and close; 
 missing as little of the river as you can, which though it 
 is t'dious, yet it is the only way to search and see what 
 store of fish a river affords, and you may often have a 
 bite, when you think least of it. 
 
 The farther you throw in your bait, the more advan. 
 tage you gain, and the more hopes of a bite, provided 
 there is no impedimt nts in your way, as weeds, roots, 
 and the like , for if tl.e place is foul and weedy, you 
 cannot m.ake out so far, but only drop in your bait here 
 and there, by the sides and in holes that are clear and 
 deep. 
 
 The weeds are bad enemies to the bait and hook, 
 though a good hook, and a line answerable to it, will 
 pull up she strongest. 1 cannot remember that 1 ever 
 lost a hook by a weed alone, e>scept it had some stump 
 or root of a tree to assist it; candocks indeed, and 
 bull. rushes, will disfigure and annoy your bait, and al- 
 most discountenance a young undertaker; for if the 
 smallest bit of weed hang upon the hook, a Pike will 
 be very squeamish to gorge it : though some affirm that 
 he feeds upon a weed one time of the year, which they 
 call Pickerel. weed. 
 
 Supposing that you have cast out a fair throw a dozen 
 or twenty yards, which may easily be done if the river 
 requires it, let it lirst have a little time to sink, then 
 feel it and draw it gently towards you ; for a Pike often 
 takes it at the fiij^it sight, before it gets to the bottom, 
 and if you snatch it hastily, you may discourage him 
 and be deprived of your sport : after you have given it 
 an easy motion towards you, let it have the liberty of 
 sinking again, then draw it slowly and softly, for if 
 you jerk it too quickly and hastily, you will not give 
 
250 NOBBS'S ART OF TROLLING. 
 
 him leave to lay hold of the bait ; for he will often 
 shoot from the farthest sides, at a great distance, being 
 so quick-sighted in the water. When you have got 
 your bait near the bank, then play it longer there .-first 
 deep, for the deeper you fish the better, especially in 
 cold weather ; afterwards rise it higher and higlier, by 
 degrees, till you see it, and then you may often have 
 the pleasure of seeino^ him take the bite : now you may 
 assure yourself, if the proverb hold triie, that seeing is 
 believing. 
 
 There are indeed some sort of weeds and the stream 
 together, which may often give encouragement by pro- 
 mising sport and performing none : they will sometimes 
 so exactly imitate a real bite, that an old and experi- 
 enced fisherman may be mistaken with all his craft and 
 cunning. The best way then to be sure, is to pull your 
 line gently till ycu come to feel it, and if it be a fish, 
 the moving of the bait will make him more eager, he 
 will then strike out and gorge it ; whereas if he lies 
 still, he would very probably leave it. When you have 
 raised your bait so high towards the top, within two or 
 throe feeU that you can perceive it glisten, you may 
 then comfort yourself with the hopes of a Pike that 
 may rise at it, as he often does, and therefore it is not 
 prudent to be too hasty in taking out the bait. 
 
 When a Pike is once stirred, he will lie as it were 
 watching for the bait, and catch greedily at it, if he 
 does not see you ; therefore you must be careful to 
 keep a little disiance from the bank, for they will often 
 take it at the very top, and sometimes leap out of the 
 water at it; bat they are then commonly so frightened 
 that they will not be courted to bite any more. You 
 may fish as close as you will, the ugh it is not material 
 -whether you throw two or three times in one place ; 
 for he is so hungry, that he usually embraces the first 
 opportunity to lay hold. 
 
