24 A RIVER OF NORWAY 



fishing with single gut and a medium sized 

 Jock Scot, and with the river as it was the 

 odds were on the fish, if he had only played 

 the game. It is possible that he had been 

 travelling and was tired. I have met with 

 similar instances of dull fish in our upper waters 

 here ; but in the tidal water we are not troubled 

 with such sluggards, and I do not remember 

 to have killed a fish in it which did not make 

 a creditable fight. 



Our anticipations of a good year, based on 

 the big river and the great reserve of snow, 

 seem, as June is passing away, hardly likely to 

 be realised. The conditions are quite abnormal. 

 The river is unusually high, and the water un- 

 usually cold. Fish run into Lervik and Ladder 

 Pools, but they do not seem to lie there. Nor do 

 I think that they frequent the great holes under 

 the Fos, and there is no run of fish up the 

 ladder. Some are lying in the Lower Stream, 

 and others I believe return with the ebb-tide 

 to the fjord, whence they will doubtless run up 

 again when the conditions alter. There do not 

 seem to be many fish, certainly far fewer are 

 to be seen jumping than usual. At such times 

 sport is uncertain and the element of luck plays 



