five and thirty and forty of the best Trouts in the River What shame and pity is it then that such a River should be destroyed by the basest sort of people by those unlawful ways of fire and netting in the night and of damming groping spearing hanging and hooking by day which are now grown so common that though we have very good Laws to punish such Offenders every Rascal does it for ought I see impunè To conclude I cannot now in honesty but frankly tell you that many of these flies I have nam'd at least so made as we make them here will peradventure do you no great service in your Southern Rivers and will not conceal from you but that I have sent flies to several friends in London that for ought I could ever hear never did any great feats with them and therefore if you intend to profit by my instructions you must come to angle with me here in the Peak and so if you please let us walk up to Supper and to morrow if the day be windy as our daies here commonly are 't is ten to one but we shall take a good dish of fish for dinner CHAP. IX PISC. A good day to you Sir I see you will alwaies be stirring before me Viat Why to tell you the truth I am so allur'd with the sport I had yesterday that I long to be at the River again and when I heard the wind sing in my Chamber window could forbear no longer but leap out of bed and had just made an end of dressing my self as you came in Pisc. Well I am both glad you are so ready for the day and that the day is so fit for you and look you I have made you three or four flies this morning this silver twist hackle this bears dun this light brown and this dark brown any of which I dare say will do but you may try them all and see which does best only I must ask your pardon that I cannot wait upon you this Morning a little business being fal'n out that for two or three hours will deprive me of your Company but I 'le come call you home to dinner and my man shall attend you Viat Oh Sir mind your affairs by all means do but lend me a little of your skill to these fine flies and unless it have forsaken me since yesterday I shall find luck of my own I hope to do something Pisc. The best Instruction I can give you is that seeing the wind curles the water and blows the right way you would now angle up the still deep to day for betwixt the Rocks where the streams are you would find it now too brisk and besides I would have you take fish in both Waters Viat I 'le obey your Direction and so a good morning to you Come young man let you and I walk together But heark you Sir I have not done vvith you yet I expect another Lesson for angling at the bottom in the afternoon Pisc. Well Sir I 'le be ready for you CHAP. X. PISC. Oh Sir are you return'd you have but just prevented me I was coming to call you Viat I am glad then I have sav'd you the labour Pisc. And how have you sped Viat You shall see that Sir presently look you Sir here are three * Spoke like a South-Country man brace of Trouts one of them the biggest but one that ever I kill'd with a flie in my life and yet I lost a bigger than that with my Flie to boo't and here are three Graylings and one of them longer by some inches than that I took yesterday and yet I thought that a good one too Pisc. Why you have made a pretty good mornings work on 't and now Sir what think you of our River Dove Viat I think it to be the best Trout River in England and am so far in love with it that if it were mine and that I could keep it to my self I would not exchange that water for all the Land it runs over to be totally debarr'd from 't Pisc. That Complement to the River speaks you a true lover of the Art of angling And now Sir to make part of amends for sending you so uncivilly out alone this Morning I will my self dress you this dish of fish for your dinner walk but into the parlour you will find one Book or other in the window to entertain you the while and you shall have it presently Viat Well Sir I obey you Pisc. Look you Sir have I not made haste Viat Believe me Sir that you have and it looks so well I long to be at it Pisc. Fall too then now Sir what say You am I a tolerable Cook or no Viat So good a one that I did never eat so good Fish in my life This Fish is infinitely better than any I ever tasted of the kind in my life 'T is quite another thing than our Trouts about London Pisc. You would say so if that Trout you eat of were in right season but pray eat of the Grayling which upon my word at this time is by much the better Fish Viat In earnest and so it is and I have one request to make to you which is that as you have taught me to catch Trout and Grayling you will now teach me how to dress them as these are drest which questionless is of all other the best way Pisc. That I will Sir with all my heart and am glad you like them so well as to make that request and they are drest thus Take your Trout wash and dry him with a clean Napkin then open him and having taken out his guts and all the blood wipe him very clean within but wash him not and give him three scotches with a Knife to the bone on one side only After which take a clean Kettle and put in as much hard stale Beer but it must not be dead Vinegar and a little Whitewine and Water as will cover the Fish you intend to boyl then throw into the Liquor a good quantity of Salt the Rind of a Lemon a handful of slic't Horse-Radish root with a handsom little fagot of Rosemary Time and Winter-Savory Then set your Kettle upon a quick fire of wood and let your Liquor boyl up to the height before you put in your Fish and then if there be many put them in one by one that they may not so cool the Liquor as to make it fall and whilst your Fish is boyling beat up the Butter for your Sawce with a Ladle full or two of the Liquor it is boyling in and being boyld enough immediately pour the Liquor from the Fish and being laid in a Dish pour your Butter upon it and strewing it plentifully over with shav'd Horse-Raddish and a little pounded Ginger garnish your sides of your Dish and the Fish it self with a slic't Lemon or two and serve it up A Grayling is also to be drest exactly after the same
be it how it will it is doubtless one of the finest Rivers in the World and the most abounding with excellent Salmon and all sorts of delicate Fish Viat Pardon me Sir for tempting you into this digression and then proceed to your other Rivers for I am mightily delighted with this discourse Piscat It was no interruption but a very seasonable question for Trent is not only one of our Derby-shire Rivers but the chief of them and into which all the rest pay the Tribute of their names which I had perhaps forgot to insist upon being got to the other end of the County had you not awoke my memory But I will now proceed and the next River of note for I will take them as they lye Eastward from us is the River Wye I say of note for we have two lesser betwixt us and it namely Lathkin and Bradford of which Lathkin is by many degrees the purest and most transparent stream that I ever yet saw either at home or abroad and breeds 't is said the reddest and the best Trouts in England but neither of these are to be reputed Rivers being no better than great springs The River Wye then has its source near unto Buxtons a Town some ten Miles from hence famous for a warm Bath and which you are to ride through in your way to Manchester a black water too at the Fountain but by the same reason with Dove becomes very soon a most delicate clear River and breeds admirable Trout and Grayling reputed by those who by living upon its Banks are partial to it the best of any and this running down by Ashford Bakewell and Haddon at a Town a little lower call'd Rowsly falls into Derwent and there loses its name The next in order is Derwent a black water too and that