Stewart?s essay

[Traditionalist]

This is the only other piece that William Clouston Stewart wrote on fishing that was published. Some of you might enjoy it.  It is from "Fishing Gossip"  by H.Cholmondely Pennell H. (Henry), 1837-1915

Which you can find here;

http://www.archive.org/details/fishinggossipors00choliala



FLY-FISHING, AND HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE.

FLY-FISHING has always been, and we believe always will be, the favourite method of angling ; and deservedly so. Few who have once owned its sway are capable of resisting its attractions. What golden memories of the past it recalls ! What bright visions of the future it portrays ! And when May comes, that month pre-eminently the fly-fisher's, with its bright sunny mornings and soft southern breezes, once more, unencumbered with anything save a light rod and small box of flies, the angler wends his way to some favourite stream. Once more with elastic tread he climbs the mountain's brow, and having gained the summit, what a prospect meets his gaze ! There, far as the eye can reach, rises into the blue sky summit after summit of the heath-clad hills, while underneath lie the grassy slope and luxuriant meadow, the green cornfield and waving wood, and, glittering and circling among all like a silver thread, winds the far-stretching stream in its beauty. There is nothing to break the solitude save the plaintive bleating of the sheep or the cry of the moorcock.

As the angler descends, the music of the song-bird meets his ear from every bush, and the groves resound with the cooing of the wood-pigeon or the soft notes of the cuckoo. And now he approaches the scene of his anticipated triumph. There is the deep rocky pool and racing shallow, the whirling eddy and rippling stream now foaming over rocks, and now meandering slowly between green banks. Now it pauses as if to enjoy the glory of the pro spect, then rushes impetuously forward, eager to drink in the grandeur of some new scene. Everything seems endowed with life to welcome the return of summer, and the very river is alive with leaping trout. No wonder that with Sir Henry Watton he finds "fly-fishing" a "cheerer of the spirits, a tranquilliser of the mind, a calmer of unquiet thoughts, a diverter of sadness."

And then the art itself is lively and graceful. Look at the angler as he approaches some favourite spot. See him as he observes the monarch of the pool regaling himself on the incautious insect that sports in fancied security upon the surface. Inwardly he vows that it shall be avenged. Cautiously he approaches, concealing himself by kneeling, or keeping behind some bush, lest by any chance his expected prey should discover him and so be warned. Gracefully wheeling his long line behind, he lays
his flies down softly as a snow-flake just above the desired spot. A moment of expectancy succeeds ; the flies approach the very place where the trout was last seen. Look at the angler how with keen eye he watches, to strike with alert hand the moment he either feels or sees the least movement. There is a stoppage of the line and an instantaneous movement of the angler's wrist, and the trout is fast. At first he shakes his head as if surprised and bewildered at the unwonted interference with his liberty, but gradually awakening to a sense of the danger of his position, he collects his scattered energies, and makes a gallant fight for liberty. Frequently he will leap in the air several times as if to ascertain the character of his opponent, and then make a frantic rush ; but the figure on the bank follows him like a shadow, and at last, strength and hope both exhausted, he turns on his side and becomes an easy prey, leaving the angler to congratulate himself on having achieved such a feat with a tiny hook and tackle like a gossamer.

The victory, however, is not always with the angler more frequently the other way. Often at the last moment, just as he is putting out his hand to secure his prize, the trout makes a bolt, and is gone, leaving the disappointed artist the picture of blank dismay, and in a very unenviable frame of mind ; indeed, of all the trials of the temper which occur in the ordinary course of life, there is none to compare with that of losing a good trout at the last moment, and anglers have various ways of giving vent to their pent-up feelings, depending upon their peculiar idiosyncrasy. But of all the different means of relief there is perhaps none at once so satisfactory and so reprehensible as that referred to by a late great humorist who, if not an angler, was the friend and associate of anglers :

" The flask frae my pocket
I poured into the socket,
For I was provokit unto the last degree ;
And to my way o' thinkin',
There's naething for 't but drinkin',
When a trout he lies winkin' and lauchin' at me."

Everything, we say, combines to render fly-fishing the most attractive of all the branches of the angler's art. The attempt to capture trout which are seen to rise at natural flies is in itself an excitement which no other method possesses. Then the smallness of the hook and the fineness of the tackle necessary for success increase the danger of escape, and consequently the excitement and pleasure of the capture ; and for our own part we would rather hook, play, and capture a trout of a pound weight with fly than one of a pound and half with minnow or worm, where the hooks being larger, there is less chance of their losing their hold, and the gut being stronger, there is
less risk of its breaking. Fly-fishing is also the cleanest and most elegant and gentlemanly of all the methods of capturing trout. The angler who practises it is saved the trouble of working with worms, of catching, keeping alive, and salting minnows, or searching the river's bank for the natural insect. Armed with a light single-handed rod and a few flies he may wander from county to county, and kill trout wherever they are to be found.

