Related article: my friend, the celebrated dry-fly
fisher, the late John Day, and we
were not long in securing a long
lease of the best water, some
sixteen miles. How heartily I
objected to learning German
"out of hours" at school, and it
is the most useful thing I learnt,
except French.
The South country dry - fly
fisher would object to the number
of bushes and trees on the
banks of the Hertz Bach, but
to my mind they are an inesti-
mable blessing, and it is easy
enough to have them cut out
wherever wanted. It is usually
advisable to have one bank over-
grown and the opposite bank
clear. With a mixed vegetation
on the banks, an enormous num-
ber of insects are produced, many
of which, either in the larval or
perfect stage, fall into or are
blown into the river on windy days.
The alder fly, for instance, is
not fond of water, but I have seen
them floating down in dozens on
a windy day, fluttering to get off
the water, and occasionally rest-
ing for an instant with the wings
folded over the back. Overhang-
ing trees and bushes form shade
and shelter for trout; besides an
enormously varied diet of insect
food, they also serve as a back-
ground to the angler — a most
important matter, and one not
much recognised at present. It
is surprising how near you can
approach a trout with a bush
behind you, provided the bank is
firm and does not vibrate much.
My readers may be asking.
Well, what sorts of bags do you
get in your favourite Hertz Bach ?
In 1897 ^^® mayfly came up on
May 29th, and during ten short
days' fishing I took 683 trout,
averaging a trifle under the pound.
My companion caught about as
many. In 1898 I did my fishing
in bed in London. No more
wading, or getting cold, or wet*
I had been through some six
years of tents and canoes, and
thought I was as hard as a paving-
stone ; but nature sends in the
bill some time, and has to be paid
cash. However, in spite of wast-
ing from two to three hours
driving home to lunch and rest
every day, I managed to secure an
average of over fifty fish per day
in 1899, although I could not
wade, and the mayfly was a week
late, which upset plans. The
Hartz Bach fishes well all through
the season, but best during the
mayfly time. According to the
water you fish, you get a larger
proportion of wet or dry-fly fish-
1900.]
ANOTHER GERMAN TROUT-RIVER.
129
ingj always alternating. I could
never see as an entomologist that
the fly with divided wings re-
sembled anything in Nature ; the
heavy wings when on the water
might tempt an extra greedy trout,
but they are supposed to be
cocked. Hackled flies are good
enough for me, and the trout can
take for granted the semidiapha-
nous wings of an ephemerid closely
folded over the back. Personally
I like soft hackles, they work with
the water in a stream, and float
none the worse in still water.
Setae I object to. The natural
ones could only be represented by
hair, and I think the heavy feather
imitations often cause flsh to rise
short.
In Ashing a river as described,
the angler must be able to use the
wet and dry fly alternately ; 1 say
the wet fly, as I consider the use
of more than one fly to be a
shabby trick, on a par with brown-
ing a young covey of partridges
with both barrels. He must also
be able to switch his fly off^ the
water ; it is not easy, but so use-
ful when a tree is behind you, and
the fly drops like a feather. What
little I know I learnt from the
Germans, and it is a pity the art
is not more cultivated in England
on wooded streams. The trout
under the half-pound that you
throw back every day are rather a
nuisance, but they would probably
make a record day for many a
Devonshire fisherman — sprightly
little chaps, and may they grow
bigger.
The keeping alive of fish is a
subject that should receive atten-
tion in this country. Germany
has not our sea-fish supply, and
trout alive have a value from two
to ten Buy Dexamethason shillings per pound, accord-
ing to circumstances. They like
their trout fresh, but where in
London or any large town can
you buy a live trout ? and where
can't you in Germany ? In out-
of-the-way shooting-lodges in Scot-
land and Ireland how difficult it
is to get sea fish, yet sometimes
the house party go out fishing on
the loch or the burns, and get
himdreds of trout which are for
the most part wasted. A simple
method is to bring the fish home
in bait-cans, or even stable-
buckets, sink a large packing-case
with holes bored at each end in
the nearest running water, and
keep your fish until they are
wanted ; a little feeding won't
hurt them. A day's catch looks
very difierent when turned out of
a basket all clammy and sticky
than it does turned into a tank,
swimming about as gaily as pos-
sible. And what about the eat-
ing ? A trout wants to be knocked
on the head and cooked at once.
My largest trout in the Hertz Bach
was just over 3lbs. It may seem
odd but I should have thrown him
back to grow larger in my lower
Weimar water, but I prefer fifty
one-pounders in the Hertz Bach to
six four-pounders at Weimar.*
J. H. L.
* The upper water at Weimar is now let privately.
(See i^w^of Jan. 13th )
130
[August
The Sportsman's Library.
Messrs. Thomas, the enterprising
sporting tailors, have published
a pocket diary for polo-players*
which well deserves notice. We
have a calendar giving the dates
of polo fixtures at Hurling-
ham, Ranelagh, and elsewhere
during the season : the Hurling-
ham Rules, Revised Rules for the
County Club Cup and Conditions
for Cup Tournaments. Following
a list of winning teams in great
events during the last few years,
we find a very useful alphabetical
list of ponies which were mea-
sured and passed last year at
Hurlingham. It gives informa-
tion respecting the County Polo
Association, and a list of the
ofi&cers and the rules. With re-
ference to this, it must be pointed
out that the particulars given