THE COMMON BROWN TROUT. 253 



then, allow the possibility of their seeing the fisher, if by fishing tip stream 

 this can be prevented ? Mr. Stewart's own answer is too contemptuous 

 for me to quote here. 



As to the second proposition of Mr. Stewart, that " the angler striking 

 from below is likely to strike the hook into the fish's jaws, whereas the 

 angler striking from above is likely to pull the flies straight out of its 

 mouth," Mr. Pennell replies : 



" This is true as an abstract proposition, but, as applied to the question 

 of fly fishing, is quite untrue ; when the fly is being drawn straight down 

 stream, the trout rising from below is forced, owing to the position of the 

 gut, to turn round before he can take the fly. So that at the moment of 

 rising the fish would be in precisely the same position with regard to the 

 angler whether the latter ere fishing up or down." 



Notwithstanding Mr. Stewart's assertion, that " had Mr. Pennell stated 

 that trout turned a somersault or two before taking the fly, it would 

 have been quite as probable in theory and correct in fact " as the state- 

 ment italicised above, I am quite with the author of " The Modern 

 Practical Angler ' ' in the quotation given. In taking a fly when fishing 

 down, the fish seeing it coming rises and turns without much difficulty. 

 Similarly this is the case when fishing up stream. His answer is a per- 

 fectly just one, and the subsequent correspondence did not, to my mind, 

 injure its integrity. 



The argument that up-stream fishing does not disturb the water so 

 much is unanswerable, and on this and the first Mr. Pennell fails. 

 Up-stream fishing is the style when learnt, but it has the disadvantage 

 that its acquirement is exceedingly difficult, whilst the down-stream 

 style is also the more available. I always fish up and across if 

 possible. I likewise always give a slight motion to my flies in 

 their descent. Therefore it cannot be said I am a partisan of a very 

 bigoted order, after my preceding remarks. Notwithstanding this rule 

 of mine, I confess to sometimes casting down where a long cast 

 can be made, and I strongly advise the tyro to do so himself with 

 judgment and not to tie his practice to anybody's theory but his 

 own. 



As I have said, Mr. Francis goes with Stewart in toto. So be it. I 

 have found it sometimes beneficial to allow my flies to descend somewhat 

 towards the fish, as one does with a dry fly or the natural insect, and 

 this without a lot of slack line is impossible, if one persistently throws up 

 and across without variation. 



As I have before somewhere insisted, a variation from acknowledged 

 rules, made with judgment, is the best mode of fishing, and the man who 

 cannot tolerate a deviation is no real angler. Narrow-mindedness has 



