Blacker's Art of Fly Making Part 14

THE RIVER SEVERN.

The river Severn has its source in Montgomerys.h.i.+re, takes a long course, pa.s.sing the towns of Welshpool and Shrewsbury. It is a fine stream, and there could be no better one were it well preserved. There is excellent greyling fis.h.i.+ng below Shrewsbury, but little or no salmon fis.h.i.+ng. "Mr.

Taylor," in his Book on Angling, who was a native of this place, says, "that he hooked and killed a greyling in the Severn, below Shrewsbury, five pounds weight."

THE RIVER THAME rises in Wales, near Bishop's Castle, and joins the Severn below Worcester. It produces excellent fish, particularly trout and greyling. Begin to fish at Ludlow, and move down the stream. The flies in my list are good for it.

THE TRENT

is a good river for greyling fis.h.i.+ng, near the town of Newark, on the Nottingham and Lincoln Railroad. The flies to suit it are small blue duns, cochybonddus, small black hackles, orange duns, red hackles without wings, wren hackles, small grouse hackles, ash duns, willow flies, blue blows, &c.

The well known Lakes and Rivers of c.u.mberland are excellent for fly fis.h.i.+ng, particularly Ulswater for trout, and the beautiful Lake Windermere for a fish called Char. These delicious fish take a fly like the sea-trout, which they resemble in shape, although much darker in colour. A small fly made on No. 8 hook, or No. 6, with puce body and hackle, ribbed with silver, the wings of brown mallard, and a tail the same feather as the wings; a fly with an orange body, black hackle, and mallard wings; another with woodc.o.c.k wings, orange body, and furnace red hackle; a fly with a bronze peac.o.c.k harl body, rib of gold, black hackle, and jay wings, varied with light grey mallard for wings; and my list of trout flies for the season will be found excellent for the trout in the lakes and rivers.

Bowness, Patterdale, Poolybridge, and Keswick, are all nice stations, where men and boats may be had conveniently.

RIVERS OF YORK AND DERBY.

The beautiful streams of these counties are excellent for trout fis.h.i.+ng, and the scenery varied and pleasing throughout. The river Wharf is a delightful stream in the neighbourhood of Bolton Abbey, a well known place of "Hofland." See his painting of it, which gives a good idea of the magnificent scene. Harrowgate, and Harewood Bridge, would be very convenient stations for the fly fisher to stay at. The greyling are good here, and the small duns, wren, and grouse hackles, do well; the Dottrille hackle, and black and red hackle, with yellow waxed silk bodies, and starling wing, are good; a small fly with peac.o.c.k body, black hackle, and starling wing. No. 13 hook, or 12. These flies may be seen in my list. They will also kill well at Driffield.

THE HODDER.

Whitewell is a favourite spot for anglers to meet during the May fly season, it is beautifully situated for scenery and sport; my list of flies will be found excellent killers in this stream for both trout and greyling; there is a comfortable inn here.

RIVERS OF DERBY.

Derbys.h.i.+re is watered by many delightful streams, which abound with trout and greyling, the owners of which allow the angler to fish without the least hesitation on making application and sending in his card.

The River Dove, at "Dove Dale," is as charming a place for a few days fly fis.h.i.+ng as any in the County, and is famed for the pleasing recollections of the early days of "Walton and Cotton's" rambles on its banks. There is an inn at the entrance of the Dale, and Mapleton and Ashbourne convenient stations. The flies to suit the Dove are, small duns of various sorts, greys, and browns, as described in my list for the season, there cannot be better flies for it if made to answer the state of the water.

The beautiful river Wye, at the town of "Bakewell," is a capital stream for the fly, and many a good angler makes his appearance here in the drake season; the winged larva and May fly in the engraving would do well on windy days, when the natural May fly did not show itself in great numbers; my list for the season will be found excellent ones for the Wye.

The Derwent is also another nice fly-fis.h.i.+ng stream for trout and fine greyling; the best places to proceed to fish would be Baslow and Rowsley Bridge, my list of flies will suit it well.

THE RIVERS WANDLE AND COLN.

These rivers are convenient to London, and are famous for fly fis.h.i.+ng: they are in general private property, but the owners are very civil in granting one or two days' angling on application and sending your card.

There are two or three places on the Wandle that may be angled in at will, about the neighbourhood of Carshalton, and Ackbridge; and on the Coln, at Watford and Rickmansworth. The flies to suit the Wandle are generally well known, which are--the Carshalton c.o.c.ktail, dark hare's ear, blue and pale duns, little peac.o.c.k fly, furnace fly, small soldier fly, and little black red palmers, the little brown midge and the March brown made very small, small black gnat, and red ant, these flies may be seen in my list for the season, they cannot fail to afford diversion.

The flies to suit the river Coln, are--the brown Caperer, large cinnamon fly, brown-red palmer, and Orl fly with a dun hackle and yellow body, the stone fly, March brown, brown grouse hackle, wren-tail fly, large red ant, black gnat, and dun drake, a red hackle fly made full with the red and grey tail feather of the partridge mixed, bronze peac.o.c.k harl body. Hook No. 8.

