CHAPTER V 



FISHING THE POOL 



"That pleasure which is most comely, most honest, and 

 giveth the most libertie to Divine meditation, and that without 

 all question, is the Art of Angling; which having ever been 

 most hurtlessly necessary, hath beene the sport or recreation of 

 God's Saints, of most holy Fathers, and of many worthy and 

 reverend Devines, both dead and at this moment breathing." 

 "The Pleasures of Princes, or Good Men's Recreations," 1614. 



WE will now suppose that the angler is at the 

 riverside full of hope and enthusiasm, provided 

 with two to six rods, a commensurate equipment 

 of reels, lines, and casts, and forty to fifty different 

 patterns of flies (for I feel sure that all hints and 

 counsels to moderation and economy in outfit, 

 even when supported by experience, will prevent 

 no one who can afford it from encumbering him- 

 self with much unnecessary tackle). 



The morning is fresh and balmy with the first 

 breath of northern summer, the birds are carol- 

 ling their nuptial hymns, the light green of the 

 tender foliage of the hardwood trees is extended 

 well up the mountains, where it merges into the 



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