18 THE TROUT 



trout He quietly in their selected haunts, and take the 

 goods the gods provide for them as they drop lightly 

 from grass and reed, stalk, bush, or tree ; and it is 

 these more experienced fish of which our angler is in 

 quest. * 



And, indeed, he seems to be in luck's way to- 

 day, for between that weed bed which is just appear- 

 ing in mid-stream and the nearer bank, his assiduity is 

 apparently rewarded. Surely that is a good fish which 

 has just been hooked. Ye gods ! that was an up- 

 stream rush indeed ! But the aforementioned weed- 

 growth looks dangerous, and by every power that 

 torments the angler's soul, the fish is into it ! Well, 

 can he be got out ? Possibly, but not certainly ; for 

 he has taken a quick turn downwards after making 

 good his endeavour, and such manoeuvres are often 

 fatal not to the fish. Anyhow, the trout will not 

 come out of his own accord, and the fly is fast in 

 something, whether it be fish or weed ; so the fisher- 

 man must wade in, and with the handle of the net see 

 whether the trout, if he be still on the fly, can be in- 

 duced to move, instead of burrowing about like an un- 

 seemly rabbit. So, is he still there ? What gone ? 

 Well, it can't be helped. If the fly cannot be disen- 

 tangled it must be broken off, and a fresh one and a 

 new length of gut attached. These things will happen, 



