OBJECTIONS ANSWERED 31 



The former change is probably viewed with com- 

 parative equanimity ; but the latter entails a 

 departure which seems to presage disaster. He 

 fishes the loch with a cast of four flies, while on the 

 river he may be accustomed to use even more, and 

 to reduce their number appears to him as equivalent 

 to a sacrifice of chances. This is a difficulty we 

 quite appreciate. Many a day on the loch every fly 

 of the quartette will score its share of points ; in 

 fact, sometimes the honours may be equally divided. 

 One may be excused for concluding that, had one of 

 the flies been absent, the total catch on such a day 

 would have been only 75 per cent, of what it was, 

 and it is impossible to determine whether the deduc- 

 tion is correct or not. 



The greater the number of flies on a cast, the 

 larger may be the area of water searched, and conse- 

 quently more trout will have an opportunity of 

 seeing them. This is obviously the case when the 

 cast is delivered across the stream ; but it is equally 

 apparent that, for the majority of casts on a loch, 

 and for one directly upstream on a river, ten flies 

 will search no greater area than one. 



The angler, however, argues that one pattern 

 may be refused and another prove acceptable, or 

 one may awake sufficient interest in a trout to make 

 it take the next. He, therefore, provides a fair 

 variety, ties to his cast as many flies as he can con- 

 veniently manipulate, and works hard believing 

 that he has ensured for himself the maximum of 

 sport. His reasoning is sound and sensible, and, if 

 he applies these principles to the loch, his basket 

 will be as good as the conditions, his luck, and his 

 skill permit ; but if he extends them to the river he 



