325 



in shoal water, the largest I ever caught in that vicin- 

 ity. To reach him without alarm, I cast seventy-two 

 feet, measured afterward from a knot on my line near 

 my reel, and got my fish. 



He weighed two and a quarter pounds, and I had to 

 play him some to save him. 



And now, with a word to young fishermen and old 

 beginners, I will close. 



Learn first to cast a line and take a trout with bait 

 before you try a fly. You will thereby gain confidence, 

 learn to hook your fish at the instant he strikes, and 

 gain the supple use of arm and wrist which makes the 

 fly-fisherman skillful. 



My dear wife, by whose sick bed I pen these words, 

 for one long joyous summer in camp, fished by my side, 

 using bait while she saw me casting no lure but flies. 



The next time we went on the stream she had a six- 

 ounce fly-rod, and fifty beautiful trout in two hours 

 to her basket proved how apt a pupil she had been. 



With many words of cheer to all who love the glori- 

 ous pastime, I remain, as of yore Uncle Ned a born 

 fisherman. 



" EAGLE'S NEST," DELAWARE Co., N. X. 



