216 FISHERMEN'S WEATHER 



districts, 1 but there is also varied evidence 

 of baskets of trout being made in spite 

 of it. 



Mr. Earl With the helpful side of thunder in 



Hodgson's trout fishing Mr Earl Hodgson deals 



view. 



from that non-committal " symptomatic " 

 standpoint of his, which evokes the same 

 admiration as the logic of an astute leader 

 of modern politics. 2 " Thunder," he writes, 

 "is a great help. That is to say, the 

 changes of atmosphere of which thunder 

 is a symptom are beneficent. Some- 

 times the trout, which have been lying 

 low for many hours during the gradual 

 degeneration of the atmosphere, rise 

 well soon after the storm has broken. 



1 E.g. on the Exe and Otter (J. E. S.), in Shetland 

 (J. S. T.), and in Banffshire (J. C.). 



2 Mr. Earl Hodgson remarks, with reference to this 

 criticism: "My half -sheet of notepaper seems as un- 

 fortunate as Mr. Balfour's. Where is the difficulty ? Take 

 this case. Thunder is noise caused by explosions in the 

 clouds. Is it the noise which keeps the trout down for a 

 time before the storm ? Clearly it cannot be, for there is 

 no noise. Is it noise during the storm, or remembrance 

 of it soon after, that brings them up again ? No ; the effect 

 results from some atmospheric change due to the lightning. 

 Therefore thunder in its relation to the moods of trout is 

 casual rather than causal, incidental, a mere symptom." 



