The Fishing of Rivers with the Wet Fly 75 



fly, and killing a trout every now and again. 

 The apathy of the trout, however, soon 

 gives place to energy, and on all sides the 

 fish keep on making ' head and tail rises ' 

 whilst sucking down the flies. 



" They no longer lie in mid-water, but 

 quite close to the surface; so, shortening 

 line, and wading well in, I begin to make 

 short, quick casts over each rising fish, 

 within reach, and for a time my hands are 

 full. Trout keep tumbling, tumbling into 

 the basket, in rapid succession. I seldom 

 wade ashore ; for, thanks to my method 

 of carrying and using the landing-net mid- 

 stream, such a waste of time is seldom 

 necessary. Now is the time to prove what 

 the angler is made of. Some men take ten 

 minutes to kill a pound trout, and wade 

 ashore for each one of even half a pound. 



"It is rank folly. 



" The great aim should be to kill and 

 basket as many trout during these golden 

 moments as is possible. Timidity is folly 

 here." 



I skip a long passage, and take up the 

 thread of my discourse again thus 



" The rise is all but over. The trout, 

 which have filled their mouths with flies, 

 go down to pouch them. They do not waste 



