166 TROUT FISHING 



had acquired angling rights, though circumstances 

 had prevented me from making much use of them, 

 I discovered a red trout lying at the point where the 

 water, from being a system of two or three nothings 

 making damp threads through a meadow, con- 

 centrates itself into a single channel and is recognis- 

 able as a brook. There is, in fact, a little pool at 

 this point, and in this pool I could see two or three 

 trout, particularly the big red one. 



He looked very impressive in so small a place, 

 and I unhesitatingly estimated him at two and a 

 half pounds, which would be a huge fish for the 

 water, whose average weight is more like ten ounces. 

 And I was confirmed in my opinion when after 

 taking my Wickham's fancy he bolted downstream 

 into a clump of rushes, and smashed my cast as 

 if it had been cobweb. Worse than this, I confided 

 my opinion to one or two others who might be 

 interested in the matter, and committed myself to 

 the story that the brook held trout up to two and 

 a half pounds. That sort of story gives a fishery 

 dignity and importance. 



I only had one more day's fishing there before 

 the season closed, and then I was unfortunate 

 enough to catch, among others, my red trout, 

 whom I found lying in exactly the same place and 

 on whom I tried forcing tactics as soon as I had 

 hooked him, on a cochybonddu this time. I 



