UC-NRLF SB 271 ' ?b5 1 ■ library ||Nl ytRSnt Of Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/fly-fishingfly-mOOkeenrich t- V (( 1 fvV»* b /Ar % \ \ '1 «!r '? \ ^ XAr FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING FOR TROUT, Etc. BY J. HARRINGTON KEENE, AUTHOR OF "THE PRACTICAL FISHERMAN," "THE ANGLER'S COMPLETE GUIDE AND COMPANION," " FISHING TACKLE, TTS MATERIAL AND MANUFACTURE," ETC. WITH PLATES OF THE ACTUAL MATERIAL FOR IAKIH& FLIES OF EVERY VARIETY, ILLUSTRATED. NEW YORK: 0. JTTDD CO., DAVID W. JUDD, Pres't, 751 BROADWAY. 1887. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, by the O. JUDD CO., In the Office of the Librarian oi Congress, at Washington. 6 CONTENTS. Chapter I. The Senses of Fishes in Relation to the Fly-fisherman 7 I.— Vision _ 8 II.— Hearing 23 III.— Taste. 1 28 IV.— Smell 32 Chapter II. Practical Fly-fishing 38 The Rod, Reel and Line _ 39 Chapter III. Trout Fly-making 56 Chapter IV. Lessons in Fly-making __. 72 Chapter V. Standard Trout Flies and their Dressings _ 95 Lake Flies. _ 106 Flies with Gut or Quill Bodies and Scale Wings 110 rSiS16319 Fly-Fishing and Fly-Making. FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. CHAPTER I. THE SENSES OF FISHES IN RELATION TO THE FLY- FISHERMAN. In order to arrive at a right method in the capture of any of the /era natures it is unmistakably necessary to first become acquainted with the creature's personal habits. No man in his senses would go out to trap — say, beaver — knowing nothing of the tastes, faculties and general in- telligence of the animal, nor would the ordinarily sensible man expect to get much sport with his gun unless he pos- sessed at least an elementary knowledge of the game he sought. Yet this is precisely what a majority of anglers do, with regard to fish. Fishes depend exclusively on their senses for safety against the wiles of the fisherman, and yet he uses, for the most part, entirely what is pro- vided for him in the shape of tackle, and does as he is told in the arrangement of baits, and his own comportment. Verilv, such an one has usually too great a reward, but he in 8 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. is no angler. In these days of competition, it is necessary for the true angler to excel, and patient observation, added to the experience of others, is demanded. The more the angler becomes a naturalist, the more he finds out the beauties and weaknesses of his quarry, and the greater the enjoyment of the craft. The more he observes the various powers employed by these beautiful animals, the more skilful does he become. It is with this firm convic- tion that I offer the result of many years of observation of the habits of fish, with especial reference to their senses. They are particularly necessary to the fly-fisher- man who aspires to be worthy of the name, for his is the most artistic, as well as the most difficult, of all the va- ried methods of fishing. My remarks are, however, in- tended, above all, to be suggestive rather than conclusive. i. — VISION. The faculty of vision is probably the .most important of all to the fish — at all events, to the fish that come within the ken of the sportsman. Blind fish exist in sub- terranean waters — for example, those found in the Mam- moth Cave, Kentucky — and in the case of fishes feeding in deep water, the existence of barbules or feelers is, with- out question, for the purpose of assisting the vision. I can say nothing about the methods providing for the sustenance of these blind subterranean fish. Probably they exist on stationary food of some kind ; so far as the present purpose is concerned they may be dismissed from further consideration. Trout, and other sport-fish, un- questionably make great use of their eyes, and it is very surprising to what state of education nearly all our fresh THE SENSES OF FISHES. 9 water fishes may and do arrive, under the pursuance of the angler, or general fisherman* The formation of the eye of the fish does not materi- ally differ, one species from another, among the angler's fishes. The cornea is somewhat flat in sectional outline, and the shape, or, so to speak, the ground plan, is virtu- ally similar in save the European grayling (S. thymallus). The pupil of the eye of this fish is oval instead of circu- lar — the oval of the plover's egg rather than that of the hen, being sharper than a true oval at one end. The apex of this sharp end is pointed toward the upper part of the head, tail ward, giving the fish a somewhat sinister appearance. What purpose this particular configuration serves I do not know, but one thing is certain : The vis- ual ability of the grayling is equal, if not superior, to that of the trout, as is proved by its rising, often from a great depth, to the fly. I notice, also, that the normal waiting position of this fish is inclined toward the water's surface instead of being horizontal, as is usually the case with trout. This being so, the greater mass of the rays of direct sunlight would fall on the forward part of the eye, and I offer it as a conjecture, based on the law of devel- opment, that this, continued through generations, has evolved the peculiar shape. The grayling of this country, though apparently similar in every other respect, does not exhibit the peculiarity referred to. It is a general law, observable through the whole range of animal life possessing vision, that the eye is pe- culiarly adapted to the medium through which (and to the manner in which) it receives the light. The more closely we look into this truth, the more apparent and wonderful 10 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. is the adaptability. Indeed, these premises are truisms, and would not need repetition did not we so habitually forget that design is the key to all the natural phenomena around us. Admitting this, it follows that the structure of the eye of a fish and its position are admirably adapted for seeing in a denser medium than air with great precision and certainty. Observation ratifies this conclusion in its entirety. The vitreous and crystalline humors of the organ are not different from those of other animals. The muscles moving the body of the eye are large and permit great freedom, and the power of contraction and expan- sion of the irides is also distinct and pronounced. In air, this latter feature is, indeed, very noticeable in the case of some fishes, and the angler has only to accurately measure the breadth of the pupil of such fish in shaded water, and compare this with the measurement of the same after the fish has lain in full sunlight a few mo- ments, to be at once forcibly impressed by the fact. The position of the orbit also needs a word of comment. In fish which readily and constantly rise and descend, to feed, it is placed so as to command a large area around ; in fact, as large as in the nature of the creature is pos- sible. In such as chiefly rise to their prey, as the pikes, it is placed quite near the top of the head. In the barbel (Cyprinus tardus) and gudgeon (Gobio fiuviatilis) the converse obtains. In the trout, however, the orbit is more central, and the broad visual grasp of this fish, therefore, is one of the reasons why it, in due time, be- comes so wary and so capable of protecting itself against its arch enemy — man. A pike cannot possibly see its ventral fin ; a trout undoubtedly could, if it felt so dis- THE SENSES OF FISHES. . 11 posed. On the other hand, a pike could see much further behind and backward than a trout. Indeed, the practice of up-stream fly-fishing, to which I record my own attach- ment, is based on the theory that the trout cannot see behind it but an exceedingly short distance. Taking the trout as a fish not likely to seriously vary in regard to its faculties and their possibilities because of habitat, let us endeavor to ascertain the range of this power of vision, both in the light of what has been said, and what follows. First, one small but important fact has to be noted as bearing collaterally but interest- ingly on the subject. The fish is hard to frighten by means of any object it sees in water only, as separate and distinct from its cause or connection in air, if such exist. To make this plainer : If an object be presented so that another person, besides the presentor, can see its reception by the fish (himself unseen), that person will notice it seldom happens that the trout retires or darts away un- less actually or positively touched — say with the point of a rod. Even then, so that the impact be gentle, he is not alarmed, and this fact is taken advantage of by the " grop- ing" poacher of Europe, who gently places his band un- der the trout — lying with its eyes buried in the weeds thinking itself secure, as does the ostrich when it buries its head in the sand — and lifts it suddenly to the bank. Be the object presented a stone or a fly, so that its con- nection with the arch* enemy of fishdom be not discov- ered, the fish fears not. Its brilliant, infallible visual faculty has apprehended the innocuousness of the object, per se, and no fear is aroused. Try the experiment with the operator in full sight. 