Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 3, Anatomy-Astronomy

158
ANGLING.
Angling, killed in the lake of Geneva, weighed 67 pounds, seem
y J closely allied to those of Loch A we, Ullswater, &c. Though
equal to salmon, both in size and strength, they differ in
their habits from those fish, and do not appear at any time
to seek the waters of the ocean. Indeed their existence in
the lake of Constance, the available communication of which
with the sea is cut off by the falls of Schaffhausen, demon¬
strates their independence of saline waters. It does not
appear, from any information which has reached us on the
subject, that these great continental lake-trouts ever rise at
the artificial fly.
In Loch Craggie there is a finely formed and beautiful
variety of the common trout, varying in its matured condi¬
tion from one and a half to three pounds in weight. It
affords excellent sport to the angler fishing from a boat a
few yards off the deeper parts of the shores. They rise
freely to small salmon or sea-trout flies, dressed after the
model of a gray or green drake.
The rich and varied supply of all kinds of tackle, which
may be obtained in the shops of the principal dealers in
our larger cities, induces us to abstain from any descrip¬
tion of the different hooks employed in minnow and other
bait-fishing, as such details are not very intelligible with¬
out the aid of numerous engravings. More knowledge
will be gained by a few minutes’ inspection of the articles
themselves in the hands of an intelligent workman, than
can be conveyed by the most elaborate treatise on the
subject.
Having described the characteristic modes of angling
for salmon and trout, the two species which so greatly
surpass all the others in the amusement yielded to the
angler, we shall now proceed to a briefer consideration of
some of the remaining subjects of our sport.
The Char or Case Char. (Salmo Alpinus.)
The Torgoch or Red Char. (Salmo Salvelinm.')
These fish, which, in a culinary point of view, are deserv¬
edly the most highly prized of all the permanently fresh¬
water species, are scarcely attainable by the angler’s skill.
Of late years they have risen more freely than in former
times in the meres of the north of England ; but the cap¬
ture of a char by rod and line is still regarded as an uncom¬
mon occurrence. They appear to retire during the warmer
months to the deepest of the still waters, as the fisher¬
men engaged in throwing their nets for pike, perch, and
trout, over the very grounds where, during the colder
season of the year, the char abound, never catch any of
these fish in summer. Although a good deal has been
written upon the subject, it does not appear that the dis¬
tinctive history of the two species above named has been
as yet made out. Both the case char and the red char
are found in Windermere; and the principal distinc¬
tion in their habits and history consists in this, that the
former ascends the rivers, where it spawns about Michael¬
mas ; whereas the latter deposits its ova along the shores
of the lake, and not till the end of December or the be¬
ginning of the year. In angling for char the same flies may
be used as those best adapted for the smaller-sized lake-
trouts; and as the latter occur wherever the former is found,
the sportsman has the better chance of making amends
for the probable disappointment which will attend his pur¬
suit of the one, by a more successful capture of the other.
The Grayling. (Salmo Thymallus.) Anglin?
This fish loves the clear streams of mountainous coun-^^^
tries. It is common in Lapland, where its intestine is used
as rennet, along with rein-deer milk, in the formation of
cheese. It is a bold and sportive fish, but more tender in
the mouth than the trout. It rises well to the camlet fly,
and to several of the other small-sized trout-flies. We
killed it readily in Switzerland with a moorfowl wing and
hare-ear body. They may also be taken with the caddis
worm and other ground baits. According to the Rev.
Mr Low, the grayling is frequent in the streams of the
Orkney Islands, though very rare in the rivers of the
mainland of Scotland.
The Pike. (Esox Lucius.)
This “ fell tyrant of the liquid plain” is not regarded
as indigenous to the waters of Britain, but is said to have
been introduced in the time of Henry VIII. That it
was well known in England at an earlier period is how¬
ever evident, both from the book of St Alban’s, printed by
Wynken de Worde in 1496, and from the account of the
great feast given by George Nevil, archbishop of York,
in the year 1466. There is in truth no evidence either of
its non-existence in this country at a remote period, or of
its importation during comparatively recent times.
The voracity of this fish is almost unexampled, even
in a class remarkable for their omnivorous propensities.
Goslings, young ducks, and coots, water-rats, kittens, and
the young of its own species, besides every kind of fresh¬
water fish, have been found in the stomach of the pike.
It is said to contend with the otter for its prey, and has
been known to pull a mule into the water by the nose.
This fish is in season from May to February, and is angled
for by trolling with a strong-topped rod. The hooks are
generally fastened to a bit of brass wire for a few inches
from the shaft, to prevent the line from being snapped.
Different methods are used in angling for pike. Troll¬
ing, in the more limited sense of the word, signifies catch¬
ing fish with the gorge hook, which is composed of two,
or what is called a double eel-hook; live bait-fishing is
practised with the aid of a floated line; and snap-fishing
consists in the use of large hooks, so baited as to enable
the angler to strike the fish the moment he feels it bite,
immediately after which he drags it nolens volens ashore.
Trolling for pike may be practised during the winter
months, when trout fishing has ceased; and the colder
season of the year is in fact more convenient for the sport,
owing to the decay or diminution of the weeds which
usually surround their favourite haunts. With the excep¬
tion of chub and dace, which bite pretty freely at the
bottom all winter, scarcely any other fish can be relied
upon for sport during the more inclement portion of the
year. To bait a gorge hook, take a baiting needle, and hook
the curved end to the loop of the gimp, to which the hook is
tied; see Plate XLI. fig. 20; then introduce the point of the
needle into a dead bait’s mouth, and bring it out at the mid¬
dle of the fork of the tail, by which means the piece of lead
which covers the shank of the hook, and part of the connect¬
ing wire, will lie concealed in the interior of the bait; the
shank will be in the inside of its mouth, and the barbs on
the outside, turning upwards. See Plate LXI. fig. 24. To
keep the bait steady on the hook, fasten the tail part just
tions as the Clyde above the falls, the waters of which have no communication with any lake. This species sometimes attains the
weight or 8, 10, or even 12 pounds; but it differs from the Loch Awe trout in being generally, if not exclusively found in rivers.
Those of many of the lesser Highland lakes, such as Loch Ard and Loch Chon, ascend the mountain streams in the autumn to spawn,
and in the ordinary practice of angling (with the artificial fly) are rarely caught above the weight of three pounds. In the year 1829 we
received some very singular trouts from a small loch called Lochdow, near Titmain, in Inverness-shire. Their heads were short and
round, and their upper jaws were truncated like that of a bull-dog. They do not occur in any of the neighbouring lochs, and have
not been observed above the weight of half a pound. Trouts of the ordinary shape likewise occur in Lochdow.