not only from its Fountain but quite through its progress not having these Chrystal springs to wash and cleanse it which the two forementioned have but abounds with Trout and Grayling such as they are towards its source and with Salmon below and this River from the upper and utmost part of this County where it springs taking its course by Chatsworth Darly Matlock Derby Burrow-Ash and Awberson falls into Trent at a place call'd Wildon and there loses its name The East side of this County of Derby is bounded by little inconsiderable Rivers as Awber Eroways and the like scarce worth naming but Trouty too and further we are not to enquire But Sir I have carried you as a Man may say by water till we are now come to the descent of the formidable Hill I told you of at the foot of which runs the River Dove which I cannot but love above all the rest and therefore prepare your self to be a little frighted Viat Sir I see you would fortifie me that I should not shame my self but I dare follow where you please to lead me and I see no danger yet for the descent methinks is thus far green even and easy Pisc. You will like it worse presently when you come to the brow of the Hill and now we are there what think you Viat What do I think why I think it the strangest place that ever sure Men and Horses went down and that if there be any safety at all the safest way is to alight Pisc. I think so too for you who are mounted upon a Beast not acquainted with these slippery stones and though I frequently ride down I will alight too to bear you company and to lead you the way and if you please my Man shall lead your Horse Viat Marry Sir and thank you too for I am afraid I shall have enough to do to look to my self and with my Horse in my hand should be in a double fear both of breaking my neck and my Horse's falling on me for it is as steep as a penthouse Pisc. To look down from hence it appears so I confess but the path winds and turns and will not be found so troublesom Viat Would I were well down though Hoist thee there 's one fair scape these stones are so slippery I cannot stand yet again I think I were best lay my heeles in my neck and tumble down Pisc. If you think your heeles will defend your neck that is the way to be soon at the bottom but give me your hand at this broad stone and then the worst is past Viat I thank you Sir I am now past it I can go my self What 's here the sign of a Bridg Do you use to Travel with wheel-barrows in this Country Pisc. Not that I ever saw Sir why do you ask that question Viat Because this Bridg certainly was made for nothing else why a mouse can hardly go over it 'T is not two fingers broad Pisc. You are pleasant and I am glad to see you so but I have rid over the Bridg many a dark night Viat Why according to the French proverb and 't is a good one among a great many of worse sense and sound that language abounds in Ce que Diu garde est bien gardé They whom God takes care of are in safe protection but let me tell you I would not ride over it for a thousand pounds nor fall off it for two and yet I think I dare venture on foot though if you were not by to laugh at me I should do it on all four Pisc. Well Sir your mirth becomes you and I am glad to see you safe over and now you are welcome into Stafford-shire Viat How Stafford-shire what do I there trow there is not a word of Stafford-shire in all my direction Pisc. You see you are betray'd into it but it shall be in order to something that will make amends and 't is but an ill Mile or two out of your way Viat I believe all things Sir and doubt nothing Is this your beloved River Dove 'T is clear and swift indeed but a very little one Pisc. You see it here at the worst we shall come to it anon again after two Miles riding and so near as to lye upon the very Banks Viat Would we were there once but I hope we have no more of these Alpes to pass over Pisc. No no Sir only this ascent before you which you see is not very uneasy and then you will no more quarrel with your way Viat Well if ever I come to London of which many a Man there if he were in my place would make a question I will sit down and write my Travels and like Tom Coriate print them at my own charge Pray what do you call this Hill we come down Pisc. We call it Hanson Toot Viat Why farewell Hanson Toot I 'le no more on thee I 'le go twenty Miles about first Push I sweat that my shirt sticks to my back Pisc. Come Sir now we are up the Hill and now how do you Viat Why very well I humbly thank you Sir and warm enough I assure
down the River as the wind serves and to angle as near as you can to the bank of the same side whereon you stand though where you see a Fish rise near you you may guide your quick Flie over him whether in the middle or on the contrary side and if you are pretty well out of sight either by kneeling or the Interposition of a bank or bush you may almost be sure to raise and take him too if it be presently done the Fish will otherwise peradventure be remov'd to some other place if it be in the still deeps where he is always in motion and roving up and down to look for prey though in a stream you may alwaies almost especially if there be a good stone near find him in the same place Your Line ought in this Case to be three good hairs next the hook both by reason you are in this kind of angling to expect the biggest Fish and also that wanting length to give him Line after he is struck you must be forc't to tugg for 't to which I will also add that not an Inch of your Line being to be suffered to touch the water in dibbling it may be allow'd to be the stronger I should now give you a Description of those Flies their shape and colour and then give you an account of their breeding and withal shew you how to keep and use them but shall defer that to their proper place and season Viat In earnest Sir you discourse very rationally of this affair and I am glad to find my self mistaken in you for in plain truth I did not expect so much from you Pisc. Nay Sir I can tell you a great deal more than this and will conceal nothing from you But I must now come to the second way of angling at the top which is with an artificial Flie which also I will shew you how to make before I have done but first shall acquaint you that with this you are to angle with a Line longer by a yard and a half or sometimes two yards than your Rod and with both this and the other in a still day in the streams in a breeze that curles the water in the still deeps where excepting in May and June that the best Trouts will lye in shallow streams to watch for prey and even then too you are like to hit the best Fish For the length of your Rod you are always to be govern'd by the breadth of the River you shall chuse to angle at and for a Trout River one of five or six yards long is commonly enough and longer though never so neatly and artificially made it ought not to be if you intend to Fish at ease and if otherwise where lies the sport Of these the best that ever I saw are made in York-shire which are all of one piece that is to say of several six eight ten or twelve pieces so neatly piec't and ty'd together with fine thred below and Silk above as to make it taper like a switch and to ply with a true bent to your hand and these are too light being made of Fir wood for two or three lengths nearest to the hand and of other wood nearer to the top that a Man might very easily manage the longest of them that ever I saw with one hand and these when you have given over Angling for a season being taken to pieces and laid up in some dry place may afterwards be set together again in their former postures and will be as strait sound and good as the first hour they were made and being laid in Oyl and colour according to your Master Waltons