Trout Flies of Devon and Cornwall, and When and How to Use Them

by G. W. Soltau

The Cormorant, an aquatic bird of China, and other countries, is an excellent swimmer and diver, and also flies well. It is very voracious, and as soon as it perceives a fish in the water, it darts down with great rapidity, and clings its prey firmly, by means of saw like indentations on its feet. The fish is brought up with one foot; the other foot enables the bird to rise to the surface, and by an adroit movement, the fish is loosened from the foot and grasped in the bird’s mouth.

Le Comte, a French writer, describes the mode in which the Chinese avail themselves of this angling propensity on the part of the cormorants: “to this end,” says he, “cormorants are educated as men rear up spaniels or hawks, and one man can easily manage one hundred. The fisher carries them out into the lake, perched on the gunnel of his boat, where they continue tranquil and expecting his orders with patience. When arrived at the proper place, at the first signal given, each flies a different way to fulfil the task assigned it. It is very pleasant on this occasion, to behold with what sagacity they portion out the lake or the canal where they are upon duty. They hunt about, they plunge, they rise a hundred times to the surface, until they have at last found their prey. They then seize it with their beak by the middle, and carry it without fail to their master. When the fish is too large, they then give each other mutual assistance; one seizes it by the head, the other by the tail, and in this manner carry it to the boat together. There, the boatman stretches out one of his long oars, on which they perch, and being delivered of their burden they then fly off to pursue their sport. When they are wearied he lets them rest for a while: but they are never fed till their work is over. In this manner they supply a very plentiful table—but still their natural gluttony cannot be reclaimed even by education. They have always, when they fish, a string fastened round their throats, to prevent them from devouring their prey, as otherwise they would at once satiate themselves and discontinue the pursuit the moment they had filled their bellies.”

Local information, is at all times, most valuable to the fisherman; without it, his money is often wasted, and his patience, sorely taxed. He purchases flies, which frighten, rather than attract, the fish. A sportsman should seek instruction from every quarter, and not take for granted that the experience he has acquired in his own neighbourhood, will serve him when he roams from home. But many are too apt to rely on their own judgment; they procure flies, which are totally inapplicable to our rivers; they sally forth on a piscatory trip well provided with these monsters; they have little or no sport; are disgusted with our rivers; and seek in some distant land that amusement, which under more favorable auspices, they might have obtained in these counties. Not that our fish generally run so large, as in some parts of the kingdom—they are however very strong, and one of a half pound, will afford better sport, than one of double the weight in some of the more popular streams.

Let not the reader flatter himself, that the closest attention to the suggestions I shall shortly offer; nay, that all the information contained in the numerous books, which have been written upon this interesting subject; will, at once, enable him to supply the larder or gratify a friend; they are only facilities to the acquirement of the science; practice and patience, are required in large proportion to form the expert fisherman. The days, the weeks, which he must devote to the attainment of his wishes, will not however be unprofitably passed, if he avail himself of the numerous opportunities which will offer for the study of those works of nature, with which his path will be abundantly strewed. He will find opportunities for acquiring an insight into the natural history of the finny tribe; into the natural history of the busy fly, or beauteous moth, that tempt the wily fish. The lichen and the moss—the thousand plants that line the rivers bank, or the stately trees and shapeless rocks that shade its waters; all, are subjects, which the more he contemplates, the more he will wonder and admire. And, when by practice, he finds himself an adept in the art, and looks with pleasure on his captured prey; it may suggest the fate of those, who attracted by the glittering tinsel and allured by the gaudy show, follow these dangerous snares and fall a sacrifice to the pomps and vanities of life.

The expert fisherman must be temperate in all things: the steady hand and quick eye are indispensable; the drunkard must quit our ranks,—the feverish temperament,—the blood-shot eye,—the giddy head, bespeak the peril of the man—not of the fish. The epicure must follow his boon companion;—the bloated cheek—the shortened breath—the gouty ancle, are more likely to furnish food for fish, than fish, for food. That temperance has characterised many of our best artists, is evidenced, from the extreme age that several have acquired; for it cannot have been from mere accident, or from their having originally stronger stamina than other mortals, that so many have lived to an age far exceeding the ordinary term of human existence.

Henry Jenkins, who lived to the age of 169, and who boasted when giving evidence in a court of justice, to a fact of one hundred and twenty years date, that he could dub a fly as well as any man in Yorkshire, continued angling for more than a century, after the greater number of those who were born at the same time, were mouldering in their graves.

Dr. Nowell was a most indefatigable angler, allotting a tenth part of his time to his favorite recreation, and giving a tenth part of his income and all the fish he caught to the poor. He lived to the age of 95, having neither his eyesight, hearing, or memory impaired.

Walton, lived to upwards of 90.

Henry Mackenzie, died in January, 1831, aged 86.

These and many others that might be named, were remarkable for their temperate habits: there is no doubt however, that their pursuits by the side of the running streams, whose motion imparts increased activity to the vital principle of the air; and, that composure of mind (so necessary to the perfect health of the body), to which angling so materially contributes, must also have had an influence on their physical constitutions.