in general, the art of catching fish, whether by means of nets, of spears, or of the line and hook.
Fishing in the great, performed by the net, spear, or harpoon, has been explained in the preceding article. That performed by the rod, line and hook, is usually termed Angling: See that article; and for the particular manner of angling for the different kinds of fish, see their respective names, as Dace, Eel, Perch, &c. The following were omitted in their order.
1. The Barbel*, (so called on account of the barb* See or beard that is under his chops), though a coarse fish, gives considerable exercise to the angler's ingenuity. They swim together in great shoals, and are at their worst in April, at which time they spawn, but come soon in season: the places whither they chiefly resort, are such as are weedy and gravelly rising grounds, in which this fish is said to dig and root with his nose like a swine. In the summer he frequents the strongest, swiftest, currents of water; as deep bridges, weirs, &c. and is apt to settle himself amongst the piles, hollow places, and mofs, or weeds; and will remain there immoveable; but in the winter he retires into deep waters, and helps the female to make a hole in the sands to hide her spawn in, to hinder its being devoured by other fish. He is a very curious and cunning fish; for if his baits be not sweet, clean, well-scoured, and kept in sweet mofs, he will not bite; but well-ordered and curiously kept, he will bite with great eagerness. The best bait for him is the spawn of a salmon, trout, or any other fish; and if you would have good sport with him, bait the places where you intend to fish with it a night or two before, or with large worms cut in pieces; and the earlier in the morning or the later in the evening that you fish, the better it will be. Your rod and line must be both strong and long, with a running plummet on the line; and let a little bit of lead be placed a foot or more above the hook, to keep the bullet from falling on it; so the worm will be at the bottom, where they always bite; and when the fish takes the bait, your plummet will lie and not choke him. By the bending of your rod you may know when he bites, as also with your hand you will feel him make a strong snatch; then strike, and you will rarely fail, if you play him well; but, if you manage him not dexterously, he will break your line.
The best time of fishing is about nine in the morning, and the most proper season is the latter end of May, June, July, and the beginning of August.
2. The Bleak*, is an eager fish, caught with all sorts of worms bred on trees or plants; as also with flies, patte, sheep's blood, &c. They may be angled for with half a score of hooks at once, if they can be all fastened on: he will also in the evening take a natural or artificial fly. If the day be warm and clear, there is no fly so good for him as the small fly at the top of the water, which he will take at any time of the day, especially in the evening: but if the day is cold and cloudy, gentles and caddis are the best; about two feet under water. No fish yields better sport to a young angler than the bleak. It is so eager, that it will leap out of the water for a bait.
There is another way of taking bleak, which is by whipping them in a boat, or on a bank-side in fresh water in a summer's evening, with a hazel top about five or six feet long and a line twice the length of the rod. But the best method is with a drabble, thus: Tie eight or ten small hooks across a line two inches above one another; the biggest hook the lowermost, (whereby you may sometimes take a better fish), and bait them with gentles, flies, or some small red worms, by which means you may take half a dozen or more at a time.
3. For the Bream†, observe the following directions, which will also be of use in carp-fishing.—Procure about a quart of large red worms; put them into fresh moss well washed and dried every three or four days, feeding them with fat mould and chopped fennel, and they will be thoroughly fouled in about three weeks.
Let your lines be silk and hair, but all silk is the best; let the floats be either swan-quills, or goose-quills. Let your plumb be a piece of lead in the shape of a pear, with a small ring at the little end of it; fasten the lead to the line, and the line-hook to the lead, about ten or twelve inches space between lead and hook will be enough; and take care the lead be heavy enough to sink the float. Having baited your hook well with a strong worm, the worm will draw the hook up and down in the bottom, which will provoke the bream to bite the more eagerly. It will be best to fit up three or four rods and lines in this manner, and set them as will be directed, and this will afford you much the better sport. Find the exact depth of the water if possible, that your float may swim on its surface directly over the lead; then provide the following ground-bait: take about a peck of sweet groats-ground malt; and having boiled it a very little, strain it hard through a bag, and carry it to the water-side where you have founded; and in the place where you suppose the fish frequent, there throw in the malt by handfuls squeezed hard together, that the stream may not separate it before it comes to the bottom; and be sure to throw it in at least a yard above the place where you intend the hook shall lie, otherwise the stream will carry it down too far. Do this about nine o'clock at night, keeping some of the malt in the bag; and go to the place about three the next morning; but approach very warily, lest you should be seen by the fish; for it is certain, that they have their sentinels watching on the top of the water, while the rest are feeding below. Having baited your hook so that the worm may crawl to and fro, the better to allure the fish to bite, cast it in at the place where you find the fish to stay most, which is generally in the broadest and deepest part of the river, and so that it may rest about the midst of your bait that is on the ground. Cast in your second line so that it may rest a yard above that, and a third about a yard below it. Let your rods lie on the bank with some stones to keep them down at the great ends; and then withdraw yourself, yet not so far back that you can have your eye upon all the floats: and when you see one bitten and carried away, do not be too hasty to run in, but give time to the fish to tire himself, and then touch him gently. When you perceive the float sink, creep to the water-side, and give it as much line as you can. If it is a bream or carp, they will run to the other side; which strike gently, and hold your rod at a bent a little while; but do not pull, for then you will spoil all; but you must first tire them before they can be landed, for they are very shy. If there are any carps in the river, it is an even wager that you take one or more of them: but if there are any pike or perch, they will be sure to visit the ground-bait, though they will not touch it, being drawn thither by the great resort of the small fish; and until you remove them, it is in vain to think of taking the bream or carp. In this case, bait one of your hooks with a small bleak, roach, or gudgeon, about two foot deep from your float, with a little red worm at the point of your hook; and if a pike be there, he will be sure to snap at it. This sport is good till nine o'clock in the morning; and, in a gloomy day, till night: but do not frequent the place too much, lest the fish grow shy.
