preserved in the Denison collection. This was published in | Modern Literature.-In 1600 appeared John Taverner's Certaine Experiments concerning Fish and Fruite, and after this the period of angling literature proper begins. The Secrets of Angling (1613), | by John) Dennys), Esq., is one of the most important volumes in the angler's library, both on account of the excellence of the verse in which it is written and also on account of its practical value. Gervase Markham, "the first journalist," as he has been called, published his first book of husbandry at the same date, and, as in most of his many books on the same subject, devoted a certain amount of space to fishing. But Markham gathered his materials in a rather shameless manner and his angling passages have little originality. Thomas Barker's The Art of Angling (1st ed., 1651) takes a more honourable position, and received warm commendation from Izaak Walton himself, who followed it in 1653 with The Compleat Angler. So much has been written about this treasured classic that it is only necessary to indicate its popularity here by saying that its editions occupy some twenty pages in Bibliotheca Piscatoria (1883), and that since that work was published at least forty new editions have to be added to the list. During Walton's life-time the book ran through five editions, and with the fifth (1676) was incorporated Charles Cotton's second part, the "instructions how to angle for a trout or grayling, in a clear stream." In some cases too there was added a third book, the fourth edition of The Experienced Angler, by Robert Venables (1st ed., 1662). The three books together bore the title of The Universal Angler. Venables's portion was dropped later, but it is worth reading, and contained sound instruction though it has not the literary merit of Walton and Cotton. A few other notable books of the century call for enumeration, The Gentleman's Recreation by Nicholas Cox (1674), Gilbert's The Angler's Delight (1676), Chetham's Vade-Mecum (1681), The Complete Troller by Robert Nobbes (1682), R. Franck's Northern Memoirs (1694), and The True Art of Angling by J. S. (1696). Of these Chetham, Nobbes, Franck and J. S. have the merit of considerable originality. Franck has gained some notoriety by his round abuse of Walton. In the 18th century among others we find The Secrets of Angling by C. G. (1705), Robert Howlett's The Angler's Sure Guide (1706), The Whole | Art of Fishing (1714), The Compleat Fisherman by James Saunders (1724), The Art of Angling by R. Brookes (1740), another book with the same title by R. and C. Bowlker (Worcester, c. 1750), The Complete Sportsman by Thomas Fairfax (c. 1760), The Angler's Museum by T. Shirley (1784), and A Concise Treatise on the Art of Angling by Thomas Best (1787). Of these only Saunders's, Bowlker's and Best's books are of much importance, the rest being for the most part "borrowed." One volume of verse in the 18th century calls for notice, Moses Browne's Piscatory Eclogues (1729). Among greater names we get angling passages in Pope, Gay and Thomson; the two last were evidently brothers of the angle. With the 19th century angling literature becomes too big a subject to be treated in detail, and it is only possible to glance at a few of the more important books and writers. Daniel's Rural Sports appeared in 1801; it is a treasure-house of odd facts. In 1828 Sir Humphry Davy published his famous Salmonia, which was reviewed in the Quarterly by Sir Walter Scott. At about this time too were appearing the Nocles Ambrosianae in Blackwood's Magazine. Christopher North (Professor Wilson) often touched upon angling in them, besides contributing a good many angling articles to the magazine. In 1835 that excellent angling writer Thomas Tod Stoddart began his valuable series of books with The Art of Angling as Practised in Scotland. In 1839 he published Songs and Poems, among which are pieces of great merit. During this period, too, first appeared, year by year, the Newcastle Fishers' Garlands, collected by Joseph Crawhall afterwards and republished in 1864. These border verses, like Stoddart's, have often a genuine ring about them which is missing from the more polished effusions of Gay and Thomson. Alfred Ronalds's The Fly-Fisher's Entomology (1st ed., 1836) was a publication of great importance, for it marked the beginning of the scientific spirit among trout-fishers. It ran through many editions and is still a valuable book of reference. A step in angling history is also marked by George Pulman's Vade-Mecum of Fly-fishing for Trout (1841), for it contains the first definite instructions on fishing with a "dry fly." Another is marked by Hewett Wheatley's The Rod and the Line (1849), where is to be found the earliest reference to the eyed "hook. Yet another is marked by W. C. Stewart's The Practical Angler (1857), in which is taught the new doctrine of " up-stream" fishing for trout. This is a book of permanent value. Among the many books of this period Charles Kingsley's Miscellanies (1859) stands out, for it contains the immortal "Chalk-Stream Studies." The work of Francis Francis begins at about the same time, though his A Book on Angling, which is still one of the most