But besides being the most attractive and valuable,
artificial fly-fishing is the most difficult branch of the
angler's art ; and this is another reason of the prefer-
ence accorded to it, since there is more merit, and there-
fore more pleasure, in excelling in what is difficult.

But there is one great error in fly-fishing, as
usually practised, and as recommended to be practised
by books, and that is, that the angler " fishes down "
stream, whereas he should " fish up."

We believe we are not beyond the mark in
stating that ninety-nine anglers out of a hundred fish
down with the artificial fly ; they never think of
fishing in any other way, and never dream of attri-
buting their want of success to it. Yet we are pre-
pared to prove, both in theory and practice, that this
is the greatest reason of their want of success in clear
waters. In all our angling excursions we have met
only one or two amateurs, and a few professionals,
who fished up stream with the fly, and used it in
a really artistic manner. If the wind is blowing up,



296 FISHING GOSSIP.

anglers will occasionally fish up the pools (as for
fishing up a strong stream they never think of it)
but even then they do not do it properly, and meet
with little better success than if they had followed
their usual method. They will also, if going to some
place up a river, walk up, not fish up to it, their plan
being to go to the top of a pool and then fish it down,
never casting their line above them at all.

We shall now mention in detail the advantages
of fishing up, in order to show its superiority over the
old method.

The first and great advantage is, that the angler
is unseen by the trout. Trout, as is well known, keep
their heads up stream ; they cannot remain stationary
in any other position. This being the case, they see
objects above and on both sides of them, but cannot
discern anything behind them, so that the angler fish-
ing down will be seen by them twenty yards off;
whereas the angler fishing up will be unseen, al-
though he be but a few yards in their rear. The ad-
vantages of this it is impossible to over-estimate. No
creatures are more easily scared than trout ; if they
see any object moving on the river's bank, they run
into deep water, or beneath banks and stones, from
which they will not stir for some time. A bird flying
across the water, or the shadow of a rod, will some-
times alarm them ; and nothing connected with
angling is more certain than this, that if the trout see



FLY-FISHING. 297

the angler, they will not take his lure. He may ply
Ms minnow in the most captivating manner, may
throw his worm with consummate skill, or make his
flies light softly as a gossamer all will be unavailing
if he is seen by his intended victim.

The next advantage of fishing up we shall notice,
is the much greater probability of hooking a trout
when it rises. In angling down stream, if a trout
rises and the angler strikes, he runs a great risk of
pulling the flies straight out of its mouth ; whereas,
in fishing up, its back is to him, and he has every
chance of bringing the hook into contact with its
jaws. This, although it may not seem of great im-
portance to the uninitiated, tells considerably when
the contents of the basket come to be examined at
the close of the day's sport ; indeed no angler would
believe the difference unless he himself proved it.

Another advantage of fishing up is, that it does
not disturb the water so much. Let us suppose the
angler is fishing down a fine pool. He, of course,
commences at the top, the place where the best trout,
and those most inclined to feed, invariably lie. After
a few casts he hooks one, which immediately runs
down, and by its vagaries leaping in the air, and
plunging in all directions alarms all its neighbours,
and it is ten to one if he gets another rise in that
pool. Fishing up saves all this. The angler com-
mences at the foot, and when he hooks a trout, pulls



298 FISHING GOSSIP.

it down, and the remaining portions of the pool are
undisturbed. This is a matter of great importance,
and we have frequently, in small streams, taken a
dozen trout out of a pool, from which, had we been
fishing down, we could not possibly have got more
than two or three.

The last advantage of fishing up is, that by it the
angler can much better adapt the motions of his flies
to those of the natural insect. And here it may be
mentioned as a rule, that the nearer the motions of
the artificial flies resemble those of the natural ones
under similar circumstances, the greater will be the
prospects of success. Whatever trout take the artificial
fly for, it is obvious they are much more likely to be
deceived by a natural than by an unnatural motion.

No method of angling can imitate the hovering
flight of an insect along the surface of the water
now just touching it, then flying a short distance,
and so on ; and for the angler to attempt by any
motion of his hand to give his flies a living appear-
ance, is mere absurdity. The only moment when
trout may mistake the angler's fly for a real one in
its flight is the moment it first touches the water ;
and in this respect fishing down possesses equal
advantages with fishing up. But this is the only
respect, and in order to illustrate this, we shall give
a brief description of fly-fishing as usually practised
down stream.