12 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. What a difference in the result! The trout vanishes like a lightning flash, and be very certain that he will not again present himself to be "fooled" with, however good your intentions. " Of course he won't, and what of it ?" you say. "But why," I ask, "did he bolt?" "Let bears and lions growl and fight, it is their nature to," you reply, quoting the saintly Watts. That might sat- isfy the feminine mind, and be absolutely conclusive to a majority of the masculine persuasion, but I don't propose to let the reader, who has followed thus far, off so easily. We ought to look a little deeper into this apparently trans- parent matter, and I want the patient reader's close attention. Now, water, if clear, is a particularly pleasant medium through which to view its contents, even with the hu- man eye. Of course, I do not quite know how fish feel about it, but I do know that if I am watching the move- ments of an aquatic insect — be it water-flea or water- devil (larva of the dragon-fly), I do not choose, as the best way, to gaze at it through the air into the water. No, I endeavor to immerse my eyes — I've slipped in head first more than once doing this — and thus I get a more distinct and clearer view than if I only held my head just above in the air. This is a "dodge" taught me by the Rever- end J. G. Wood, than whom there is no better "minute philosopher " in the world. The fact is that the inter- position of two media — air and water — between the eyes and the object have a tendency to distort or render the image indefinite. The human eye is perfectly fitted for seeing in either a dense or rare medium, but not through both so well as through one separately. I do not claim THE SEKSES OF FISHES. 13 that fish can see indifferently well in either, of course, but rather from the fact that it sees so excellently in water, and from the comparative fixity of the irides, I would argue that the image it perceives through water and air is ill-defined, blurred, uncertain, and altogether, in most cases, grotesque and awesome to the piscine in- > telligence. Ergo, the fish is startled by any moving object. A well-known optical law, which does not affect the main argument, must now be referred to. Eonald, in "The Fly-Fisher's Entomology," gives it and, as I do not think that its importance is sufficiently recognized, I reproduce it with grateful acknowledgements : When Mr. A. B., situated upon a certain eminence at a given distance from a fish, which is near the bottom of the water, looks over the edge of a bank, in its direction, he might, if unacquainted with the laws of refraction, imagine that neither the fish, nor any other fish below the line of his direct vision, could see him ; whereas, the fish could see A. B. by means of the pencil of light, bent or refracted at the surface of the water, and the image of A. B. would appear in the eye of the fish, short- ened and transferred to a much higher point. The fish, in fact, could see the whole of the man round or over the corner of the bank by the aid of the water above it ; but if the surface of the water should be about as low as the fish's eye, then he could not see any part of A. B.'s figure, because a straight or unrefracted pencil of light would be obstructed by the bank. Increasing obliquity in pencils of light falling from an object upon a surface of water is accompanied by still 14 FLY-FISHING AND FLY- MAKING. more rapidly increasing refraction, but the distinctness with which the object is seen increases in inverse pro- portion. The bending or refraction which a pencil of light, falling very obliquely on the surface of the water, under- goes before arriving at the eye of a fish, is sufficient to produce very great indistinctness and distortion of the image of the man formed in his eye. Long before a pencil of light becomes horizontal, it will not enter the water at all ; consequently, although the fish may see the upper part of the man wading, he will do so very indistinctly and in a new position, be- cause the pencil will be very much refracted ; he will not see the middle part of the man at all, because the pencil does not enter the water, and he will see, probably, his legs in the clear water, because there is neither refraction nor obstruction to prevent him. So that the figure of the man will be, in the eye of the fish, cut in two portions, separated from each other by a long unsubstantial interval. The lessons to be drawn from these theories are, briefly, three. J st. A low bank on the level of the water is a great advantage to the fisherman. 2d. The wader has a great advantage over the bank fisher. 3d. It is of great advantage to fish up stream, wading when the fish are heading in that direction. " Observe," says Eon aid, " that fish cannot see behind them ; all optics forbid it." To which I add an emphatic endorsement. But the trout has, probably, in addition, another and more subtle reason why my presence, or that of a waving rod, is a signal for taking his leave — standing not on the THE SENSES OF FISHES. 15 order of his going, but going at once ; and this is an in- stinct — intuitive, I believe — which, apart from the direct teachings of the senses, informs him that certain crea- tures are his enemies. I have seen a stream literally boiling with rising trout, one moment, and the next, as a weird, ghostly heron sailed slowly over it, you would swear it did not possess a fish, so quickly had they ceased rising, and so instantly had they hidden them- selves. Yet, when a flock of rooks had passed just as close only a few minutes before, though they ceased ris- ing for a few seconds during the actual flight, there was no general stampede. Explain that circumstance if you can, gentle reader, on any hypothesis than that the fish recognized the foe of their race, instinctively. Once I caught a kingfisher in a trap set just over the water of my tank of young, feeding trout, and did not release its body, seeing it was dead, ere I proceeded to cast to the fish the victuals I had brought. JS T ow, on other occasions previously, these little, domesticated farios would rise en masse to the chopped meat and meal, on which I was wont to feed them, for I accustomed them to be fed a little at a time but often, and they rather regarded my presence in a friendly spirit. On this occasion, however, their alacrity was turned to a startled, restless demeanor, which is easily detected by the watchful fish-breeder and lover. Was the kingfisher the cause of the uneasi- ness ? I won't assert so much, but I have a private •belief, built up and strengthened by many trivial obser- vations, of which these two are but samples. " Credat Judceus Apella!" you mutter. Nathless, however, I doubt not, oh, sceptic ! there are more things between 16 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, and this mysterious instinct may be one of them. Again, why is it that no matter how quiet I stand, the fish that has stopped rising a few yards down stream will not rise again if I remain where he can see me, though I be as still as the Great Pyramid, or anything else that is mighty quiet ? Of course I am referring to a much fished, clear river. I can only reply that the evils of taking the imitation fly, without due circumspection, have somehow been in- culcated as an experimental lesson — experientia docet, we are taught every hour of our lives — so often that at last it has become a part of the fishy nature, and is trans- mitted hereditarily. And does not that sum up what instinct is ? Denuded of all the elaborations and jargon of metaphysics, is not instinct the result of successive ex- periences which have become actual, permanent impres- sions on the brain ? Some may smile at this, but let me ask what makes the young wild duck, just in the act of breaking from its shell, hustle this off in great trepida- tion, as I stoop to pick it up, and break for the water as if a horde of miniature fiends were pursuing it ? An in- herent instinct derived from the parents is the reply, for it certainly was not acquired from bygone personal ex- periences. And I doubt not that the necessity for the finest tackle and closest of imitations of the natural insect on the much fished streams of England is due to a like pro- gressive evolving education (which I may as well refer to in this section on " Vision," though it concerns all the other observant perceptions). The earliest work on THE SEKSES OF FISHES. 17 angling in the English language is that of the fair Dame Berners (1496), and it is too practical internally for us to doubt that the drawings and descriptions she gives of tackle are, indeed, representations of what caught fish in her day. Yet an angler would be mad to attempt the use of such rough implements now, either in this or any other country. And further, on virgin streams, which still exist, though rarely, the comparative tameness and unsophist- ication of the fish argue that the march of intellect — or as a "too, too utter" Boston writer terms it, the "march of cephalization " — in a comparative sense ap- plies to fish as to all other animals. The ancient angler, whose rod was a sturdy oak — 44 His line a cable that in storms ne'er broke, His hook was baited with a dragon's tail, He sat upon a rock and bobbed for whale," — this man would probably scorn the gossamer gut and tiny, accurately imaged fly used on clear, hard-fished streams. Yet hundreds of fly-fishers will bear me wit- ness that the latter are indispensable. Probably this ex- treme refinement is not yet so absolutely necessary in this country, but the day is not far distant when it will be, and many good anglers of my acquaintance are even now embracing it as a means to more invariable good sport on clear streams. One palpable result of this education of trout " on the other side " is the general adoption of the dry fly up- stream fishing. The angler stalks his fish from behind as he lies head up stream and, drying the fly by means of a couple or three flips backward and forward in the air, 18 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. he casts it just before the rising fish and lets it float, tak- ing care that no move is imparted to the