THE DAER WATER 247 



us there from many miles away, for it contains 

 numerous trout of fine size and quality which are 

 generally in taking humour. The left bank is high 

 and much crumbled away, so that care must be 

 taken when wading along it, but that is the side 

 from which the angler must fish if he desires to lure 

 the wary, keen-eyed trout. 



It will take him nearly an hour to search thor- 

 oughly, provided that he moves slowly forward and 

 lays his flies at many angles across the stream from 

 each halting-place. He must beware of advancing 

 and delivering the cast at the same time : that bad 

 habit, easily acquired because very natural, is one 

 reason why many offers are unaccepted. In 

 estimating the time required for fishing this stream, 

 we assume that a rise is not taking place ; but 

 should such additional incentive to careful work be 

 granted, progress will be still slower, for the trout 

 are not situated far apart, but spread all over the 

 glide in great numbers, a fact that can be verified 

 by anyone who cares to walk down the high bank. 

 Then he will see many dozens of the finest trout 

 hurrying for the shelter of the deep pot at the mouth 

 of Clyde's Burn. 



At the next bend the river runs in a narrower, 

 deeper channel, a sure place for a kill when trout 

 are keen and eager, but it is not one of our favourite 

 bits, and we can pass it by without regrets. It is 

 not so with the next pool, which rejoices in the 

 possession of a smooth-flowing backwater, where 

 we feel grievously disappointed if we fail to hook a 

 half-pounder or weightier specimen. Here we can 

 be content to wait for quite a long time until we see 

 a rise, and then without hesitation we strive to place 