 Some troll with great corks and floats ; it may do 
 best with the ledger-bait, though 1 never approved of 
 that way ; for the weeds will make the float dance ex. 
 actly as a Pike^ except he bite very greedily, and so 
 
HOW TO BAIT, AND PLAY THE BAIT. 251 
 
 you may often be deceived ; sometimes I granf, you 
 may distinguish and be sensible of your bite, if he 
 runs, especially up the stream ; but if he goes down- 
 wards and bites slowly, you cannot assure yourself 
 whether it be a fish or a weed. If a place be free 
 from weeds, you may make a good shift with a cork ; 
 though you may be often mistaken when you lay a little 
 too deep, for the hook will draw along the bottom, 
 and appear like a bite. 
 
 In some places, they troll without a rod, or playing 
 the bait, as I have seen them throw a line out of a boat, 
 and so let it draw after them as they row ; but that 
 must be a careless and unsafe way, for though they 
 may have bites and offers, yet it must certainly check 
 the fish so much that they will never pouch it: I can- 
 not tfll what art they may have at the Snap, though it 
 is very improbable to have any, as they go to work 
 without either rod or stick. 
 
 Besides those that are not endued with that excellent 
 gift of patience, there are some of our young pretend- 
 ers that have too much confidence, or rather too little 
 skill ; these will stand an hour or two in one place, as 
 immoveable as the trees they stand by ; they would 
 force them to bite ; and if there is not a Pike in the 
 place where they are, they do their endeavours to wait 
 till one comes. These are indefatigable craftsmen, can 
 weary the fish sooner than themselves, and are neither 
 discouraged with ill fortune nor transported with good. 
 Baiting the hook with a frog I spoke nothing of, be- 
 cause I never made that any part of my practice ; some 
 frogs are thought to be venomous, as the land-frog, or 
 that which breeds by land : it is observed by some, 
 that a Pike hath an antipathy against it; and of these 
 there are several sorts, some speckled, some greenish, 
 which are the most dangerous to touch ; these breed by- 
 slime and dust of the earth, which turn to slime Jn 
 Winter, and in Summer to a living creature. Garden 
 gives a reason for the reigning of frogs, which proceed 
 from putrefaction, and are not supposed to be that sort 
 of frogs which engender in February or March, and 
 
^15^ NOBBS^S ART OF TROLLING. 
 
 breed in ditches l)y slime and blackish eggs. If yoii 
 intend to troll with a frog, you must choose the yellow- 
 ost you can get: fust put your hook in his mouth, 
 Mhich you may do from May-day to the end of August, 
 afterwards, some say, his mouth grows up, and so con- 
 tinues at least six months, without eating, and is sus- 
 tained, no one knows how (but the great Creator). 
 
 Put the arming wire in at his mouth and out at his 
 gills, and then with a fine needle and silk sow the upper 
 part of his leg with only one stitch to the arming-wire, 
 or tie the frog's leg to the upper joint of the w ire ; use 
 him gently and he will live the longer : when you ha?e 
 thus baited, you may fasten yoiir line to a bough, a 
 bunch of flags, or a bundle of straw, and by the help of 
 the wind they will cross a pond or mere. Some will 
 tie four or live live baits to bladders, and let them 
 swim down the river, whilst they walk softly along the 
 shore : others will fasten baits to ducks and geese, and 
 so let them swim about tlie pond ; if there is store of 
 Tikes you may see excellent sport this way, for some- 
 times a gi'eat Pike will, draw a duck under the water. 
 This is the most proper to fish w ith live baits, and so 
 gage your line with a forked stick with a nick or notch 
 at one end of it, and put in line enough for him to have 
 his full liberty of pouching. This is the ordinary way 
 of fishing after that manner. 
 
 CHAP. XIL 
 
 HoiC to strike a Pike and land him. 
 
