INTRODUCTION 15 



tunities of contrasting the simple fish 



of rivers new to the fly -fisherman with 



those of more frequented waters at home. 



"The best brown trout," he writes, "of 



the Irish Erne and these run up to 



8 Ibs. weight and even more are hardly 



ever caught, except at night, when we 



must presume that they cannot see the 



line. By the kindness of the proprietors, 



the trout fishing on the Erne is free, and 



the trout in consequence much fished 



over and highly educated. On the other 



hand, it has been my lot to enjoy some 



excellent trout fishing in the heart of the 



Rockies, in the clear mountain -streams 



that drain the western watershed of 



Northern Wyoming. I doubt if the 



trout in those streams had then ever 



seen an artificial fly before, and so I had 



an opportunity of studying the primitive 



ways of trout absolutely ignorant of the 



wiles of the angler. Their eagerness and 



voracity for almost any size or colour of 



fly, within reason, was delightful, and, 



as they ran up to 4 Ibs. weight, they 



