Fishing Up

by: WC Stewart

If, however, on the other hand angling is looked upon with little favour by an unenlightened multitude, on the other hand there is no amusement to which those who practice it become so much attached.  Nor do we think that anglers generally can fairly be accused either of stupidity, or, let us say, patience. They have certainly in their ranks a larger proportion of men of literature and science than can be found among the followers of any other field sport; and for the comfort of those who have not the much-despised gift of patience, we could point to a number of celebrated anglers, who are by no means celebrated as possessing this virtue …. Angling, when once embarked in by any person possessed of a reasonable amount of soul and brains, becomes a passion, and like other passions will grow and feed upon the smallest possible amount of encouragement. Fish or no fish, whenever opportunity offers, the angler may be found at the water-side. If this only went on in fine weather, people could understand it, but now-a-days, even in summer, the weather is not always fine; and when a man is seen standing in the water for hours in a torrent of rain, with benumbed hands, and an empty basket, doubts of the individual’s sanity naturally suggest themselves, mixed with feelings of pity for the terrible consequences in the ways of colds, rheumatism, &c. … It is surely better to have fresh air and exercise, even in wet, than to be spending the whole day in some country inn, yawning over some second-rate novel for the third time ….

            “Though sluggards deem it but an idle chase,    

            And marvel men should quit their easy chair,

            The toilsome way and long long league to trace;

            Oh! there is sweetness in the mountain air,

            And life that bloated ease can never hope to share.”

That angling is good for exercise is certain.  That it is also good for amusement is equally certain; but the pleasure derived from the catching of fish, like that derived from other field sports, is more easily felt than described.  There can be no doubt, that by the great majority of people an amusement is valued on proportion as it affords room for the exercise of skill – there is more merit, and therefore more pleasure, in excelling in what is difficult – and though we may astonish some of our readers, we assert, and shall endeavor to prove, that angling is the most difficult of all field sports.  It requires all the manual dexterity than the others do, and brings more into play the qualities of the mind, observation, and the reasoning faculties.  .. The angler’s wits, in fact, are brought into direct competition with those of the fish, which very often, judging from the result, prove the better of the two.

Beside the mere  pleasure of fishing, however, angling has more varied attractions than almost any other amusement. To the lover of nature no sport affords so much pleasure. The grandest and most picturesque scenes in nature are to be found on the banks of rivers and lakes. ….

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

The first and greatest advantage is, that the angler is unseen by the trout.  Trout, as is well know, 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 fishing down will be seen by them twenty yards off, whereas the angler fishing up will be unseen, although he be but a few yards in their rear.  The advantages 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. 

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 might not seem of great importance 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 cast 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 commences at the foot, and when he hooks a trout, pulls it down, and the remaining portions of the pool are undisturbed.

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. 

The great point in fly dressing, is to make the artificial fly resemble the natural insect in shape, and the great characteristic of all river insects is extreme lightness and neatness of form.  Our great objection to the flies in common use is, that they are much too bush; so much so, that there are few flies to be got in the tackle-shops which we could use with any degree of confidence in clear water. Every possible advantage is in favour of a lightly-dressed fly; it is more like a natural insect; it falls lighter on the water, and every angler knows the importance of making his fly fall gently, and there being less material about it, the artificial nature of that material is not so easily detected; and also, as the hook is not so much covered with feathers, there is a much better chance of hooking a trout when it rises. We wish to impress very strongly upon the reader the necessity of avoiding bulky flies.