CLEAR WATERS 



more than equalises matters. Moreover the coracle 

 has access to a vast amount of water that the wader 

 cannot reach, and consequently to a less harried set of 

 fish. Finally the coraclist, if handy at his job, enjoys 

 the assurance that he will have a basket at the end of 

 the day certainly twice, probably thrice, as heavy as 

 any wader on the river. Dee trout run about three 

 to the pound excluding those returned undersized, 

 and that is a good fighting size in rapid mountain 

 water like this. It means of course in a good basket 

 plenty of half-pounders, and some odd ones running 

 up to or over a pound. One is undeniably rough 

 from a coracle upon those fish which can stand rough 

 treatment. Good water as well as time is lost in 

 playing a trout when drifting down, and the desire 

 to get the landing-net under them as quickly as possible 

 is overmastering. But you can't play pranks like this 

 with a half-pounder in the Dee, still less with a larger 

 fish. The best I ever got from a coracle was a pound 

 and a quarter. The river was clearing from a freshet 

 and but half-way back to the normal state with a strong 

 rise of March brown on. He fastened near the tail 

 of a strong smooth stream already quickening to the 

 head of some boulder-strewn rapids, which threatened 

 to put some strain on even Evan's powers of navigation. 

 It was not only the coracle but the fish had to be 

 forced back from the breakers, for trees kept us out 

 of the bank. It was a problem that produced the 

 most exciting ten minutes I ever had with a trout, 

 but was in the end successfully solved. Evan was 

 splendid, and it is amazing what a strain comparatively 

 thin ^ut sometimes stands when it has got to ! 



56 



