32 THE WONDERFUL TROUT 



experiment over and over again to test its 

 accuracy. The conclusion was arrived at 

 that the one who was angling made fifteen 

 casts in one minute. He who was fishing 

 thus was not at the time aware of the pre- 

 sence behind him of his friend. Therefore if 

 a day's fishing be put down at, say, six hours 

 (we are usually content with much less), 

 fifteen a minute would give 5400 casts per 

 diem. By deducting one hour for lunch and 

 other intervals ' fankles,' pipes, and landing 

 and netting one's fish that figure would 

 be reduced to 4500 casts. As Stewart tells 

 us, the alighting of the fly is the most deadly 

 in the whole cast, therefore the oftener it is 

 repeated the better. 1 Later on, when we 

 intend to speak of the actual process and 

 practice, and describe the fishing-up of a 

 reach or pool or stream, we may make the 

 reason of such frequent casting more dis- 

 tinct. Meanwhile let us ask the question : 

 How many casts will the down-stream fisher 

 make per hour, or per minute, when cover- 

 ing four miles of bank and acres of water 



1 But we do not agree in this altogether with Stewart 

 (see further on). 



