ON TROUTING WITH THE FLY 65 



An advocate of down-stream fishing once 

 stated in our hearing, if not indeed in black 

 and white, ' If it were not that the up-stream 

 angler selected his spots, he would have no 

 chance with the down-streamer.' To this we 

 reply, ' We prefer trout-angling to salmon- 

 fishing for trout/ and the beauty of fishing 

 up appears to us to be the knowledge 

 acquired and the natural selection which 

 follows such education. 



Many, indeed most, anglers prefer to fish 

 down, when heavy down-stream winds render 

 it too difficult and too fatiguing to fish up ; 

 and, indeed, in such weather there are many 

 days in which the up-stream casts are made 

 almost impossible. But Stewart advocates 

 the attempt even then. It is possible at 

 times to fight the wind across by a peculiar 

 underhand flick, difficult to describe and not 

 always easy to attain to, sending out the line 

 on the same plane with the surface of the 

 water ; but this requires a stiff rod, and cannot 

 be said to be very satisfactory. Another plan 

 is to cover a larger mileage of water, and 

 thereon select only such bends or reaches as 

 are negotiable. We have taken many a fair 

 E 