4. The carp*. A person who angles for carp must arm himself with abundance of patience, because of its extraordinary fidelity and policy: they always choose to lie in the deepest places, either of ponds or rivers, where there is but a small running stream.
Further, observe, that they will seldom bite in cold weather; and you cannot be too early or too late at the sport in hot weather: and if he bite, you need not fear his hold; for he is one of those leather-mouthed fish that have their teeth in their throat.
Neither must you forget, in angling for him, to have a strong rod and line; and since he is so very wary, it will be proper to entice him, by baiting the ground with a coarse paste.
He seldom refuses the red worm in March, the caddis in June, nor the grasshopper in June, April, and September.
This fish does not only delight in worms, but also in sweet paste; of which there is great variety: the best is made of honey and sugar, and ought to be thrown into the water some hours before you begin to angle; neither will small pellets thrown into the water two or three days before be worse for this purpose, especially if chickens' guts, garbage, or blood mixed with bran and cow-dung, be also thrown in. But more particularly, as to a paste very proper for this use, you may make it in the manner following: Take a sufficient quantity of flour, and mingle it with veal, cut small, making it up with a compound of honey; then pound all together in a mortar till they are so tough as to hang upon the hook without wailing off. In order to effect which the better, mingle whitish wool with it; and if you keep it all the year round, add some virgin wax and clarified honey.
Again, if you fish with gentles, anoint them with honey, and put them on your hook, with a deep scarlet dipped in the like, which is a good way to deceive the fish.
Honey and crumbs of white-bread, mixed together, make also a very good paste.
In taking a carp either in pond or river, if the angler intends to add profit to his pleasure, he must take a peck of ale-grains, and a good quantity of any blood to mix with the grains, baiting the ground with it where he intends to angle. This food will wonderfully attract the scale-fish, as carp, tench, roach, dace, and bream.
Let him angle in a morning, plumbing his ground, and angling for carp with a strong line: the bait must be either paste, or a knotted red worm; and by this means he will have sport enough.
5. The chub, or chevin*, is a very strong, though inactive fish, yielding in a very little time after he is struck; and the larger he is, the more quietly he is taken. As for his food, he loves all sorts of worms and flies: also cheese, grain, and black worms, their bellies being slit that the white may appear. He is to be angled for early in the morning with snails; but in the heat of the day make use of some other bait; and in the afternoon, fish for him at ground or with fly; of the last of which there is none he covets more than a moth with a great head, whose body is yellow, with whitish wings, which is commonly found in gardens about the evening.
Description of proper Bait for the several sorts of Fish referred to in the annexed Table.
Flies. 1. 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 season from April to July. 2. Green-drake, found among stones by river-sides, has a yellow body ribbed with green, is long and slender, with wings like a butterfly; its tail turns on its back, and from May to Midsummer is very good. 3. Oak-fly, found in the body of an old oak or ash, with its head downwards, is of a brown colour, and excellent from May to September. 4. Palmer-fly or worm, found on leaves of plants, is commonly called a caterpillar, and when it comes to a fly is excellent for trout. 5. Ant-fly, found in anthills from June to September. 6. The May-fly is to be found playing at the river-side, especially against rain. 7. The black-fly is to be found upon every hawthorn, after the buds are come off.
Paste. 1. Take the blood of sheep's hearts, and mix it with honey and flour worked to a proper consistence. 2. Take old cheese grated, a little butter sufficient to work it, and colour it with saffron: in winter use rilly bacon instead of butter. 3. Crumbs of bread chewed or worked with honey, (or sugar), moistened with gum-ivy water. 4. Bread chewed, and worked in the hand till stiff.
