50 TROUT FISHING 



There are several very difficult bits on this upper 

 water. In two or three places a willow leans across 

 the stream, and under each is a deep hole with an 

 eddy behind the trunk. Practically the trout in 

 these strongholds are not to be caught. Occasionally 

 one may be hooked by the arduous process of 

 dibbling through the network of tjvigs, or by casting 

 a very short line just over the tree trunk upstream. 

 But an immediate retreat to the shelter of the roots 

 very soon frees that trout, and probably teaches his 

 fellows wisdom; at any rate it is quite a rare thing 

 even to get a fish on in these places. 



Another difficult place is a delightful glide under 

 some bushes on the far bank. The bed of the stream 

 shelves gently here so that the water is only an inch 

 or two in depth on this side and perhaps two or three 

 feet on the other. For some reason connected with 

 the light it seems almost impossible to get a fly to 

 any rising fish in this piece without alarming him. 

 No matter whether you crawl close to the edge or 

 grovel out in the meadow, something — your head, 

 your arm, the flash of the rod, or the curving line — 

 is perceived by the trout, and he withdraws as 

 quickly as may be. None the less the angler will 

 certainly waste a lot of time here, because the place 

 is so tempting to his eye. 



For the sake of the basket it were wiser to go on 

 a few hundred yards to a part of the stream which 