direction will last many years The length of your line to a Man that knows how to handle his Rod and to cast it is no manner of encumbrance excepting in woody places and in landing of a Fish which every one that can afford to Angle for pleasure has some body to do for him and the length of line is a mighty advantage to the fishing at distance and to fish fine and far off is the first and principal Rule for Trout Angling Your Line in this case should never be less nor ever exceed two hairs next to the hook for one though some I know will pretend to more Art than their fellows is indeed too few the least accident with the finest hand being sufficient to break it but he that cannot kill a Trout of twenty inches long with two in a River clear of wood and weeds as this and some others of ours are deserves not the name of an Angler Now to have your whole line as it ought to be two of the first lengths nearest the hook should be of two hairs a piece the next three lengths above them of three the next three above them of four and so of five and six and seven to the very top by which means your Rod and tackle will in a manner be taper from your very hand to your hook your line will fall much better and straiter and cast your Flie to any certain place to which the hand and eye shall direct it with less weight and violence that would otherwise circle the water and fright away the fish In casting your line do it always before you and so that your flie may first fall upon the water and as little of your line with it as is possible though if the vvind be stiff you will then of necessity be compell'd to drown a good part of your line to keep your flie in the water and in casting your flie you must aim at the further or nearer Bank as the wind serves your turn which also vvill be with and against you on the same side several times in an hour as the River vvinds in its course and you will be forc't to Angle up and down by turns accordingly but are to endeavour as much as you can to have the wind evermore on your back and always be sure to stand as far off the Bank as your length will give you leave when you throw to the contrary side though when the wind will not permit you so to do and that you are constrain'd to Angle on the same side whereon you stand you must then stand on the very brink of the River and cast your Flie at the utmost length of your Rod and Line up or down the River as the gale serves It only remains touching your Line to enquire whether your two hairs next to the hook are better twisted or open and for that I should declare that I think the open way the better because it makes less shew in the water but that I have found an inconvenience or two or three that have made me almost weary of that way of which one is that without dispute they are not so strong twisted as open another that they are not easily to be fastned of so exact an equal length in the arming that the one will not cause the other to bagge by
which if it should be lost I should not miss and be concern'd about the loss of it too once in the year but look you Sir amongst all these I will chuse out these two colours only of which this is Bears-hair this darker no great matter what but I am sure I have kill'd a great deal of Fish with it and with one or both of these you shall take Trout or Grayling this very day notwithstanding all disadvantages or my Art shall fail me Viat You promise comfortably and I have a great deal of reason to believe every thing you say but I wish the Flie were made that we were at it Pisc. That will not be long in doing and pray observe then You see first how I hold my hook and thus I begin Look you here are my first two or three whips about the bare hook thus I joyn hook and line thus I put on my wings thus I twirle and lap on my dubbing thus I work it up towards the head thus I part my wings thus I nip my superfluous dubbing from my silk thus fasten thus trim and adjust my Flie and there 's a Flie made and now how do you like it Viat In earnest admirably well and it perfectly resembles a Flie but we about London make the bodies of our Flies both much bigger and longer so long as even almost to the very beard of the Hook Pisc. I know it very well and had one of those Flies given me by an honest Gentleman who came with my Father Walton to give me a Visit which to tell you the truth I hung in my parlour Window to laugh at but Sir you know the Proverb They who go to Rome must do as they at Rome do and believe me you must here make your Flies after this fashion or you will take no Fish Come I will look you out a Line and you shall put it on and try it There Sir now I think you are fitted and now beyond the farther end of the walk you shall begin I see at that bend of the water above the air crisps the water a little knit your Line first here and then go up thither and see what you can do Viat Did you see that Sir Pisc. Yes I saw the Fish and he saw you too which made him turn short you must fish further off if you intend to have any sport here this is no New-River let me tell you That was a good Trout believe me did you touch him Viat No I would I had we would not have parted so Look you there was another this is an excellent File Pisc. That Flie I am sure would kill Fish if the day were right but they only chew at it I see and will not take it Come Sir let us return back to the Fishing-house this still water I see will not do our business to day you shall now if you please make a Flie your self and try what you can do in the streams with that and I know a Trout taken with a Flie of your own making will please you better than twenty with one of mine Give me that Bag again Sirrah look you Sir there is a hook tought silk and a feather for the wings be doing with those and I will look you out a Dubbing that I think will do Viat This is a very little hook Pisc. That may serve to inform you that it is for a very little Flie and you must make your wings accordingly for as the case stands it must be a little Flie and a very little one too that must do your business Well said believe me you shift your fingers very handsomely I doubt I have taken upon me to teach my Master So here 's your dubbing now Viat This dubbing is very black Pisc. It appears so in hand but step to the doors and hold it up betwixt your eye and the Sun and it will appear a shining red let me tell you never a man in England can discern the true colour of a dubbing any way but that and therefore chuse always to make your Flies on such a bright Sun-shine day as this which also you may the better do because it is worth nothing to fish in here put it on and be sure to make the body of your Flie as slender as you can Very good Upon my word you have made a marvellous handsom Flie. Viat I am very glad to hear it 't is the first that ever I made of this kind in my life Pisc. Away away You are a Doctor at it but I will not commend you too much left I make you proud Come put it on and you shall now go downward to some streams betwixt the rocks below the little foot bridg you see there and try your Fortune Take heed of slipping into the water as you follow me under this rock So now you are over and now throw in Viat This is a fine stream indeed There 's one I have him Pisc. And a precious catch you have of him pull him out I see you have a tender hand This is a diminutive Gentleman e'en throw him in again and let him grow till he be more worthy your anger Viat Pardon me Sir all 's Fish that comes to 'th hook with me now Another Pisc. And of the same standing Viat I see I shall have good sport now Another and a Grayling Why you have Fish here at will Pisc. Come come cross the Bridge and go down the other side lower where you will find finer streams and better sport I hope than