valuable text-books, was not first published till 1867. Another well-known and excellent writer, Mr H. Cholmondeley Pennell, began in the early 'sixties; it is to him that we owe the admirable volumes on fresh-water fishing in the "Badminton Library." Among other English writers mention must be made of Messrs William Senior, John Bickerdyke and F M. Halford, who have all performed signal services for angling and its literature. (See further bibliography ad fin.) In America the latter half of the 19th century produced a good deal of fishing literature, much of it of a high standard. I go a-Fishing by Dr W. C. Prime (1873), Fishing with the Fly by C. F. Orvis, A. Nelson Cheney and others (1883), The American Salmon Fisherman and Fly Rods and Fly Tackle by H. P. Wells (1886 and 1885), Lille Rivers and other books by the Rev. H. Van Dyke these are only a few specially distinguished in style and matter. Germany and France have not contributed so largely to the modern library, but in the first country we find several useful works by Max von dem Borne, beginning with the Handbuch der Angelfischerei of 1875, and there are a good many other writers who have contributed to the subject, while in France there are a few volumes on fishing by different hands. The most noticeable is M. G. Albert Petit's La Truite de rivière (1897); an admirable book on fly-fishing. As yet, however, though there are many enthusiastic anglers in France, the sport has not established itself so firmly as to have inspired much literature of its own; the same may be said of Germany. Modern Conditions.-In the modern history of angling there are one or two features that should be touched upon. The great increase in the number of fishermen has had several results. One is a corresponding increase in the difficulty of obtaining fishing, and a notable rise in the value of rivers, especially those which are famed for salmon and trout. Salmon-fishing now may be said to have become a pastime of the rich, and there are signs that trout-fishing will before long have to be placed in the same exclusive category, while even the right to angle for less-esteemed fish will eventually be a thing of price. The development is natural, and it has naturally led to efforts on the part of the angling majority to counteract, if possible, the growing difficulty. These efforts have been directed chiefly in two ways, one the establishment of fishing clubs, the other the adoption of angling in salt water. The fishing club of the big towns was originally a social institution, and its members met together to sup, converse on angling topics and perhaps to display notable fish that they had caught. Later, however, arose the idea that it would be a convenience if a club could give its members privileges of fishing as well as privileges of reunion. So it comes about that all over the United Kingdom, in British colonies and dependencies, in the United States, and also in Germany and France, fishing clubs rent waters, undertake preservation and restocking and generally lead an active and useful existence. It is a good sign for the future of angling and anglers that they are rapidly increasing in number. One of the oldest fishing clubs, if not the oldest, was the Schuylkill club, founded in Pennsylvania in 1732. An account of its history was published in Philadelphia in 1830. Among the earliest clubs in London are to be numbered such societies as The True Waltonians, The Piscatorial, The Friendly Anglers and The Gresham, which are still flourishing. A certain amount of literary activity has been observable in the world of angling clubs, and several volumes of ". are on the papers records. Most noticeable perhaps are the three volumes of Anglers' Evenings published in 1880-1894, a collection of essays by members of the Manchester Anglers' Association. The other method of securing a continuance of sport, the adoption of seaangling as a substitute for fresh-water fishing, is quite a modern thing. Within the memory of men still young the old tactics of hand-line and force were considered good enough for sea fish. Now the fresh-water angler has lent his centuries of experience in deluding his quarry; the sea-angler has adopted many of the ideas presented to him, has modified or improved others, and has developed the capture of sea-fish into a science almost as subtle as the capture of their fresh-water cousins. One more modern feature, which is also a result of the increase of anglers, is the great advance made in fish-culture, fish-stocking and fish-acclimatization during the last half-century. Fish-culture is now recognized industry; every trout-stream of note and value is restocked from time to time as a matter of course; salmonhatcheries are numerous, though their practical utility is still a debated matter, in Great Britain at any rate; coarse fish are also bred for purposes of restocking; and, lastly, it is now considered a fairly simple matter to introduce fish from one country to another, and even from continent to continent. In England the movement owes a great deal to Francis Francis, a who, though he was not the earliest worker in the field, was among the first to formulate the science of fish-breeding; his book