THE RISE 57 



My subsequent experience with these fish 

 tended only to confuse me further in my guess- 

 ing. This " spattering " game went on for fifteen 

 or twenty minutes, and was brought to a con- 

 clusion, finally, by the retirement of the "curses," 

 which left the scene perpendicularly, going 

 straight up until lost to view. After they had 

 disappeared the fish stopped rising. Having 

 marked them down, I determined to have one 

 more try with a large fly, and, to my amaze- 

 ment, my first cast brought a swift rise, but no 

 connection was made. Resting the fish for a 

 moment, I tried him again; he rose, and I was 

 fast in what appeared to be a very good fish. 

 I had great difficulty in leading him to the 

 lower end of the pool, so that I might not dis- 

 turb the others, and finally netted him. He 

 proved to be a small trout and was hooked on 

 the side just above the tail. I then tried the 

 others, and, although I rose each one at least 

 three times, I hooked none, nor on any occasion 

 did I feel that the fly had been touched. By 

 this time it was quite dark and I left for home. 



On the three following days I met with the 

 same experience. I had innumerable rises to 

 my fly after the "curses" had left, hooked but 

 one fish each evening, and, by a remarkable 