this Look you Sir here is a fine stream now you have length enough stand a little further off let me entreat you and do but Fish this stream like an Artist and peradventure a good Fish may fall to your share How now what is all gone Viat No I but touch't him but that was a Fish worth taking Pisc. Why now let me tell you you lost that Fish by yout own fault and through your own eagerness and haste for you are never to offer to strike a good Fish if he do not strike himself till first you see him turn his head after he has taken your Flie and then you can never strain your tackle in the striking if you strike with any manner of moderation Come throw in one again and fish me this stream by inches for I assure you here are very good Fish both Trout and Grayling lie here and at that great stone on the other side 't is ten to one a good Trout gives you the meeting Viat I have him now but he is gone down towards the bottom I cannot see what he is yet he should be a good Fish by his weight but he makes no great stir Pisc. Why then by what you say I dare venture to assure you 't is a Grayling who is one of the deadest hearted Fishes in the world and the bigger he is the more easily taken Look you now you see him plain I told you
if no body come in to interrupt us for you must know besides the unfitness of the day that the afternoons so early in March signifie very little to Angling with a Flie though with a Minnow or a Worm something might I confess be done To begin then where I left off my Father Walton tells us but of 12 Artificial flies only to Angle with at the top and gives their names of which some are common with us here and I think I guess at most of them by his description and I believe they all breed and are taken in our Rivers though we do not make them either of the same Dubbing or fashion And it may be in the Rivers about London which I presume he has most frequented and where 't is likely he has done most execution there is not much notice taken of many more but we are acquainted with several others here though perhaps I may reckon some of his by other names too but if I do I shall make you amends by an addition to his Catalogue And although the forenamed great Master in the Art of Angling for so in truth he is tells you that no man should in honesty catch a Trout till the middle of March yet I hope he will give a Man leave sooner to take a Grayling which as I told you is in the dead Months in his best season and do assure you which I remember by a very remarkable token I did once take upon the sixt day of December one and only one of the biggest Graylings and the best in season that ever I yet saw or tasted and do usually take Trouts too and with a Flie not only before the middle of this Month but almost every year in February unless it be a very ill spring indeed and have sometimes in January so early as New-years-tide and in frost and snow taken Grayling in a warm sun-shine day for an hour or two about Noon and to fish for him with a Grub it is then the best time of all I shall therefore begin my Flie-fishing with that Month though I confess very few begin so soon and that such as are so fond of the sport as to embrace all opportunities can rarely in that Month find a day fit for their purpose and tell you that upon my knowledg these Flies in a warm sun for an hour or two in the day are certainly taken January 1. A red brown with wings of the Male of a Malard almost white the dubbing of the tail of a black long coated Cur such as they commonly make muffs of for the hair on the tail of such a Dog dies and turns to a red Brown but the hair of a smoth coated Dog of the same colour will not do because it will not dye but retains its natural colour and this flie is taken in a warm sun this whole Month thorough 2. There is also a very little bright Dun Gnat as little as can possibly be made so little as never to be fisht with with above one hair next the hook and this is to be made of a mixt dubbing of Martins fur and the white of a Hares scut with a very white and small wing and 't is no great matter how fine you fish for nothing will rise in this Month but a Grayling and of them I never at this season saw any taken with a Flie of above a foot long in my life but of little ones about the bigness of a smelt in a warm day and a glowing Sun you may take enough with these two Fishes and they are both taken the whole North through February 1. Where the Red-brown of the last Month ends another almost of the same colour begins with this saving that the dubbing of this must be of something a blacker colour and both of them warpt on with red silk the dubbing that should make this Flie and that is the truest colour is to be got of the black spot of a Hogs ear not that a black spot in any part of the Hog will not afford the same colour but that the hair in that place is by many degrees softer and more fit for the purpose his wing must be as the other and this kills all this Month and is call'd the lesser Red-brown 2. This Month also a plain Hackle or palmer-Flie made with a rough black body either of black Spaniels furr or the whirl of an Estridg feather and the red Hackle of a Capon over all will kill and if the weather be right make very good sport 3. Also a lesser Hackle with a black body also silver twist over that and a red feather over all will fill your pannier if the Month be open and not bound up in Ice and snow with very good Fish but in case of a frost and snow you are to Angle only with the smallest Gnats Browns and Duns you can make and with those are only to expect Graylings no bigger than sprats 4. In this Month upon a whirling round water we have a great Hackle the body black and wrapped with a red feather of a Capon untrim'd that is the whole length of the Hackle staring out for we sometimes barb the Hackle feather short all over sometimes barb it only a little and sometimes barb it close underneath leaving the whole length of the feather on the top or back of the Flie which makes it swim better and as occasion serves kills very great Fish 5. We make use also in this Month of another great Hackle the body black and rib'd over with Gold twist and a red feather over all which also does great execution 6. Also a great Dun made with Dun Bears Hair and the wings of the grey feather of a Mallard near unto his tail which is absolutely the best Flie can be thrown upon a River this Month and with which an Angler shall have admirable sport 7. We have also this Month the great blew Dun the dubbing of the bottom of Bears hair next to the roots mixt with a little blew Camlet the wings of the dark grey feather of a Mallard 8. We have also this Month a Dark-Brown the dubbing of the brown hair of the Flanck of a brended Cow and the wings of the grey-Drakes feather And note that these several Hackels or Palmer Flies are some for one Water and one Skye and some for another and according to the change of those we alter their size and colour and note also that both in this and all other Months of the Year when you do not certainly know what Flie is taken or cannot see any Fish to rise you are then to put on a small Hackle if the Water be clear or a bigger if something dark untill you have taken one and then thrusting your finger thorough his Guils to pull out his Gorge which being open'd with your knife you will then discover what Flie is taken and may fit your self accordingly For the making of a Hackle or Palmer Flie my Father Walton