The Great Whirling Dun, Red Spinner, the Coachman, and the Large Governor flies will be found with those good for the evening, with a nice ripple on the water.

The river Itchen, at Itchen Abbas, Hants, is a very nice stream for fly fis.h.i.+ng, and the Avon at Salisbury Plain, the Kennet, at Hungerford, Berks, is also good, and the river Mole at Leatherhead, Surrey, is a beautiful stream for fly fis.h.i.+ng, in the vicinity of Randal's Park. It has been preserved in the park for years, and abounds with large trout.

Whitchurch and Stockbridge are also good places for the fly, in Hamps.h.i.+re; and the famed "Lea" at Ware, the resort of many a good London angler; the river Stour is another fine trout stream, it receives the rivers of Wilts in its course, waters Hamps.h.i.+re, and falls into the sea at Christchurch. My list of flies will kill here.

There are many very beautiful rivers in Devons.h.i.+re for trout fis.h.i.+ng, which are, the Ex at Exeter and Tiverton, the Ax at Axminster, and the Tamar which separates Cornwall and Devon, a very considerable river, in which there are salmon and fine white trout in the spring of the year, March and April. Launceston would be the most convenient station for the tourist angler to fish this fine river.

The salmon in it take small flies, with claret and dark brown bodies, ribbed with gold, mallard wings mixed with a little tipped feather, and tails of the same; at high water they rise and take more gaudily dressed ones, made on B and BB hooks.

I sent the colours to a gentleman to suit this river some time ago, who told me it would be an excellent one for salmon, were it well taken care of. He made his own flies.

I have also sent fis.h.i.+ng colours, hackles, and flies, to suit every river, or nearly so, in Great Britain, to gentlemen residing on their banks, which has been a great advantage to me in obtaining the knowledge of the local flies, but in general my flies have succeeded best in the hands of those Fly fishers who have made it their study and practice.

It will be seen that I have not withheld the local flies for each river from accompanying my own, and those great anglers who visit Norway will find the Salmon flies in the plates most killing, and it will be a great advantage to them to have this book in their possession, to give them a knowledge of fis.h.i.+ng colours, and the various modes of dressing both salmon and trout flies, the delineation of which they will see I have given to a nicety, having studied from my youth, and learned from my own observation.

I have been all my life too fond of fis.h.i.+ng, which has been sometimes to my disadvantage, but I loved the scenes of woods, green hills, of singing birds, meadows, and fresh air, rus.h.i.+ng rivers, and above all, to look at the beautiful fish jumping to catch the fly on the surface of the water.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate of Minnow tackle, &c.]

BAIT FIs.h.i.+NG.

THE RIVER THAMES.

After jumping over old "tower'd" Thames on our way to the south, we now return to him to wind up this little chapter on rivers; there cannot be a better river for the purposes of trolling, spinning, or bait fis.h.i.+ng in general, than the Thames, there is not a town on its banks from Richmond to Oxford, that does not afford capital angling with the bait, and in many places large trout may be caught with the fly in the evening, these large trout are very delicious and grow fat on the quant.i.ties of minnows and gudgeons which they prey upon, and of which there are an inexhaustible supply. I have taken a few of them with large size blood red flies, brown flies, and large palmers of the like colours. The flies Nos. 4, 5, and 7, in the plates, are just the sort made a size or two smaller; Hampton Court, Sunbury, Weybridge, and Pentonhook, are likely places to rise a fish about seven in the evening, and early in the morning from six to eight. A light general rod with spare tops for fly fis.h.i.+ng, about sixteen or seventeen feet long, with reel, and line of sixty yards, would be about the sort I would recommend, made of good hickory, or split cane; this sort of rod would suit any purpose, either for trolling, spinning, or for barbel fis.h.i.+ng with the lob worm, &c.

Mr. Stoddart in his "Work on Angling" speaks very highly of worm and bait fis.h.i.+ng in general.

And "Mr. Salter's Book," is a very good authority for trolling and spinning. The greater part of the fishermen and punt men on the Thames are capital hands at using the trolling and spinning tackle, so that the young angler who desires to become expert at this sort of fis.h.i.+ng, can easily gain instruction from these civil men; they are also good barbel and trout fishers with the lob worm.

There are many good trout caught by spinning, and when bait fis.h.i.+ng with the lob worm for barbel in places where they would rise and take the fly were they let alone, this is the cause of their being so scarce, as trout from half-a-pound and upwards will take the worm.

The Thames produces many kinds of fish--trout, perch, barbel, pike, roach, dace, carp, chub, gudgeons, minnows, eels, &c. As all these fish take the bait in general, I will here give the proper sorts for each, with the tackle to suit the purpose, and will show the angler which to use to his best advantage in every river he fishes in.