NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLY-FISHING. 455 



the art of fascinating a fish seldom of more than 20 ounces 

 in weight. No one of these men would care for taking 

 trout in any way unaccompanied by difficulty, and attain- 

 able without dexterity ; but when it is found that by long 

 practice, and careful observation, a feat can be accom- 

 plished which no other means will give, then the man who 

 has mastered the power congratulates himself upon its 

 possession, and is not unnaturally pleased in being enabled 

 to display it, by showing what may be done after another's 

 failure. Rivalry is the great zest in sport of all kinds, 

 and the trout taken by an artist, in water which has been 

 well flogged by his inferiors, are thought much more of 

 than those landed where they rise to any bungler's throw. 

 But to proceed to such a general description as may be of 

 some little use to the tyro, I must first observe, that he 

 should confine himself to a single-handed rod with a mod- 

 erately long line say, of from 15 to 18 feet, which he 

 should at once draw off the reel, and of which he should 

 hold the gut in his hand near the fly. With this he may 

 proceed to fish the river which is the seat of his intended 

 sport, and may walk quietly along its bank, throwing 

 successively over every yard of likely water ; but always 

 fishing first the water nearest to him, and lengthening or 

 shortening his line according to circumstances, such as the 

 breadth of water, the freedom from trees, &c. He will 

 find that he must not throw straight across the river, 

 neither must he allow the fly or flies to be drawn too near 

 his own bank, or he will not be able to lift them cleverly 

 from the water, so as to get such a clear sweep as will 

 enable him to re-cast them with precision and delicacy. 



