Part 6

This gentleman has for years kept trout in a kind of store stream, and having fed them with every kind of food, has had some of them increase from one pound to ten pound in four years.

Steven Oliver, in his agreeable scenes and recollections of fly fishing, mentions a trout taken in the neighbourhood of Great Driffield, in September, 1832, which measured thirty-one inches in length, twenty-one in girth, and weighed seventeen pounds.

A few years since, a notice was sent to the Linnæan Society, of a trout that was caught on the 11th January, 1822, in a little stream, ten feet wide, branching from the Avon, at the back of Castle-street, Salisbury. On being taken out of the water, its weight was found to be twenty-five pounds. Mrs. Powell, at the bottom of whose garden the fish was first discovered, placed it in a pond, where it lived some time.

The age to which trout may arrive, has not been ascertained. Mr. Oliver mentions that in August, 1809, a trout died which had been for twenty-eight years an inhabitant of the well, in Dumbarton Castle.

A trout died in 1826, which had lived 53 years in a small well in the orchard of Mr. William Mossop, of Board Hall, near Broughton, in Furness.

The trout in our streams rarely exceed a pound in weight: this may, in some degree, be accounted for from the circumstance, that the Devon and Cornish rivers are very rapid, consequently, the insects which fall from the bushes, are carried so swiftly down the stream, that whilst a fish is engaged in seizing on one, the others pass rapidly by: the same remarks may, in times of flood, apply to worms, &c. In more tranquil rivers a fly seldom escapes; it lights, or is blown on the water, is immediately espied, and the fish, whilst occupied in seizing one, has half-a-dozen in his eye, each awaiting his leisure in calm repose. That our trout will increase rapidly, under favorable circumstances, I can testify from my own experience. I knew several that were placed in a pond, in August, which averaged from eight to ten ounces; in the July following, I caught the same fish with a fly, which averaged from one pound to one pound and a half.

Before taking leave of trout, I must notice a fly which may be used with success after sunset, in the months of July and August. It is called the white moth, and has often given me sport as late as ten and eleven on fine moon-light nights. Choose an open place on a tranquil portion of the river; the fly may be thrown with less nicety than in the day-time, and catching a fish does not alarm the neighbouring fry, who will frequently seize the moth immediately after the water has been disturbed by the efforts of the captured fish to rid itself from the hook.

Fly-fishing for salmon is seldom pursued in these counties. The fish meets with such a host of formidable enemies as soon as it quits the sea, that comparatively few ascend our rivers. The intent of the proprietors of our fisheries appears to be the annihilation of this prince of fishes. The most impracticable weirs are constructed, over which it is almost impossible for a fish to leap; in the pools immediately below, the rapacious fisherman casts his net every tide; whilst above, if perchance a fish does succeed in evading the cunning of his netting foes, a host of spearmen are on watch by night, as well as by day, to immolate the persecuted wanderer.

Laws exist, restricting the capture of salmon, within certain months; but that which in this case is truly everybody’s business, is considered nobody’s; consequently, in season and out of season are they caught, sold, and devoured, as openly as if no penalties were incurred by the act. That food, which under proper regulation would soon become abundant and reasonable, can only now be placed on the tables of the affluent.

The preservation of salmon I hold to be a question of national importance; so much so, that I consider conservators should be appointed to protect them, as well from the unlawful proceedings of the owners of fisheries, as from the unscrupulous acts of the poacher. Weirs should be so constructed as to admit of their ascending whenever the waters are swollen by floods; hutches should be kept open at least forty-eight hours during the week.

Besides the perils which await the parents on their journey from the sea, their young are also in imminent danger on their route towards the sea. The millers take them in traps, by thousands, and dispose of them by the gallon to the neighbours; indeed, at times they are taken in such vast quantities that pigs are regaled upon their delicate flesh.

Man is not content with employing his own ingenuity in capturing this delicious fish, he calls to his aid the sagacity of the dog, which we find becomes, by practice, as expert a fisherman as his master: numerous instances of this are on record. The following are well-established facts:--In the work by the Reverend William Hamilton, an interesting account is related of the assistance afforded by a water-dog to some salmon fishermen, when working nets in shallow pools. The dog takes his post in a ford where the water is not very deep, and at a distance below the net; if a salmon escapes the net, the fish makes a shoot down the river, in the direction towards the sea; the dog watches, and marks his approach by the ripple on the water, and endeavours to turn the fish back towards the net, or catch him; if he fails in both attempts, the dog then quits the water, in which the pace of the fish is too fast for him, and runs with all his speed down the bank to intercept the fish at the next shallow ford, where another opportunity, and a second diverting attempt, occurs.

Dogs are occasionally used in Glamorganshire, when trying for salmon. They appear to take great pleasure in the pursuit, exhibiting by turns the most patient watchfulness, persevering exertion, or extraordinary sagacity, as either quality may best effect the wishes of the master.

In some parts of Wales, where the rivers are narrow, the salmon are caught in a net drawn by men on each bank; dogs are trained to swim over from side to side, with the head and ground lines of the net, as required.

