274 TROUT FISHING 



return journey across country which would be the 

 reverse of brief. Circumstances, therefore, were 

 not favourable. And yet I had very good sport, 

 thanks partly to a decided hatch of fly which came 

 on in the afternoon, and partly to the eagle eye of my 

 friend the keeper, which was very swift to mark a 

 real rise, and availed much in preventing me from 

 w^asting effort over water-rats and other interesting 

 but irrelevant phenomena. In all I landed three 

 and a half brace of pretty little fish running from 

 about ten inches up to fourteen inches, keeping 

 a brace and a half of the bigger ones for breakfast 

 purposes. I had also the satisfaction of slaying 

 three small chub, remnants of the former population 

 of the stream. 



The trout had, of course, been turned in either 

 that year or the year before (though I saw a few 

 tiny ones on the shallows that were probably the 

 result of the last winter's spawning), and so were 

 open to the imputation of being stock fish. But 

 they had none of the silliness characteristic of typical 

 stock fish. The influence of a company of very 

 clever anglers may be calculated on to eradicate 

 silliness before the end of a season, especially when 

 many trout are returned to grow wiser and better. 

 Lest I should have any doubt on this point (having 

 a brace and a half in the basket), the keeper led me 

 to a corner where there was a persistent riser whom 



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