ANGLING AS A REAL FIELD SPORT 25 



grass or floor of the boat, or gathered in the left hand 

 in coils after the manner of Thames fishermen. Few 

 anglers are masters of the Nottingham style, which has 

 many distinct recommendations, such as freedom from 

 the entanglements of undergrowth and rough ground. 



The recovery of the spinning bait by regular revolu- 

 tions of the winch is not always a gain, since, with all 

 his shark-like voracity, the pike has his little caprices, 

 and sometimes suspects the lure which is moving evenly 

 on a straight course through the water. The bait spun 

 home by the left hand manipulating the line while the 

 right gives the proper motion to the rod top is con- 

 sidered best for pike if not for salmon. One of the 

 good points about spinning for pike is that it is a recrea- 

 tive exercise to be followed after the fly-rod is laid 

 by after autumn. November, December, and January 

 are indeed the months to be preferred before all the 

 rest, and when pike fall out of season the salmon and 

 trout rivers are open again. 



Trout fishing is the sport of the many amongst fly- 

 fishermen, and the exercise required in the methods 

 which are recognised as quite orthodox is probably the 

 happy medium, yielding pleasure with the least penalty 

 of toil. The members of the most recent school of 

 trout fishers are believers in the floating fly, but it is 

 wrong to assume that there is any burning question in 

 the matter. The best angler is the man who is master 

 of all the legitimate devices for beguiling fish into his 

 landing net, and I am not now concerned with any 

 controversial aspects of the dry-fly question. The 

 spectacle of an angler upon a chalk stream, where this 

 style is to all intents and purposes Hobson's choice, is 

 not at all suggestive of bodily activity should he hap- 

 pen to be " waiting for a rise." The trout will only heed 

 an artificial fly that is dropped in front of them with 



