THE NORFOLK BROADS 269 



blood. He had fought, too, up to every ounce of the 

 pound he weighed. He was tapped on the head and 

 consigned with all honour to the creel. 



Then the shoal was attacked again, and a second 

 fish of similar size was hooked and netted in the same 

 manner. Then came a beauty of one and three-quarter 

 pounds, which proved to be the largest of the day. He 

 was followed by a brace weighing one and a quarter 

 pounds and one and a half pounds respectively, and 

 then the shoal disappeared. There was no fuss, and 

 apparently no panic ; it simply vanished, probably into 

 the reeds. However, it had paid its toll of victims, 

 and, what was more important, it had shown where 

 rudd must be looked for by a fly-fisher. The rest of 

 the day was devoted to seeking similar little pools cut 

 off from the world, and to fishing them when found. 

 One has no idea how numerous they are until one has 

 searched for them systematically. At least a dozen 

 were discovered before sundown, and most of them 

 yielded a rudd or two, though none was so remunera- 

 tive as the first. But by the time of departure some 

 two dozen fish were in the creel, and as they weighed 

 nearly as many pounds, the day's fishing was highly 

 satisfactory. 



It was on the same broad and in a similar manner 

 that a companion and I had an exciting evening with 

 bream. The wind had been blowing all day that 

 terrible east wind which reduces the angler to despair, 

 churning the waSte of waters into turbulent heaps, 

 tearing the boat from its moorings time after time, and 

 causing anathema to be hurled on an unoffending and 

 unpretentious coast-line which offers no headland to 