 When you have diverted yourself as long as you 
 tlunk proper, and can guess by the running of the Pike, 
 what progress he hath made in his repast, by his rang- 
 ing about for more; you may then hook him with a 
 gentle jerk, and so take ydur fill of sport; for though 
 we say of a Pike as of a thief; give him rope enough and 
 
now TO S Tit IKE A PIKE AND LAND HIM. 253 
 
 he Mill hang hi.mstif, yet a line gentle stroke will do. no 
 harm, but secure him. Supposing then that he has f^d 
 a little, you may observe what motion Ive makes; if he 
 takes tlie bait greedily at bottom, and marrhes up the 
 stream with it, or strikes across the river towards his 
 hold, he will then probably lie still a little, while he is- 
 pouching, as you may feel him check and tug ; if he 
 goes quick, you may let him alone a little longer; you 
 may lose all -for want of two or three minutes pati- 
 ence : if he hath lain still awhile the second time, aii([ 
 then runs with i(, you may 1< t him go if you have a 
 desire to proloiig (he sport ; if not, you may draw 
 your line straight, and with your rod give him an easy 
 stroke, and so feel him by degrees till you come to sue 
 him ; but if he makes resistance and is very furious, 
 let- him have line enough arid give him his full swing : 
 he will be very angry at first^ till he is better pacified 
 by losing his strength. 
 
 As soon as you strike him, you may conjecture of 
 what bigness he is, for if he is large, you will find him 
 strong and unruly in the water; but if small and light, 
 you can scarcely tell whether you have any thing or 
 not ; or perhaps he may (for madness) leap out of the 
 water as soon as he is pricked ; if he is a good one, as 
 I say, you may either see or feel him, and you must 
 be very cautious and take great care and diligence in 
 getting him to shore ; if the river is broad and your 
 line short, you may lose him : he will launch out with 
 that extremity and violence, that though he cannot 
 break the line, yet he will tear his own entrails if he is 
 there hung. 
 
 Now if a fish takes your bait at the top of the water, 
 and runs fiercely Aviih it in the deep, and there li(s 
 still for some time, and you perceive that he does not 
 pouch it, your remedy for that is to stir him a little, to 
 make him run and be more eager ; then after he hati^ 
 lain stiiland runs with it again, there is no great daru 
 ger cf losing that fish : when they leave it they com- 
 monly* thro vv it up, that is the first time they lie still. 
 Sometrmes he will take it again after he hath left it, and 
 
 z 
 
^54 NOBBS'S ART OF TROLLING. 
 
 ruQ to his hold, and play with it more than he did at 
 first, shewing very good sport for a while, and after all 
 leave you in the larch. A fish that takes it greedily at 
 the beginning, and carries it the farthest, does not- 
 "withstanding often forsake it; as the proverb says, nil 
 violentutn est diuturnum — so a Pike that bites so 
 c^agerly at first is not so at last ; for it happens that he 
 often leaves it : the only way to be even with such a 
 fish is to take the Snap^ and that may chance to stop 
 Jhis career. 
 
 Now when you have a bite, and the fish goes down 
 the stream, we are apt to conceive it is a small Jack ; 
 but on the contrary, if he sails slowly upwards with 
 the bait, it is a sign of a good one ; for the greater sort 
 bite more calmly and moderately than the less : for they 
 snatch, and away with it without any care or delibera- 
 tion ; old fish are more wary and cunning, they are 
 sooner taken with a line laid for them all night than by 
 f rolling. Jt is sometimes ditlicult to know what size a 
 Pike is before he is struck, and therefore there are 
 none but may be mistaken in their conjectures ; for an 
 indi lie rent fish, I mean about twenty or twenty-two 
 inches, will often make as good sport as one twice as 
 big, however, before you strike Iiim ; but then gene- 
 rally the bigger the Pike is the more sport. Sometimes 
 he will take the bait very hastily, and run out to the 
 length of your line, and never lie still, but will play 
 up and down with it, till you think fit to strike hi(n. 
 
 When the water is clear and not very deep, you may 
 see him rise and take it; so you may see the' bait glis- 
 ten as it lies across his mouth; you may then see when 
 he hath pouched, and know your time to strike. 
 