has already given you sufficient direction March For this Month you are to use all the same Hackels and Flies with the other but you are to make them less 1. We have besides for this Month a little Dun call'd a whirling Dun though it is not the whirling Dun indeed which is one of the best Flies we have and for this the dubbing must be of the bottom fur of a Squirrels tail and the wing of the grey feather of a Drake 2. Also a bright brown the dubbing either of the brown of a Spaniel or that of a Cows flanck with a Grayling 3. Also a whitish Dun made of the roots of Camels hair and the wings of the grey feather of a Mallard 4. There is also for this Month a Flie call'd the Thorn Tree Flie the dubbing an absolute black mixt with eight or ten hairs of Isabella colour'd Mohair the body as little as can be made and the wings of a bright Malards feather an admirable Flie and in great repute amongst us for a killer 5. There is besides this another blew Dun the dubbing of which it is made being thus to be got Take a small tooth comb and with it comb the neck of a black Grey hound and the down that sticks in the teeth will be the finest blew that ever you saw The wings of this Flie can hardly be too white and he is taken about the tenth of this Month and lasteth till the four and twentieth 6. From the tenth of this Month also till towards the end is taken a little black Gnat the dubbing either of the fur of a black water-Dog or the down of a young black water-Coot the wings of the Male of a Mallard as white as may be the body as little as you can possibly make it and the wings as short as his body 7. From the Sixteenth of this Month also to the end of it we use a bright brown the dubbing for which is to be had out of a Skinners Lime-pits and of the hair of an abortive Calf which the lime will turn to be so bright as to shine like Gold for the wings of this Flie the feather of a brown Hen is best which Flie is also taken till the tenth of April April All the same Hackles and Flies that were taken in March will be taken in this Month also with this distinction only concerning the Flies that all the browns be lapt with red silk and the Duns with yellow 1. To these a small bright brown made of Spaniels fur with a light grey wing in a bright day and a clear water is very well taken 2. We have too a little dark brown the dubbing of that colour and some violet Camlet mixt and the wing of the grey feather of a Mallard 3. From the sixth of this Month to the tenth we have also a Flie call'd the violet Flie made of a dark violet stuff with the wings of the grey feather of a Mallard 4. About the twelfth of this Month comes in the Flie call'd the whirling Dun which is taken every day about the mid time of day all this Month through and by fits from thence to the end of June and is commonly made of the down of a Fox Cub which is of an Ash colour at the roots next the skin and ribb'd about with yellow silk the wings of the pale grey feather of a Mallard 5. There is also a yellow Dun the dubbing of Camels hair and yellow Camlet or wool mixt and a white grey wing 6. There is also this Month another little brown besides that mention'd before made with a very slender body the dubbing of dark brown and violet Camlet mixt and a grey wing which though the direction for the making be near the other is yet another Flie and will take when the other will not especially in a bright day and a clear water 7. About the twentieth of this Month comes in a Flie call'd the Horse-flesh Flie the dubbing of which is a blew Mohair with pink colour'd and red Tammy mixt a light colour'd wing and a dark brown head This flie is taken best in an Evening and kills from two hours before Sun set till twilight and is taken the Month thorough May. And now Sir that we are entring into the Month of May I think it requisite to beg not only your attention but also your best patience for I must now be a little tedious with you and dwell upon this Month longer than ordinary which that you may the better endure I must tell you this Month deserves and requires to be insisted on for as much as it alone and the next following afford more pleasure to the Flie-Angler than all the rest and here it is that you are to expect an account of the Green Drake and stone-flie promis'd you so long ago and some others that are peculiar to this Month and part of the Month following and that though not so great either in bulk or name do yet stand in competition with the two before named and so that it is yet undecided amongst the Anglers to which of the pretenders to the Title of the May-flie it does properly and duly belong neither dare I where so many of the learned in this Art of Angling are got in dispute about the controversie take upon me to determine but I think I ought to have a vote amongst them and according to that priviledg shall give you my free opinion and peradventure when I have told you all you may incline to think me in the right Viat I have so great a deference to your judgment in these matters that I must always be of your opinion and the more you speak the faster I grow to my attention for I can never be weary of hearing you upon this Subject Pisc. Why that 's encouragement enough and now prepare your self for a tedious Lecture but I will first begin with the flies of less esteem though almost any thing will take a Trout in May that I may afterwards insist the longer upon those of greater note and reputation know therefore that the first flie we take notice of in this Month is call'd the Turky-flie the. 1. The dubbing ravell'd out of some blew stuff and lapt about with yellow silk the wings of a grey Mallards feather 2. next a great Hackle or Palmer-flie with a yellow body ribb'd with Gold twist and large wings of a Mallards feather dyed yellow with a red Capons Hackle over all 3. Then a black flie the dubbing of a black Spaniels fur and the wings of a grey Mallards feather 4 After that a light brown with a slender body the dubbing twirl'd upon small red silk and rais'd with the point of a needle that the ribs or rows of silk may appear through the wings of the grey feather of a Mallard 5. Next a little Dun the dubbing of a Bears dun whirl'd upon yellow silk the wings of the grey feather of a Mallard 6. Then a white Gnat with
a pale wing and a black head 7. There is also this Month a flie call'd the Peacock-flie the body made of a whirl of a Peacocks feather with a red head and wings of a Mallards feather 8. We have then another very killing flie known by the name of the Dun-Cut the dubbing of which is a Bears dun with a little blew and yellow mixt with it a large dun wing and two horns at the head made of the hairs of a Squirrels tail 9. The next is the Cow-Lady a little flie the body of a Peacocks feather the wing of a red feather or strips of the red hackle of a Cock. 10. We have then the Cow-turd flie the dubbing light brown and yellow mixt the wing the dark grey feather of a Mallard And note that besides these abovementioned all the same Hackles and Flies the Hackles only brighter and the Flies smaller that are taken in April will also be taken this Month as also all Browns and Duns and now I come to my Stone-Flie and Green-Drake which are the Matadores for Trout and Grayling and in their season kill more Fish in our Derbyshire Rivers than all the rest past and to come in the whole Year besides But first I am to tell you that we have four several flies which contend for the Title of the May-Flie namely The Green-Drake The Stone-Flie The Black Flie and The little yellow May-Flie And all these have their Champions and Advocates to dispute and plead their priority though I do not understand why the two last named should the first two having so manifestly the advantage both in their beauty and the wonderful execution they do in their season 11. Of these the Green-Drake comes in about the twentieth of this Month or betwixt that and the latter end for they are sometimes sooner and sometimes later according to the quality of the Year but never well taken till