hy wed forts Hew Dork State College of Agriculture At Cornell University Ithaca, 2. VB. —_— Library Cornell University Library “TN ‘JHE prop IN JNpra. a “Pleasant is the fisher'’s life “By the waters streaming.” “Q.laborum dulce lenimen.” “Dulce est desipere in loco.” “Neque arcum semper tendit Apollo.” THE BODIN INDIA BEING HINTS HOW TO OBTAIN SPORT WITH REMARKS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF FISH, OTTERS, ETC. AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF FISH AND TACKLE BY HENRY SULLIVAN THOMAS MADRAS CIVIL SERVICE, F.L.S., AND F.Z.S. Sani MANGALORE PUBLISHED BY C. STOLZ BOMBAY 1873 CALCUTTA THACKER, VINING & Co. THACKER, SPINK & Co. MADBAS LONDON GANTZ BROTHERS TRUBNER & Co., 176 MOUNT ROAD 67 & 59 LUDGATE HILL (All rights reserved.) TO SURGEON MAJOR FRANCIS DAY, rus, ¥.z.5., Inspector General of Fisheries in India, IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF KINDLY AID IN THE SCIENTIFIC NOMENCLATURE OF FISHES AND ‘IN TOKEN OF SYMPATHY WITH AND RESPECT FOR HIS INDEFATIGABLE LABORS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF PISCICULTURAL SCIENCE IN INDIA IS THIS LITTLE WORK INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. oo To the Angler. ée promise that you shall not be wearied by long yarns about the fish that I have caught; F ine object is to set your rod bending, and your heart leaping. Do not be afraid of the natural history. There is not more of it than a good fisherman ought to know, and as it is not very learned I trust it is not very dry. To the Non-fisherman lover of Natural History and Pisciculture. As you will not care perhaps to wade through the whole book for the bits that may interest you, and as those bits are necessarily scattered where they are applicable, a special Appendix will enable you to pick them out without trouble or waste of time. You must kindly excuse the unscientific lan- guage used for the sake of fishermen pure and simple, Vill PREFACE. who will probably be my chief readers. I plead and follow herein, the example of that distinguish- ed and pleasant naturalist Charles Waterton, who had both the courage and the position to be able to say he had “confined himself to a few simple “words in preference to a scientific jaw-breaking “description;” so that young naturalists might un- derstand him at once, which was all he aimed at. Ye giants in natural history, for whom this simple little book is scarcely fitting fodder, but who may yet dally with it for half an hour for the sake of the few crumbs to be gathered here and there, bear with me if in my little effort to follow, longo intervallo, the style of such a naturalist as Waterton, I timidly shelter myself under another quotation from his Essays on Natural History, as an explanation of my reasons for taking him for my model. ‘I verily believe that if an unfortunate “criminal just now were defended by a sergeant-at- “law, without his professional wig and gown, and “then condemned to death by my lord judge in “plain clothes, the people would exclaim ‘that poor “‘devil has not had a fair trial’. So it is with na- “tural history. Divest a book on birds for example PREFACE. Ix “of its unintelligible nomenclature, together with “its perplexing display of new divisions, and then “it will soon be declared deficient in the main “points, and be condemned to slumber on the dusty “shelf. If in this little treatise on monkeys I shall “succeed in imparting a love for natural history in- “to the minds of my young readers, and at the “same time convince them how much is gained in “the field, and how little in the closet, my time and “labour will be well repaid. I will introduce no “harsh words to confound them, nor recommend “to them systems, which at best, are unsatisfactory “inventions. All that I have got to say shall be “placed before them in so clear a point of view, “that every reader, be his education light or solid, “will be able to comprehend my meaning, and no- “thing more than this can be required”. Like my model, my aim in this respect is to impart a love of natural history to fishermen, and to gain amongst them more friends and coadjutors for pisciculture in India. In my Official Reports to Government also, all the members of which are not necessarily pisciculturists, I have studiously excluded all hard words from the text, and pushed them unceremoni- B x PREPACE. ously into the margin; and so in this little book any- thing ever so slightly ring-tailed will be found condemned to a foot-note, or to the close company of a plain Saxon synonym. But lest this seeming rudeness to natural his- tory should scare away some that might otherwise do me the honor of at least a cursory reading, I think I had better present my letter of introduction. The following letter and the handsome accompany- ing Medal, which I had the honor of receiving from the Acclimatization Society of Paris, is the best evidence that though in a humble way, I have still given some painstaking attention to the sub- ject on which I write. “J’ai l’honneur de vous “informer que la Société d’Acclimatation, sur la “proposition de sa Commission des récompenses, “vous a décerné une médaille de 1** classe pour “vos travaux de pisciculture dans 1’Inde.” To the Critic. “Spare the Rod”! Acknowledgments, For two of my plates, the Mahseer, and the Mur- rel, I am indebted to the courtesy of Dr. Bidie, PREFACE. xi Curator of the Government Museum in Madras, who very kindly afforded every facility to my draughtsman. The Barilius Bakeri has been copied by permission from Dr. Day’s *F ishes of Malabar”. Mangalore, HI. 8. Thomas. April 1873. B*® CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. The objects of this book : 3 . As good fishing to be had in India as in ae : Author’s apologies for himself and his subject. Fishermen the best friends of Pisciculture Repetition of former works on general fishing avoided, and remarks confined to purely Indian fishing Co-operation of anglers sought CHAPTER II. THE MAHSEER, A sporting fish . ‘ . 