Worms. 1. The earth-bob, found in sandy ground after ploughing; it is white, with a red head, and bigger than a gentle: another is found in heathy ground, with a blue head. Keep them in an earthen vessel well covered, and a sufficient quantity of the mould they harbour in. They are excellent from April to November. 2. Gentles, to be had from putrid flesh: let them lie in wheat-bran a few days before used. 3. Flag-worms, found in the roots of flags; they are of a pale yellow colour, are longer and thinner than a gentle, and must be scoured like them. 4. Cow-turd-bob, or clap-bait, found under a cow-turd from May to Michaelmas; it is like a gentle, but larger. Keep it in its native earth like the earth-bob. 5. Caddis-worm, or cod-bait, found under loose stones in shallow rivers; they are yellow, bigger than a gentle, with a black or blue head, and are in season from April to July. Keep them in flannel bags. 6. Lob-worm, found in gardens; it is very large, and has a red-head, a streak down the back, and a flat broad tail. 7. Marsh-worms, found in marshy ground; keep them in moss ten days before you use them: their colour is a bluish red, and are a good bait from March to Michaelmas. 8. Brandling red-worms, or blood-worms, found in rotten dunghills and tanners bark; they are small red-worms, very good for all small fish, have sometimes a yellow tail, and are called top-tail.
Fishes and insects. 1. Minnow. 2. Gudgeon. 3. Roach. 4. Dace. 5. Smelt. 6. Yellow frog. 7. Snail flit. 8. Grasshopper.
Fishing-Fly, a bait used in angling for divers kinds of fish. See Fishing.
The fly is either natural or artificial:
I. Natural flies are innumerable. The more usual for this purpose are mentioned in the preceding column.
There are two ways to fish with natural flies; either on the surface of the water, or a little underneath it.
In angling for chevin, roach, or dace, move not your natural fly swiftly, when you see the fish make at it; but rather let it glide freely towards him with the stream: but if it be in a still and slow water, draw the fly slowly sidewise by him, which will make him eagerly pursue.
II. The artificial fly is seldom used but in blustering weather, when the waters are so troubled by the winds, that the natural fly cannot be seen, nor felt upon them. Of this artificial fly there are reckoned no less than 12 sorts, of which the following are the principal.
1. For March, the dun-fly; made of dun-wool, and the feathers of the partridge's wing; or the body made of black wool, and the feathers of a black drake. 2. For April, the stone-fly; the body made of black wool, dyed yellow under the wings and tail. 3. For the beginning of May, the ruddy fly; made of red wool, and bound about with black silk, with the feathers of a black capon hanging dangling on his sides next his tail. 4. For June, the greenish fly; the body made of black wool, with a yellow list on either side, the wings taken off the wings of a buzzard, bound with black broken hemp. 5. The moorish fly, the body made of darkish wool, and the wings of the blackish mail of... | Names | Where found | Season | Time to tug | Depth from ground | Proper Baits | |-------|-------------|--------|-------------|-------------------|--------------| | Bream | rough fir river or mid. pond | April to Mich. | Sunrise to 9 | touch ground | Fish No. 1 | | Barbel | gravel-banks in currents under bridges | April to Aug. | 3 to Sun.-set | ditto | Fish No. 2 | | Btak | sandy bottom, deep rivers, cliffs | May to Okt. | very early or late | 6 inches from bottom | Fish No. 3 | | Carp | fill deep mud-bottoms, pond or river | May to Aug. | 3 inches from bottom | 1 | Fish No. 4 | | Chub or Dace | ditto | May to Dec. | 3 to Sun.-set | hot weather, mid-water | Fish No. 5 | | Charin | sandy bottom, deep rivers, cliffs | May to Okt. | all day | ditto | Fish No. 6 | | Pike | gravel floaks near clay-banks | May to Okt. | 6 to 12 inches from bottom | ditto | Fish No. 7 | | Perch | river in stream | May to Aug. | 1 to 5 | near or on ground | Fish No. 8 | | Pope | pond deeped past bottom | 2 to Sun.-set | ditto | mid-water | Fish No. 9 | | Roach | deep holes in rivers | May to Okt. | 6 inches from bottom | ditto | Fish No. 10 | | Salmon | sandy bottom, deep rivers, hips | May to Okt. | all day | ditto | Fish No. 11 | | Smelts | deep rivers | May to Okt. | 6 to 12 inches | ditto | Fish No. 12 | | Trout | ships thorns and docks | May to Okt. | mid-way to the bottom | ditto | Fish No. 13 | | Umber or Grayling | surfing stream and eddies of Mar. to Mich. | May to Okt. | cold weather 6 inches to 9 | ditto | Fish No. 14 |
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a drake. 6. The tawny fly, good till the middle of June; the body made of tawny wool, the wings made contrary one against the other, of the whitish mail of a white drake. 7. For July, the waft-fly; the body made of black wool, cast about with yellow silk, and the wings of drakes feathers. 8. The steel-fly, good in the middle of July; the body made with greenish wool, cast about with the feathers of a peacock's tail, and the wings made of those of the buzzard. 9. For August, the drake-fly; the body made with black wool cast about with black silk; his wings of the mail of a black drake, with a black head.