lure as it rides downward on the stream. If the imitation is a good one the fish takes it ; if bad, he pronounces on it adversely. Now let it be understood that it is emphatically well-nigh impossible to get good sport on an English chalk stream, especially among the "big uns," in any other way whatsoever — barring bait fishing. Let this latter be Anathema ; Maranatha ! always and forever where the fly can be used. « Why can the fish be caught in no other way ? " you ask. Because, I reply, this style places the lure before the fish in the nearest possible approach to its natural way of sailing down stream after falling on the water or rising from it. " But," you object, " there are no imita- tions of the struggling insect in this style ! " I deny that the water insect does struggle. Those flies whose previous larval existence has been in the water are not afraid of their natural element, and sail down with erect wings (they chiefly belong to the neuroptera) and immov- ably out-spread legs, with majestic nonchalance. So does the imitation, and hence the rise of the fish. The land flies certainly do struggle like the fly in your milk jug, and the down-stream angler who jerks and jiggers his flies to make them lively, may be thankful that he has that one small piece of nature to be faithful to. It just saves his credit to be like something, but the flies he imitates are in a miserable minority. The education of the eye in individual trout can occa- sionally be met with advanced to a degree actually as- tounding. This is chiefly found in connection with fish THE SENSES OF FISHES. 19 who have passed the grand climacteric and are getting old and learned and, in many cases, lean as well. Learn- ing seems to render mankind lean also, and the "sock dolager " of the stream rarely maintains his aldermanic outline when his education is at the meridian. His seven or eight summers have filled him full of suspi- cion, and he knows precisely the difference between even the most artfully imitated fly and the real Simon Pure. Before now I have caught specimens of the fly that such a fish has actually been taking, and by the aid of the magnifying lens and the closest study, have selected the exact colors for the imitation — nay, more, the exact size and shape of the insect has been duplicated. And to what purpose ? Deftly have I, with throbbing pulse, cast that fly over the grand old patriarch poised in mid- stream ready for any emergency, only to see him sail calmly toward it, examine it, and then turn tail on it, saying, just as plainly as if he spoke in the eloquent ver- nacular of the glorious English language, u See you d — d first." Ugh ! the intellectual accomplishments of the more than one "beastie" of that kind make me weary when I think of them ! I particularly recall one old fellow that annoyed me for three mortal years, till I became almost monomaniac. He took up his quarters close to the buttress of a rustic bridge which spanned the stream, and in clear, bright weather you could easily watch his movements from day- light till dark if you had a mind to do so. Just so long as I would blow, from a pea-shooter, fat, large, green drakes, so long would he come up with his huge whip lips smack- ing out, plop ! and take them. On the other hand, just 20 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. as soon as I put a hook through a couple of the live insects and lowered them to him, even using — quite against the rule in this style of "dapping" — the finest of gut and a small hook, would he retire like a duchess from Queen Victoria, backward — into deeper water. The next minute I would see him going for other natural flies. Now, this l fish unquestionably knew and saw the gut and hook, and connected them with me. I don't see how we can avoid that conclusion. And it occurred continually during the three years ; try what I would, he would not be tempted. At the end of the third season, however, I determined to get him oat, for I could see that age had rendered him lank and thin, and during the ensuing win- ter he would probably have become a spawn-eater. Still, I venerated the "varmint" too much to net him. I wanted to deceive him somehow ; to get even with his transcend- ent wile, and at last screwed my courage to the " stick- ing point" of "foxing" him, as Charles Kingsley would say. This is what I did, and it succeeded : Morning after morning, for a week or so, I fed him on bread — of which trout are very fond in some waters, by the bye — and he seemed to relish that diet with extreme gusto. One fatal morning I rigged up a single hook on fine gut, and after he had one or two boluses of bread as sweeten- ers, I floated one down with the hook in it. He rose and took it — chung ! went the line as I struck the keen steel into his rough old jaw. There never was a madder fish on this side of the Styx, but I landed him. And so he died at the weight of three and three-quarter pounds avoirdupois, with eye undimmed, and natural force unabated. THE SENSES OF FISHES. 21 Not only is this education of the eye of old fishes noticeable in reference to daylight fishing, but it is equally so in reference to the use of such night flies as the various white moths, which are very deadly on dark evenings if used properly — and that, amongst the largest and best fish for the most part. The capacity of the trout's eye for making the most of the scarce light of night may be greater than we know, owing to our diffi- culty of estimating it in the dark. I never, however, noticed that there was anything specially favorable in the fact that the moth was white, as one might suppose — sport being equally good in my experience when the Fetid Brown or Cinnamon flies were used in place of the moth. Besides, it is probable that each and all look equally dark when outlined against the sky, and, therefore, the faculty which enables these patriarchs of the stream to secure their prey at night in the dark as well, or nearly so as in the light, may, I submit, be fairly presumed to arise from the education of the eye which, as we know in the case of some astronomers, is possible to a very exalted degree as the result of persistent and long continued training. Although the whole of the foregoing screed is intended to throw light (howsoever dimly) on the rationale of the taking of the fly in its character as an imitation of the natural food-insect, I am aware that it does not touch the fact that trout will take fancy flies of any and all conceivable patterns, which are like nothing in the "heavens above, the earth beneath, or the waters under the earth." I have even known trout to rise at Mr. H. Oholmondeley Pennell's three typical nondescripts, which 22 "FLY-FISHIKG AKD FLY-MAKING. is, on the fish's part, piling the Pelion of idiocy on the Ossa of absurdity. Then, again, the salmon takes that poem of color, a salmon fly, when the natural minnow fly or worm will not lure him. Why ? Is it sheer wan- tonness akin to that which prompts the omnivorous ap- petite of the ostrich or camel, who swallow with relish anything from a door-key to a newspaper, or are the fish, as Sir Bedivere, " Like a girl Valuing the giddy pleasure of the eyes " over the gem-like insect, counterfeit ? The man who says, honestly, "I don't know," is to be respected. Eespect me, therefore, oh ! gentle reader, for I am ignorant in this matter. Perchance the fish see in the fancy fly some of the qualities which are the quintessence of delight and piquancy to its fishy palate. Suppose a boy came across a fruit, hanging on a. -tree, within reach, having the odor of strawberry and pine-apple, the juicy, luscious appearance of pear and peach, together with the creamy pulp of the banana — in short, possessing all the sublimated qualities of the most delicious of imaginable fruits, to the eye and nose — could we wonder at him for plucking and attempting to eat it, even if the taste were ashes — like that of Dead Sea apples ? Indeed, the "gardener Adam and his wife," did just that thing. Perhaps, I say, the trout and salmon find themselves in an analogous position. Imagine one of the Silver Doctor's or Parmachene Belle's, made by Orvis, floating over a blase trout, the sunlight rippling through its many-hued fibers, and lighting it up until its appearance excels that of the apparel of an Eastern queen, and further remember that THE SENSES OF FISHES. 