NORWAY AND ITS SEA TROUT 217 



hundred yards across before we could gain the shore, 

 and the hooked one was resisting all the time. It 

 turned out to be a 3-lb. sea trout, hooked foul. For a 

 little while there was seldom a cast without at least a 

 rise. Twice the fish broke water heavily without 

 touching the feathers, and that is comparatively an 

 out of the way occurrence. Two or three times they 

 just touched the hook, ran out a yard or so of line, 

 fluttered on the top of the water, and were off. This 

 is one of the common phases of sea-trout fishing ; it 

 just now showed that the fish were in a different temper 

 from that of the pre-luncheon era, when there was no 

 moving them, whether truly or falsely. There was, 

 at any rate, a change, promising that sooner or later 

 they would fall into a really gripping mood. Sea trout 

 are indeed kittle cattle. There are days when the 

 fish one and all seize the fly boldly and are fastened 

 beyond recall, while for days in succession they touch 

 the hook only to get off the moment a fair strain is 

 realised. 



Three times during this fast-and-loose interval was 

 the fly changed. Now it was a Jock Scott with double 

 hook, now a Durham Ranger on single hook, now the 

 Bulldog again. The latter, however, was out of favour, 

 and I rummaged out from the box a Fiery Brown, 

 which I had selected with some others from the stock 

 of Little (of the Haymarket), who happened to be in 

 Norway at the time inspecting certain salmon and 

 trout rivers, with days of fishing in the intervals, and 

 who was good enough to allow me to take what I 

 wanted from his book on the morning of his departure 

 for England. The Fiery Brown did very well. It 

 brought me in succession fish of 4^ lb., 3 lb., and 2\ lb., 

 and others, so that at four o'clock in the afternoon, 

 instead of two small sea trout in the boat, I had 



