A CONTRAST IN THAMES ANGLING 103 



agreed that the Thames trout is of the house of Brown : 

 is in a word a true Salmo fario. But these learned 

 gentlemen seem to have overlooked the equally un- 

 deniable fact that there are three distinct species of 

 this excellent fish. First comes the Thames trout of 

 the professional fisherman. Of this class there is an 

 untold number. Their movements are keenly watched, 

 and often chronicled with surprising minuteness. They 

 are liberally scattered over every likely district from 

 Teddington upwards, and there is a degree of famili- 

 arity with their habits, on the part of local observers, 

 that at once whets our appetite and craves our admira- 

 tion. You hear about them often by the riverside. 

 At six o'clock yesterday morning a fish of 7^ Ib. ap- 

 peared at the tail of the third stream from the right 

 bank and disported for the space of an hour amongst 

 the trembling bleak. He was rather short for his 

 weight, and had remarkably white teeth. Later on, 

 another of 5 Ib., full weight, with a cast in his left eye, 

 took a leisurely breakfast at the edge of yonder scour. 

 Three trout, that can only be spoken of as " whoppers," 

 are beyond question in possession of this pool ; others 

 are to be found between four and six of the afternoon 

 at home in hovers, the whereabouts of which are known 

 to a nicety. The gambols and predatory raids of this 

 class of Thames trout afford great excitement and 

 pleasure to the observant passers-by, and there is no 

 doubt in the world that our friends are not always 

 romancing with regard to them. Yet it may not be 

 gainsaid that the Thames trout of the professional 

 fisherman is but too often a Mysterious Unknown to 

 the angler, and a creature never to be dissected by 

 mortal fingers. 



A second species of Thames trout is that of the un- 

 successful angler. Hieing him blithely in the sweet 