 When you have first struck him, you must be sure 
 to have your line ready and slack, that he may take as 
 much liberty as he will: for when he finds himself 
 hooked, he will use all his might and cunning to get 
 away. As you feel him come easily towards you, you 
 may be still drawing, till you feci him make resistance, 
 then you may let him have his swing, till the heat of 
 his fury is over; gather your line to yoU; till he starts 
 
HOW TO STRIKE A PIKE AND LAND HIM. 255 
 
 away, and if you can get him to the top, it will the 
 sooner tire him : the more he striyes and throws him- 
 self from you, the sooner he will be weary : after thts 
 manner, by drawing him up and letting him run, you 
 may tire and tame him, till you bring him to your 
 hand ; then he will lie as quiet as if he was dead. 
 
 If you hare hung him in the gills, you cannot lose 
 him, though you pull him out by mere force, but if 
 either in his gorge or his throat, he may deceive you, 
 though he destroys himself, leaving you part of his 
 guts on the hook for a legacy, and dying soon after af 
 ids wounds. When you have brought him to the bank, 
 you will find something to do before you can call him 
 your own; for if you go unadvisedly to take him out, 
 either by the back or the fail or any part of his body, 
 though you think his best is ]:a;t, and his dancing days 
 are done, he may give another leap when you do not 
 expect it; the best way then is to use fair means, and 
 invite him to the land by persuasion, not compulsion, 
 taking him by the head, and putting your fingers into 
 his eyes, which is the fastest hold. 
 
 If the water is low, so that the bank rises some dis- 
 tance from it ; you must not fear catching an ague, by 
 laying your belly level with the ground ; if you have 
 no contrivance to guide him to a more commodious 
 place : some will adventure to take him by the gills, 
 though that hold is neither so secure nor so safe, be. 
 cause the fish, in that heat of passion, may take revenge 
 upon his adversary, by letting him blood in his fingers, 
 which way of phlebotomizing is not so good : some are 
 of opinion that the teeth of a Pike are venomous, and 
 those wounds are very difficult to be healed. 
 
 If there are refds and shallows between you and the 
 deep, or jf the river is in that ebb that you cannot 
 reach to lay hands on him ; you must contrive some 
 other means to conduct him to a more convenient land- 
 ing. Have an eye of that when you first strike him, 
 looking up and down for the best advantage ; if it is. 
 all along weedy, as it is commonly in ponds or meers, 
 that you have no conveniency to bring him to youF 
 Z2 
 
266 NOEBS'S ART OF TROfXTNG. 
 
 hand, you must then be content with the hopfs of suc- 
 cess, by committin^^ yourself to the hands of fortune, 
 having nv)(l.ing to (rust to but that which you may a\\\ 
 iishf rman's luck. If yon have as well debilitated his 
 iitrcngth and tired his patience, you may probably draw 
 him out with no great reluctancy, if the weeds be not 
 too strong and friendly to their watery element. 
 
 Those that are more nice, hav^ thfir net ready by 
 them : this net is made in the fashion of a little spar- 
 rovv.uct, with a long trail and a pole at if, to translate 
 Mr. Lucius out of his own, into the airy element. 
 
 This is a delicate way of trolling: such as use it 
 7r)ust have their attendants to assist them ; that, as the 
 Philosojdier said, omnia mca mecum Pcrto, They 
 ^viii have their servitors to carry their implements and 
 tools: these are of more power on shore than in the 
 wat( r, and have more authority to command their re» 
 tinuc by landj than tlie fjsh in tht? \sntcr. 
 