23 the trout cannot put forth a Land to grasp the glittering trifle ; it has, like a baby, one universal receptacle only — its mouth — whereby to test the quality of all comfits, — then, I say, ask yourself where is the wonder that the wary fish loses caution in the sensuous pleasure of the momentary acquisition, bites and ends its life, not igno- minously, but fighting to the last. I am not joking. This is the only explanation I can oifer after a quarter of a century's wondering. II. — HEARING. Hearing is the power of perceiving vibration, .whether possessed by a land or water animal, and as abundant evidence exists that fish are sensible of vibration, there can be no excuse for saying that they cannot hear. Hear, they do, and, in their way, most readily, but hot in the same way as a creature in the air. I need hardly remind the reader, that the ear of a human being is a structure of excelling adaptability equally fitted to appreciate the melodies and harmonies of a Mendelsohn, or to the stunning monotone of the thunder clap, and to convey, according to the degrees of refinement, definite impressions of each to the mind. This organ in man is also divided into two sections, broadly distinguished as the outer and inner — external and internal ear. The former of these is wanting in fish, and as an apparatus for the collection and magnifi- cation of sound, as it is in air, is not required in water, the denser medium, its absence is precisely what we should expect to find. In place of this, a nerve running from the base of each scale to a large ganglion in the 24 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. head, allows the fish to perceive vibration instantly from the whole of its surface, as well as immediately from the outer part of the head. The trout is specially furnished in this way, and the interior mechanism of the ear in all fishes is very beautifully adapted to their requirements. The curious oolith, or brain ivory, possessed by nearly all fishes, forms the bones guarding this aural development, and sometimes these are of exceeding delicacy and beauty. In the loaches there is a connection between the ear and the air cavity, situated in the anterior part of the head, which may be supplementary to their impaired sight in daylight, and the same peculiarity is noticeable in the Coxitis Barbatala, a small loach of English streams, and the Coitus goUo, a bull-head. Both these are almost exclusively night feeders. Sound travels in air at the rate — roughly — of eleven hundred feet per second ; in water, accurate experiments fix it at over five thousand feet in that space of time. When quite a youngster I satisfied myself of its extreme rapidity and the great conducting power of water, on several occasions, in the following way : The fishermen of the Thames use an iron-shod pole, termed a ryepeck, to fix the punt when fishing, and this experiment was made : A friend took a boat and rowed down on a long clear reach of water to the end of a measured mile. I remained at the starting point, divested of my clothes. As he got to the end of the mile I stepped into the water, which was about up to my armpits, with a small red flag in my hand, and as soon as he saw my head disappear under the surface it was agreed he should ram the iron down, and I was to exhibit the flag on hearing the sound. Well, THE SENSES OF FISHES. 25 I need not say that no exact result accrued; but one or two wholesome lessons, certainly, were taught me. One was — and this was just then most valuable, I being the son of a professional fisherman — that it was a great mistake to ram a pole in the river to fasten the boat at all, for the sound was startingly clear, though made a mile away, and the grating of the gravel and iron was louder than in air even to my ears, which, it must be borne in mind, were fitted rather for sounds in air. The water seems to act as a sort of microphone — indeed, magnifying the sound, con- sidering the distance, of course. I do not believe that sound made in air is heard at all under water. The experiments of Eonald favor this opinion, and of course my own are, to my mind, conclusive, or I should not give in my belief so sweep- ingly. Dr. Henshall ("Book of Black Bass" ), however, thinks differently. Let us see how the assertions of these two redoubtable sportsmen look side by side : 26 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. Dr. Hen shall, "Book of Black Bass," page 184. "I have frequently observed that fish exhibit symptoms of great fright or alarm at the report of fire-arms, or other loud noises, and be scared and dart away at the sound of the human voice or the barking of a dog, when the fish could not see the originators of the noises." Alfred Ronald, " Fly -Fisher's Ento- mology," page 7. "In order that we might be en- abled to ascertain the truth of the common assertion (viz.:) that fish can hear voices in conversation on the banks of a stream, my friend, the Reverend Mr. Brown, of Grat- wich, and myself selected for close observation a trout poised about six inches deep in the water, whilst a third gentleman, who was situ- ated behind the fishing house— i. e., diametrically opposite to the side where the fish was, fired off a gun. The possibility of the flash being seen by the fish was thus wholly prevented and the report produced not the slightest effect upon him. ** The second barrel was then fired ; still he remained immovable, evincing not the slightest symptom of having heard the report. This experiment was often repeated, and precisely similar results ob- tained. Neither could i, or other persons, ever awaken symptoms of alarm in fishes near the boat by shouting to them in our loudest tones, although our distance from them sometimes did not exceed six feet. * * * It is sufficient to know that the above trout had no ears to hear either the voices or the gun, and I firmly believe that the zest which friendly chat often im- parts to the exercise of our capti- vating art need never be marred by an apprehension that sport will be impaired thereby." Who shall decide when doctors disagree ? Speaking of firing off a gun to test the hearing of trout reminds me of the only incident I can call to mind which apparently contradicts the conclusions reached by Eonald. THE SENSES OF FISHES. 27 It occurred on one of Queen Victoria's birthdays. Wind- sor Park, England, possesses a beautiful ornamental lake named Virginia Water, and located on this is a miniature frigate of twenty-one guns — five-pounders, I think. On each royal birthday it is customary to fire a salute with these, and on the occasion of which I speak the small fish, roach, etc., were in shoals of hundreds of thousands near the surface of the water surrounding the vessel. This is not uncommon on a still, fine day — the lake being so overwhelmingly full of the little fellows. The salute was fired, gun after gun, at minute intervals, and the vibra- tory reverberating boom seemed to startle the small fish, and all around the vessel the water broke into ripples, as if stirred by wind, as each report was fired. Now this seems as if the fish heard the sound and didn't approve of it ; but if we look deeper, it is possible — nay, probable — that the mechanical shock of sound was strong enough to make itself felt in the layer of water which is most laden with atmospheric air — namely, the top or surface. Of course the vibration of the vessel itself from the re- coil may have been the true cause, and is the solution of the matter I most favor. Shortly, my experience is that you may whistle, laugh, sing and talk — I except " cus- sing " — but you must not stamp your feet in the boat or on the bank if you desire to capture trout. Against my opinion that fish* cannot hear sounds in air is David Foster's ("Scientific Angler") funny refer- ence to a friend who always took a musical box to sit on, and this he set going while he fished. A veritable Syb- arite in angling like this ought to catch a good string. A far greater example, however, of different opinion is that 28 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. which credits carp comiRg to the call of a bell or whistle at feeding time. I doubt not that such instances are true — that the fish did respond. In the range of angling literature I could pick out a dozen recorded instances of such docility and obedience. "Then," says the impartial reader, " you have contra- dicted yourself — the fish can hear sounds coming from the air." Let us make haste slowly, fair sir, and, prithee, let me put a few questions to the writers of these records of clever fish. First, Mr. Historian, were you positively there when the incident occurred ? Did the fish-feeder not feed at a regular time, and did he not walk in an unguarded, ordinary manner to his fish ponds ? Did they not see him coming or hear his step ? The answers enclose the gist of the question. Why, at Denham Fishery, in England, I have seen a herd of thousands of fontinalis trout, up to three and four pounds, fol- lowing the proprietor, General Gerald Goodlake, as he walked up the bank. These fish were fed regularly once a day with chopped, cooked horse flesh. But there was no calling in the matter. They heard the heavy tread of this Saul among men, and saw his mighty form and re- membered the old, large check suit in which he always fed his pets. Nothing more. Foster, in the " Scientific Angler," states that "no noise which does not occasion a vibration of the element winch they inhabit reaches them ; " and with this opinion I fully agree. III. — TASTE. Authorities of all kinds agree in denying that fish pos- sess a very discriminating palate. I grant that there are THE SENSES OF FISHES. 