One of them is "Hints for Practical Trout-Fishing" by Douglas Frazar, an article that appeared in 1877 in Harper's. The prose is dated, though still delightful--so genteel and cordial--but the sentiments are eternal among fishers. A few excerpts, with commentary:
At this season amateurs and tyros without number are enthusiastically engaged in this exciting and health-giving sport. Each, of course, in imagination expects to do much better this season than last; and to insure more success to those who love this pastime, and to enable those who do not feel fully posted in all the technique of this science [does anyone ever feel "fully posted" about trout fishing?] - for science it is - to improve in skill, these lines are penned: not that the writer expects that everything here set down will be new to all, but in hopes that useful hints may be drawn from it by many, and that at least enough useful information will be gained to pay for the perusal... [nice, modest opening...I can't stand know-it-all fishing writers]
Very few are aware how many running brooks contain the fish, unknown to even the inhabitants of near towns or villages. In fact, it may be stated as quite literally true that this fish can be captured in almost any running water, the verdict of surrounding farmers of “no trout” to the contrary notwithstanding.... Too many fishermen, wishing good fortune, are apt to be led to fish certain streams known to the surrounding inhabitants, because everybody else fishes them, and years ago, as you will hear, such and such quantities were taken by so and so. [Same as it ever was...]Unless such water is well known to contain fish, I would advise the fisherman to pass it quietly by, and take the first mountain or hill-side brook that he meets of which no one seems to know anything, and try his luck there.[130 years later, an untarnished pearl of wisdom.] Scarcely any quick-running brook is without this fish, unless for two reasons - first, if it is well known and persistently fished; secondly, if it has a sawmill erected upon it, so that the sawdust flows into the stream, the latter in large quantities always driving out trout. Do not, I say, be afraid to try new brooks. The idea, also, that brooks can be completely fished out is, as a rule, erroneous....[If only that were so! Actually, I suppose it is--habitat degradation is more likely to empty a creek than heavy fishing pressure, as Frazar indicates with his reference to sawdust.]
To enjoy this sport thoroughly one must first make up one’s mind not to capture many fish beyond seven inches in length; the common and usual size will be about six inches.[Can you imagine a contemporary fishing writer saying this?] Do not despise small brooks....[Again..sage and timeless advice.]
And now let me try to inform you how to capture them without breaking your pole or losing your tackle or temper.[This man understood the hazards of angling.]
To be successful in this sport, first give up all idea of using artificial flies; there is usually no chance to cast them, and very few fish will rise to them, and then only, usually, at early morn or sunset.[Alas, even the astute Mr. Frazar wasn't "fully posted."] Use a light but very short jointed pole, not over twelve feet in length, with fine delicate running gear and small compact reel; small hooks, gauged upon silk-worm gut, of any make that one prefers, there being great diversity of opinion on this matter among fishermen.The Limerick hook has nearly gone out of date, and how it was endured so long is a mystery. The Kirby and Aberdeen have taken its place.[ Our petty quarrels over tackle have a long lineage. I doubt many fishermen have heard of any of those hook styles, except possibly the aberdeen. If true that brings into sharp relief the triviality of the great fast rod vs. slow rod or large arbor reel vs. standard arbor debates.]
Use, as the most killing bait yet discovered, angle-worms; and these may be much improved by being kept a few days upon clean moss in an uncovered, large-mouthed bottle, that they may scour themselves. [I never imagined that fishing with worms could be so hygenic.] In baiting, do not pay the slightest attention to whether the point of your hook is covered or not; it is of small consequence, or rather it is more deadly and better not to be covered than otherwise. The trout does not nibble, he darts; he takes, as a rule, the bait at once, or leaves it severely alone.[How well I know that severity.]
Of course you are aware that the morning and evening hours are the best for this sport, and a cloudy southerly day the best weather; but in well-stocked brooks these fish will feed all day long, and you can get a good day’s sport with almost always a nice wind-up as the sun goes down. ["a nice wind-up as the sun goes down" doesn't quite evoke the feeling of being on the water at sunset. But I'm sure Mr. Frazar would have known the feeling I mean. And I'm sure anglers reading him in any century would know it too, and perceive it between his lines.]
Tags: Fishing; Literature
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