Superior Fishing / Or, the Striped Bass, Trout, and Black Bass of the Northern States

by Robert Barnwell Roosevelt

Nothing can be thoroughly done unless strict attention is given to minutiæ. The material must be selected and protected with the greatest care, the scissors and knife must be sharp, the spring pliers of suitable strength, and the nails of the workman must be long and his hands scrupulously clean. Hereafter the table-vice, the use of which was recommended in the Game Fish of North America, and which will be found both convenient and for extreme neatness necessary, will be dispensed with, and the hook held in the hand during the entire operation. This at first may appear awkward, require more time, and give an inferior result; but sad would be the case if the loss of a vice were to diminish a man’s capabilities.

The selection of the hook depends mainly upon the fancy of the fisherman, and partly upon the locality of its destined use. If fish are scarce and shy, select one that will insure striking; if they are abundant, but strong and vigorous, choose one that will hold. In trout-fishing there are two that bear the palm in striking, the sneck bent and the Kirby bent Limerick; in holding a fish after he is struck, my preference is for Warren’s Lake-trout hook, which, however, does not make a handsome fly; for salmon-fishing, the O’Shaunessey Limerick is the general favorite. The objection to the straight or hollow-pointed Limerick, is that it may be drawn over a flat surface without catching, while the point of the O’Shaunessey, by projecting, catches and penetrates.

Fish-hooks of the best quality of home manufacture, of all shapes and sizes, may be obtained at from twenty-five to seventy-five cents a hundred, and will be found equal if not superior to any English hook at double the price, or they can be manufactured of any shape desired.

So few persons make their own flies in this country that none of the tackle-makers sell the materials, and hence the amateur will have to collect the latter as opportunity offers. Gut, of course, can be purchased anywhere; but the strongest kind of that suitable for salmon-fishing is often difficult to obtain, if not entirely out of the market. In trout-fishing, select fine, round, transparent strands, and pay from one to two dollars per hank of one hundred strands; for salmon choose the strongest and roundest, and pay from three to four dollars. Gut is imported from Spain and Italy, and is made by drawing out a dead silk-worm till it is of the proper fineness; and none imported from the East, and no imitation of grass, sinew, or the like, is worth using. The quality can be determined by its hardness; if it resists the teeth well, it is good; age weakens and finally decays it.

The best wax, although it is by no means perfect, is made of one part of resin, one of beeswax, and four of shoemaker’s wax, the two former melted together and poured into water, and then worked in with the latter. It should be kept in a small piece of leather. Shoemaker’s wax itself is the strongest, but is sticky in warm weather and hard in cold. The best silk is the finest sewing-machine silk, marked with three 0’s on the spool; but for very small trout-hooks the better plan is to twist two or three strands of spool floss-silk together and wax them carefully.

Tinsel of a superior kind is difficult to obtain; the silver should be both variegated and plain, and the yellow either gold or well covered with gilt, and both flat and wound over fine silk. A mixture of both sorts of a poor quality is used to tie linen goods, and can be obtained at the furnishing stores, but a better article is to be had from the importers of gold and silver braids. The proper kind of floss-silk comes in spools, and can be wound off by the single thread over the hand till a proper thickness is attained, and will work much better than the common floss skeins. If the latter are used, they must be divided into several strands and are apt to bunch.

Worsted of all colors can be obtained in the rough, or the yarn may be picked or used intact; the former is the best plan, and rivals mohair in appearance.

Mohair may be purchased from the importers of woollens, while it seems impossible, except by direct importation from the English tackle-shops, to obtain either pig’s hair or seal’s fur. For salmon-flies the two last are infinitely preferable, having a gloss that no other material possesses.

Mohair and camlets are the finest selection of goat’s hair (the former being carded and the latter combed), and work beautifully. The most elegant flies are those with silk bodies, but they are rarely so effective as those of mohair. Many of the wild animals of our woods furnish a fine fur, such as the grey, red, and black squirrels, martin, mink, rabbit, and others.

A golden pheasant is indispensable for salmon-flies, and a spoiled skin can be obtained from the taxidermists at from two to five dollars, according to their scarcity. Hackles for salmon-flies should be large and from matured cocks, those for dyeing delicate colors pure white; while for trout-flies they should be small, either from hens or from cocks not over two years old, and taken from the upper part of the head. They must taper well to the point and not have a stiff stem, and should have the fibre about the length of the hook shank. For wing-flies they must be smaller than for hackle-flies and palmers, and the superfluous fibres are to be stripped off before the feather is tied on. Small neck feathers of almost any bird will make a hackle sufficiently large for the midge flies. The natural colors afford abundant variety for trout-flies, but for salmon the gayest must be dyed. The necessary colors are red, claret, blue, orange, purple, and yellow; and by suiting the dye to the natural color, so that the latter shall shine through, a fine effect is often produced. Considerable practice and experience will be necessary in selecting hackles to distinguish the weak from the harsh, and to determine the proper size and elasticity. Collect all varieties of dimension and color, and tying each selection round the roots with a thread, keep them in separate papers. After a while, those that experience shall have proved to be unsuitable may be discarded.