29 degrees of discriminating power, and that the voracious fish are but slightly endowed with them to any nicety ; but then, are there not degrees in connection with the human gastronomist ? Would not the blubber-eating Greenlander prefer his gross meal to the pate de foie gras of the Parisian gourmand? " A question not to be asked/' as Falstaff would say, and I have myself met a specimen of the genus homo, who would disdain the juicy steak and dine off bacon- fat in preference. If there is a lack of delicacy among men in this par- ticular, why not among fishes ? But is there a lack of particularity which would indicate an absolute absence of taste in the inhabitants of the water ? Let us see. The pikes will take anything when hungry, you will say, from a lead sinker to a red cork float. Yes, I admit, that if you meet him on the aqueous highway, and you possess a spark of bright metal about you, he will assail you. It is, as Tennyson puts it, " Sense at war with soul." The fish jumps out on a spoon in the hope that when he crushes it, it will be fish-like, and so meat for him. I say he will do this on impulse, but try a fish-bait that is not fresh, and though he may seize it he will never swallow it, no matter how ravenous he may be. Again, in Eng- land, there is an olive, mucous coated, flat-fish, termed the tench, which for some reason (some say gratitude !) the fish will not touch. Though Espx Lucius will grow fat on every other member of the family of the Cyprinidae, or carps, yet you may fish all day in a lake or river thronged with pike, using tench, and you will not catch a pike. Again, with a golden fish (Cyprinus auratus) I can catch four times more pike than with any other bait. 30 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. Next in point of favor comes the dace or dare, and next, the gudgeon. Says honest Jack Falstaff, " Why, if a dace be a bait for an old pike, may I not grab him ?" So, from, these irrefragable facts, even the pike "fell, tyrant of the watery plain," though he be, does, possess a sense quite worthy of the appellation — taste. And now, in regard to trout, which chiefly concerns us here — though a passing consideration of other fish is emi- nently useful in order to lead to a wide comprehension of the subject — who shall assert its lack of discrimination in matters gastronomic ? Can it not tell the difference between the flavor of a spent May fly and a female Green Drake full of luscious, creamy eggs ? Or, between the various kind of flies, which at different times may be upon the water. When the beautiful Blue Dan is rising, I have seen that it alone is taken, to the absolute ex- clusion of other flies ; yet, the trout are hungry, or why do they feed, and if they do not discriminate, why not feed on everything before them ? * The meaning of the word taste requires exposition in this connection. First — It indicates a perception of pleasant or unpleasant tastes in foods or liquids conveyed to the mouth. Second — The sense of taste is in inti- mate connection with the stomach, and that which violently disagrees with this organ is usually unpleasant and rejected instinctively. Here are two instances of the antipathies of European fresh water fishes, which cannot be accounted for in the absence of a sense of taste in the fish: (1.) Koach (Leuciscus rutilus) are often taken in great numbers by a bait made of flour paste. In the full tide THE SENSES OF FISHES. 31 of catching fish, if the experiment of squeezing a few drops of tobacco juice into the paste from the end of a wet cigar is tried, not one fish more will take that paste. Expert roach fishermen never smoke when fishing, for this reason. (2.) Barbel (a gregarious ground feeder), are often caught one after the other, as rapidly as it is possible to reel in with the fresh lob worm, (garden worm). If you throw in a handful of worms that are dead, you will put them off their feed for that day. A single fact such as these is worth a cartload of mere theories. It proves in- contesfcably that fish possess discriminating palates. The tasting powers of trout were made the object of special experiments by Eonald. He projected, by means of a blow-pipe, house flies to his trout, and plastered various strong condiments, such as mustard and pepper, over them. He says the fish took them indifferently. Now, it would be interesting to know how much of the spices remained on the flies as they sailed down the water after going through the air from the blow pipe ? And it is fair to presume that they would not be covered so completely as to hide their identity as flies. Howbeit, it is also said that a large bee was thrown to a trout, which he took ; but he rejected a wasp — didn't relish the "business end" of him, perhaps ! Of course, I do not assert that fish have the sense of taste in the same perfection as warm-blooded animals, but I contend they exhibit like and dislike in a lesser degree certainly, but by no means in a dissimilar way. Especially would I insist that the carp family, with their soft, palatal tongues, possess it in a high degree. The 32 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. large, massive molar teeth crush and masticate, in the throat of them all, whatever food is passed, and it would seem extraordinary to me if by sight alone this " fox of the water w builds up his oft-times colossal form and fat. IY. — SMELL. I think, after what I have seen of the manifestations of this sense in fishes that it does not exist in such a high state of development as does even taste. The sense of smell in air depends on the perception of minute par- ticles thrown off by the odorate body. Hence, the ne- cessity for a refined sense of smell does not exist in water, for it cannot be supposed that particles of any object could diffuse themselves in the denser medium with the rapidity and completeness with which they do it in air. Nevertheless, fishes possess nostrils, though these have no communication with the gills or mouth cavity. I re- member that Mr. Frank Buckland passed a fine bristle far into the head of a thirty-six pound pike (caught by my late father in Windsor Great Park) he was casting, in my presence some years ago, from each of the small ori- fices which extend in a row on either side of the muzzle. Pollutions of the water are avoided by fish ; and when some poisonous chemical refuse was once thrown into a stream under my care, I saw many fish throw themselves out upon the banks to avoid encountering the horrible corroding flood. This, however, might have been due to an impending sense of suffocation, and the pain con- sequent on the cauterizing effect the poison had on the branchice. Fish are not adverse to even a large amount THE SENSES OF FISHES. 33 of sewage if the latter be fresh, but putrid faecal matter is a horrible and unqualified destroyer of all water- courses whatsoever, and should be utterly and relent- lessly reprobated by all interested in the preservation of fish for food and sport. So far as trout are concerned, the sense of smell does not appear superiorly developed, in comparison with other fishes. I am not willing to believe that this sense exists in a state of higher refinement in fish as compared with ourselves, and, therefore, as we cannot detect any particular odor in the food of this species (except in such flies as the Fetid Brown, or Cinnamon fly, limne- philus stigmaticus, and a few others), it is fair to pre- sume that the trout do not. It is true that the ancient works on angling frequently speak of oils and unguents for the attraction of fish, but I never could find they were of any use, and I have tried scores of recipes. Some time since, a firm in England began selling "stinking Gladwin" as an infallible enticer of fish. I used some, and was disappointed, as I deserved to be. If trout or any other fish perceive the whereabouts of food from a distance, it is owing to their microscopic keenness of sight in perceiving the tiny detached fragments flowing from it. These they will follow up and find — as is well-known to the still fisherman who has ground baited — by taste and sight rather than smell. The latter sense, in fish, I am inclined to place amongst the impossibilities, though I have, somewhat " Hiber- nically," to use an euphemism, devoted quite a space to its consideration. 34 FLY-FISHIKG AKD FLY-MA.KING. V. — FEELIKG. This sense is well developed in all the angler's fishes, but varies in its development. This variation appears to me to depend on or is adjusted to the degrees of develop- ment manifested by the other senses, especially that of vision. For instance : The pike (Esox Lucius) is an exceed- ingly sharp-sighted fish. If you fix your eyes on his as he lies, perdu, sunning himself in the water, you may so chain his attention as to allow of another person placing a wire noose around his body and hauling him out. But if your eyes waver, or the gaze be removed, like light- ning he is gone. I have done this hundreds of times when snaring pike from a trout stream, and mention it chiefly to prove his quick sight. Now you may catch him with a "flight" or "gang" of four or five hooks, belonging to some previous angler, stuck in his jaw. I have taken him with a lead-bound hook already fixed in his maw, and have lost a hook on a pike and in thirty minutes captured the fish with the tackle hanging to him. This does not look much like evidence that fish suffer pain. Indeed, the extremely dogmatic Mr. Cholmondeley Pennell, says, in the " Fisherman's Maga- zine :" "In sober seriousness, it has been proved over and over again — on evidence strong enough to hang a man — or what has been considered still more difficult, to build a church — the organization of a fish, which is a cold-blooded animal, does not admit of its feeling pain." Then there is the grayling, which I believe to be one of the sharpest sighted of fishes ; he will come again and again to a fly, even after being pricked by the hook, and THE SENSES OF FISHES. 