Fish-Culture, first published in 1863, still remains one of the best treatises on the subject. In the United States, where fishery science has had the benefit of generous governmental and official support and countenance and so has reached a high level of achievement, Dr. T. Garlick (The Artificial Reproduction of | Fishes, Cleveland, 1857) is honoured as a pioneer. On the continent of Europe the latter half of the 19th century saw a very considerable and rapid development in fish-culture, but until comparatively recently the propagation and care of fish in most European waters have been considered almost entirely from the point of view of the fish-stew and the market. As to what has been done in the way of acclimatization it is not necessary to say much. Trout (Salmo fario) were introduced to New Zealand in the late 'sixties from England; in the 'eighties rainbow trout (Salmo irideus) were also introduced from California; now New Zealand provides the finest trout-fishing of its kind in the world. American trout of different kinds have been introduced into England, and brown trout have been introduced to America; but neither innovation can be said to have been an unqualified success, though the rainbow has established itself firmly in some waters of the United Kingdom. It is still regarded with some suspicion, as it has a tendency to wander from waters which do not altogether suit it. For the rest, trout have been established in Ceylon, in Kashmir and in South Africa, and early in 1906 an attempt was made to carry them to British Central Africa. In fact the possibilities of acclimatization are so great that, it seems probable, in time no river of the civilized world capable of holding trout will be without them. METHODS AND PRACTICE Angling now divides itself into two main divisions, fishing in fresh water and fishing in the sea. The two branches of the sport have much in common, and sea-angling is really little more than an adaptation of fresh-water methods to salt-water conditions. Therefore it will not be necessary to deal with it at great length and it naturally comes in the second place. Angling in fresh water is again divisible into three principal parts, fishing on the surface, i.e. with the fly; in mid-water, i.e. with a bait simulating the movements of a small fish or with the small fish itself; and on the bottom with worms, paste or one of the many other baits which experience has shown that fish will take. With the premise that it is not intended here to go into the minutiae of instruction which may more profitably be discovered in the many works of reference cited at the end of this article, some account of the subdivisions into which these three styles of fishing fall may be given. Fresh-Water Fishing. Fly-fishing.-Fly-fishing is the most modern of them, but it is the most highly esteemed, principally because it is the method par excellence of taking members of the most valuable sporting family of fish, the Salmonidae. It may roughly be considered under three heads, the use of the "wet "or sunk fly, of the " dry or floating fly, and of the natural insect. Of these the first is the most important, for it covers the widest field and is the most universally practised. There are few varieties of fish which may not either consistently or occasionally be taken with the sunk fly in one of its two forms. The large and gaudy bunch of feathers, silk and tinsel with which salmon, very large trout, black bass and occasionally other predaceous fish are taken is not, strictly speaking, a fly at all. It rather represents, if anything, some small fish or subaqueous creature on which the big fish is accustomed to feed and it may conveniently receive the generic name of salmon-fly. The smaller lures, however, which are used to catch smaller trout and other fish that habitually feed on insect food are in most cases intended to represent that food in one of its forms and are entitled to the name of "artificial flies." The dry or floating fly is simply a development of the imitation theory, and has been evolved from the wet fly in course of closer observation of the habits of flies and fish in certain waters. Both wet and dry fly methods are really a substitute for the third and oldest kind of surface-fishing, the use of a natural insect as a bait. | perils of its first ascent and spawning season and as a kelt or Each method is referred to incidentally below. Spinning, &c.-Mid-water fishing, as has been said, broadly consists in the use of a small fish, or something that simulates it, and its devices are aimed almost entirely at those fish which prey on their fellows. Spinning, live-baiting and trolling' are these devices. In the first a small dead fish or an imitation of it made in metal, india-rubber, or other substance, is caused to revolve rapidly as it is pulled through the water, so that it gives the idea of something in difficulties and trying to escape. In the second a small fish is put on the angler's hook alive and conveys the same idea by its own efforts. In the third a small dead fish is caused to dart up and down in the water without revolving, it conveys the same idea as the spinning fish, though the manipulation is different. Bottom-Fishing.