200 THE TROUT ARE RISING 



most popular. The late Mr. Lachlan Maclean 

 was apparently the first active mover in trout 

 acclimatization in the "Old Colony." He did 

 great good in this respect and he was always very 

 willing to give information to inquirers. He 

 helped me much as a journalist, and our acquaint- 

 ance, started on the introduction of Mr. Senior in 

 1901, was always a happy one. 



The nearest trout river to Cape Town is the 

 Eerste (Dutch for "first "). This stream, which 

 is not big, runs through Stellenbosch, joining the 

 sea near Somerset Strand. The wet fly is always 

 used here, good patterns being March brown with 

 silver body, cow dung, small Jock Scott and small 

 Silver Doctor. The Eerste holds both rainbows 

 and brown trout of good average size. Stellen- 

 bosch is roughly thirty miles from Cape Town 

 and can be easily reached by train. There are 

 trout also in the Laurens River which runs from 

 Somerset West to the sea. The Brede, flowing 

 through Michell's Pass (Ares district), holds many 

 trout, though the season of 1919-1920 was not 

 so good as its predecessor. The Hex River, 

 Worcester district, is another good trout stream. 

 The flies mentioned should serve in all these 

 streams. I should also mention the Berg River, 

 from which in 1918 Mr. J. McKenzie, of Meer- 

 lust, caught a fine trout on a small black gnat 

 (No. 14, Limerick scale), a brown trout 24^ ins. 

 long, 15 ins. in girth, and weighing 7 Ib. 9 oz. 

 an hour and a half after being landed. Generally, 

 for trout fishing in the Western Division of the 



