44 LANDING THE GRAYLING. 



stoop down and grasp the fish firmly behind the 

 gills. The principal differences between trout 

 and grayling fishing are, that the latter requires a 

 more delicate hand, a quicker eye, and the use of 

 smaller flies upon the finest gut. The strike 

 must be made on the instant of the rise. The 

 fish may be sometimes seen, if he be of a good 

 size and the water bright, a few inches before he 

 gets up to the fly, and the fisherman must strike 

 immediately that he does so, for his motion at the 

 instant of seizure is too rapid to be visible. When 

 the fisherman comes upon a favourable place for 

 grayling, he should recollect that this fish does 

 not follow the fly as the trout does, and should 

 therefore allow it to float down the stream in a 

 riatural way ; for should a grayling be waiting for 

 it, and it is drawn away, " the fish will be disap- 

 pointed of that which it was the fisherman's in- 

 tention to entertain him with." It must also be 

 remarked here that the mouth of the grayling is 

 much more tender than that of the trout, there- 

 fore much more care in landing is required; and a 

 landing-net is generally indispensable, especially 

 when the banks are high, for the mouth will 

 seldom bear his weight out of the water.' 



This chapter is a long and important one. 

 Unless you carry into practice its precepts, you 

 will never become a good angler. It teaches the 

 great branches of the art throwing a line, hook- 