 (iiAP.xfn, 
 
 Uom io preserve a liiver for TroUhig* 
 
 Tuv> way ta preserve a river is to secure It from all 
 en<mies that are hurtful and destructive to it. The' 
 first and greatest, which may be called the arch-enemy, 
 is. .the drag-net, which is as unmerciful as arj epidemical 
 dis:ease tliat sweeps all before it ; or a« a greedy and 
 covetous monopolizer engrosseth all in his &wn posses- 
 sion, and so verifies tlie old proverb, that all are fish 
 that come to net. Some there are that commend the 
 following of the drag, to troll immediately after it; 
 thi'se Jove to fisK in troubled waters, for they say the 
 dragging the river stirs up the fish, and makes them the 
 mor<j ready to catch at their prey. I cannot applaud 
 the practice, nor judge it any way reasonable, for 
 though it is a hard battle where none escapes, and the 
 
HOW TO PIIESEUVE A IllVER FOR THOLI. >G. "Zb? 
 
 drag, like an universal distemper, catts off the major 
 part, still there will be some left to renew their species, 
 which, after a short time, will multiply and replenish 
 the waters. This 1 suppose, if there were none fa 
 come in and succeed them, as there are continually; yft 
 they will find such a scarcity and diminution among the 
 fish, that their pastime will be very cold and uncoro» 
 fortable, having nothing to trust to but those scape- 
 drags, which are only like the gleanings, when the har- 
 vest is gone* 
 
 Another enemy to the sport is the bow-net, though 
 more favorable and sparing, and of a far lower cla?s 
 than the drag, yet it is more dangerous, it is private 
 and undiscovered; for the drag is a professed and a 
 public foe, which gives some notice to avoid those 
 places it hath lately cleansed ; but the bow-net is so 
 close and secret a murdererj that it slays and leaves no 
 visible wound. 
 
 Another plea there is that might be alledged for the 
 drag, that it is seldom used above once, sometimes not 
 so often as once a year ; but the bow.net kills and -de-, 
 stroys, spoils and plunders all the year: the Spring- 
 time indeed is the fittest for it, when the fish run and 
 get into the scours, or el^e immediately after a flood ; 
 to lay many of these in small rivulets and ditches, they 
 that use them may then make their harvest after a 
 spring- flood. 
 
 The third enemy is the stall or tramel ; a net which 
 is made up of great meshes, as it is so much the more 
 allowable, because it holds only the great fish, and 
 gives the less leave to escape. This net is not so com- 
 mon, nor so much condemned as the bow-net, because 
 it is usually assisting the drag. In washes and back 
 dykes it may do service, because there they may both 
 draw it, and plunge on both sides; in the main river it 
 can do no great execution, but only set as a stall to 
 stop the fish. In one respect it is very murdering, be- 
 cause the meshes are made alike on both side«, that it 
 takes the fish which ever way they come. They that 
 use this sport, have commonly two to set at a little db^ 
 z3 
 
258 NOEBS'S ART OF TllOLLING. 
 
 tance. and thtilLthey meet, and take most that are be- 
 <vv(^en thpm. 
 
 As to the ca^t-net, it is rather a friend, and subser- 
 Vn^nt to the troll, than an enemy to the sport. There 
 is no way so good to take baits os with it ; because out 
 of a mnltitude of fish which it takes, you may have 
 ycnr choice of baits. An angle indeed may make a 
 i<hift sometimes in Summer, but that often takes either 
 those that are two little or too big baits* 
 
 A cast-net to take small fry, to feed Pikes in a pond, 
 is necessary and beneficial many ways. Those that use 
 it as destructive as they can, cannot revenge themselves 
 much upon the Pikes; they may kill many sma^l Jacks 
 with it in shallow streams, but the great fish that lie 
 deep and close, are too secure from the narrow com- 
 pass of a cast-net: it may by cliance fall upon a great 
 one, yet if there are any weeds or fog in the place, and 
 the net is not strong and well buUeted, and the Caster 
 very weary in drawing it up, the Pike will deceive his 
 expectations. In a clear place, where there are no 
 impediments or obstructions, and the bottom smooth 
 and level, it may enclose and draw up a good Pike ; 
 but where there are the least incumbrances to annoy 
 the net, it is to be supposed, the fish will make his 
 escape. The new sort of nets that are hung vTith 
 chains instead of bullets, are tco light for this service. 
 
