The Happy Angler
I Go a-Fishing. By J. Branston Blaikie. (Arnold. 10s. 6d.) IZAAK WALTON'S title shows that even the best minds have their limitations, for there- is no such-thing in return natura as a Complete Angler : and, indeed, from one standpoint Izaak was almost absurdly incomplete. 'the artificial fly he scarcely knew : dry fly was then never dreamed of ; prawn lay outside his ken—and as for the complications of modern tackle, from silex reels to telescopic gaffs, they were as far off as the motor engine. But nobody can read Izaak without knowing that he: had what was essential—the feeling for fish and the true appreciation not only of his sport but of what Dr. Blaikie calls the background in this enchanting pursuit —which, of course, is half the charm. Like a wise man writing for his fellow anglers, Dr Mail* does not try to communicate the incommunicable by explicit writing ; he is artist enough to know that it will suggeSt itself in the course Of -what appears to be a mere description of the chase. This reviewer has never seen Scandinavia, but Dr. Blailde's pages convey- the quality of Norwegian rivers—or at all events convey a picture of something unlike what anglers bound to these islands have ever met. Yet evidently his experience there with lean athletic Seandinavian sahnon or sea-trout in waters so swift that fish and current together make fishing a strong man's- exercise have not spoilt his appreciation of English chalk streams or Scottish loch and river.
Not Many anglers will read this book without envy, for few, indeed, have had so much and so good fishing ; but one feels that Dr. Blaikie -has-earned- it.-- -1/e -is' none of your ;purists who ,despiso- the wet fly on a trout stream and- when they go sahnon fishing are more concerned to impress their rivals and their gillies with long casting than to consider how fish may be caught. The truth- is that underneath every really good angler there is the aboriginal poacher—disciplined, no doubt, and subservient, but still always .more intent on catching fish than on being a fine, figure of, an orthodox per- : former. For instance, most fishermen take it as axiomatic, and all keepers encourage the belief. that there is no use in fishing a fly over salmon in deep water. Dr. Blaikie describes -how a keeper left hini_ contemptuously_ at such a place when he was trying the' experiment of throwing his fly up-stream, allowing it to sink and then drawing it in—with the conse- quence that no gaff was forthcoming when it was badly wanted. This_ method- was discovered (by chance) on a little river in County Antrim, full of deep narrow holes cut into basalt, and it is now daily and regularly practised there with surprising results, Why not ? The spring, salmon fly is certainly taken for some kind of fish, and why should that kind of fish never swim more than a foot below the surface ?
Another thing which endears this most attractive volume is the writees love for attacking salmon with trout tackle. It is quite true that a good many fish get away—but the first thing is to hook your fish, and although, as Dr. Blaikie points out, the salmon is not a shy creature like trout, he is much less likely to take a lure if it has an obvious line attached to it. Given that you have to fish with a trout cast, a light rod is necessary or you will lose fish striking them : but who would not be the fisherman with a grilse or even, a salmon on a ten- foot split cane ?
What fun it is ! Do any but anglers enjoy so many pleasures of anticipation ? And as a remedy for nerves—in how many cases does Dr.- Blaikie prescribe it ? Has he learnt to divine the persons for whom it is an untroddea way to paradise ? or does he occasionally send some off-to-what might enchant himself (such as whipping a river in a hailstorm) but the patient might take for a good instalment of, purgatory ?
STEPHEN GWYNI*-
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