258 TROUT FISHING 



would be ; if you keep still, they will generally return 

 in two or three minutes, and then you can catch one 

 as though they had never been frightened at all. 

 A trout, on the other hand, takes disturbance hardly, 

 except in waters where he is accustomed to human 

 beings. There he will hasten away, and return 

 almost at once. In streams where he hardly ever 

 sees a man, the sight of such a thing gives him a 

 serious panic, and he will very likely appear no 

 more for hours. 



Proof of this is afforded presently. After several 

 bends and corners have been explored without the 

 sight of anything but a few more dace, a bold, 

 spreading rise is observed under some bushes at the 

 head of a long, straight reach, and between an 

 island of rushes and the far bank. Nearer inspection 

 reveals the cause, a fine trout which comes out from 

 under a bush, takes some invisible fly and retires to his 

 holt. By reason of obstructions there is only one way 

 of covering him properly, and that is to take to the 

 water, wade cautiously up behind the rushes, and then 

 to switch a short line under the bush. This manoeuvre 

 is effected with the utmost care — it takes some ten 

 minutes — and, behold, the trout has fled ! He must 

 have seen something, despite all precautions, and 

 a long wait neither reveals whither he has gone nor 

 brings him back. The angler goes on sadder, but 

 not much wiser ; he does not see how he could have 