FLY-FISHING. 299

The angler, then, we shall suppose, commences
operations at the head of a pool or stream, and,
throwing his flies as far as he can across from where
he is standing, raises his rod and brings them gradu-
ally to his own side of the water. He then steps
down a yard or two, repeats the process, and so on.
Having dismissed the idea that the angler can imitate
the flight of a living fly along the surface of the
water, we must suppose that the trout take the arti-
ficial fly for a dead one, or one which has fairly got
into the stream and lost all power of resisting. A
feeble motion of the wings or legs would be the only
attempt at escape which a live fly in such a case
could make. What then must be the astonishment
of the trout, when they see the tiny insect which
they are accustomed to seize, as it is carried by the
current towards them, crossing the stream with the
strength and agility of an otter? Is it not much
more natural to throw the flies up, and let them come
gently down, as any real insect would do ?

In addition to drawing their flies across the
stream, some anglers practise what is called playing
their flies, which is done by a jerking motion of the
wrist, which imparts a similar motion to the fly.
Their object in doing this is to create an appearance
of life, and thus render their flies more attractive.
An appearance of life is certainly a great temptation
to a trout, but it may be much better accomplished



300 FISHING GOSSIP.

by dressing the flies of soft materials, which the
water can agitate, and thus create a natural motion
of the legs or wings of the fly, than by dragging
them by jumps of a foot at a time across and up a
roaring stream. Trout are not accustomed to see
minute insects making such gigantic efforts at escape,
and therefore it is calculated to awaken their sus-
picions.

We believe that all fly-fishers fishing down must
have noticed that, apart from the moment of alight-
ing, they get more rises from the first few yards of
their flies' course than in the whole of the remainder ;
and that when their flies fairly breast the stream
they seldom get a rise at all. The reason of this is
clear : for the first few feet after the angler throws
his flies across the stream they swim with the current ;
the moment, however, he begins to describe his semi-
circle across the water, they present an unnatural
appearance, which the trout view with distrust.
Experienced fly-fishers, following the old method,
who have observed this, and are aware of the great
importance of the moment their flies light, cast very
frequently, only allowing their flies to float down a
few feet, when they throw again. We have seen
some Tweedside adepts fill capital baskets in this
way ; but as we have before stated, it will only
succeed when the water is coloured, or when there
is a body of clear water sufficiently large to conceal



FLY-FISHING. 301

the angler from view ; and even then he may have
much better sport by fishing up. The angler draw-
ing his flies across and up stream will catch trout,
and this is the strongest evidence that trout are not
such profound philosophers as the notions of some
would lead us to suppose. But though he does
catch trout, they are in general the very smallest.
Indeed the advantages of fishing up are in nothing
more apparent than in the superior size of the trout
captured. We believe they will average nearly
double the size of those caught with the same flies
fishing down, and though generally not so large as
those taken with the worm, they are not much
behind them, and we almost invariably kill a few
larger trout in a river with the fly than with the
worm.

Though our remarks in this article have princi-
pally reference to angling in small rivers, where
fishing up is essential to success, the same arguments
hold good in every size or colour of water in a less
degree, as even though the trout cannot see the
angler, the other advantages which we have men-
tioned are still in his favour.

If we were fishing a large river when it was
dark-coloured, and required to wade deep, we should
fish down, because the fatigue of wading up would,
under such circumstances, become a serious drawback.
In such a case we fish in the following manner :



302 FISHING GOSSIP.

Throwing our flies, partly up and partly across from
where we are standing, we allow them to swim
down a yard or two, when we cast again, never
allowing them to go below that part of the stream
opposite us. But though the angler gets over the
ground as quickly this way, and casts as often, as if
he were fishing up, yet he has not the same chance,
because if a trout catches sight of his flies just as
he is lifting them, their sudden abstraction may deter
it from taking them on their again alighting ; whereas
in fishing up the angler casts a yard or two further up
every time, so that every trout may see his flies at
the moment they alight.

The reader must not suppose, however, that fishing
up is all that is necessary for success ; on the con-
trary, the angler may throw his flies up stream, and
know less of the art of fly-fishing, and catch fewer
trout, than his neighbour who is fishing down. The
mere fact of an angler throwing his flies up stream is
no proof that he is a fly-fisher. Of those who fish
down stream, some catch more and some less, and in
like manner with those fishing up, one may catch
three times as many as another, depending upon the
particular method they each adopt ; and unless the
reader pays strict attention to the details referred to
in our Practical Angler, we are afraid he will not
derive much benefit. Fishing up is much more dif-
ficult than fishing down, requiring more practice, and



FLY-FISHING. 303

a better acquaintance with the habits of the trout ;
and we believe that a mere novice would, in a large
water, catch more trout by fishing down than up,
because the latter requires more nicety in casting.
But to attain anything like eminence in fly-fishing,
the angler must fish up, and all beginners should
persevere in it, even though they meet with little suc-
cess at first, and they will be amply rewarded for their
trouble.

