54 FLY FISHING AND SPINNING 



habit of using the rod and reel will ensue. If the method of 

 handlining is adopted after striking a fish, it has to be 

 continued, and the slack line thus recovered will prove a 

 constant source of danger should it be necessary to follow 

 the trout down-stream and keep him under control. In 

 this respect I venture to disagree with one of our best known 

 authorities, who advises his readers to slacken the line after 

 striking a trout among weeds, and then to handline. 



Naturally one would not drag a fish into danger 

 except as a means of keeping it away from a greater danger, 

 but a trout, after being hooked amid the weeds, will in 

 nine out of ten cases dart into the shelter of the weeds 

 surrounding him, and I see little good in relying on the chance 

 of his not doing so. It is only by keeping a constant tension 

 on the line that the fly is in many instances kept in the 

 mouth of the trout. For the slightest slackness of the line 

 frequently permits the trout to use its tongue as a hook 

 extractor and dislodge the fly, and therefore I think that 

 neither slacking your line nor handlining is advisable 

 when once you are fortunate in making a successful strike 

 at a trout. 



The writer above quoted advises his readers to turn the 

 fish and walk it down-stream directly it is struck when 

 amid weeds. He claims that this method, if successful, 

 possesses the advantage of keeping the battle from the 

 hitherto undisturbed waters above; but a trout, except it 

 sees the fisherman, or it happens to be feeding at the tail 

 end of a pool, generally runs down stream unless it darts 

 into the weeds, etc. He might also claim that this method 

 of handling a fish takes it away from its retreats an.d into 

 regions of comparatively speaking unknown security, but 

 it has the demerit of leading the fish downward into weeds 

 the most dangerous of all manners in which a trout can 

 enter them. It also has the demerit that, unless the trout 



