TROUT-FISHING 369 



few minutes, and watch him till we have matured 

 our plan of campaign and prospected our sur- 

 roundings. It is by no means a place in which it is 

 easy to put a fly well over him, so as not to drag 

 and scare him. Still, he is, apparently, too good 

 a fish to leave untried, and he is now well on the 

 feed, so it will be well to * take him while he 

 is in the humour/ Making a few false casts, 

 just to measure the exact length of line required, 

 the final throw is made, the fly falling a trifle 

 short of the required spot. Letting it float well 

 away down-stream, we make another attempt, 

 with the addition of a little more line. The fly 

 floats temptingly enough until within an inch or 

 two of his nose, and then is carried away from 

 its course by a small side-current. Still he goes 

 on feeding, evidently unaware of the fraudulent 

 concoction of feathers and silk which is again 

 already on its way to deceive him. And this time 

 all goes well ; he sees it, and, wary old dog 

 though he is, he has formed the conclusion that 

 it is a real live alder, and, in the quietest and 

 most methodical way, has sucked it down, but 

 before he has time to discover his mistake, the 

 steel barb is driven into his leathery jaws. With 

 a rush and a shake of the head he makes off to 

 the roots of a willow-tree which have before 

 befriended him on a similar occasion ; but green- 

 heart and good gut are this time too much for 

 him, and his career is arrested ; so, after one or 

 two unavailing efforts, he tries a change of tactics, 



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