FISHING 89 



veriest minnow. Here indeed, it is only 

 quantity that matters. A hundred and five I 

 believe is the record basket for an afternoon's 

 fishing in this burn. Perhaps the less said of 

 the species of fish caught the better, nor 

 would it be wise to hint at the locality of 

 a famous river to which this burn pays 

 tribute. 



If any amateur fisher like myself wishes to 

 study some very useful lessons of fishing lore, 

 both with fly and worm, they cannot do better 

 than read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest a 

 small book called the Practical Angler, by W. 

 C. Stewart. He lived before the days of dry 

 fly fishing, but he practised its chief principle, 

 namely casting upstream, and says it has so 

 many advantages in trout fishing that he 

 wonders any with pretensions to make good 

 baskets do not do likewise. The last few 

 years dry fly fishing has become a great 

 fashion on Tweed, and many fine catches are 

 made in this newer way. I have often won- 

 dered whether success on this particular river 

 is not more owing to the fact of fishing up- 



