“But I a little angler,
With crooked pin for hook,
Would shun each noisy wrangler,
To fish the little brook.”
What can be more delightful than angling? Not indeed so much on account of the fish we may catch, but for the pleasantness of the recreation itself, for the cool streams, the shady trees, the little sunny nooks, the tiny or gigantic cascades, the meandering rills, the still pools, “with sedges overhung;” the picturesque mill-wheels, the deep mill-ponds, “smooth sheeted by the flood;” and above all, for the hair-breadth escapes, for the duckings, for the hazards, for the triumphs. We do not wonder at boys being fond of angling, it is almost an instinct with them, and has long been a favourite amusement with boys of all degrees, ages and constitutions. Therefore we shall be somewhat comprehensive in our notices of this interesting sport, that every boy who can bait a hook and hold a line may be an angler if he will.
A WORD ABOUT FISH.
First, however, let us say a word about fish in general, before we come to fish in particular. Fish or fishes are, to speak scientifically, a class of vertebrated animals (having a backbone) inhabiting the water; which breathe through the medium of that fluid by means of branchiæ or gills, instead of lungs; which swim by means of fins, and are mostly covered with scales. They are also generally furnished with a white membraneous bag close to the backbone, called the air bladder, by the dilatation or compression of which it is supposed they can rise or sink in the water at pleasure. All parts of their bodies seem to aid them in swimming in the water; their fins, their tails, and the undulation of their back-bones assist progression, and their whole structure is as much adapted for swimming as that of a bird is for flight.
The fins of fish consist of thin elastic membrane, supported by bony rays, and are denominated according to their position—dorsal on the back, pectoral on the breast, ventral near the vent, anal that between the vent and the tail, and caudal the tail fins. The dorsal and ventral fins appear to balance the fish, and the pectoral to push it forward; while the tail fins are the grand instruments of motion, and enable the creature to dart forward almost as rapidly as the bullet from a gun.
With regard to the senses of fishes, the eye holds the first place; but this is best adapted for seeing under water. Of the organ of hearing there is no outward sign. The organ of taste is thought to be very unsensitive, and the sense of touch but slightly developed. To preserve their own existence, and to transmit it to their posterity, seems to be their only enjoyment; they move forward in pursuit of whatever they can swallow, conquer, or enjoy, and their insatiable appetite impels them to encounter every danger, whilst to their rapacity there seems to be no bound. A single pike has been known to devour a hundred roach in three days. The fecundity of fish is prodigious. The number of eggs in the codfish often amounts to more than three millions; those of flounders are above a million, of the mackarel 500,000, of the sole 100,000, and of the lobster 20,000; but the sturgeon is far more productive than any of these, as it has been known to have more than twenty millions of eggs!
Without saying any more about “Fish in the abstract,” as the angler called his “catch,” when he returned without one, we must go to the art of “catching fish;” and the first thing to be attended to is the necessary fishing apparatus, which may be increased to any extent; but the young angler would be wise to limit his stock as much as possible. We have fished many a hundred miles of water, and killed many a thousand of fish, with no better equipment than this:—One rod of about fourteen feet long, with three tops,—one stiff top, for bottom fishing and trolling, and two for fly-fishing. Two reels or winches, one holding a silk and hair line of thirty-five yards in length for fly-fishing, and the other holding a similar line, of forty yards, but much stronger, for bottom fishing, trolling, &c. One moderate-sized creel or fishing basket. One tin bait-box for worms or gentles; one tin live-bait can for carrying pike baits or minnows; and one strong bag for carrying ground-bait. A landing-net; some shoemaker’s wax in a piece of soft leather; a large clasp-knife; a pair of sharp-pointed scissors; a pocket-book, the centre filled with leaves of flannel to hold flies, and the remainder fitted up with gut, hooks, silk, baiting-needles, a pair of small pliers, split shot, floats, &c.
ABOUT THE ROD.
The rod is a material article in the young angler’s catalogue, and much care should be taken to procure a good one. The fishing-tackle shops keep a great variety, made of bamboo cane, hazel, hickory, and other kinds of wood. Rods are of different lengths, some fitted as walking-canes, and others made to pack in canvass bags; the latter are preferred, because you may have them any length, and they are more true. Those made of bamboo cane are the best for general angling; but the rods made of the white cane much superior for fine fishing, particularly for roach, being very light in weight, but stiff.