12 DRY-FLY FISHING 



on some remote mountain tarn, he may find it so 

 easy to fill his basket that again sport is altogether 

 awanting. Above all things, he desires trout, but 

 he must be called upon to display skill in deceiving 

 them, and exercise supreme care in dealing with 

 them. 



It is rather curious that, while every angler is 

 anxious to catch fish and still more anxious to bring 

 them home, very few thereafter want them for 

 themselves. It is not a desire to eat that drives 

 men to the river. If that were the case, none would 

 be particular as to method, none would shudder 

 at illegalities. Why is it that an empty creel is 

 considered a great calamity? 



The trout are necessary to justify to others the 

 undertaking of an expedition, and to provide clearly 

 visible proof of its success. The angler must have 

 them to give to his friends, who will be convinced 

 of his piscatorial prowess. If these friends are 

 stupid enough to congratulate him on his luck, he 

 is annoyed, because, of course, fish are caught by 

 skill ; should they meet him at the end of a blank 

 day and commiserate him on his bad luck, he is 

 comforted, because certainly it is misfortune that 

 prevents trout being caught. He would much rather 

 have commendation than condolence; hence trout 

 are a necessity. They represent the realisation of 

 an ambition ; they demonstrate the successful 

 accomplishment of an enterprise. 



In addition the angler demands that the trout 

 he catches will provide him with sport. Individuals 

 differ as to their conception of what constitutes 

 sport. One will fish in a dirty, yellow, flooded water 

 with coarse tackle and coarser worms, and find 



