Page 52 - Studio International - May 1974

A char, family salmonidae, is a fresh water fish
found in some lakes in the British Isles. Among Char & char fishing
other places they are also found in Scandinavia,
Lapland and America.
W. R. McIntyre writes that it is a mystery
how they were introduced into the English
Lakes. 'Some attributed importation to
the days of the Roman conquest, others to the
Monks of Furness Abbey. Early documents
are silent but in the first part of the
seventeenth century, char fish are
mentioned by the great antiquary
William Camden in his "Britannia", "As a sort of
golden trout to be found in Ulles-water and
Buttermere".' There is a legend which I have
heard, but not seen in print, that they are a
relic from the Ice Age.
As you look down on a char in the water as it
is brought to the net, there is very little
difference in appearance from a trout. Both
have dark green backs. When taken out of the
water a char is completely different. The general
colour is green with lighter green spots on the
sides, which are also iridescent. The belly of
those I have caught varies from very yellowish
to orange. There is one kind with a red belly
and also a silver char.
Fishing is only part of a fisherman's joy.
There is the pleasure of walking through Windermere Char (top), Cole's Char (middle), the fingers, making sure that the spinner is
Gray's Char (bottom)
wooded country in the early morning with working properly. When this line is out to the
possible sight and sound of roe deer, hares, fashion and there is no reason to doubt this fullest extent, one ring is lifted off the nail, and
rabbits, herons, geese, wild duck, cormorants, statement, because they are made with fused the main line let down slowly into the water
hawks, buzzards. metal in assorted materials of silver, gold, brass, until another copper ring is reached. Place this
Crummock Water where I fish is ringed by copper. It has been said that the best are made over the nail. Repeat this process with the
fells, some towering over the boat, others seen out of the backs of gold watches. Each spinner next six spinners.
in the distance. Some of the fells are famous has a fine treble hook at the end attached by a You now turn your attention to the ring on
all over the world with fascinating names such figure eight made out of copper wire. the main line to which the lazy line is attached.
as Melbreak, Grassmoor, Whiteside, Lowfell, We are now ready to place the rods in Lift the ring off the nail having taken hold of the
Red Pike, Gable, Haystacks, Highstile. position. This is done by tying them together line and let it slip through your fingers. This
Perhaps one day a poem may be written out of about twelve inches from the thick end in a allows the main line to hang from the end of the
those names, as Thomas Hardy made his village criss-cross way, laying them against the rod about ten feet from the boat. Finally slip the
names sing. Each fell changes, or appears to rowlocks and tying them to the seat. The thick end of the line, which has a loop, over the nail.
change, in size, shape and colour as clouds and ends of the rods touch the floor in the middle of The main line is of too lbs breaking strain, in
sun play upon them. The scene is now set in the boat, and by resting on the rowlocks stretch case the weight is snagged under a sunken
lovely hilly country, with abundant wild life, out about ten feet on either side of the boat. tree or trapped between rocks on the bottom
but also where there sometimes seems to be a The easiest way to attach the main line is to of the lake. The ancillary line is of to to 12 lb
dearth of fish. wear waders and walk into the water to lace the breaking strain.
We are now going char fishing. 'First catch line, for security, along each rod in turn and A word must be said about the rings to
your char' in Mrs Beeton's altered words. We then place the first copper ring found, one on which the secondary line is attached. A in.
need a large rowing boat, so that two or three each line, over a nail knocked into the gunwales ring is fixed to a in. length of rigid copper
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people can move about and change places, and on either side of the boat. These rings are wire, which in turn is fixed to a ring oft in.
one sufficiently large and heavy to withstand a attached to lines known as lazy lines which are diameter, forming a figure eight with a small
sudden storm. Two sets of rowlocks are an best laid on the boards at the bottom of the 1/8 in. ring at the bottom. The main line is
advantage, one set for the oarsman, and the boat for the time being. Two bells are needed. attached to the lower and upper small rings.
other on which to lean the rods so that they are They are on a clip and are placed at the very The secondary line is attached to the rigid
firm as the boat goes over the water. end of the tapered rod. copper wire by a free-moving strut at right
We need two stout rods, about twelve feet With a cry of 'All aboard' you then ask the angles from which the line streams out.
long with tapered ends. Some people prefer oarsman to row you into deep water. Instinct With the weight now about fifty feet or
rods made from bamboo. The rest of the tackle draws you to where you last caught fish. When more below the surface of the water there is a
is kept in special boxes which are placed on the safely in deep water a specially shaped lead pull on one side of the boat which the oarsman
seats, one on either side of the boat. Each box weight of 2 lbs is let over the side of the boat, must rectify by his rowing. This is when the cry
has a special place for the line and a rack with and the line allowed to slip through the fingers is heard 'Two on the right and one on the left'.
niches in which to stand the spinners. until another copper ring is reached. You now You now let down the line and spinners on the
A word must be written about the spinners, have two rings over the nail, one belonging to other side of the boat in exactly the same way.
the best of which are inherited and certainly the lazy line, and one to the line holding the When this is done and the second lazy line is at
home made. I have been told by one who makes weight. Lifting a spinner from the rack you full stretch you are really fishing. The length
them, that each spinner takes 72 hours to place it in the water and let the line go through of the auxiliary lines is such that each set of
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