Getting Out the Fly Books 



and swallow others so protected with 

 spines that the angler handles them with 

 great caution. Most anglers of experience 

 have seen a fish take a fly repeatedly, or 

 take a second while still struggling to be 

 free of the first ; so that it was, perhaps, 

 landed by two anglers at once. I have 

 knowledge of a bluefish taking off three 

 large hooks, baited for striped bass, and 

 coming to gaff on a fourth, when all four 

 were recovered from its mouth. For ex- 

 periment's sake, the writer once caught, 

 unhooked, and returned to the water, the 

 same trout, four times within a few min- 

 utes (it being plainly visible all the time), 

 and finally drove it out of the pool with a 

 stick, lest it should swallow the bait and 

 be destroyed, if it were allowed another 

 opportunity. It may be said that in these 

 two instances hunger overcame the fear of 

 pain. But what shall be said of another 

 experience of the writer, when, after play- 

 ing a grilse for some minutes, and losing 

 him, another cast brought to the fly a fish 

 which proved to be the same one. The 

 fly was fast in his lower jaw, while in his 

 upper jaw a fresh and bleeding tear, half 

 an inch in length, showed whence it had 

 just broken away. 



To the negative advantage of pain 



