174 WATERSIDE SKETCHES. 



every cast touch and for a moment rest upon the bottom, at 

 others you may impart to it a spinning action. Trollers 

 often make the mistake of working with too much haste, 

 .and others f.ill into the opposite extreme. The middle course 

 here, as in most human affairs, pays best. Trolling has 

 many of the advantages of fly-fishing. With your bag to 

 your back and your gaff stuck into your girdle, you may move 

 through the enemy's country unencumbered with baggage, 

 free to come and go, to keep on or to halt, as inclination 

 may suggest and occasion require. Booted to the thigh in 

 trolling equipment, with nothing more than your trace book, 

 bait box, flask, and waterproofs over the shoulder, there is 

 nothing after fly-fishing so pleasure-giving as to wander by 

 the side of a river with a light trolling rod in your hand. 

 In some parts of the Midland district the anglers use a 

 singular rod of not more than nine feet long for trolling. It 

 is quite stiff, which I take to be a fault, but the owners can 

 throw an immense distance and quite accurately with it 

 The chief objection to this weapon, is that it is useful for 

 nothing else except live bait fishing with the gorge. 



And how conveniently that little interval when the " run " 

 is under weigh comes in ! The angler never fills his pipe 

 so proudly, so serenely, so full of hope and determination as 

 when, satisfying himself that the line is free in the rings, and 

 the winch handle clear of twigs, grass, and other obstacles, 

 he lays down the rod to allow the candidate for his gaff to 

 pouch in undisturbed confidence. If the run comes to 

 nothing he does not give up in despair. Perhaps the 

 points of the hook have not been rank enough, perhaps 

 too rank, perhaps the lead has been felt and the fish ren- 

 dered suspicious. He therefore tries him a second time 