-Bottom-fishing is the branch of angling which is the most general. There is practically no fresh-water fish that will not take some one or more of the baits on the angler's list if they are properly presented to it when it is hungry. Usually the baited hook is on or near the bottom of the water, but the rule suggested by the name "bottom-fishing" is not invariable and often the bait is best used in mid-water; similarly, in " mid-water fishing" the bait must sometimes be used as close to the bottom as possible. Bottom-fishing is roughly divisible into two kinds, float-fishing, in which a bite is detected by the aid of a float fastened to the line above the hook and so balanced that its tip is visible above the water, and hand-fishing, in which no float is used and the angler trusts to his hand to feel the bite of a fish. In most cases either method can be adopted and it is a matter of taste, but broadly speaking the float-tackle is more suited to water which is not very deep and is either still or not rapid. In great depths or strong streams a float is difficult to manage. The Fish. It is practically impossible to classify the fish an angler catches according to the methods which he employs, as most fish can be taken by at least two of these methods, while many of those most highly esteemed can be caught by all three. Sporting fresh-water fish are therefore treated according to their families and merits from the angler's point of view, and it is briefly indicated which method or methods best succeed in pursuit of them. Salmon. First in importance come the migratory Salmonidae, and at the head of them the salmon (Salmo salar), which has a two-fold reputation as a sporting and as a commercial asset. The salmon fisheries of a country are a very valuable possession, but it is only comparatively recently that this has been realized and that salmon rivers have received the legal protection which is necessary to their well-being. Even now it cannot be asserted that in England the salmon question, as it is called, is settled. Partly owing to our ignorance of the life-history of the fish, partly owing to the difficulty of reconciling the opposed interests of commerce and sport, the problem as to how a river should be treated remains only partially solved, though it cannot be denied that there has been a great advance in the right direction. The life-history of the salmon, so far as it concerns the matter in hand, may be very briefly summed up It is bred in the rivers and fed in the sea. The parent fish ascend in late autumn as high as they can get, the ova are deposited on gravel shallows, hatching out in the course of a few weeks into parr The infant salmon remains in fresh water at least one year, generally two years, without growing more than a few inches, and then about May assumes what is called the smolt-dress, that is to say, it loses the dark parr-bands and red spots of infancy and becomes silvery all over. After this it descends without delay to the sea, where it feeds to such good purpose that in a year it has reached a weight of 2 lb to 4 lb or more, and it may then reascend as a grilse. Small grilse indeed may only have been in the sea a few months, ascending in the autumn of the year of their first descent. If the fish survives the 'Trolling is very commonly confused in angling writing and talk with trailing, which simply means drawing a spinning-bait along behind a boat in motion. spawned fish gets down to the sea again, it comes up a second time as a salmon of weight varying from 8 lb upwards. Whether salmon come up rivers, and, if so, spawn, every year, why some fish are much heavier than others of the same age, what their mode of life is in the sea, why some run up in spring and summer when the breeding season is not till about November or December, whether they were originally sea-fish or river-fish-these and other similar questions await a conclusive answer. One principal fact, however, stands out amid the uncertainty, and that is that without a free passage up and down unpolluted rivers and without protection on the spawning beds salmon have a very poor chance of perpetuating their species. Economic prudence dictates therefore that every year a considerable proportion of running salmon should be allowed to escape the dangers that confront them in the shape of nets, obstructions, pollutions, rods and poachers. And it is in the adjustment of the interests which are bound up in these dangers (the last excepted; officially poachers have no interests, though in practice their plea of "custom and right" has too often to be taken into consideration) that the salmon question consists. To secure a fair proportion of fish for the market, à fair proportion for the rods and a fair proportion for the redds, without unduly damaging manufacturing interests, this is the object of those who have the question at heart, and with many organizations and scientific observers at work it should not be long before the object is attained. Already the system of "marking" kelts with a small silver label has resulted in a considerable array of valuable statistics which have made it possible to estimate the salmon's ordinary rate of growth from year to year. It is very largely