DEFENCE OF UP-STREAM ANGLING 27 



of trout as having destroyed the reach for 

 that day and probably for several. 



As Stewart says, 'He plies his lures to 

 the terror and alarm of almost every trout 

 in the water.' That man, or such like him, 

 should only thrust his obnoxious presence 

 on the stream-side when the trout are roving 

 in a coloured water, or on an early April day 

 when the fish are in condition good enough 

 for him. He can then enjoy himself 

 according to his lights, and not interfere so 

 much with true 'sport/ Such fishing does 

 far more to make trout shy and cautious 

 than any amount of scientific angling. 



Stewart in the days of his practice and 

 writing believed 'that ninety-nine out of 

 every hundred fishers fished down, and never 

 thought of attributing their want of success 

 to their doing so.' And at that time Stewart 

 (i.e. about 1857) had ' only met one or two 

 amateurs and a few professionals who fished 

 up-stream. 3 In our own angling travels we 

 still find in A.D. 1896, and up to the present 

 date, 'darkness rather than light is the 

 deliberate choice' of by far the largest 

 number of (shall we say illiterate ?) fishermen. 