35 who has not caught a trout with somebody else's fly- in its jaw ? Such fish, it is true, feel but little pain in the process of capture, but I feel certain the matter is far different with others possessing softer mouths and greater devel- opment of nerve-perceptive power. Nevertheless, I lay it down as a dictum borne out by examination — why, I do not know, of course — that the greater the refinement and power of sight, the less is that of feeling or percep- tion of pain on being caught. The connection between the two is not apparent. These are the facts, however. Of course, I am now only referring to the jaws and head generally, When I come to consider perception in the other parts of a fish's body, the circumstances vary some- what, and the sense of sight does not exhibit the same bearing. I opine that in those fish which feed in deep places, and collect their aliment chiefly from the soil, the act of cap- ture by hook is painful. Most of these possess barbules, and of all fresh water fish, the cat-fish and its relations furnish the most striking examples. Next to these the carp family provide ample illustrations. One English fish — the barbel — to which I have before referred, gives point to my meaning perfectly. The fish grows to some six or seven pounds, though its average size does not ex- ceed two and a half, and they congregate in large shoals. Its feelers, or barbules, are four in number, and in a fish of several pounds are quite half an inch in length. On dissecting these, they are found to abound in nerve filaments, somewhat like the trunk of an ele- phant, and there is a very free movement. Doubtless 36 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. the dissection of the feelers of the cat-fish would reveal a similar and probably greater development of nerve fiber, and this fact is sufficient presumption of exquisite perceptive power. So, also, the carp is gifted in a similar manner, and the daintiness of the fish is proverbial, whilst the loach (CoMtis barbatula), which lies under stones during the day-time and feeds best on the darkest night, has, in proportion, the most plenteous organs of perception of all. It has six barbules, and if you are so fortunate as to see the little fish feeding in the shady corner of an aquarium, you will observe the investigating movements of the tentacles in a state of great activity. These or- gans — who can doubt it — are precisely analogous to those of the feline tribe, namely the whiskers, and even to the fingers of the genus homo, I apprehend, also, that this perceptive faculty is in correspondence with the development of the soft parts of the jaw and their neighboring processes ; hence, the bony pike cares little for the hook, whilst no mortal ever yet caught a carp with a lost hook in its jaw, or a barbel or a chub 1 (leuciscus cephalus). The perception of sensation in reference to other parts of the body of fishes is an obscure subject, and I shall detail what I have observed, drawing this inference only — that in proportion as the scales are small, the sensitiveness of the cuticle increases. Eeasoning thus, we would therefore expect to find the eel the most highly gifted of all, seeing that its scales are microscopical in their minuteness. Nor are we disappointed. The eel will remain quite unconscious of your presence in the THE SENSES OF FISHES. 37 bright sunlight, "like an owl in a holly-bush," as the saying is; but geritly touch it with the tip of your rod, and see the celerity with which it undulates away. The trout does not resent the touch of the hand if it does not see you ; but if, as is asserted by Professor Cope, in Dr. Henshall's "Book of the Black Bass," it hears through its scales, its perceptions must, in this regard, be exquisitely delicate. That fish feel exquisite pain on the wounding of their bodies, I cannot doubt. The barbarous method of bass and other fishing, which compels the passing of a hook under the skin of a minnow, shows by the shudders and quivers of agony in the luckless bait how fear- fully it suffers. Don't talk to me about "reflex action " of the muscles in this case ! Again, the pesti- lent salmon disease, which, like a loathsome leprosy, first covers up the eyes and nostrils of the fish with a fungoid growth (Saprolegnia ferax) and then spreads over the en- tire body, often causes the hapless fish to dash itself against the rocks, or leap out on shore, under the sense of the intolerable irritation. Again, the presence of in- ternal as well as external parasites, are particularly a source of pain to trout. I have several times dissected trout which had previously appeared unhealthy and dark- colored, to find them infested with either the larval tape- worm (ligula digamma of Orepli7i), or a liver fluke simi- liar to that of sheep. Indeed, the subject of fish diseases is a very interesting one, and quite worth more investiga- tion, apart from its bearing on the question of pain. 38 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. CHAPTEK II. PRACTICAL FLY-FISHING. Practical anglers, as a rule, are not reading men. Your " reading " man — lie who with unfeigned delight reads carefully every angling work that comes in his way; weighs the pros and cons of the controversy "up versus down stream fishing/' "dry" versus " wet" fly, "eyed" versus " ordinary " hook, "typical" versus "imitation" flies, etc., etc., is commonly not a very practical angler, and I firmly believe that the really successful fishermen who have derived solid benefit from the many beautiful works published on fishing are in the minority. I am forced to this conclusion after a lengthened experience of anglers and their ways. The fact is, that literary style and finish is usually incompatible with concrete and pithy direction and explanation. One can hardly put polish and style into a book of prescriptions, and yet this is really the sort of thing that the practical man needs when he wants to learn about "How to catch fish." He cares little for the Walton style of writing, which breathes of poesy and worms in the same paragraph, but would listen readily to this grand old angler if he were told in the brevity of a formula how to collect, preserve and use the annelids, omitting references to the nightingale's trill or the saints in Heaven. Yet, all thanks to good, old Walton for his gracious advocacy of the art and to the other refined and scholarly men who have written in the Walfconian vein. In the quiet of our sanctum sanc- torum, when the winter winds shriek and whistle outside, PRACTICAL FLY-FISHING. 39 and the sugar-wood log bums brightly in the grate, there is nothing so enjoyable as the pages of a Prime's " I go a Fishing," or the many genial and truly idyllic sketches of a Francis, a Mather, or a Cheney. The following endeavors to meet the case of the angler who wants to know, and to see at a glance the informa- tion he seeks, or where he can get it. What is here set down is the result of a long experience, and has been "boiled down" with a merciless severity, till the essence is alone presented. THE ROD, REEL AND LINE. The modern fly-rod, as represented by the American- made solid and split cane weapons, approaches absolute perfection as nearly as it is possible for any mundane implement to do so. The catalogues of any of the tackle makers will furnish particulars, and it is not necessary, in a little work of this kind, to do more than indicate the general characteristics of what the author, himself, prefers. My favorite rod, therefore, is a split cane hexagonal, ten feet long, with the Orvis patent reel seat, which allows of the reel being instantly adjusted. One peculiarity of all Orvis' rods (which is the make I prefer) is that they are made with ferrules without dowels. These never loosen in the casting (because they fie true), and this cannot be said of any other rod with dowels. In English rods with dowels and the ordinary brass ferrules, which never fit accurately, it is necessary to tie the joints together with soft thread, as they would infallibly fly apart if not so tied. This results, first, from the imperfect fit of the 40 FLY-FISHItfG A^D FLY-MAKING. male and female ferrule and the wedge-shaped dowel, which has the express property, owing to its form, of loosen- ing on being shaken. Any mechanic — even knowing noth- ing of rods — will tell you that a tapered dowel always has a tendency to shake itself loose by vibration. Even those dow- els that are not tapered are objectionable, because they impair the elasticity of the rod. As short a joint as possi- ble should be insisted on if one would possess a useful and perfectly satisfactory rod. In these days one is so abso- lutely safe in the hands of a respectable tackle maker that I should only be occupying space uselessly if I di- lated further on rods for fly-fishing. Let these rules guide you in your purchase : Go to a well-known, good maker, pay a fair price — cheap is generally nasty in fishing tackle — and rather get too light a rod than one too heavy, and eschew dowelled ferrules. The name of the reels in constant use is legion. In buying, observe one thing — obtain no multiplier. A multiplier illustrates the mechanical law, every time you use it, which is stated thus : What you gain in speed you lose in force. A click or check reel of good make, with wide diameter of barrel is sufficient for anyone's re- quirements in trout fishing. And now, as to the reel line. Let it ever be propor- tioned to the dimensions and strength of your rod. A too thin line is a greater nuisance than one too stout, and necessarily, of course, he who builds your rod will indi- cate the right kind of line. For my own part, I prefer one of the new " Acme " lines, patented by the Brothers Foster, of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England, the peculi- arity of which is the incorporation of a fine copper wire PRACTICAL FLY-FISHING. 