due to the efforts of anglers that the matter has gone so far. Whether salmon feed in fresh water is another question of peculiar interest to anglers, for it would seem that if they do not then the whole practice of taking them must be an anomaly. Champions have arisen on both sides of the argument, some, scientists, asserting that salmon (parr and kelts excluded, for both feed greedily as opportunity occurs) do not feed, others, mostly anglers, maintaining strongly that they do, and bringing as evidence their undoubted and customary capture by rod and line, not only with the fly, but also with such obvious food-stuffs as dead baits, worms and prawns. On the other side it is argued that food is never found inside a salmon after it has been long enough in a river to have digested its last meal taken in salt water The very few instances of food found in salmon which have been brought forward to support the contrary opinion are in the scientific view to be regarded with great caution; certainly in one case of recent years, which at first appeared to be well authenticated, it was afterwards found that a small trout had been pushed down a salmon's throat after capture by way of a joke. A consideration of the question, however, which may perhaps make some appeal to both sides, is put forward by Dr J Kingston Barton in the first of the two volumes on Fishing (Country Life Series). He maintains that salmon do not habitually feed in fresh water, but he does not reject the possibility of their occasionally taking food. His view is that after exertion, such as that entailed by running from pool to pool during a spate, the fish may feel a very transient hunger and be impelled thereby to snap at anything in its vicinity which looks edible. The fact that the angler's best opportunity is undoubtedly when salmon have newly arrived into a pool, supports this contention. The longer they are compelled to remain in the same spot by lack of water the worse becomes the prospect of catching them, and "unfishable" is one of the expressive words which fishermen use to indicate the condition of a river during the long periods of drought which too often distinguish the sport. Salmon Tackle and Methods.-It is when the drought breaks up and the long-awaited rain has come that the angler has his chance and makes ready his tackle, against the period of a few days (on some short streams only a few hours) during which the water will be right; right is a very exact term on some rivers, meaning not only that the colour of the water is suitable to the fly, but that its height shall be within an inch or two of a given mark, prescribed by experience. As to the tackle which is made ready. months, yet the clean-run fish of February, March or April amply repays patience and disappointment by its fighting powers and its beauty. Summer fishing on most rivers in the British Islands is uncertain, but in Norway summer is the season, which possibly explains to some extent the popularity of that country with British anglers, for the pleasure of a sport is largely increased by good weather. Two methods of using the fly are in vogue, casting and harling. The first is by far the more artistic, and it may be practised either from a boat, from the bank or from the bed of the river itself; in the last case the angler wades, wearing waterproof trousers or wading-stockings and stout nail-studded brogues. In either case the fishing is similar. The fly is cast across and down stream, and has to be brought over the "lie " of the fish, swimming naturally with its head to the stream, its feathers working with tempting movement and its whole appearance suggesting some live thing dropping gradually down and across stream. Most anglers add to the motion of the fly by "working' it with short pulls from the rod-top. When a fish takes, the rise is sometimes seen, sometimes not; in any case the angler should not respond with the rod until he feels the pull. Then he should tighten, not strike. The fatal word "strike," with its too literal interpretation, has caused many a breakage. Having hooked his fish, the angler must be guided by circumstances as to what he does; the salmon will usually decide that for him. But it is a sound rule to give a well-hooked fish no unnecessary advantage and to hold on as hard as the tackle will allow. Good tackle will stand an immense strain, and with this "a minute a pound " is a fair estimate of the time in which a fish should be landed. A foul-hooked salmon (no uncommon thing, for a fish not infrequently misses the fly and gets hooked somewhere in the body) takes much longer to land. The other method of using the fly, harling, which is practised on a few big rivers, consists in trailing the fly behind a boat rowed backward and forwards across the stream and dropping gradually downwards. Fly-fishing for salmon is also practised on some lakes, into which the fish run. On lakes the boat drifts slowly along a "beat," while the angler casts diagonally over the spots where salmon are wont to lie. Salmon may also be caught by "mid-water fishing," with a natural bait either spun or trolled and with artificial spinningbaits of different kinds, and by "bottom-fishing" with prawns, shrimps