The best rules for artificial fly-fishing are,
1. To fish in a river somewhat disturbed with rain: or in a cloudy day, when the waters are moved by a gentle breeze; the fourth wind is best; and if the wind blow high, yet not so but that you may conveniently guard your tackle, the fish will rise in plain deeps; but if the wind be small, the best angling is in swift streams. 2. Keep as far from the water-side as may be; fish down the stream with the sun at your back, and touch not the water with your line. 3. Ever angle in clear rivers, with a small fly and slender wings; but in muddy places use a larger. 4. When, after rain, the water becomes brownish, use an orange fly; in a clear day, a light-colored fly; a dark fly for dark waters, &c. 5. Let the line be twice as long as the rod, unless the river be encumbered with wood. 6. For every sort of fly, have several of the same, differing in colour, to suit with the different complexions of several waters and weathers. 7. Have a nimble eye, and active hand, to strike presently with the rising of the fish; or else he will be apt to spue out the hook. 8. Let the fly fall first into the water, and not the line, which will scare the fish. 9. In slow rivers, or still places, cast the fly across the river, and let it sink a little in the water, and draw it gently back with the current.
Salmon-flies should be made with their wings standing one behind the other, whether two or four. This fish delights in the gaudiest colours that can be; chiefly in the wings, which must be long, as well as the tail.
Fishing-Floate, are little appendages to the line, serving to keep the hook and bait suspended at the proper depth, to discover when the fish has hold of them, &c. Of these there are divers 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 quill of a fit proportion, is preferable; pare the cork to a pyramidal form, and make it smooth.
Fishing-Hook, a small instrument made of steel-wire, of a proper form to catch and retain fish.
The fishing-hook, in general, ought to be long in the shank, somewhat thick in the circumference, the point even and straight; let the bending be in the shank.
For setting the hook on, use strong, but small silk, laying the hair on the inside of your hook; for if it be on the outside, the silk will fret and cut it asunder.
There are several sizes of these fishing-hooks, some big, some little; and of these, some have peculiar names; as, 1. Single hooks. 2. Double hooks; which have two bendings, one contrary to the other. 3. Snappers, or gorgers, which are the hooks to whip the artificial fly upon, or bait with the natural fly. 4. Springers, or spring-hooks; a kind of double hooks, with a spring, which flies open upon being struck into any fish, and so keep its mouth open.
Fishing-Line, is either made of hair, twisted; or silk; or the Indian grass.—The best colours are the forret, white, and grey; the two last for clear waters, the first for muddy ones. Nor is the pale watery green despicable; this colour is given artificially, by steeping the hair in a liquor made of alum, foot, and the juice of walnut-leaves, boiled together.
Fishing-Rod, a long slender rod or wand, to which the line is fastened, for angling.—Of these there are several sorts; as, 1. A troller, or trolling-rod, which has a ring at the end of the rod, for the line to go thro' when it runs off a reel. 2. A whipper, or whipping-rod; a top-rod, that is weak in the middle, and top-heavy, but all slender and fine. 3. A dropper; which is a strong rod and very light. 4. A snapper, or snap-rod; which is a strong pole, peculiarly used for the pike. 5. A bottom-rod; being the same as the dropper, but somewhat more pliable. 6. A sniggling or procking stick; a forked stick, having a short strong line, with a needle, baited with a lobe worm: this is only for eels in their holes.
Fishing-Frog, or Angler. See Lophius.
Right of Fishing, and property of fish. It has been held, that where the lord of the manor hath the foil on both sides of the river, it is a good evidence that he hath a right of fishing; and it puts the proof upon him who claims liberam piscariam; but where a river ebbs and flows, and is an arm of the sea, there it is common law, to all, and he who claims a privilege to himself must prove it; for if the trespass is brought for fishing there, the defendant may justify, that the place where is brachium maris, in quo unusquique subditus domini regis habet et habere debet liberam piscariam. In the Severn the foil belongs to the owners of the land on each side; and the foil of the river Thames is in the kings, but the fishing is common to all. He who is owner of the foil of a private river, hath separalis piscaria; and he that hath liber piscaria, hath a property in the fish, and may bring a possession action for them; but communis piscaria is like the case of all other commons. One that has a close pond in which there are fish, may call them piscis foet, in an indictment, &c. but he cannot call them bona & catalla, if they be not in trunks. There needs no privilege to make a fish-pond, as there doth in the case of a warren. See Franchise.