14 



Fly-fishing is the only mode of angling in 

 practice of which exercise is undergone. The 

 exercise of trolling, perhaps, ought to be con- 

 sidered an exception; but in bottom-fishing 

 the angler remains stationary, and were it not 

 for the pure river breeze he inhales, and the 

 scenery that gilds his imagination, it is doubt- 

 ful whether his amusement would be a health- 

 ful one. Now the fly-fisher is, we may say, 

 continually in motion, and there is scarcely a 

 muscle in the body that is not called into play 

 and into more robust developement by the 

 practice of his art. Let any fly-fisher we 

 do not speak of one who has already fallen 

 into " the sere and yellow leaf" examine the 

 muscles of his right arm, or of his left if he be 

 left-handed, at the beginning and at the end 

 of the fly-fishing season, and he will find them 

 nearly as much developed in size and solidity, 

 as if he had been in constant practice with 

 foil in hand in the salle cTarmes. Besides 

 exercise, not too gentle nor yet too rough, the 

 fly-fisher, always in motion, and not confined 

 to one particular stream or pool, nor to one 

 particular bank or rock, enjoys another great 

 advantage, that of variety. We confess our- 

 selves inconstant enough, not to wish to be 

 tied down to any one spot, howsoever beauti- 

 ful; and if fly-fishing possessed no other ad- 



