102 CHATS ON ANGLING. 



At the lowest pool on the beat I put up my rod and fixed up the local 

 "medicine" — a Thunder and Lightning — and, wading out, fished the 

 pool down carefully, without result. My host then fished it, also blank. 

 Several fish had shown at the tail, but we could not get a rise out of 

 them. Then we wandered up the beat, trying all the likely pools in 

 turn. In the mill pool I managed to get into a small salmon, about 

 7 lb. in weight, and duly got him out ; otherwise our efforts were 

 entirely unrewarded. It was a great thing to learn the pools, and 

 to know where it was safe to wade, etc., and so I felt that the day 

 was not a lost one as far as I was concerned, though of course 

 less interesting to my friend S. and to my host. As we came home 

 the clouds again began to gather, to lure us, Will-o'-the-wisp-like, on 

 to further baseless hope, as the following bright, hot morning amply 

 testified. 



And so the days wore on, rocks gradually appearing where water 

 had flowed before, shallows becoming stony strands, and the fish more 

 pool-locked than ever. Finer grew the tackle used, smaller the flies. 

 We were really learning the geography of the bed of the river to 

 some weariness. After a few days S. gave up trying for the salmon, 

 and contented himself with trout waders and a trout rod as being 

 more productive of amusement. Being, however, of a more dogged 

 temperament, I stuck to the salmon, fishing with the smallest flies I 

 could get, and almost trout gut. By means of these allurements I did 

 succeed in amusing myself, rising and hooking quite a respectable number 

 of fish, but somehow or other I never could get a good hold of them ; 

 all were lightly hooked, and got off in playing or eventually broke me. 

 One fish I was particularly annoyed with ; he was a heavy one, well 

 over 20 lb., and might have been 30 lb. I had often seen him showing 

 in the pool at the end of the Red Bank. This formed really the head 

 of the Mill Pool, but was now cut off from the main part of the Mill 

 Pool by a daily lowering shallow some 1 ft. to 18 in. deep, through 

 which sharp-cutting rocks jutted at intervals. In mid-stream quite a 

 highish bank of stones was now disclosed, and on our side had quite 

 cut off the flow of water and formed a large backwater. The pool was 

 fishable with a short line, and the high, rocky bank behind formed a 

 good shelter whilst working down the very rough bank side. About 



