A DAY ON CLYDE 245 



in position, the strike succeeds. At once the trout 

 throws itself high above the water, a good three- 

 quarter, and then dashes in headlong flight down 

 the pool, every yard of its course being completed 

 with a wild leap, very trying and exciting tactics ; 

 but this excessively agile trout accomplishes its 

 own defeat, for by the time we have come up with 

 it, it is lying exhausted on its side and requires only 

 to be steered ashore. 



Such is the day that we thought would prove a 

 lamentable failure, and instead yielded as bonnie a 

 basket of trout as one could hope to get. We are 

 tempted to declare that only the dry-fly could have 

 given it, but we refrain, as every now and then we 

 are convinced afresh that predictions regarding 

 trout are wholly vain. 



