218 FISHIFG WITH THE FLY. 



the weeds before it in spite of any strain that could be 

 exerted by the rod, and drifted the boat as well, render- 

 ing the latter almost unmanageable, while the fish was 

 still so vigorous as to threaten every moment to escape. 

 I besought the boatman, who was an old hand, and 

 thoroughly up to his business, to drop the boat down 

 to the weeds and let me try and land my fish with one 

 hand while holding the rod with the other. He knew 

 the dangers of such a course, and insisted upon rowing 

 slowly and carefully for shore at a shallow place shel- 

 tered from the wind, although I greatly feared the 

 hook would tear out or the rod snap under the strain 

 of towing both weeds and fish ; once near shore, he 

 deliberately forced an oar into the mud and made the 

 boat fast to it, and then taking up the net watched 

 for a favorable chance. He waited for some time, 

 carefully putting the weeds aside until a gleaming 

 line of silver glanced for a moment beneath the water, 

 when darting the net down he as suddenly brought it 

 up, revealing within its folds the glorious colors of a 

 splendid trout. That was the way to land a trout 

 under difficulties, although I still think I could have 

 done it successfully by myself. 



Generally the utmost delicacy should be shown in 

 killing a fish, but there are times when force must be 

 exerted. If the fish is making for a stump, or even 

 weeds, he must be stopped at any reasonable risk of 

 the rod's breaking or the fly's tearing out. A stump is 

 the most dangerous ; one turn around that and he is 



