38 FISHERMEN 



bear no resemblance to any living crea- 

 ture. He is ready to refute one's state- 

 ment that a March Brown made in Ox- 

 ford Street would be as deadly a lure as 

 one tied in his own village, even though 

 they had a brotherly likeness to one 

 another. But the truth of the matter is 

 usually this. His favourite patterns are 

 nearly always on the cast. They are 

 there, as it were, by inheritance and 

 birthright. It would be extraordinary if 

 they did not catch more fish than those 

 which are given only an occasional trial, 

 so that the value put upon them is a 

 purely fictitious one. Then there is pre- 

 j udice. This local sportsman is possessed 

 of an inherited dislike for anything new. 

 There is much piscatorial philosophy 

 in that delightful picture which Punch 

 gave us some time ago of the irascible 

 old gentleman who, after having fished 

 all day, after having tried every available 

 fly he possesses, throws his book into 



