68 THE WONDERFUL TROUT 



to convince others. But I will say what I 

 practise. I hold that any trout above half 

 a pound is worth going to shore with, but 

 that nine-tenths of fairly well-hooked half- 

 pounders can be creeled by hand, but not 

 necessarily as Stewart advises ; indeed, my 

 plan is the very one he strongly condemns. 



Stewart says : ' In taking the trout out of 

 the water do so with your hands, if you have 

 not a landing-net, and never attempt lifting it 

 by the line, or you are almost certain to pay 

 dearly for your experience.' To this I would 

 add the rider : ' Unless you do so the correct 

 way/ All I can say is though I confess to 

 losing many good trout, as every angler of 

 experience has also done my method and 

 results show much time saved, temper saved 

 from entanglements or ' fankles ' with a net, 

 or in wading out to the bank, and a high 

 average, in my own case, of successful basket- 

 ing of trout up to and, when well hooked, 

 over the half-pound. If trout be very lightly 

 hooked, the risk of the plan is of course in- 

 creased, but this fact can usually be ascer- 

 tained before taking the trout by hands, 

 and if so, then the shore may be sought, 