7 ‘ ‘ Its size Shows better sport than the salmon . The necessity for being prepared for its sudden rush . Showing the butt... Ho , . A novel mode of putting on the ee Just three words on killing . Half as many on landing . Attendant necessary . é 4 CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MAHSEER. Its names ; : f fs . i . It is not confined to Bengal . Different sorts of Mahseer Etymology of the name Mahseer . Edibility of Mahseer 2... www Tis size Its migratory habits Not spent and unwholesome after spawning, because of peculiarity of spawning How to judge of time of spawning Reason for the peculiarity in spawning Inventory of the contents of Mahseer’s stomach Conclusion therefrom that the Mahseer is a bottom feeder The same conclusion from the formation of the outside of mouth. Power of sucking up Molluses etc. from the bottom. Power of pharyngeal or throat teeth . Power of jaw also . CHAPTER IV. CIRCUMVENTING THE MAHSEER. Not to be caught by the same rules as English fish The clearest water the best for fishing The Mahseer a fish-eater though a carp Extraordinary power of jaw é 3 Hooks crushed by it Importance of bearing in mind the Mahseer’s bottom feeding habits . 2 i . Artificial fly as a bait for Mahseer Advantages and disadvantages thereof . . XI Page. 19 20 21 21 23 23 24 a4 35 36 36 37 38 39 39 xIV CONTENTS. Page. Less killing than spinning . HO m : é ~ . 389 Should always be available in addition to spinning s « « 40 Special necessity for keeping out of sight a ee ee CHAPTER V. SPINNING FOR MAHSEER. Live bait versus dead bait Bo ee ‘ 42 Importance of keeping out of sight . : : ; : 43 Weight, size, and advantages of spoon bait a 45 Phantom minnow . . . . b Be oR che 3 a » AT Spinning with dead fish . : ; é « (Som Oat Modes of baiting with dead fish. . . . . . «48 Fine tackle desirable... Ge sa eh oa ah es he . 88 Sort of fish for bait . 4 : : < 54 Best size for bait . . Ga ee os . 56 Large fish deter small fish from anticipating them. . » 5T Good fisherman generally kills better fish than an indifferent fisher- man... a . - « 58 Large fish wary . a vee be RR ee ER tae » 58 Fish able to communicate ideas toeach other. . . . . 58 Fish think and have brains ; ; By of : a. oe 60 Examples of birds, beasts, and insects, communicating ideas, and the analogy to be drawn therefrom in favor of fishes ae cae 84 Salt preferred to spirits for preservation of bait . ‘ “ ; 13 CHAPTER. VI. HOW, WHEN, AND WHERE, TO FISH. Spinning against and across stream . j . : . ‘ : 76 Habits of small fish < & ; F 3 és : . . TT Velocity at which to spin’ ©. ww www eee Object of bait revolving on its own axis . © wl, so.) 69 CONTENTS. XV Page. Manner in which big fish surprise their food . ‘ 79 Short-sightedness of fish through water . ‘ »- . 81 How to spin when bait is being followed . i é : . 83 Imperative necessity for keeping out of sight . , : . ‘ 84 Refraction in water ‘ x ‘ O: . tien OX og ‘i 86 Best season of the year for fishing . 3 Si. 8 : Fi : 88 Best hours of the day for fishing yom. Ae Ge) OL Rivers in which to fish. ©. . . . . . .) .) 6 Qt The parts of a river to be fished : Bt Ie . - i 4 93 CHAPTER VII. FLY FISHING. Fishing with Salmon fly SS >) Gl Se Jel ap ap Ge Om! £98 The accepted flies and how to tie them : : - « 100 Hooks drawing in India gh tah oy ee ew 108 Manner of fly fishing . . . ee ee Fish slowly . . : 4 : F : : » 8 . 104 Striking a fish i : 2 ‘ 5 : 5 . ~ « 105 Fishing with fly minnow. d. eh ow OR Ge ay SLOT Fishing with trout fly . . . . . .). - « 108 The fish that take a trout fy . . . .« «© «. «. «| 410 Frogs taking a fy. . . . .. oe Ce a Fly fishing up stream . «ww eee eS Natural habit of fy 2. . . . 2. wheel OTB Artificial flies spoiling in India. .§ oe ae, ce ML Knot for drop flies. ©. 2. 2. . «© © ee eA CHAPTER VIII. GRAM FISHING, Easy for tyros j ‘ Se le ee 118 Previous ground baiting . . . . =. » . 1g XVI CONTENTS. Size of hook .. . Manner of baiting hook Manner of fishing . Place and season for fishing Concealment unnecessary Size of fish caught by gram Other grain suggested . Artificial gram suggested Bottom fishing CHAPTER IX. THE MURREL. Nomenclature ‘ Similarity to a pike Habits How, when, and where, to fish for it, Shooting it Tackle for murrel . Live-bait fishing for Different ways of live-baiting The fibre of the Sago Palm. Baiting with a frog The life of a frog . To be taken with a fly. Its power of living out of water . Thrives in ponds and wells Exhibits parental affection . The lady or plantain fish Page. 119 125 182 133 133 134 134 CONTENTS. XVII Page. CHAPTER X. THE EEL, Good eating 4 me 4h : ‘ . 186 Size. , ‘ : c 2 Bim nde A : - 187 Setting night lines for it i : ‘ ; é - . 187 Gorge hook preferred . ; 3 : - ‘ ; - 138 CHAPTER XI. HYDER’S FISH, Their size : f : és : ; : : : : 141 Their leaping power. : ‘ . » 142 The peculiar way of fishing for . ; 3 ‘ : ‘ - 142 Its sportive companions ‘ . . : . 148 The Ramapatam fish . :