The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1883-05-16
Fishing as a Fine Art.

| Horace Greeley was aiw-ys going
a-fishing, but he never went, and a
busy life abruptly terminated. The
tensioned cords which received no
relaxation, suddenly snapped asun-
der. There is no other diversion.
perhaps, which affords so much re-
Taxation 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 re-
received, from the fact that the
Bibliothica Piscatoria," just pub
lished, gives the names of 1886
different volumes on fishing. Per-
haps the most interesting of all of
these, next to Izaak Walton, is the
volume soon to be brought out in
this country, written by the late Da-
vid Foster, of Burton-on-Trent,
England, who gives vivid descrip-
tions of salmon, trout, and pike fish
ing. The superiority of fiy-fishing
over all other systems of angling is,
ne claims, universally acknowl-
edged.
The ever-existing nature ofsurface
fishing adds zest to the sport, un-
known to the other branches of the
art piscatorial. The high pitch Of
expectation experienced as the
rising fish daintily ''plop" off the
insects around, extends highly ex-
hilarating influence over both mind
and body. The whole of the facul-
ties are thus concentrated in one
focus, ever stimulating to still great
er earnestness and efficiency. 1t is
owing to these characteristics, this
scope for science and skill, that this
sport is and has been the chosen
recreation of men of the greatest
celebrity and the highest attain
ments of modern times. Since the
time of Walton the anglers skill has
advanced wondrously, while keen
ness of perception and wariness
have developed amongst the deni-
zens of the liquid elements in
degree quite proportionate.
The adept at flying for trout,
when at work in real earnest upon
the banks of we'll stocked stream,
is Q striking figure, exemplary of
the true fisherman. The gracefully
erect, though expectant attitude,
the latter assumed upon the deliv-
cry of the fly, the slender pliable rod,
the long floating line and the gossa-
mer gut, combine to constitute an
ideal rodster.
A thorough command of the rod
and line is as essential and import
ant as the welding of the whip in
the case of a tandem or four-in-
hand driver. The most skillful cast
known in Europe welded the whip
we refer to the famous Royal coach
man, Tom Bosworth Old Tom had
in the early part of his life, driven
three British Sovereigns. 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 rodsters,
whose energy would exceed their
skill, and would extract not infre-
quently three times their weight of
fish. by skillfully and carefully cast
ing over the awkward and most un-
likely looking spots, which the
majority of anglers would rarely
think of trying. A favorite freak of
his with the whip was to take the
pipe from the teeth of a passing pc
destrian by carefully calculated
whirl of the lash,. and this aptitude
was as remarkably exemplified, for
a limited distance, in the use of the
rod. Bosworth originated the Coach
man Fly, so much appreciated for
night fishing.-Americaa Agricultur-
ia for Hay.