The only circumstances in which fishing down
has the advantage of fishing up, is when the water is
so dark or deep that the fish would not see, or if they
did see, would not have time to seize the flies, unless
they moved at a slower rate than the stream. We
think that this rarely applies to angling for river
trout, as when inclined to feed upon flies they are
generally on the outlook for them, but it does apply
to salmon and sea-trout fishing. Both these fish lie
in strong deep water, and as they are not accustomed
to feed upon flies, they are not on the outlook for
them ; so that if the salmon-fisher were to throw his
flies up stream, they would come down at such a rate
that the salmon would never see them. Besides
which, it is obvious that whatever salmon take the
angler's fly for, they cannot take it for anything they
have seen before, and therefore there is no reason for
supposing they can detect anything unnatural in its
motion.



304 FISHING GOSSIP.

We have devoted this article principally to the
errors of fly-fishing as generally practised, and \ve
hope we have succeeded in convincing the reader of
the truth of our observations ; but as we have fre-
quently endeavoured in vain by viva voce demonstra-
tion to persuade anglers to fish up, we have no doubt
numbers will adhere to their own way. As no
amount of mere argument will convince such, we offer
to find two anglers, who, in a water suitable for show-
ing the superiority of fishing up, will be more suc-
cessful than any three anglers fishing down after the
ordinary method.

We have just given the same reasons for fishing
up stream as in the first edition of our Practical
Angler, because upon this point there can be nothing
new ; and we are as ready as ever to find anglers
who are prepared to do battle in their behalf, on the
terms just stated ; but while one or two have come
forward to dispute the theory, none have accepted our
challenge and come forward to dispute the practice.
One reviewer the only objector we can remember
who gives a reason says, "that so long as streams run
down, carrying the food of the fish with them, so long
should anglers fish down." While, however, his pre-
mises are undeniably correct, we entirely dissent from
his conclusions. Streams certainly run down and
carry the food of the trout with them, but along with
that food they do not carry an apparition in the shape



FL Y-FISHIXG. 305

of ail angler with rod and line upon the bank ; and
as nothing will familiarise them to such an appari-
tion, we draw the conclusion that that apparition had
better keep out of sight and fish up stream. More-
over, the fact that the natural food floats down is
anything but a reason that the artificial lure in imi-
tation of that food should be pulled up.

We must confess, however, that fishing up stream
with fly has not been adopted by a large portion of
the angling community, and that for various reasons.
In spite of the strong manner in which, in our Prac-
tical Angler, we cautioned our readers about the
difficulties of fishing up stream, numbers who read
the arguments for it, and were struck with the sound-
ness of the theory, thought they saw at a glance the
cause of their previous want of success, and that in
future the result would be different. Having equipped
themselves a la Practical Angler, and even taken a copy
of that excellent work in their pockets, they started
with high hopes on their new career, but the result
was not different, and after one or two trials with no
better success, not a few have condemned fishing up
stream as erroneous and ourselves as impostors ;
though we imagine the fault lies with themselves.
We have met anglers fishing down stream and this
is no supposititious case, but one which we have seen
over and over again with a copy of this said volume
in their pockets, who complained that they had got



306 FISHING GOSSIP.

everything therein recommended, and were getting no
sport. On pointing out to them that there was one
important mistake they were committing, in fishing
down stream instead of up, they stated that when
they came to a pool they fished it up that is to say,
they first walked down the pool and showed them-
selves to the trout and then commenced to fish for
them.

" The trout within yon. wimplin' burn,
Glides swift, a silver dart :
And safe beneath the shady thorn,
Defies the angler's art."

John Younger objects to this as incorrect, but we
rather think that Burns is right, and the angler
wrong ; as it is evident the poet alludes to a trout
that has caught sight of the angler, and safe he is, at
least pi'O tern., as our pupils who first frighten the fish
by walking down  a poolside, and then fish up it,
will find to their cost.

Others object to fishing up stream, as requiring too
frequent casting, being too fatiguing, and because
they have been accustomed to fish down, and would
prefer fishing in that way, even though they do not
catch so many trout. If any angler prefers catching
five pounds weight of trout, fishing down stream, to
ten pounds weight, fishing up, we may wonder at his
taste, but it is no concern of ours.

w. c. s.