towards the end of this Month and the beginning of June The Stone-Flie comes much sooner so early as the middle of April but is never well taken till towards the middle of May and continues to kill much longer than the Green-Drake stays with us so long as to the end almost of June and indeed so long as there are any of them to be seen upon the water and sometimes in an Artificial Flie and late at night or before Sun rise in a morning longer Now both these Flies and I believe many others though I think not all are certainly and demonstratively bred in the very Rivers where they are taken our Caddis or Cod-bait which lye under stones in the bottom of the water most of them turning into those two Flies and being gather'd in the husk or crust near the time of their maturity are very easily known and distinguisht and are of all other the most remarkable both for their size as being of all other the biggest the shortest of them being a full inch long or more and for the execution they do the Trout and Grayling being much more greedy of them than of any others and indeed the Trout never feeds fat nor comes into his perfect season till these Flies come in Of these the Green-Drake never discloses from his husk till he be first there grown to full maturity body wings and all and then he creeps out of his cell but with his wings so crimpt and ruffled by being prest together in that narrow room that they are for some hours totally useless to him by which means he is compelled either to creep upon the flags sedges and blades of grass if his first rising from the bottom of the water be near the banks of the River till the Air and Sun stiffen and smooth them or if his first appearance above water happen to be in the middle he then lies upon the surface of the water like a Ship at Hull for his feet are totally useless to him there and he cannot creep upon the water as the Stone-Flie can untill his wings have got stiffness to fly with if by some Trout or Grayling he be not taken in the interim which ten to one he is and then his wings stand high and clos'd exact upon his back like the Butterfly and his motion in flying is the same His Body is in some of a paler in others of a darker yellow for they are not all exactly of a colour rib'd with rows of green long slender and growing sharp towards the tail at the end of which he has three long small whisks of a very dark colour almost black and his tail turns up towards his back like a Mallard from whence questionless he has his name of the green-Drake These as I think I told you before we commonly dape or dibble with and having gather'd great store of them into a long draw box with holes in the Cover to give them Air where also they will continue fresh and vigorous a night or more we take them out thence by the wings and bait them thus upon the Hook We first take one for we commonly Fish with two of them at a time and putting the point of the Hook into the thickest part of his Body under one of his wings run it directly through and out at the other side leaving him spitted cross upon the Hook and then taking the other put him on after the same manner but with his head the contrary way in which posture they will live upon the Hook and play with their wings for a quarter of an hour or more but you must have a care to keep their wings dry both from the water and also that your fingers be not wet when you take them out to bait them for then your bait is spoil'd Having now told you how to Angle with this Flie alive I am now to tell you next how to make an Artificial Flie that will so perfectly resemble him as to be taken in a rough windy day when no Flies can lye upon the water nor are to be found about the Banks and sides of the River to a wonder and with which you shall certainly kill the best Trout and Grayling in the River The Artificial Green-Drake then is made upon a large Hook the Dubbing Camels hair bright Bears hair the soft down that is comb'd from a Hogs bristles and yellow Camlet well mixt together the body long and ribb'd about with green silk or rather yellow waxt with green-wax the whisks of the tail of the long hairs of sables or fitchet and the wings of the white grey feather of a Mallard dyed yellow which also is to be dyed thus Take the root of a Barbary Tree and shave it and put to it Woody viss with as much Alum as a Walnut and boyl your feathers in it with Rain water and they will be of a very fine yellow I have now done with the Green-drake excepting to tell you that he is taken at all hours during his season whilst there is any day upon the Sky and with a
will rise mightily at it But the artificial Flie which is only in use amongst our Anglers is made of a dark brown shining Camlet rib'd over with a very small light green silk the wings of the double grey feather of a Mallard and 't is a killing Flie for small Fish and so much for May. June From the first to the four and twentieth the green-Drake and Stone-Flie are taken as I told you before 1. From the twelfth to the four and twentieth late at night is taken a Flie called the Owl-Flie the dubbing of a white Weesel's tail and a white Grey wing 2. We have then another Dunne call'd the Barm-flie from it's yesty colour the dubbing of the fur of a yellow dun Cat and a grey wing of a Mallards feather 3. We have also a hackle with a purple body whipt about with a red Capons feather 4. As also a gold twist Hackle with a purple body whipt about with a red Capons feather 5. To these we have this month a Flesh-flie the dubbing of a black Spaniels furre and blew wool mixt and a grey wing 6. Also another little flesh-flie the body made of the whirle of a Peacocks feather and the wings of the grey feather of a Drake 7. We have then the Peacock-flie the body and wing both made of the feather of that bird 8. There is also the flying Ant or Ant-flie the dubbing of brown and red Camlet mixt with a light grey wing 9. We have likewise a brown Gnat with a very slender body of brown and violet Camlet well mixt and a light grey wing 10. And another little black Gnat the dubbing of black mohair and a white Grey wing 11. As also a green Grashopper the dubbing of green and yellow Wool mixed rib'd over with green Silk and a red Capons feather over all 12. And lastly a little dun Grashopper the body slender made of a dun Camlet and a dun hackle at the top July First all the small flies that were taken in June are also taken in this month 1. We have then the Orange Flie the dubbing of Orange Wool and the wing of a black feather 2. Also a little white dun the body made of white Mohair and the wings blew of a Herons feather 3. We have likewise this month a Wasp-flie made either of a dark brown dubbing or else the furre of a black Cats tail ribb'd about with yellow silk and the wing of the grey feather of a Mallard 4. Another flie taken this month is a black Hackle the body made of the whirle of a Peacock's feather and a black hackle feather on the top 5. We have also another made of a Peacocks whirle without wings 6. Another flie also is taken this month call'd the shel-flie the dubbing of yellow-green Jersey Wool and a little white Hoggs hair mixt which I call the Palm-flie and do believe it is taken for a Palm that drops off the willows into the water for this flie I have seen Trouts take little pieces of moss as they have swam down the River by which I conclude that the best way to hit the right colour is to compare your dubbing with the Moss and mix the colours as near as you can 7. There is also taken this month a black blew Dun the dubbing of the furre of a black Rabbet mixt with a little yellow the wings of the Feather of a blew Pigeons wing August The same Flies with July 1. Then another Art-flie the dubbing of the black brown hair of a Cow