84 Wet- Fly Fishing 



I have said that all rivers are not alike. 

 I know one fine river, for instance, issuing 

 from a loch ; the loch itself largely fed by 

 springs, and therefore of a low temperature. 

 How can that river be compared with one 

 which from its source flows placidly, over 

 occasional sandy and gravelly shallows, 

 readily warmed by the sun's rays ? 



Again, how can barren land, sparse of 

 all insect life, yield the same quality, or 

 size of trout, which are to be found in 

 rivers passing through rich land, deep and 

 sluggish, full of weeds, and teeming, lite- 

 rally teeming, with insect life? All these 

 problems, he who fishes many rivers, will 

 try to solve, if he be anything of an angler. 

 And here, I voluntarily admit that, especi- 

 ally when I was a young and inexperienced 

 river fisherman, I have often fished " down." 

 The temptation, especially when a high 

 wind is blowing straight down the stream, 

 is enormous ; and there are times when, the 

 river being a rapid one, and the wind fierce, 

 one is driven to down-stream fishing by 

 sheer necessity. 



Even as an old hand, there have been 

 occasions when I have had to cast down 

 stream to save the situation ; but then, when 

 I am driven to do this, I know now how to 



