20 CHATS ON ANGLING. 



entangled in the wires, and as a fish in such a position thinks he is 

 in possession of a vantage-point, and is seldom fished for, he is generally a 

 bold feeder. Having explained the method, my friend made me try the 

 cast myself, and the first fly floating near enough to tempt the fish was 

 taken boldly ; the whole manoeuvre succeeded, and I was able to land 

 my trout below me. Since then I have frequently made use of my 

 experience, and with invariable success. If any anglers who are not aware 

 of this method care to try the experiment they will see how sweetly the 

 line travels over the fence without the slightest risk of entanglement. 



There is but little doubt that the fly that is kept going catches most 

 fish. On a seemingly hopeless day an odd fish here and there can be 

 picked up if really sought for ; and on these days the rise, if any, is so 

 inconstant and so short-lived that it may easily be missed. On such a 

 day, on the wide shallows of the Longparish water of the Test, three of us 

 were struggling with the adverse conditions of a lowish river, a bright sun, 

 and a great lack of duns. We had agreed to meet at luncheon at about 

 i p.m. in the hut on the river's bank. I had found a seat upon the 

 upturned stump of a tree in mid-stream. There were fish all round me in 

 the shallows, but all on the bottom, apparently asleep. I knew that if I 

 left my place and waded ashore I should move them all. I was enjoying 

 my pipe, and so sat on. The whistles and calls from the hut passed 

 unheeded, for I had noticed that my friends the trout showed more signs 

 of animation. An olive or two came down, and gradually the fish seemed 

 to rise from the bottom and take up their positions. More calls from the 

 shore. I shouted back to them not to wait, and at length they gave me 

 up as a bad job. 



Soon a fish on my left front took an obvious olive, a pale one, and I 

 had a pale olive on my cast. Still I waited, and soon the first few olives 

 were followed by quite a little procession. I then cast over my fish, and 

 at the first offer he took it. I got him down below me, and soon netted 

 him out, wading up again most carefully and slowly to my seat ; and from 

 that position, in about twenty minutes, got seven fish in succession, all 

 taken with the same fly and from the same spot. They were none of them 

 very big, it is true, but they were all over a pound in weight. By this 

 time my friends had finished their luncheon, and came out of the hut just 

 as I was netting my seventh fish. Hastily getting their rods, they were 