41 with the silk. In the most approved specimens of this make the wire is in the center of the line. The idea is to give a stiffness and weight to the line without increas- ing the size — a most important point when you are fish- ing with the wind against you. The great point in adjusting your fly-trout fishing tackle is to be careful that the whole tackle, from rod-butt to end of leader, tapers truly, right to the fly. I do not know of a better rule, or one more likely to facilitate the learner in the pleasant art than this, or one more likely to increase the pleasure of the " Senior Angler" by its observance. Having thus briefly touched on the subject of the rod, reel and line, I now come to refer to the leader, about which I have some more extended observations to make, as it is quite within the power of the angler to tie his own. I need scarcely remind the reader that the gut used by the fisherman is made from the fluid silk, before it is spun, of the silk-worm. The chief part of it comes from Murcia, a Moorish town in Spain, and the longest is seldom over twenty-three inches in length. A Mr. Ramsbottom showed some of that length at the Great Fisheries Exhibition, held in London in 1883, and it was said to be the longest of the season of 82-3. Whether the larger American worms will ever produce longer gut, available and marketable, remains to be seen. Person- ally, I do not doubt that it will eventually be done, and I hope to have a finger in the doing. I have myself seen a single strand of gut measuring six feet in length, of good quality, of American production. Good gut should be round and without opacity. No gut with a blemish ought to be admitted ; but as there is 42 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. so much of the best grades that are, if judged by a strict standard, unusable, I will relax this dictum so far as to say that the flat gut, and that which is, from some rea- son, brittle on being bent, need alone be absolutely con- demned. The spotted gut, if fairly round, may be bene- fited by a soaking in warm water. Thereafter, it should be lightly stretched, and after this, and when it is quite dry, it may be rubbed quickly and gently with chamois leather. This polishes the surface, and makes its appear- ance much more presentable than would otherwise be the case. If, however, the gut breaks on bending, with a greenwood fracture — as the surgeons term it — that is, splinters up but does not separate, reject it ruthlessly ; it is no good, and will lose you a fish when you least want it to do so. There are ever so many methods of making leadom, but generally the single gut ones are tied. Those that are whipped together with silk are very neat when new, but if they are used on a rocky-bottomed river, speedily be- come the reverse. The whipping ravels up and becomes insecure. The same objection applies to those having knots and whipped ends, and also to those joined by the "buffer" knot, which simply consists of two "fisher- men's" knots drawn, tight but not close together, the inter- vening space being whipped with fine silk. The virtue of the arrangement lies in the fact that no sudden strain can come directly on the knots, but must pass through the silk, which, of course, is not absolutely unyielding. Hence, the leader never snaps suddenly at the junction. So far, the idea is good but, as I have said, liable to the objection that the knot frays. PRACTICAL FLY-FISHING. 43 Suppose you are determined to make your own leaders. Buy the best gut ; it is cheapest. Then set to work and soak the gut. While that is soaking in cold water, (warm water loosens the fibers unduly, and should be avoided if you are not in great haste) learn to make the Fig. 1. —SIMPLE LOOP FOB LEADER. following knots. Figure 1 shows the ordinary loop ; if you desire to make it additionally secure — supposing that to be possible — take the loop end once more through. A stout hook is necessary, as a fixture, on your work-table, and over this the loop should then be hung and pulled tight. The result should be symmetrical, and the loose end can be cut off very close. Figure 2 is a much more difficult knot to tie, but it is convenient, especially for snells, and once learned, is a very pleasing loop and ex- Fig. 2.— ANOTHER LOOP FOR LEADER. tremely secure. So far as loops are concerned, I do not think it is necessary to add to these. The trout and sal- mon fishermen do not want any more under any circum- stances, and it is folly to cram one's brains with unneces- sary knowledge, which, by the bye, is an exceedingly prevalent fault, caused by the teachers of the art seeking rather to exploit themselves, than impart useful lessons. 44 FLY-FISHIKG AKD FLY-MAKING. The best junction knots in leader- making are shown at Figures 3, 4 and 5. Take a piece of cord and practice on Fig. 3.— JUNCTION KNOT FOR LEADER. it till you are perfect, then tie the gut. Be sure to draw whatever knot you tie — tight, slowly. The best attach- ment of a loop for droppers is found by placing the knot of a loop in between the component knots of either Figure 4, or Figure 5, or in the center of Figure 3. A Fig. 4. — THE " FISHERMAN'S " KNOT FOR LEADER. loop tied in, however, provides by far the most preferable method of attaching dropper flies. If we proceed seriatim the fly would naturally next come up for consideration, but as I propose giving full Fig. 5.— JUNCTION KNOTS FOR LEADER. details of manufacture, etc., a separate chapter is nec- essary for its full exposition. Lacking this at present, therefore, I propose giving details of what I consider a most important branch of the fly fisherman's education — namely, Casting. PRACTICAL FLY-FISHING. 45 Now, there is no better plan than for the tyro to go down to the water and patiently practice. The attitude should he easy and that which suits the angler best ; it is absurd to tell a man exactly how he should stand, as if he were learning ballet-dancing, and indeed, so far as mere verbal instruction is concerned, I am conscious that I might almost as well give instructions in the " manly art Fig. 6.— MODE OP HOLDING ROD. of self-defence " as in the manly art of fly-casting. How- ever, I take my chances of making myself clear and in- structive by the aid of the illustrations. The trout-rod, if single handed — and I don't favor a double handed one unless you are fishing in very wide water — should be taken in hand as shown in Figure 6, . and the elbow should be kept as close to the side as pos- sible. My father used to put me through my exercises with a small book placed between my elbow and side, and I have found this a remarkably good corrective for the dis- position to swing the arm unduly. This latter does not add to the length of the cast, and certainly detracts from 46 FLY-FISHIKG A^D FLY-MAKIXG. its neatness and precision. The fundamental idea is, "Let your rod do all the work its strength allows" — that is what it is for. The overhand cast is that which is most generally used, and it is probably the easiest. Let out your line in Fig. 7.— OVERHAND CAST, BACKWARD MOVEMENT. the water, allowing the current to take it ; then recover it till the fly appears on the surface of the water. At this point, sharply throw the point of the rod back over the right shoulder, so that the line is impelled back, as shown in Figure 7. When the limit is reached, and not till then, the rod is urged forward and the cast, shown in Figure 8, is made. This movement ought to be made as the line is falling (see b, tig. 7), and is a matter rather for the intuitive perception of the hand than Fig. 8.— OVERHAND CAST, FORWARD MOVEMENT. for nice calculations on paper. If this forward throw or cast is made before the limit of the line is reached, the latter curls and snaps (see a, fig. 7) like a whip, and the result is the loss of your fly. Now, there isn't much in this to learn, and I purposely refrain from giving further and PKACTICAL FLY-FISHING. 47 more minute particulars as to how this cast is made. The learner, in trying to follow the minutiae of such detailed ex- planations, gets too particular and nervous — fussy, and in trying so very hard to perform what he imagines a diffi- cult task, he throws a great deal too much conscious effort into it and fails ignominiously. Preferably, take a friend to the water-side with you who is warranted to be absolutely Fig. 9.— THE " WIND " CAST. ignorant of fly-casting and, necessarily, unable to criti- cise, and assign him the task of telling you, by a word, when the forward motion is to be made. After a short time you will come to appreciate the precise moment and can send him home. Don't be disappointed at failure. The line should fall forward, as shown in Figure 8. When you can place twenty yards out straight m front of you, as represented, consider yourself gradu- ated as an '''overhand caster. 5 ' The " wind cast" is one that is very useful when the wind is dead against one. The dotted line in Figure 9 48 FLY-FISHIXG AtfD FLY-MAKIKG. indicates the movement of the rod in the beginning. The line must, with the full strength of the arm, be propelled up overhead and then brought down and forward, right in the teeth of the wind, till the rod's point almost touches Fig. 10. — THE "underhand" cast. the water, without pause. The full strength of the rod is exerted by this cast, and the success of it is greatly as- sisted by the use of one of the " Acme " lines referred to a few pages back. The ' ' underhand cast " is made from right to left, as shown in Figure 10, or vice versa. This is probably the easiest of all the casts — the rod doing nearly all the work. The " flip casts " are extremely useful when one is " ne- gotiating" water under trees, and, indeed, the line is, in Fig. 11.— THE "FLIP" CAST. some cases, impossible of extension in any other way. The cuts (figs. 11, 12 and 13) explain themselves. The hook is taken in the hand between thumb and forefinger (and be careful not to hook yourself ! ), and the rod then bowed so that on your releasing the bait it flies to the spot it is desired to reach. In Figure 11, a represents PRACTICAL FLY-FISHING. 49 the path of the fly and b the water-line in which the angler is standing. " Clark's spey cast " is a difficult hut beautiful cast to make, and a Mr. Clark, from whom it takes its name, is Fig. 12.