CLEAR WATERS 



concerned with fishing, combined with the fact of 

 being also an angler, have given me rather unusual 

 opportunities for spying out the land. Being one of 

 those, moreover — not many I take it — who believe that 

 fair fishing has practically no ill effect on a trout 

 stream, I do not think I have been on the whole 

 very selfish, though one often feels morally pledged 

 to one's fishing friends who think otherwise, and still 

 more to those who give one facilities. 



Really good trouting no doubt is not easily attain- 

 able by the southerner or midlander of the type alluded 

 to. It is to some extent a matter of purse, and perhaps 

 even a well-furnished one does not always procure it ; 

 for the matter is further involved by the fact that, rich 

 or poor, the great mass of what may be called immured 

 or land-locked trout-fishers are practically limited to 

 the holiday seasons either by serious occupations or 

 by the distractions of a gregarious age. And again, 

 it is risky to send a friend anywhere at Easter, or let 

 us say in April. Winter in the hill countries is apt 

 to outstay its welcome, and such is the logic of many 

 otherwise sane people that you may be secretly held 

 responsible for the weather as well as openly for the 

 measure of sport obtained. For myself, I am always 

 possessed of an instinctive and genuine desire to put 

 not merely my friends, which goes without saying, but 

 even general acquaintances in the way, so far as I can, 

 of trout and all pertaining to them. But, on the other 

 hand, the risk of estranging a friend or even a valued 

 acquaintance for life must be taken into consideration. 

 It is not a bad idea to put your recommendation in 

 writing, to disclaim formally any responsibility for 

 260 



