Trout-fishing. 187 



had scarcely touched the water, when it was seized by 

 a trout weighing over a pound. I had neither landing- 

 net nor gaft. My rod was a long, elastic one, by no 

 means calculated to lift a fish of that size from the 

 water, and I had to play him till drowned or ex- 

 hausted, so that I could draw him gently upon the 

 shelving rock. 



I took at this place a trout that I have no doubt 

 would weigh two and a half pounds, and singularly 

 enough, I " hooked" him, not in the mouth, but 

 through the back fin, close down to the back. Him I 

 could not, of course, drown, and the fight we had was 

 exciting enough. He bent my rod like a reed, in his 

 mad efforts to escape. He went skimming away 

 through the water, making my reel buzz again. 

 Holding him always taught, he would for a moment 

 seem to surrender, and then as I reeled him in, would 

 go skiving away with renewed strength to the bottom, 

 — now floundering on the surface, — now glancing 

 away across the swift current, diving down towards 

 the bottom, and again leaping above the water, dart- 

 ing here and there and everywhere, in his hard strug- 

 gle for life. Strange as it may seem, the hook held m 

 the strong cartilage of his back fin, until clean ex- 



