trout. Salmon-fishing now may be said to have become a pastime of the
rich, and there are signs that trout-fishing will before long have
to be placed in the same exclusive category, while even the right to
angle for less-esteemed fish will eventually be a thing of price. The
development is natural, and it has naturally led to efforts on the
part of the angling majority to counteract, if possible, the growing
difficulty. These efforts have been directed chiefly in two ways, one
the establishment of fishing clubs, the other the adoption of angling
in salt water. The fishing club of the big towns was originally a
social institution, and its members met together to sup, converse
on angling topics and perhaps to display notable fish that they had
caught. Later, however, arose the idea that it would be a convenience
if a club could give its members privileges of fishing as well as
privileges of reunion. So it comes about that all over the United
Kingdom, in British colonies and dependencies, in the United States,
and also in Germany and France, fishing clubs rent waters, undertake
preservation and restocking and generally lead an active and useful
existence. It is a good sign for the future of angling and anglers
that they are rapidly increasing in number. One of the oldest
fishing clubs, if not the oldest, was the Schuylkill club, founded
in Pennsylvania in 1732. An account of its history was published in
Philadelphia in 1830. Among the earliest clubs in London are to be
numbered such societies as The True Waltonians, The Piscatorial,
The Friendly Anglers and The Gresham, which are still flourishing. A
certain amount of literary activity has been observable in the world
of angling clubs, and several volumes of "papers" are on the records.
Most noticeable perhaps are the three volumes of _Anglers' Evenings_
published in 1880-1894, a collection of essays by members of the
Manchester Anglers' Association. The other method of securing a
continuance of sport, the adoption of sea-angling as a substitute for
fresh-water fishing, is quite a modern thing. Within the memory of
men still young the old tactics of hand-line and force were considered
good enough for sea fish. Now the fresh-water angler has lent his
centuries of experience in deluding his quarry; the sea-angler has
adopted many of the ideas presented to him, has modified or improved
others, and has developed the capture of sea-fish into a science
almost as subtle as the c