ANGLING is the art of alluring and capturing fish by means of a rod, line, and hook —the hook being furnished with a lure, which is either some object on which the animals naturally prey, or is a counterfeit of such an object. A. is of great antiquity, as we learn from mention being made of it by the prophet Isaiah: "The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks," chap. six., v. 8. The practice has continued through all ages, till the present time, and iu almost all countries. In 1496, Wynken de Worde " einprented at Westmestre" a "Treatise of Fysshinge with an Angle, by Dame Juliana Berners or Barnes." Izaak Walton, in 1653, gave to the world his Complete Angler, a work afterwards enriched with additions by his friend Charles Cotton, and till this day esteemed both for correctness of details and the singularly happy humor of its apologues, poetical pieces, and disquisitions.
We reserve for future articles the habits and best methods of capturing the principal species of fish that haunt the streams and lochs of Great Britain, and here confine our selves to a short notice of A. apparatus, and some general directions, etc., for the guidance of tyros, proceeding at once to describe, first: FISHING-TACKLE.—The angler's equipment consists of rod and reel, lines, hooks, baits, hair-flies, tackle-book, and basket; these should be as simple as possible in their construction, many accessories added by the fishing-tackle maker being more ornamental and cum brous than really useful.
The rod must be or short, stiff or supple, to suit the habits of different species of fish; thus, a long rod of 16 or 18 ft., very strong, but not very elastic, is necessary for salmon; while a rod of 10 to 14 ft., light, elastic, and finely tapering, is sufficient for trout. The rod for trout and similar kinds of fishing should be light enough to be wielded easily for several hours together by one hand. Spliced rods are easier than those with joints, and do not so readily get out of order. For salmon and other kinds of large fish, a large rod of several pieces, united by joints, is necessary.
The reel or pirn—an apparatus fixed near the bottom of the rod, and upon which the line is wound—should be simple in its mechanism, and made so as to wind or unwind freely and quickly.
Lines should be long, smooth, and flexible, and of a material not easily injured by wet. The part of the line which is wound upon the reel, and passes along the rod, is called the reel-line; that which is attached to it, is called the casting-line. The casting line is usually made of triple gut, twisted, and between it and the gut to which the 00A3 arc attached, there should be several threads of strong single gut. Reel-lines vary from 20 to 120 yds. in length, according to the dimensions of the water to be fished, and the habits of the species to be captured. Lines are made of various materials, such as horse hair and oiled silk. If, in purchasing, the angler be at a loss to decide between a heavy or a light line, he should incline rather to the heavy, for the sake of its casting superiority, and the advantage gained in Windy weather. The casting-line is sometimes made of horsehair, lighter and finer than the reel-line, and at the end of this is attached the gut line—the finest of all. Sometimes, however, the horsehair casting-line is dispensed with. The casting and gut lines should taper in thickness from the reel-line to the end hook on the gut-line; all knots should be small, but secure, the only breaks discernible, by a general glance throughout the entire length of casting and gut lines, being the hooks.
Books range in size from several inches down to a quarter of an in. in length. Their chief places of manufacture are Kendal and Redditch.
Baits consist of any substance put upon a hook to act as a lure to the fish ; and when used, the baited hook is dropped into and allowed to sink in the water, instead of being kept near the surface, as is the case with fly. The materials, living or dead, used for bait are very numerous, the principal kinds being worms, caddis worms, pastes, maggots, minnows, artificial and natural, and various kinds of insects. The methods of using baits are extremely various, and in many cases rather complicated.