10 A RIVER OF NORWAY 



of fishing in tidal water, I sought counsel of 

 certain ancient anglers. One said, " You will 

 catch them about the half flood ; you will find 

 the ebb is no good." Another said, " You will 

 find the flood is no good ; you will catch them 

 about the half ebb." Happily both were wrong 

 and both right. Fish take with perfect im- 

 partiality whether the tide is flowing or ebbing. 

 Indeed, they have been killed at all states of 

 the tide, including the two extremes, high and 

 low water. But the hour or two on each side 

 of the half tide is the accepted time ; and 

 perhaps on the whole the ebb is to be pre- 

 ferred, as one can continue fishing the pools 

 again and again as long as fish take, whereas 

 the water tends to become too heavy an hour 

 or so after the half flood. At low water, unless 

 the river is very big, the pools become too 

 small to hold many fish ; and it is a never 

 solved problem what becomes of them. Usu- 

 ally I believe the majority run for the deep 

 holes immediately under the Fos, from which 

 as the tide rises they drop back to the pools 

 again. But when the Fos is very heavy, or 

 the water exceptionally cold, there can be little 

 doubt that they drop back to the Lower Stream 



