THREE BOOKS ON FISHING.* THREE books on angling may be
conveniently noticed together. Each is very different from the others in style, scope, and subject. A Scottish Fly-Fisher, by Mr. Leitch, will be read with pleasure. It is well written, some of the author's little drawings are clever, and he is severely critical of much that others have written on trout-fishing. It is, indeed, not hard to be satirical at the expense of certain pedantic stuff that has been written on the cult of the dry-fly, the exact imitation of the natural insects, and other modern accompani- ments of the paraffin bottle. To a Scottish and a skilful wet-fly fisher these developments lend themselves to sarcastic treatment ; and some things that Mr. Leitch says are well deserved and fair home thrusts. To him a good day means a heavy creel. But he writes with leas convincing authority when it appears that he has never fished a Hampshire chalk stream. On the whole be is a follower of Stewart, a believer in few patterns, and those hackle flies, and an advocate of upstream fishing. The chapters on " Stream-fishing " and " Loch-fishing " contain a few reminiscences and much dis- quisition and theory that can be studied with profit. Under a modest exterior we recognize the successful fish-catcher. "The book contains little that is new. It supplies no felt want," writes the author in his preface. We should like to add that neither of those reasons deters us from recommending it to our angling readers.
The second book contains a certain amount of fishing mixed with less interesting travel. In A Fisherman's Summer in Canada Mr. F. G. Afialo gives an account of a three months' holiday. But the fishing was a failure, and for this reason the book is a disappointment. The tour, planned with the help of a Sportsman's Agency, began with a canoe trip down the Miramichi. Three grilse and a few brook-trout was the bag. Later his best black bass weighed only 3 lb., and his dream of catching a mnskallonge, or giant "leaping pike," remained unfulfilled. The main object of the trip was an attempt to kill on a rod one of the tuna, or tunny, off Cape Breton Island. In weight they run up to 800 lb., and though several have been hooked none so far have been landed. Here, again Mr. Aflalo met with no success even in hooking a fish. Anyone who contemplates a fishing trip in Eastern Canada, which is
• A Scottish Ply-Fisher. By A. Leitch. With illustrations by the Author. Paisley Alexander Gardner. [4s. 6d. net.]--.4 Fisherman s Summer 411 Canada. By F. G. Aflalo. Illustrated with Photographs. London : Witherby and Co. [5s. net.]—Angling Sketches from a Wayside Ins. By Duncan Fraser. With eight original drawings by Wilson Cowan. Edinburgh : Andrew Baxendine. [4s. 6d. net.1 neither a difficult nor an expensive holiday, will find some -useful information as to tackle, camping, muscatel, and other neces- saries. The big tuna are probably the biggest fish in the world that will take a bait, and one can start from England and have a month's tuna fishing, according to Mr. Afialo, for about £100.
Lastly, we have Angling Sketches from a Wayside Inn, which centre round the " pawky " humour of a company of anglers who forgather regularly at a fishing inn. Some of Mr. Duncan Fraser's chapters are reprinted from the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch. Here in the smoking-room, over pipes and glasses, while, as Mr. Fraser would say, " my lady Nicotine holds her sway," the Professor, the Veteran, the Dominie, and the Fly Busher discourse at length and sing angling songs till bedtime. The author is a keen angler and a lover of nature. Those who think of an expedition to Shetland or " 171tima Thule" may find a little useful information in one of his chapters. The locality of the fishing inn is carefully concealed, and we are told little detail about the sport. It is, however, in the lowlands, and not, as Mr. Fraser would say, "a far cry from the metropolis of Scotland."
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