206 THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER 



the sport of angling the same relation to its 

 grosser forms as the execution of a symphony 

 bears to the blaring of the local brass band. It 

 appeals to the higher and more aesthetic quali- 

 ties of the mind, and dignifies the pot-hunter's 

 business into an art of the highest and finest 

 character. 



I am thus brought to the consideration of 

 the pot-hunter and the fish hog. Many angling 

 writers there be who have not hesitated, nor 

 have they been ashamed, to describe the taking 

 of great numbers of trout on separate and many 

 occasions. They feel, no doubt, that such nar- 

 ratives entitle them to consideration as author- 

 ities on the subject. I quote from one who 

 shall be nameless his bragging description of a 

 perfect slaughter of fish. After telling of twenty- 

 five or thirty trout taken during midday, nam- 

 ing at least a dozen flies he had found killing, 

 he concludes: "All my trout were taken from 

 the hook and thrown twenty-five feet to shore. 

 Thirty, my friend claimed, yet when I came to 

 count tails I found forty as handsome trout as 

 ever man wished to see, and all caught from six 

 in the evening until dark, about seven forty- 

 five. I had no net or creel, therefore had to 

 lead my trout into my hand. The friend at 



