FLYFISHING. 295 



trout are very plenty, food is scarce, and they will bite 

 at anything. I speak of trout mostly, for that is my 

 favorite fish. Salmon next, although the work conies 

 in when you strike anything over eight or ten pounds, 

 and sport degenerates when it becomes labor. I have 

 heard of "labors of love," but I never took stock in 

 anything of the kind. 



In all this active piscatorial life, I have studied 

 Fishermen as well as fish. And I have come to the con- 

 clusion which opens this article — that fishermen are bom 

 for it and can't be manufactured out of raw material ! 



I have felt thankful to our Father above that nine 

 out of ten of the tourists who take to the streams in 

 easy reach, are indifferent fishermen. For thereby the 

 streams still contain fish. Were all who fish in them 

 skillful and hoggish, in a little while there would be no 

 fishing except in far-away places, difficult to reach. 



I do not claim to hold a Master's Degree as a fly-fisher- 

 man. I do delight in the art, for one of the arts and 

 sciences it surely is. I have bowed my head in rever- 

 ence before the skilled hand of my dear friend, George 

 Dawson — now beside the bright waters of the Happy 

 Land above. I have stood silent and pleased while 

 Seth Green deftly made casts which I could only feebly 

 imitate. 



Yet those who know me best say that I can use a fly- 

 rod and catch trout and salmon therewith, so I essay a 

 few words on the subject, speaking only from my own ex- 

 perience. I have never been observant enough to see a 



