So that their fruitful stocks they do unfold,
And lay abroad their offspring to be seen:
Where Nature shows her great increase of kind
To such as seek their tender shoots to find.
Then go into some great Arcadian wood
Where store of ancient hazels do abound;
And seek amongst their springs and tender brood
Such shoots as are the straightest, long and round:
And of them all (store up what you think good)
But fairest choose, the smoothest and most sound;
So that they do not two years' growth exceed,
In shape and beauty like the Belgick reed.
These prune and cleanse of every leaf and spray,
Yet leave the tender top remaining still;
Then home with thee go bear them safe away,
But perish not the rine and utter pill; [*]
And on some even boarded floor them lay,
Where they may dry and season at their fill;
And place upon their crooked parts some weight
To press them down, and keep them plain and straight.
So shalt thou have always in store the best
And fittest rods to serve thy turn aright:
For not the brittle cane, nor all the rest,
I like so well, though it be long and light;
Since that the fish are frighted with the least
Aspect of any glittering thing, or white;
Nor doth it by one half so well incline
As doth the pliant rod, to save the line.
HEN GET good hair, so that it be not black,
Neither of mare nor gelding let it be;
Nor of the tireling jade that bears the pack;
But of some lusty horse or courser free,
Whose bushy tail upon the ground doth track
Like blazing comet that sometimes we see :
From out the midst thereof the longest take
At leisure best your links and lines to make.
Then twist them finely as you think most meet,
By skill or practice easy to be found;
As doth ARACHNE with her slender feet,
Draw forth her little thread along the ground:
But not too hard or slack, the mean is sweet;
Lest slack, they snarl; or hard, they prove unsound:
And intermix with silver, silk or gold,
The tender hairs, the better so to hold.
Then end to end, as falleth to their lot,
Let all your links, in order as they lie,
Be knit together with that fisher's knot
That will not slip nor with the wet untie;
And at the lowest end forget it not
To leave a bout or compass like an eye,
The link that holds your hook to hang upon,
When you think good to take it off and on.
Which link must neither be so great nor strong,
Nor like of colour as the others were;
Scant half so big, so that it be as long,
Of greyest hue and of the soundest hair;
Lest whiles it hangs the liquid waves among
The sight thereof, the wary fish should fear:
And at one end a loop or compass fine,
To fasten to the other of your line.
HEN TAKE good cork, so much as shall suffice,
For every line to make his swimmer fit; [9. p. 192.]
And where the midst and thickest parts doth rise,
There burn a round small hole quite through it;
And put therein a quill of equal size,
But take good heed the cork you do not slit;
Then round or square with razor pare it near
Pyramidwise, or like a slender pear.
The smaller end doth serve to sink more light
Into the water with the plummet's sway;
The greater swims aloft and stands upright,
To keep the line and bait at even stay;
That when the fish begin to nib and bite,
The moving of the float doth them bewray:
These may you place upon your lines at will,
And stop them with a white and handsome quill.
HEN BUY your hooks the finest and the best
That may be had of such as use to sell,
And from the greatest to the very least
Of every sort pick out and choose them well; Such as in shape and making pass the rest, And do for strength and soundness most excel: Then in a little box of driest wood
From rust and canker keep them fair and good.
That hook I love that is in compass round,
Like to the print that Pegasus did make
With horned hoof upon Thessalian ground;
From whence forthwith Parnassus' spring outbrake,
That doth in pleasant waters so abound,
And of the Muses oft the thirst doth slake;
Who on his fruitful banks do sit and sing,
That all the world of their sweet tunes doth ring.
Or as THAUMANTIS, when she list to shroud
Herself against the parching sunny ray,
Under the mantle of some stormy cloud
Where she her sundry colours doth display:
Like JUNO's bird: of her fair garments proud,
That PHOEBUS gave her on her marriage day,
Shows forth her goodly circle far and wide
To mortal wights that wonder at her pride.
His shank should neither be too short nor long;
His point not over sharp nor yet too dull;
The substance good that may endure from wrong:
His needle slender, yet both round and full,
Made of the right Iberian metal strong
That will not stretch nor break at every pull;
Wrought smooth and clean without one crack or knot, And bearded like the wild Arabian goat.
Then let your hook be sure and strongly plaste
Unto your lowest link, with silk or hair;
Which you may do with often overcast
So that you draw the bouts together near:
And with both ends make all the other fast,
That no bare place or rising knot appear;
Then on that link hang leads of even weight,
To raise your float and carry down your bait.
Thus have your rod, line, float and hook;
The rod to strike, when you shall think it fit;
The line to lead the fish with wary skill;
The float and quill to warn you of the bit;
The hook to hold him by the chap or gill:
Hook, line and rod all guided to your wit.
Yet there remain of fishing tools to tell
Some other sorts that you must have as well.
Other Fishing Tools.
LITTLE board, the lightest you can find,
But not so thin that it will break or bend;
Of cypress sweet or of some other kind,
That like a trencher shall itself extend;
Made smooth and plain, your lines thereon to wind,
With battlements at every other end;
Like to the bulwark of some ancient town
As well-walled Silchester, now razed down.
A shoe to bear the crawling worms therein,
With hole above to hang it by your side.
A hollow cane that must be light and thin,
Wherein the "Bobb" and "Palmer" shall abide;
Which must be stopped with an handsome pin
Lest out again your baits do hap to slide.
A little box that covered close shall lie,
To keep therein the busy winged fly.
Then must you have a plummet formèd round
Like to the pellet of a birding bow;
Wherewith you may the secret'st waters sound,
And set your float thereafter high or low
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