ANGLING, the art of catching fish with a hook, or angle (Anglo-Saxon ongel), baited with worms, small fish, flies, etc. We find occasional allusions to this pursuit among the Greek and Latin classical writers. The oldest work on the subject in English is the "Trea tyse of Fysshinge with an Angle," printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1496. Walton's inimitable discourse on angling was first printed in 1653.
The chief appliances required by an angler are a rod, line, hooks, and baits. Rods are made of various materials, split-bamboo being preferred by experts. In length they may vary from 10 feet to more than double, with a corresponding difference in strength—a rod for salmon being necessarily much stronger than one suited for ordinary brook trout. The reel, an apparatus for winding up the line, is attached to the rod near the lower end, where the hand grasps it while fishing. The best are usually made of brass, are of simple construc tion and so made as to wind or unwind freely and rapidly. That part of the line which passes along the rod and is wound on the reel is called the reel line, and may vary from 20 to 100 yards in length, according to the size of the water and the habits of the fish angled for; it is usually made of twisted horse hair and silk, or of oiled silk alone. The cast ing line, which is attached to this, is made of the same materials, but lighter and finer. To the end of this is tied a
piece of fine gut, on which the hook, or hooks, are fixed. The casting or gnt lines should decrease in thickness from the reel line to the hooks.
The hook, of finely tempered steel, should readily bend without breaking, and yet retain a sharp point. It should be long in the shank and deep in the bend; the point straight and true to the level of the shank; and the barb long. Floats formed of cork, goose and swan quills, etc., are often used to buoy up the hook so that it may float clear of the bottom. For heavy fish or strong streams a cork float is used; in slow water and for lighter fish quill floats. Baits may consist of a great variety of materials, natural or artificial. The artificial flies so much used in angling for trout and salmon are composed of hairs, furs and wools, of every variety, mingled with pieces of feathers, and se cured together by plated wire, or gold and silver thread, marking silk, wax, etc. Artificial minnows, or other small fish, are also used by way of bait, and are so contrived as to spin rapidly when drawn through the water in order to attract the notice of the fish angled for.