144 DRY-FLY FISHING 



the rushes watches us sink stealthily into hiding, 

 and then, laughing, scuttles out across the pool. 



We lay down the following requirements which 

 seem all to be demanded, before one is entitled 

 to consider himself engaged in the fascinating 

 sport. The approach and concealment must entail 

 some departure from ordinary procedure ; the 

 water must be at lowest summer level ; the indivi- 

 dual trout sought after must be a rising fish and 

 a worthy specimen of long experience ; the sur- 

 roundings must call for care and study in the 

 accurate placing of a fly, and will in general favour 

 the trout more than the angler. The latter may, 

 if he can, and must if he is to achieve success, 

 remove by the adoption of certain tactics the dis- 

 advantage under which he is placed. A big take 

 will not denote that the angler is possessed of 

 extraordinary skill ; rather will it signify that one 

 at least of the necessary conditions has been 

 absent. 



In our larger rivers, broad and deep, it is gener- 

 ally necessary for the angler to wade in order to 

 reach a feeding trout ; the depth of water from 

 which he must operate will place him beneath 

 the range of vision of a trout, and therefore it is 

 ridiculous in such circumstances to talk of stalk- 

 ing. The term is wholly inapplicable. It is not 

 even essential to fish upstream in these rivers, the 

 breadth and depth of the water being sufficient 

 to ensure the obtaining, without thought or effort, 

 of the first requirement, viz. the concealment 

 of the angler. Of course, even in the largest river 

 there are tricky little corners, inhabited by fine 

 fish, whose excessive cunning can be overcome only 