— THE "flip" cast. credited with throwing fifty yards. Figure 14 shows the entire movement of the rod's point. In Figure 15 we have several movements ; a, b and c indicate stages of the re- covery from the water, during which the rod's tip de- scribes the dotted line, Figure 14 ; d shows the result of Fig. 13.— REVERSED a FLIP " CAST. the downward thrash and the course in which the line should travel. But of all casts, that explained by Figures 16, 17 and 18 — namely, the "switch" — by means of which Harry Fig. 14.— CLARIS "spey" cast. Pritchard and his son achieve such extraordinary dis- tance casting — stands pre-eminent. Figure 16, a, shows the first movement ; the line is bellied, as shown from its 50 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. former outline (see dotted line) by a rapidly increasing movement. Now twitch the front of the rod forward by a sharp, shor taction of the wrist (see b), causing the line to bow in an opposite direction ; then, with a bold, ellip- Fig. 15.— MOVEMENT IN CLARK'S " SPEY " CAST. tical sweep (see iig. 17), from the right overhead to left, make the downward thrash ( c), and the line should fall in undulating outlines, as in Figure 18. Let the reader take plenty of time to practice and he will not regret the result — keeping in view 7 the diagrams given, which are of photographic correctness. Having mastered the method of casting a fly with tol- erable neatness, next turn your attention to catching the Fig. 16.— MOVEMENT IN THE ''SWITCH" CAST. fish. The first question which presents itself is, " Shall I fish up stream or down ? " To this I reply, with all the emphasis of which I am capable, "Up stream, by all means, ivlienever possible ." There is every reason for it, but here are a few, briefly put : (1.) Trout invariably lie with their heads up stream — ergo, take their food in PKACTICAL FLY-FISHING. 51 that position. (2. ) Trout cannot see the angler more than a few feet behind them, whilst they can and do see many yards in front. (3. ) The vibration of the water, caused by the movement of the advancing angler, if C i Fig. 17.— MOVEMENT IN THE " SWITCH M CAST. wading, does not penetrate up stream as it does down stream. (4.) The water is not "roiled" or muddled for the fish by wading up stream. These include the chief reasons for up stream fishing, and in the face of them I cannot understand there being the ghost of a shadow of reason for arguing for the down Fig. 18.— THE "switch" cast. stream method of fishing, except that it is easiest. I heard, only the other day, a prominent angler argue that he missed fish more frequently, because of the bellying of the line, in up stream fishing. Now, the bellying is 52 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. kept taut by the stream, and the strike is thus never lost, and the fact that one strikes dead against the mouth of the rising fish instead of with a tendency to pull the fly out, as is the case when fishing down stream, renders the up stream position even more tenable than before. When it is borne in mind that the big trout of the Itchen and Test, and some other rivers of England — running up to three and four pounds — are caught by this method on flies dressed on the smallest procurable hooks (up to Xo. 16 Limerick), and that these wily fish, living in the most limpid of chalk streams can be caught no ether way, the feasibility of my advice may be thought respectable. It is the fashion to deride what is termed the " old fogyism " of Europe, but I can assure the reader there is none of this commodity in its fly-fishing. The up stream, dry fly- fishing — as practised on the best rivers of the British Isles — is the evoluted result of the best inventive genius of in- telligent, observant anglers, and designed for the capture of the most artful of educated trout. The characteristics of this system of fly-fishing may be fitly detailed at this place. As before predicated, the angler moves up, if possible, and prefers to cast to a rising fish. If he spies one ris- ing regularly, he gently walks within casting distance, the line probably trailing behind him in the water. To make the cast he urges the fly backwards and forwards twice or thrice through the air, until his quick eye sees by the flying bait that he has enough line out to allow of its falling about a yard above the rising fish. By this time the fly is dry ; its swift passage through the air en- ables it to become so, and the next time it is cast right in front to the spot designated, and, when it falls, the angler PEACTICAL FLY-FISHIKG. 53 watches its course without making a movement of the rod. It floats, of course, and if the fish does not take it just as soon as the radius of its circle of vision is passed, it is lifted again from the water, dried, and cast as be- fore. If you are fishing " likely spots " instead of a rising fish, the same procedure is gone through with, and the result has ever been to me satisfactory, often beyond all expectations. Of course, on very rapid mountain streams, this method should be modified to suit circum- stances, but under no existing or possible conditions is it necessary to fish down stream en an open fairly slow stream. Some object — that motion should be given to the fly (if so, give it by all means ; fishing up stream does not pre- vent this ! ), but I would again urge that this is not necessary to be natural. Land flies, blown on the water, certainly do kick and endeavor to get ashore, but those born of water larvae do not. Their home is on the water, where they lay their eggs and perish, and it is natural for them to flutter into air once in awhile, and then to settle down and be blown as a disruddered sailing vessel, whith- ersoever the wind listeth. Supposing the fish rises to your fly — strike, not roughly but sharply, rather with a swift pulling motion than a jerk. That everlasting "turn of the wrist," which we piscatorial scribblers are so wont to recommend, is a de- lusion to the learner. Anything like a jerk sends the point of a fly-rod forward, unless it is immoderately stiff, and, of course, retards the hooking stroke. To make this plain, let the reader take his fly-rod and try his most artful of sharp strikes. One of the morals is, "Don't 54 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. use too whippy a rod." Always strike from the winch — i. e., without placing the hand roand the line, and for this purpose the check should be set "stiffish." After hooking a fish keep the point of the rod well up, your line free to run off the winch, and yourself cool. That is all the direction you need ; the fish will teach you the rest. Several of your largest fish, of course, will inevitably be lost through unskilful "playing," but if I were to write a hundred pages of directions I could not really help the tyro. Letting the rod do its work is the prime secret, and, of course, keeping the tip well up allows of this. Did you ever try pulling against a strong elastic band — I have, in training for rowing — to see how long you could keep making efforts, and how much your efforts amounted to in pounds, each time ? If not, take my word for it that the continued tension is the greatest of inventions for taking the strength out of one's muscles, and it is the same with a fish. A good cane or greenheart rod will kill much stronger fish, on a tight line even, than is usually be- lieved. Check every rush of the fish, and don't be too impatient to get him into the boat. Half the pleasures of life lie in pursuit ; conquest is " flat, stale and un- profitable" as compared with it. Hence, I believe in getting all the sporting power there is in a fish out of him. I have played fish purposely till they needed no landing net. Of course, however, the man who has the pot to fill cannot stop to "fool around " like this. I do not propose to give directions in reference to salmon fishing at this time. There is an army of author- ities who are better qualified to do this than I. It is PRACTICAL FLY-FISHING. 55 sufficient to say here that the general principles of stream " trout" fishing are applicable to lake trout fish- ing and the " lordly salmon." If a man is a good trout fisherman he will have no difficulty in catching salmon ; but, on the other hand, there is many a good salmon fisher who makes a poor trout angler. I must not forget to say, also, that in salmon fishing the up stream, dry fly- fishing has no place, because the fly is not an imitation of any known insect. This reservation is the only one of any real importance to be made. 56 FLY-FISHING AKD FLY-MAKING. CHAPTEE III. TROUT FLY-MAKING. The art of fly-dressing is a most beautiful one and more than repays him who studies it as he goes along creating things of beauty ; moreover, it grows on his in- clinations, and I personally know several gentlemen, and even ladies, whose spare time is filled up most agreeably, and to their own profit, be it said, by fly-making. Ay ! and their flies outshine, in some particulars, even the PUBLISHERS AND IMPORTERS OF a ^A V. , All Works pertaining to Rural Life. Agriculture, Horticulture, Etc. Allen, R. L. and L. F. New American Farm Book... $ 2.50 American Farmer's Hand Book 2.50 Asparagus Culture. Fiex.cioti. 50 Bamford,C. E. Silk Culture. Paper 30 Barry, P. The Frnit Garden. New aud Revised Edition 2.00 Bommer. Method of Making Manures 25 Brackett. Farm Talk. Paper50c. Cloth 75 Brill. Farm-Gardening and Seed-Growing 1.00 Cauliflowers.. 20 Broom-Corn and Brooms. Paper 50 2 0. JUDD CO.'S ALPHABETICAL CATALOGUE. Curtis on Wheat Culture. Paper 50 Emerson and Flint. 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Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 22Apr>Rnwyj REC'D LD Ap &7 mi n, i atftAA A llldfW | || ■■■: |Q| )U < I HS>(*» \m$!b ^1278 ;.JvU flBKXIflJM! "i r^i°o7£& 9 «a^g6B-. VB I UO oo