some red warpt in for the Tagg of his tail and a dark wing a killing flie 2. Next a flie call'd the Fern-flie the dubbing of the fur of a Hares neck that is of the colour of Fearn or Brackin with a darkish grey wing of a Mallards feather a killer too 3. Besides these we have a white Hackle the body of white Mo-hair and wrapped about with a white Hackle Feather and this is assuredly taken for Thistle-down 4. We have also this month a Harry-long-leggs the body made of Bears dun and blew Wool mixt and a brown hackle Feather over all Lastly in this month all the same browns and duns are taken that were taken in May. September This month the same Flies are taken that are taken in April 1. To which I shall only add a Camel-brown Flie the dubbing pull'd out of the lime of a Wall whipt about with red Silk and a darkish grey Mallards feather for the wing 2. And one other for which we have no name but it is made of the black hair of a Badgers skin mixt with the yellow softest down of a sanded Hog October The same Flies are taken this month that were taken in March Novemb. The same Flies that were taken in February are taken this month also December Few men angle with the Flie this month no more than they do in January but yet if the weather be warm as I have known it sometimes in my life to be even in this cold Country where it is least expected then a brown that looks red in the hand and yellowish betwixt your eye and the Sun will both raise and kill in a clear water and free from snow-broth but at the best 't is hardly worth a man's labour And now Sir I have done with Flie-fishing or angling at the top excepting once more to tell you that of all these and I have named you a great many very killing flies none are fit to be compared with the Drake and Stone-flie both for many and very great fish and yet there are some daies that are by no means proper for the sport and in a calm you shall not have near so much sport even with daping as in a whistling gale of wind for two reasons both because you are not then so easily discovered by the fish and also because there are then but few flies can lye upon the water for where they have so much choice you may easily imagine they will not be so eager and forward to rise at a bait that both the shadow of your body and that of your Rod nay of your very line in a hot calm day will in spite of your best caution render suspected to them but even then in swift streams or by sitting down patiently behind a willow bush you shall do more execution than at almost any other time of the year with any other flie though one may sometimes hit of a day when he shall come home very well satisfied with sport with several other Flies but with these two the green Drake and the Stone-flie I do verily believe I could some daies in my life had I not been weary of slaughter have loaden a lusty boy and have sometimes I do honestly assure you given over upon the meer account of satiety of sport which will be no hard matter to believe when I likewise assure you that with this very flie I have in this very River that runs by us in three or four hours taken thirty
manner saving that he is to be scal'd which a Trout never is and that must be done either with ones nails or very lightly and carefully with a Knife for bruising the Fish And note that these kinds of Fish a Trout especially if he is not eaten within four or five hours after he be taken is worth nothing But come Sir I see you have din'd and therefore if you please we will walk down again to the little House and there I will read you a Lecture of Angling at the bottom CHAP. XI VIAT. So Sir Now we are here and set let me have my instructions for Angling for Trout and Grayling at the bottom which though not so easy so cleanly nor as 't is said so Gentile a way of Fishing as with a Flie is yet if I mistake not a good holding way and takes Fish when nothing else will Pisc. You are in the right it does so and a worm is so sure a bait at all times that excepting in a Flood I would I had laid thousand pounds that I kill'd Fish more or less with it Winter or Summer every day throughout the Year those days always excepted that upon a more serious account always ought so to be But not longer to delay you I will begin and tell you that Angling at the bottom is also commonly of two sorts and yet there is a third way of Angling with a Ground-bait and to very great effect too as shall be said hereafter namely By Hand or With a Cork or Float That we call Angling by hand is of three sorts The first with a line about half the length of the Rod a good weighty plum and three hairs next the Hook which we call a running Line and with one large Brandling or a dew-worm of a moderate size or two small ones of the first or any other sort proper for a Trout of which my Father Walton has already given you the names and sav'd me a labour or indeed almost any worm whatever for if a Trout be in the humour to bite it must be such a worm as I never yet saw that he will refuse and if you Fish with two you are then to bait your hook thus You are first to run the point of your hook in at the very head of your first worm and so down through his body till it be past the knot and then let it out and strip the worm above the arming that you may not bruise it with your fingers till you have put on the other by running the point of the Hook in below the knot and upwards through his body towards his head till it be but just cover'd with the head which being done you are then to slip the first worm down over the arming again till the knots of both worms meet together The second way of Angling by hand and with a running Line is with a Line something longer than the former and with Tackle made after this same manner At the utmost extremity of your Line where the Hook is always plac'd in all other ways of Angling you are to have a large Pistol or Carabine Bullet into which the end of your Line is to be fastned with a Peg or Pin even and close with the Bullet and about half a foot above that a branch of Line of two or three handfuls long or more for a swift stream with a Hook at the end thereof baited with some of the forenamed worms and another half foot above that another arm'd and baited after the same manner but with another sort of worm without any lead at all above by which means you will always certainly find the true bottom in all depths which with the Plums upon your Line above you can never do but that your bait must always drag whilst you are sounding which in this way of Angling must be continually by which means you are like to have more trouble and peradventure worse success And both these ways of Angling at the bottom are most proper for a dark and muddy water by reason that in such a condition of the stream a Man may stand as near as he will and neither his own shadow nor the roundness of his Tackle will hinder his sport The third way of Angling by hand with a Ground-bait and by much the best of all other is with a Line full as long or a yard and half longer than your Rod with no more than one hair next the hook and for two or three lengths above it and no more than one small pellet of shot for your plum your Hook little your worms of the smaller Brandlings very well scour'd and only one upon your hook at a time which is thus to be baited The point of your hook is to be put in at the very tagg of his tail and run up his body quite over all the arming and still stript on an inch at least upon the hair the head and remaining part hanging downward and with this line and hook thus baited you are evermore to angle in the streams always in a clear rather than a troubled water and always up the River still casting out your worm before you with a light one-handed Rod like an artificial Flie