The Fishing of Rivers with the Wet Fly 127 



deserved fame of that very famous Scottish 

 angler, and excellent angling-writer, whose 

 praises I am ever ready to sing wherever 

 the wet fly holds sway, one can hardly help 

 being tickled at the quaint humour of the 

 Aberdeenshire gamekeeper, who summed up 

 Mr. Stewart's notion of "a day's fishing " 

 in these words, "Ay! twenty-fowr hoors 

 o' creepin' an* crawlin' ! " 



Seven to eight hours is nearer my 

 idea of a good long day. I have made 

 some of my best baskets of fish, when out 

 for four or five hours, most of the trout 

 being killed in one or two hours, every 

 moment of which, however, meant incessant 

 and energetic application. 



So long as men are true to themselves, 

 so long will they deal openly with others ; 

 and the man who in open water tells you of 

 the abnormal length of his " day's fishing " 

 in connection with any extra large basket 

 of trout he may bring home, disarms criti- 

 cism. I imagine that Stewart made no 

 secret of such things. His reputation 

 certainly did not necessitate any such feeble 

 tactics. 



I am aware that some good Scottish 

 angling clubs have strict rules, and no 

 gentleman would or could fish before or after 