and worms. Spinning is usually practised when the water is too high or too coloured for the fly; trolling is seldom employed, but is useful for exploring pools which cannot be fished by spinning or with the fly; the prawn is a valuable lure in low water and when fish are unwilling to rise; while the worm is killing at all states of the river, but except as a last resource is not much in favour. There are a few waters where salmon have the reputation of not taking a fly at all; in them spinning or prawning are the usual modes of fishing. But most anglers, wherever possible, prefer to use the fly. The rod for the alternative methods is generally shorter and stiffer than the fly-rod, though made of like material. Twelve to fourteen feet represents about the range of choice. Outside the British Islands the salmon-fisher finds the headquarters of his sport in Europe in Scandinavia and Iceland, and in the New World in some of the waters of Canada and Newfoundland. there is, as in most angling matters, divergence of opinion. | autumn run, and though kelts are often a nuisance in the early Salmon fly-rods are now made principally of two materials, greenheart and split-cane; the former is less expensive, the latter is more durable; it is entirely a matter of taste which a man uses, but the split-cane rod is now rather more in favour, and for salmon-fishing it is in England usually built with a core of steel running from butt to tip and known as a "steel centre." How long the rod shall be is also a matter on which anglers differ, but from 16 ft. to 17 ft. 6 in. represents the limits within which most rods are preferred. The tendency is to reduce rather than to increase the length of the rod, which may be accounted for by the adoption of a heavy line. Early in the 19th century anglers used light-topped rods of 20 ft. and even more, and with them a light line composed partly of horse-hair; they thought 60 ft. with such material a good cast. Modern experience, however, has shown that a shorter rod with a heavier top will throw a heavy dressed silk line much farther with less exertion. Ninety feet is now considered a good fishing cast, while many men can throw a great deal more. In the United States, where rods have long been used much lighter than in England, the limits suggested would be considered too high. From 12 ft. 6 in. to 15 ft. 6 in. is about the range of the American angler's choice, though long rods are not unknown with him. The infinite variety of reels, lines, gut collars1 and other forms of tackle which is now presented to the angler's consideration and for his bewilderment is too wide a subject to be touched upon here. Something, however, falls to be said about flies. One of the perennially fruitful topics of inquiry is what the fish takes a salmon-fly to be. Beyond a fairly general admission that it is regarded as something endowed with life, perhaps resembling a remembered article of marine diet, perhaps inviting gastronomic experiment, perhaps irritating merely and rousing an impulse to destroy, the discussion has not reached any definite conclusion. But more or less connected with it is the controversy as to variety of colour and pattern. Some authorities hold that a great variety of patterns with very minute differences in colour and shades of colour is essential to complete success; others contend that salmon do not differentiate between nice shades of colour, that they only draw distinctions between flies broadly as being light, medium or dark in general appearance, and that the size of a fly rather than its colour is the important point for the angler's consideration. Others again go some way with the supporters of the colour-scheme and admit the efficacy of flies whose general character is red, or yellow, or black, and so on. The opinion of the majority, however, is probably based on past experience, and a man's favourite flies for different rivers and condition of water are those with which he or someone else has previously succeeded. It remains a fact that in most fly-books great variety of patterns will be discoverable, while certain old standard favourites such as the Jock Scott, Durham Ranger, Silver Doctor, and Thunder and Lightning will be prominent. Coming out of the region of controversy it is a safe generalization to say that the general rule is: big flies for spring fishing when rivers are probably high, small flies for summer and low water, and flies medium or small in autumn according to the conditions. Spring fishing is considered the cream of the sport. Though salmon are not as a rule so numerous or so heavy as during the The precise date when silkworm gut (now so important a feature of the angler's equipment) was introduced is obscure. Pepys, in his Diary (1667), mentions a gut string varnished over which is beyond any hair for strength and smallness" as a new angling secret which he likes" mightily." In the third edition (1700) of Chetham's Vade-Mecum, already cited, appears an advertisement of the "East India weed, which is the only thing for trout, carp and bottomfishing." Again, in the third edition of Nobbes's Art of Trolling (1805), in the supplementary matter, appears a letter signed by J. Eaton and G. Gimber, tackle-makers of Crooked Lane (July 20, 1801), in which it is stated that gut "is produced from the silkworm and not an Indian weed, as has hitherto been conjectured... The word "gut is employed before this date, but it seems obvious that silkworm gut was for a long time used under the impression that it was a weed, and that its introduction was a thing of the 17th century. It is probable, however, that vegetable fibre was used too; we believe that in some parts of India it is used by natives to this day. Pepys' "minikin was probably cat-gut. " " Land-locked Salmon.