Fly Fishing for Trout, 1 1 7 



with me in a very clear stream. The wind blew 

 his gut in every direction but the right one. 

 He had nothing but the finest tackle with him. 

 With a fine but coarser gut line I was taking 

 fish very rapidly, and he was obliged to come to 

 me for a loan of one of my casting lines, and 

 with this he was very successful. At the end of 

 our day's sport he had eleven brace of fine trout 

 to my ten and a half brace, and he was obliged 

 to own that the success was due to the coarser 

 tackle. In using the term coarse I do so by 

 comparison — my tackle by many, perhaps, would be 

 considered very fine. 



In the Test, owing to the clearness of the water 

 and the fish being so constantly cast over, very fine 

 casting lines are generally used, and dry fly fishing 

 is the rule. 



The Colne and the Ver, in Hertfordshire, hold, 

 or used to hold, very fine fish. They are some- 

 what sluggish streams, but the fish are fat and 

 big. The latter river was some years ago well 

 stocked with fine trout (which cut as pink as 

 salmon), and I have had capital sport between Red- 

 bourn and St. Albans. Now, I believe, the jack 

 are very numerous, and, of necessity, trout more 

 scarce. A curious circumstance occurred to me 

 one day when fishing this river which illustrates 

 the old adage, " Necessity is the mother of in- 



