68 £T nOOE AND BY CEOOK. 



especially^ tlie fisli which are continually jumping are 

 generally those who have been some weeks in the river. 

 It has several times been our lot to kill a fish in the 

 evening which we have seen rise only once in the early 

 morning, after which he has never moved ; and for this 

 reason the angler should be early astir, as although he 

 may not hook a fish during the first few hours, he may 

 have opportunities for marking down some, which will 

 come in very useful during the day. 



Fish generally stir soon after daybreak, and even if 

 they have not since moved all day, will generally drift 

 about again an hour or so before evening, so it is as well 

 to give them a chance during these periods, especially in 

 late spring and early in autumn when the days are 

 warm ; but we cannot own to having had much success 

 in very early fishing in cold weather during early spring, 

 and to fish before the mist has rolled off the water is 

 simply useless. 



An angler can wish for no better compliment to 

 be paid him than to be called a " regular sticker,'^ and 

 anyone who acts upon this principle is certain to kill 

 fish when perhaps he least expects to do so : an instance 

 occurred once which we shall never forget. 



During the day a fish had risen once or twice in 

 slowly running water, and had ignored the various flies 

 which we had cast over his head. It was getting dark, 

 and we were just about to give over for the day, having 

 in mind a long walk home through a thick plantation 

 and felled trees strewn across the path, partly hidden 