-The land-locked salmon (Salmo salar sebago) of Canada and the lakes of Maine is, as its name implies, now regarded by scientists as merely a land-locked form of the salmon. It does not often attain a greater size than 20 lb, but it is a fine fighter and is highly esteemed by American anglers. In most waters it does not take a fly so well as a spinning. bait, live-bait or worm. The methods of angling for it do not differ materially from those employed for other Salmonidae. Pacific Salmon.-Closely allied to Salmo salar both in appear. ance and habits is the genus Oncorhynchus, commonly known as Pacific salmon. It contains six species, is peculiar to the North Pacific Ocean, and is of some importance to the angler, though of not nearly so much as the Atlantic salmon. The quinnat is the largest member of the genus, closely resembles salar in caught with spinning-baits and also with the worm. The main controversy that is concerned with sea-trout is whether or no the fish captured in early spring are clean fish or well-mended kelts. On the whole, as sea-trout seldom run before May, the majority of opinion inclines to their being kelts. Non-migratory Salmonidae. Of the non-migratory members of the Salmonidae the most impotant in Great Britain is the brown trout (Salmo fario) Its American cousin the rainbow trout (S. irideus) is now fairly well established in the country too, while other transatlantic species both of trout and char (which are some of them partially migratory, that is to say, migratory when occasion offers), such as the steelhead (S. rivularis), fontinalis (S fontinalis) and the cut-throat trout (S. clarkii), are at least not unknown. All these fish, together with their allied forms in America, can be captured with the fly, and, speaking broadly, the wet-fly method will do well for them all. Therefore it is only necessary to deal with the methods applicable to one species, the brown trout. Trout. Of the game-fishes the brown trout is the most popular, for it is spread over the whole of Great Britain and most of Europe, wherever there are waters suited to it. It is a fine sporting fish and is excellent for the table, while in some streams and lakes it grows to a very considerable size, examples of 16 lb from southern rivers and 20 lb from Irish and Scottish lakes being not unknown. One of the signs of its popularity is that its habits and history have produced some very animated controversies. Some of the earliest discussions were provoked by the liability of the fish to change its appearance in different surroundings and conditions, and so at one time many a district claimed its local trout as a separate species. Now, however, science admits but one species, though, to such well-defined varieties as the Loch Leven trout, the estuarine trout and the gillaroo, it concedes the right to separate names and "races." In effect all, from the great ferox of the big lakes of Scotland and Ireland to the little fingerling of the Devonshire brook, are one and the same-Salmo fario. appearance and surpasses him in size. The others, sockeye, | if it happens to be a big one. Like salmon, sea-trout are to be humpback, cohoe, dog-salmon and masu, are smaller and of less interest to the angler, though some of them have great commercial value. The last-named is only found in the waters of Japan, but the rest occur in greater or less quantities in the rivers of Kamchatka, Alaska, British Columbia and Oregon. The problems presented to science by salar are offered by Oncorhynchus also, but there are variations in his life-history, such as the fact that few if any fish of the genus are supposed to survive their first spawning season. When once in the rivers none of these salmon is of very much use to the angler; as, though it is stated that they will occasionally take a fly or spoon in fresh water, they are not nearly so responsive as their Atlantic cousin and in many streams are undoubtedly not worth trying for At the mouths of some rivers, however, where the water is distinctly tidal, and | in certain bays of the sea itself they give very fine sport, the method of fishing for them being usually to trail a heavy spoonbait behind a boat. By this means remarkable bags of fish have been made by anglers. The sport is of quite recent development. Sea-Trout.