48 BY HOOK AND BY CROOK. 



articles coming down and sees nothing extraordinary 

 in its progress, whereas he is apt to regard any varia- 

 tion with suspicion, if he should notice it at all. 

 Therefore when fish lie on either side of a current and 

 the angler can fish from both banks, by all means let 

 him do so ; but if he have not this advantage, he may 

 as well be content to fish the side of the stream nearer 

 his own bank and save much time. 



Lower down the pool where the current is more 

 widely distributed it is another matter ; there no harm 

 is done by covering as much water as a fair cast 

 permits ; but perhaps the better plan is to make two 

 beats of it — the first with a fairly short line, and the 

 second with an extra long cast. This method takes 

 time, and by some anglers may be considered tedious, 

 but he who adopts it only uses a long line when abso- 

 lutely necessary. 



When the wading only extends a few yards from the 

 bank one is apt to shirk it, thinking, " What is the use 

 of wading when one can make the cast as well from 

 the bank, and if necessary drop the fly to a consider- 

 able distance beyond ? " But this frequently is not the 

 point, as, may be, a ledge of rock or some other 

 harbour secretes fish over whose heads the fly, when 

 cast from the bank, too quickly passes out of sight, 

 whereas if cast from a point farther out would hang 

 over them towards the completion of its course. 



When lately fishing with a friend an instance 

 of this occurred : we had taken particular pains in 



