Page:1902 Encyclopædia Britannica - Volume 25 - A-AUS.pdf/493

 ANGLING pagating their species in much the same manner as the salmon. Sea-trout (Salmo trutta), sometimes called salmontrout, and known in Ireland as white trout, of which the bull-trout is a variety, afford sport of the highest class to the fly-fisher. They are found in many salmon rivers and smaller streams, and exhibit a partiality for lakes connected with the sea. They are caught both in the tidal portions of the rivers, and in the upper reaches. Fly-fishing for them is carried on in almost identically the same manner as what is termed wet-fly fishing for brown trout; except where the fish run, large and small salmon flies are used, in which case the flies are cast and worked much as they/ would be for salmon. Sea-trout are Sea trout no^or^ous sh01’*' risers, and both for these and for salmon which have been some time in the river and rise warily, a long-shanked double hook, small in the bend, is now largely used. It is known as the Bickerdyke “ Salmo irritans ” hook, Salmo irritans being a name humorously conferred upon the fish which just touch the fly without being hooked. Sea-trout are found in the pools of rivers, in small eddies, and generally in many of the places favoured by brown trout; but they show a great partiality for a long rippling run of a few feet in depth, while in the tidal portions of a river a shoal will frequently be found collected round a sandy spit in only a foot or two of water. They are generally fished for with rather gaudy flies with a mixed wing, the body composed of mixed seal’s fur (such as olive with a little crimson and blue), with a ribbing of fiat silver tinsel and a short red tuft at the tail like the Zulu. They will at times take all the ordinary brown trout and loch flies such as are used both on river and lake, and in tidal pools there are few better flies than a silver-doctor tied exceedingly small, while small Alexandras are also killing. The angler should be guided as to the size of his fly by the nature of the water, in a heavy stream a larger fly being used than in a quiet one; while in the pools, if there is a good ripple, a slightly larger fly should be used than if the ripple is trifling. In lakes, sea-trout are found scattered over all the shallower portions, but favourite spots will be round the edges of weeds and at the inlet and outlet of a stream. Sea-trout will take small spinning baits and worms, and are often fished for with a worm used on spinning tackle. A favourite artificial bait on the east coast rivers of Scotland is a very small tube of india-rubber threaded on a hook, and cast by means of the fly rod. So far as fly-fishing is concerned, the non-migratory trout are angled for by two very distinct and characteristic methods. On most of the English south-country Nonrivers, and in not a few of those in the Midlands ’trout ^

and

farther north, the various flies of the Ephemeridse family are very abundant, and as they come floating down the river the trout rise to the surface, take up a position, and seize fly after fly. To capture the trout in such circumstances the dry-fly method of fishing has been invented. The flies resemble the natural insect, are. tied with cocks’ hackles, which are somewhat stiff, and are frequently moistened with paraffin to make them float. A single fly is used ; the line, a heavy and tapered one, is greased; and the rod is usually a short but powerful weapon of about 10 feet in length. A feeding fish having been marked down, the angler stalks him very carefully, keeping well below him, and casting the fly with great precision about a yard above him so that it floats down over his nose, when the trout may or may not take it. Dry-fly fishing has become exceedingly popular of late years and has many enthusiastic professors. Though imitations of the Ephemeridao are most generally used, sedges, alders, palmers, and other flies find places in the dry-fly fisher’s book; and when the spring fishing is

447

over most of the trout are caught in the evening by means of sedges of various kinds. In wet-fly fishing the angler regards wind as a necessity on the filing, more quiet pools, but in dry-fly fishing the trout are caught in absolutely calm water. The secrets of success lie, firstly, in being able to mark down feeding fish; in selecting those which are under the bank rather than out in the middle ; in keeping within casting distance of the fish without being observed; in choosing the right fly, and casting with precision. The difficulties of capturing fish depend very largely on the amount of fishing done in any particular river. If, for instance, it is a club water which is heavily fished, and large numbers of small trout are constantly being returned, the fish become exceedingly shy and difficult of capture; and it is quite possible that a certain proportion of them, finding surface feeding a dangerous amusement, turn their attention to the vast wealth of crustacean and other natural food which is found among the weeds of the chalk streams. Among the flies which are general favourites with dry-fly fishers are the blue dun, red or claret quill, medium olive quill, iron blue, dark olive dun, gold-ribbed hare’s ear, silver sedge, orange sedge, cinnamon quill, little marryat, pale olive quill, detached badger, alder, Wickham’s fancy, pink Wickham, and the May-fly. Wet-fly fishing is more particularly appropriate to streams where there is no considerable amount of surface food, where the water is shallow and of a broken character. Here the trout are ever on fishing. the look-out for passing particles of food, and the angler walks up stream casting one, two, or three flies ahead of him, allowing them to drift back with the current and striking if he perceives the least check of the line. On some big rivers, where the water is coloured, it is a common practice to fish down stream with a long line, but the up stream method is generally the most successful. Even in low water, on hot, bright, sunny days, a basket of fish may be made by wading up stream, using a single fly, casting it in little runs behind rocks and stones and in every nook and cranny likely to hold trout; and it is astonishing to find what very small places will hold trout of a very respectable size. In such circumstances down stream fishing would be absolutely useless. For the trout of the smaller English, Irish, and Welsh rivers, and the Scottish burns, very fine tackle should be used, and, within reasonable limits, the lighter the rod the better, for it allows of more delicate manipulation. The trout run small, rarely exceeding half a pound, but the fishing, when there are several miles of breezy moorlands to be walked, is of a very delightful character, and the charm of the surroundings and the healthiness of the exercise will fully compensate for the lack of weight on the part of the quarry. There are some streams which possess the characteristics of both wet-fly and dry-fly waters; such, for instance, is the Dove. Here there are many quiet reaches of no great depth where there is an abundance of surface food, and the dry-fly fisher can pass many happy and profitable hours; while between them there are long rippling shallows, swirling eddies, and miniature falls, where the wet-fly fisher has every opportunity of killing fish with his own particular method. To fish such a river it is desirable that the angler should be acquainted with both methods, using each in its appropriate place. In fact, an angler can hardly be said to be a finished fly-fisher until he is as expert with the dry fly as he is with the wet fly. It is impossible here to give a complete list of the flies used by trout fishermen, but among the general favourites are the red and black palmers, coch-ybondhu, black gnats, the governor, the coachman, duns of various colours, Greenwell’s glory, March brown, redspinner,