where it will be taken sometimes at the top or within a very little of the Superficies of the water and almost always before that light plumb can sink it to the bottom both by reason of the stream and also that you must always keep your worm in motion by drawing still back towards you as if you were angling with a flie and believe me whoever will try it shall find this the best way of all other to angle with a worm in a bright water especially but then his rod must be very light and pliant and very true and finely made which with a skilful hand will do wonders and in a clear stream is undoubtedly the best way of angling for a Trout or Grayling with a worm by many degrees that any man can make choice of and of most ease and delight to the Angler To which let me add that if the Angler be of a constitution that will suffer him to wade and will slip into the tail of a shallow stream to the Calf of the leg or the knee and so keep off the bank he shall almost take what fish he pleases The second way of angling at the bottom is with a Cork or float and that is also of two sorts With a worm or With a Grub or Caddis With a worm you are to have your line within a foot or a foot and half as long as your rod in a dark water with two or if you will with three but in a clear water never with above one hair next the hook and two or three for four or five lengths above it and a worm of what size you please your plums fitted to your Cork your Cork to the condition of the River that is to the swiftness or slowness of it and both
when the water is very clear as fine as you can and then you are never to bait with above one of the lesser sort of Brandlings or if they are very little ones indeed you may then bait with two after the manner before directed When you angle for a Trout you are to do it as deep that is as near the bottom as you can provided your bait do not drag or if it do a Trout will sometimes take it in that posture if for a Grayling you are then to fish further from the bottom he being a fish that usually swims nearer to the middle of the water and lyes alwaies loose or however is more apt to rise than a Trout and more inclin'd to rise than to descend even to a Ground-bait With a Grub or Caddis you are to angle with the same length of Line or if it be all out as long as your Rod 't is not the worse with never above on hair for two or three lengths next the hook and with the smallest Cork or float and the least weight of plumb you can that will but sink and that the swiftness of your stream will allow which also you may help and avoid the violence of the Current by angling in the returnes of a stream or the Eddies betwixt two streams which also are the most likely places wherein to kill a Fish in a stream either at the top or bottom Of Grubs for a Grayling the Ash-Grub which is plump milk-white bent round from head to tail and exceeding tender with a red head or the Dock worm or Grub of a pale yellow longer lanker and tougher than the other with rows of feet all down his belly and a red head also are the best I say for a Grayling because although a Trout will take both these the Ash-Grub especially yet he does not do it so freely as the other and I have usually taken ten Graylings for one Trout with that bait though if a Trout come I have observed that he is commonly a very good one These baits we usually keep in Bran in which an Ash-Grub commonly grows tougher and will better endure baiting though he is yet so tender that it will be necessary to warp in a piece of a stiff hair with your arming leaving it standing out about a straw breadth at the head of your hook so as to keep the Grub either from slipping totally off when baited or at least down to the point of the hook by which means your arming will be left wholly naked and bare which is neither so sightly nor so likely to be taken though to help that which will however very oft fall out I always arm the hook I design for this Bait with the whitest horse-hair I can chuse which it self will resemble and shine like that bait and consequently will do more good or less harm than an arming of any other colour These Grubs are to be baited thus the hook is to be put in under the head or Chaps of the bait and guided down the middle of the belly without suffering it to peep out by the way for then the Ash-Grub especially will issue out water and milk till nothing but the skin shall remain and the bend of the hook will appear black through it till the point of your hook come so low that the head of your bait may rest and stick upon the hair that stands out to hold it by which means it can neither slip of it self neither will the force of the stream nor quick pulling out upon any mistake strip it off Now the Caddis or Cod-bait which is a sure killing bait and for the most part by much surer than either of the other may be put upon the Hook two or three together and is sometimes to very great effect joyn'd to a worm and sometimes to an Artificial Flie to cover the point of the Hook but is always to be Angled with at the bottom when by it self especially with the finest Tackle and is for all times of the year the most holding bait of all other whatever both for Trout and Grayling There are several other baits besides these few I have nam'd you which also do very great execution at the bottom and some that are peculiar to certain Countries and Rivers of which every Angler may in his own place make his own observation and some others that I do not think fit to put you in mind of because I would not corrupt you and would have you as in all things else I observe you to be a very honest Gentleman a fair Angler And so much for the second sort of Angling for a Trout at the bottom Viat But Sir I beseech you give me leave to ask you one question Is there no art to be us'd to worms to make them allure the Fish and in a manner compel them to bite at the bait Pisc. Not that I know of or did I know any such secret I would not use it my self and therefore would not teach it you Though I will not deny to you that in my younger days I have made tryal of Oyl of Ospray Oyl of Ivy Camphire Assa-faetida juice of Nettles and several other devices that I was taught by several Anglers I met with but could never find any advantage by them and can scarce believe there is any thing to be done that way though I must tell you I have seen some men who I thought went to work no more artificially than I and have yet with the same kind of worms I had in my own sight taken five and sometimes ten for one But we 'l let that business alone if you please and because we have time enough and that I would deliver you from the trouble of any more Lectures I will if you please proceed to the last way of angling for a Trout or Grayling which is in the middle after which I shall have no more to trouble you with Viat 'T is no trouble Sir but the greatest satisfaction that can be and I attend you CHAP. XII PISC. Angling in the middle then for a Trout or Grayling is of two sorts With a Pink or Minnow for a Trout or With a Worm Grub or Caddis for a Grayling For the first it is with a Minnow half a foot or a foot within the Superficies of the water and as to the rest that concerns this sort of angling I shall wholly refer you to Mr. Walton's direction who is undoubtedly the best Angler with a Minnow in England only in plain truth I do not approve of those baits he keeps in salt unless where the Living ones are not possibly to be had though I know he frequently kills with them and peradventure more than with any other nay I have seen him refuse a living one for one of them and much less of his artificial one for though we do it with a counterfeit flie me thinks it should hardly be expected that a man should deceive a fish with a