-Next to the salmon comes the sea-trout, the other migratory salmonid of Europe. This is a fish with many local names and a good deal of local variation. Modern science, however, recognises two "races" only, Salmo trutta, the sea-trout proper, and Salmo cambricus or eriox, the bull-trout, or sewin of Wales, which is most prominent in such rivers as the Coquet and Tweed. The life-history of sea-trout is much the same as that of salmon, and the fish on their first return from the sea in the grilse-stage are called by many names, finnock, herling and whitling being perhaps the best known. Of the two races Salmo trutta alone is of much use to the fly-fisher. The bull-trout, for some obscure reason, is not at all responsive to his efforts, except in its kelt stage. Then it will take greedily enough, but that is small consolation. The bull-trout is a strong fish and grows to a great size and it is a pity that it is not of greater sporting value, if only to make up for its bad reputation as an article of food. Some amends, however, are made by its cousin the sea-trout, which is one of the gamest and daintiest fish on the angler's list. It is found in most salmon rivers and also in not a few streams which are too small to harbour the bigger fish, while there are many lakes in Scotland and Ireland (where the fish is usually known as white trout) where the fishing is superb when the trout have run up into them. Fly-fishing for sea-trout is not a thing apart. A three-pounder that will impale itself on a big salmon-fly, might equally well have taken a tiny trout-fly. Many anglers, when fishing a sea-trout river where they run large, 5 lb or more, and where there is also a chance of a salmon, effect a compromise by using a light 13 ft. or 14 ft. double-handed rod, and tackle not so slender as to make hooking a salmon a certain disaster. But undoubtedly to get the full pleasure out of sea-trout-fishing a single-handed rod of 10 ft to 12 ft. with reasonably fine gut and small flies should be used, and the way of using it is much the same as in wet-fly fishing for brown trout, which will be treated later. When the doublehanded rod and small salmon-flies are used, the fishing is practically the same as salmon-fishing except that it is on a somewhat smaller scale. Flies for sea-trout are numberless and local patterns abound, as may be expected with a fish which has so catholic a taste. But, as with salmon-fishers so with sea-troutfishers, experience forms belief and success governs selection. Among the small salmon-flies and loch-flies which will fill his book, the angler will do well to have a store of very small trout-half the battle, for the haunts of trout in rapid rivers are very flies at hand, while experience has shown that even the dry fly will kill sea-trout on occasion, a thing that is worth remembering where rivers are low and fish shy. July, August and September are in general the best months for sea-trout, and as they are dry months the angler often has to put up with indifferent sport. The fish will, however, rise in tidal water and in a few localities even in the sea itself, or in salt-water lochs into which streams run. Sea-trout have an irritating knack of "coming short," that is to say, they will pluck at the fly without really taking it. There are occasions, on the other hand, in loch-fishing where plenty of time must be given to the fish without tightening on it, especially Wet-Fly Fishing for Trout.-Fly-fishing for trout is divided into three kinds: fishing with the artificial fly sunk or "wet," fishing with it floating or "dry" and fishing with the natural insect. Of the two first methods the wet fly is the older and may be taken first. Time was when all good anglers cast their flies downstream and thought no harm. But in 1857 W. C. Stewart published his Practical Angler, in which he taught that it paid better to fish up-stream, for by so doing the angler was not only less likely to be seen by the trout but was more likely to hook his fish. The doctrine was much discussed and criticized, but it gradually won adherents, until now up-stream fishing is the orthodox method where it is possible. Stewart was also one of the first to advocate a lighter rod in place of the heavy 12 ft. and 13 ft. weapons that were used in the North in his time. There are still many men who use the long rod for wet-fly fishing in streams, but there are now more who find 10 ft. quite enough for their purpose. For lake-fishing from a boat, however, the longer rod is still in many cases preferred. In fishing rivers the main art is to place the right flies in the right places and to let them come naturally down with the stream. The right flies may be ascertained to some extent from books and from local wisdom, but the right places can only be learnt by experience. It does not, however, take long to acquire "an eye for water" and that is much alike. In lake-fishing chance has a greater share in bring. ing about success, but here too the right fly and the right place are important; the actual management of rod, line and flies, of course, is easier, for there is no stream to be reckoned with. Though there is little left to be said about wet-fly fishing where the fly is an imitation more or less exact of a natural insect, there is another branch of the art which has been stimulated by modern developments. This is the use of salmon-flies for big trout much in the same way as for salmon. In such rivers as the Thames, where the trout are cannibals and run very large, ordinary trout-flies are of little use, and the fly-fisher's only |