Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1883-07-11
Fishing as a Fine Art.

Horace Greeley was always going a
fishing, but he never went, and busy
life abruptly terminated The tension
ed cords which received no relaxation,
suddenly snapped asunder. There is
no other diversion, perhaps, which af.
fords so much relaxation for men of all
nations classes, and ages of people as
fishing in all its various ways and
methods Some idea may be derived
of the large attention which fishing has
received, from the fact that the "Bibl o.
thica Piscatoria," just published, gives
the names of 2,496 different volumes
on fishing Perhaps the most interest
ing Of all thee, next to Isaac Walton,
is the volume soon to be brought out
in this country, written by the lat }
David Foster, of Burton-on-Trent, Eng
land. who gives vivid descriptions of
salmon, trout and pike fishing. The
superiority of fy-fishing over all other
systems of angling is he claims, univer-
sally acknowledged.
The ever exciting nature of surface
fishing adds zest to the sport, un-
known to the other branches of the art
piscatorial. The high pitch of expecta-
tion experienced as the rising fish dain-
tily "plop" off the insects around, ex-
tends highly exhilarating influence
over both mind and body. The whole
of the faculties are thus concentrated
in one focus, ever stimulating to still
greater earnestness and efficiency 1t
is owing to these chare = ristics, this
scope for science and skill, that this
sport is and has been the chosen recrea-
ton Of men of the grea4 ,st celebrity
and the highest attainments of modern
times; Since the time of Walton the
anglers skill has advanced wondrous-
ly, while keenness of perception and
wariness have developed amongst the
denizens of the liquid element in de-.
gree quite proportionate.
The adept at flying for trout, when
at work in real earnest upon the banks
of we'll stocked stream, is striking
figure, exemplary of the true fisherman.
The gracefully erect, though ex ,ectant
attitude, the latter assumed upon the
delivery of the fly, the slender, pliable
rod, the long floating line and gossa-
mer gut, combine to constitute an ideal
rods+or.
A thorough command of the rod and
line is as essential and important as the
welding of the whip in the case of a
tandem or a four-in- hand drive The
most skillful cast known in Europe
welded the whip; we refer to the
famous royal coacEman, Tom Bos-
worth. Old Tom had, in the early
part of his life, driven three British
Soyereigns, viz: the Fourth George,
the Fourth William, and finally, for
heightened period, Her Majesty Queen
Victoria. AS successful fisherman,
Old Tom was unsurpassed. He would
often fish in the wake of several rod
ST t,rs, whose energy would succeed
their skill, and would extract not un-
frequently three times their weight of
fish, by skillfully and carefully casting
over the awkward and most unlikely
looking spots, which the majority of
anglers would rarely dream of trying
A favorit, f.eak of his with the whip
was to take the pipe from the teeth OF
a passing pedestrian by carefully cal
culated whirl of the lash, and this apti-
tude was as remarkably exemplified,
for limited distance, in his use of the
rod. Bosworth original ID the Coach
man Fly, so much appreciated for night
fishing Agriculturist for
Muu