DEFENCE OF UP- STREAM ANGLING 33 



with his line. We leave the question to be 

 answered by the ' down-streamer/ The hard 

 work in ' down- streaming ' conies in, not for 

 the arms, and eyes, and mind, but in the 

 cubits, and the strides, and mileage, and 

 weight of the pole. 



It is seldom needful to use a longer line 

 than one and a half times the length of the 

 rod i.e. if wading up ; nor a longer rod 

 than a single-handed twelve-foot rod. Yet we 

 have seen otherwise good up-stream anglers 

 using too long a line, which ought to become 

 evident to themselves, if they observed the 

 continuous loss of time by 'fankling' and 

 subsequent mismanagement at the time of a 

 rise of fish all hurry and little speed, curses 

 not loud but deep, and sometimes accom- 

 panied by frantic gestures. ' The nearer we 

 are to our flies the better we can use them, 

 and the greater the chance of hooking' 

 (p, 107). 



But on large, heavy, and rapid rivers, such 

 as the Spey, where the current is strong as, 

 for instance, on the Aberlour water and Rothes, 

 the former of which we are acquainted with 

 as a salmon-fisher it is < most impossible ; 

 c 



