To the winter angler a first-class outfit is of prime importance. The poles should be of well-seasoned hickory or hard maple, from eight to ten inches in diameter, in sections about three feet in length. These need not to be divested of their rich covering of bark, curved, bronzed and lichened, but should be fitted, fresh from the sheltered pile, with careful skill into an old-fashioned open fire-place, about which, in years agone, the angling forefathers of the angler of to-day told marvellous tales of deeds of "derring do" with "dipscys," bobs and poles; and about which now _his_ children list with wonder, not unmingled with some tinge of incredulity, to His yet more wondrous recitals of brave contests and curious captures with dainty rods and delicate reels.
The winter anglers wading shoes may be made of any soft material that will protect his feet should they chance to slip from the old brass fender down upon the sombre painted brick hearth below, during some delicious drowse. Most anglers have lady friends--fair cousins and others, who make them nicely with substantially embroidered lily-pads and firm strong rosebuds and vigorous elastic daffadowndillys. These are a good protection--but the soles?
Two dollars and a half, without hob nails, and no deduction for small feet! Even winter angling has its drawbacks.
The winter angler's fishing coat should be warmly quilted to protect him from the cold, and may be of a color to suit his complexion if he has one. It should be given him by his wife or "ladye faire" as a sample of her skill in manipulating the needle and--the dressmaker.
As to the kind of lure required, much must depend upon the taste of the individual angler, but it certainly ought to be hot and not have _too_ much water in it.
For protection against black flies, midgets and mosquitoes, he may, if he likes, smear his face and hands with oils either of tar or of pennyroyal, or he may build a "smudge" on the library table, but the most successful winter anglers I know use for this purpose a hollow tube of convenient length with a bowl at one end and a set of teeth, either real or artificial, at the other. The bowl may be filled with any harmless weed capable of burning slowly as, for example, tobacco. As a rule, one of these will answer the purpose, but if the flies are especially troublesome, or the angler should chance to be bald-headed, he may be forced to ask a brother angler to come to his assistance with a contrivance of a similar nature. Together they will probably be able to defy all attacks of the black flies or even the blues.