 Next to the nets which kill by wholesale, the TrolU 
 ers are often the greatest enemies one to another, espe* 
 cially in the way of ledger-bait, which is very destruc- 
 tive, for that enticing way which they use with a live 
 bait, and laying such an army of hooks, must weaken 
 the forces of the watery militia. 
 
 Dead baits are not so pernicious, yet if they are too 
 often used, they will lessen the fish ; for at some sea- 
 sons of the year, they will bite till there is scarce any 
 left in the place : the way to favour it is to be moderate, 
 and not beat a river too much, or with too many hooks; 
 to fish more for pleasure than profit, and to come but 
 once or twice in a season to the same river. 
 ' Ttie snare may do harm at the beginning of the year 
 
HOW TO PRESERVE A RIVER FOR TROLLING. 259 
 
 on a suniiy day and a clf-ar water, tlmt is only for bye 
 places and narrow scours. 
 
 One of the greatest enemies is the water dog, or 
 Otter ; he will walk five or ten miles to a pond in a 
 night, and some have disputed whether he is a beast or 
 . a fish : he can smell a lish above an hundred yards, and 
 then he devours them, and spoils more than he eats, 
 leaving the head and great part of the back untouched^ 
 Gesner says that his stones are a good remedy against 
 the falling sickness; and that there is an herb called 
 Benoine, which being hung in a linen cloth ne^ir a fish 
 pond, or any haunt which he uses, makes him avoid 
 the place. There are so many of them in a river in 
 Cornwall, that Camden says the name of it is called 
 Ottersey, from the abundance of Otters that breed and 
 are fed in it. Though this amphibious creature is chief 
 regent, and is triumphant in the water, yet the greedy 
 and audacious Pike will sometimes set him at defiance, 
 and give him battle; as some have seen, that a Pike 
 hath fought with an Otter for a Carp he had got. 
 
 It would not be amiss for the conservation of the 
 Jf waters to keep the fence months, which are three at the 
 Spring in spawning time ; for if taking the dam on her 
 nest when she hatches her young, is a sin.-^o much 
 against nature, that it was forbidden in the old law, 
 certainly the taking fish in the time of their spawning, 
 is unlawful as well as unnatural. 
 
 Besides such unnatural Fishermen and all the ene- 
 mies mentioned, the fish have many more, as .the Bit* 
 tern, the Cormorant, the Osprey, the Seagull, the 
 Hern, the Kingfisher, and many others ; which though 
 they dare not attack the great Luce or Pike, yet they 
 lessen the small fry which should feed and sustain the 
 greater : sometimes they may devour young Jacks and 
 Pickerel. 
 
THE 
 
 ANGLERS' COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 Firsf, Thou shalt not fish when the wind Is cold, 
 nor shalt thou fish within the length of thy rod and line 
 of thy brother Angler. 
 
 Second* Thou t^halt not shew thyself to the fish, 
 nor let thy shadow be seen on the water. 
 
 Third, Thou shalt not Float-Fish without plumbing 
 the depth. 
 
 Fourth, Thou shalt not Fly-Fish, with the wind 
 in thy face ; nor shalt thou let thy line or any part 
 thereof, fall on the water; but the fly only, if possible.^ 
 
 Fifth. Thou shalt not fish in troubled water. 
 
 Stxth, Thou shalt not take small fish with large 
 hooks. 
 
 Seventh, Thou shalt not hare good sport, unless 
 thou strikest the moment the fish bites, nor shalt thou 
 strike too hard. 
 
 Eighth, Thou shalt not land a large fish without a 
 landing-net, or landing. hook ; nor shalt thou be in too 
 great a hurry in so doing. 
 
 Ninth. Thou shalt not make paste with dirty hand*. 
 
 Tenth, Thou shalt not have good sport, without 
 good baits^ rods^ lines, and hooks. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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