CHAPTER XI 



ON WADING 



FOR every individual angler there is a certain 

 length of line with which he can execute 

 his neatest, most delicate, and most accurate 

 casts, and, whenever he observes a trout rising, 

 he will naturally want to bring himself to such a 

 point that the distance between him and the rise 

 is that at which he is most expert. 



He understands, of course, that every yard of 

 line used outside that favourite length imposes 

 upon him a handicap with which he would much 

 rather dispense. Sometimes he can arrange matters 

 to his liking by a cautious advance upon the bank, 

 but even the greatest care will often not prevent 

 his discovery, whereas by wading he can in the 

 majority of cases reach the spot desired, and reach 

 it, moreover, without giving the trout a hint of his 

 presence and intentions. 



It may be taken as axiomatic that no pool or 

 stream in a river will fish equally well from both 

 sides at the same time. The two banks are never 

 precisely the same ; the current usually sets to 

 one side or the other and the water is not of uniform 

 depth all over. On one day the trout may be feed- 

 ing on the shallow side, on another in the depths 

 below the high bank ; they may be in the centre 



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