INTRODUCTION 49 



and the average preference for an overcast 

 day to one of uninterrupted sunshine 

 argues eccentricity to the lay mind. The 

 angler may therefore revel in what other 

 folk regard as hideous weather. " The 

 best sort of day for this loch," said a 

 keeper in reply to Colonel Malcolm's 

 inquiry, " the best sort of day, Kernel, is 

 a real beast of a day " ! That, then, which 

 is miserable weather to the ordinary 

 understanding may give the fisherman the 

 chance of his lifetime. Indeed, this 

 indifference to dirty weather may even 

 assume a more acute phase, in which, it 

 is to be feared, the fisherman figures in 

 a very selfish light. Rain and storms, 

 as Mr. Wheeley points out, while having 

 no terrors for the angling enthusiast, keep 

 other folks at home, and in much- 

 frequented waters, like those of the Lower 

 Thames, this may mean immunity from 

 the madding crowd of motor -boats and 

 other pleasure-craft, a privilege which 

 fishermen may think cheaply bought at 

 the price of a wetting. 



4 