A clever poacher at Totnes, allows that he has killed many salmon in the night, on the Dart, by setting a trammel net at the lower end of the deep pools, by sending in a dog at the upper end of the pool, which dog he had trained to dive like an otter. The fish, as soon as the dog dived, immediately dashed down the stream, and were taken in the net at the lower end of the pool.

The Earl of Home, in a letter to the Earl of Montague, dated 10th January, 1837, relates the following history of a Newfoundland dog, which belonged to his uncle. He knew the Monday mornings as well as the fishermen themselves, and used to go to the mill dam at Fireburn Mill, on these mornings. He there took his station, at the opening in the dam, to allow the salmon to pass, and has been known to kill from 12 to 20 salmon in a morning: the fish he took to the side. The then Lord Tankerville instituted a process against the dog. This case was brought before the Court of Session, and the process was entitled, “The Earl of Tankerville versus a dog, the property of the Earl of Home.” Judgment was given in favor of the dog.

Hoping the time may arrive, when the salmon in our rivers will afford similar opportunities for the display of canine sagacity, I shall, in anticipation of such good days, proceed to offer a few brief hints, which our grand-children may find useful, when tempted by a strong breeze and a dark gloomy sky, to cast the fly over a salmon run.

Follow the advice given with reference to the purchase of trout tackle; go to the best, which you will find the cheapest market.

Let the manufacturer know the average width of the river, and he will provide the rod, &c., accordingly.

In the selection of your flies, be guided by the suggestions of a local fisherman--obtain patterns, and get them fac-similied by a well-reputed maker, whose hooks are known to stand a long-contested struggle.

Commence fishing at the head of the pool Z., instead of at the tail, as in trout fishing.

Throw the fly directly across the river, from where the fisherman stands at A., to B. Let it sink a little below the surface; then guide it from B. to G., forming the segment of a circle; give it, during this passage, a jerking or sliding motion, such as water-spiders exhibit when sporting on still pools by the side of rivers; at each jerk draw the fly gently towards you, two feet or two and a half for salmon, seven or ten inches for peal. For instance, your fly having lighted at B., draw it to C., then pause a moment, when the stream will carry it down to D. again; draw it to E., and let it fall back to F.; pursue the same process until the curve from B. to G. is completed. By giving this motion to the fly, it appears to be struggling against the stream. In drawing it towards you the wings collapse, when you pause they expand.

Having cast five or six times from B. to G., move on a few paces, and throw over to H., forming a curve to I., and so on until the pool is carefully tried.

If a fish has been moved, note the place, and try him again in a few minutes. Be careful, not to throw immediately over the spot where he rose; but let the fly approach him in one of the glides made in the curve. Should the fish then take the fly, don’t strike directly, but allow a second or two to intervene, when you will find the fish well hooked. Don’t be frightened--keep perfectly cool--hold your rod well back, the butt end rather from you; indulge the fish with as much line as he requires, taking care however to bear well and steadily against him, so that he encounters much resistance in drawing the line over the rod and off the reel. When the fish slackens his pace, reel up as much of your line as you can do with safety; this economy may be most useful when he again rushes off. The length of time occupied in playing the salmon depends somewhat upon the nature of the adjacent banks, and also upon the size and disposition of the fish, some being more lively than others; and a small fish will frequently afford better sport than one of twice or thrice its weight.

A gaff, or landing net, is necessary, as no gut will stand the strain of lifting a large fish out of the water. The foregoing remarks will be found applicable to peal fishing, which may be obtained in some of our rivers, and is justly considered very excellent sport.

To enter more into the detail of this amusement is not my present intention, I must be content with this rough sketch, leaving others to complete the picture. It is proper however to remark, that the flies used in peal fishing are about twice the size of those used for trout: they should be purchased under the advice of an experienced fisherman, as they differ materially from these which are applicable to the Irish and other rivers.

The ingenuity of the sportsman has been taxed to vary the means of capturing the salmon. Sometimes they are shot whilst leaping the weirs, at others they are speared by torch lights from the banks of rivers, or from boats. The otter has been trained to catch and bring the fish to his master; and, in “Red Gauntlet,” we find a lively sketch of a salmon chase, which is thus described by Darsie Latimer, in one of his letters to Allan Fairford.

“The scene was animated by the exertions of a number of horsemen, who were employed in hunting salmon. Aye, Alan, lift up your hands and eyes as you will, I can give their mode of fishing no name so appropriate, for they chased the fish at full gallop, and struck them with their barbed spears, as you see hunters spearing boars in the old tapestry. The salmon, to be sure, take the thing more quietly than the boars; but they are so swift in their own element, that to pursue and strike them is the task of a good horseman with a quick eye, a determined hand, and a full command both of his horse and weapon. The shouts of the fellows, as they galloped up and down in the animating exercise--their loud bursts of laughter, when any of their number caught a fall--and still louder acclamations, when any of the party made a capital stroke with his lance--gave so much animation to the whole scene, that I caught the enthusiasm of the sport, and ventured forward a considerable space on the sands.”