The Secrets of Angling. By A. S. Moffatt. (Black.)—This is
an excellent little work, written by an enthusiast in the sport, especially intended for those who have the good fortune to explore the trout and. salmon streams in the north of England and Scotland, where the author's experience lies. There is a useful chapter upon angling im- plements at the beginning, and an equally useful chapter upon the characteristics of the Border rivers at the end, and between the two a mass of information evidently the result of constant observation. The author is severe upon the heretics who think that in fly-fishing it is not necessary to adapt the artificial fly to the season and waters. This may be the case in remote Scotch lochs, where insect life is rare, but not in the more southern streams, where it abounds. Here it is necessary to change the fly not only from month to month, but even from morn- ing to afternoon. The author supports his opinion by quotations from a fishing diary, which he kept for three years, giving the results of bin experience in the river Breamish, in Northumberland. All this only applies to trout. The salmon will rise to anything in the shape of a fly, provided the colours are sufficiently gaudy and neatly contrasted, but the salmon has been to sea, and returns not wise in the matter of fine flies. The book concludes with a few culinary hints, so no kind of useful information is neglected.
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