184 FISHING WITH THE FLY. 



worst and dearest of all. Give me wind on any terms, 

 a southerly wind, if I can have it ; but give me wind. 

 It is not known what quality of wind darkens the 

 water ; it may be a haziness produced in the atmos- 

 phere, although with a cloudy sky the water is often 

 too transj^arent ; it may be the peculiar character of 

 the waves, short and broken, as contra-distinguished 

 from long and rolling ; but the fact is entitled to re- 

 liance. 



Slight changes will often affect the fish. On one 

 day in June, in the writer's experience, after having no 

 luck until eleven o'clock, the trout suddenly com- 

 menced rising, and kept on without cessation, scarcely 

 giving time to cast, till two, when they as suddenly 

 stopped. There was no observable change in the 

 weather, except the advent of a slight haze, the wind 

 remaining precisely the same. I was much disap- 

 pointed, not having half fished the ground, and being 

 prevented, by the numbers that were taken, from cast- 

 ing over some of the largest fish that broke. As it 

 was I caught seventy trout in what are ordinarily con- 

 sidered the worst hours of the day. But in this par- 

 ticular, also, the same rules apply as to the warmth of 

 the weather. In early spring it is useless to be up 

 with the lark, even supposing such a bird exists ; no 

 fish will break water till the sun has warmed the air ; 

 but in summer, the dawn should blush to find the 

 sportsman napping. In fact, trout will not rise well 

 unless the air is warmer than the water. They do not 



