56 FLY FISHING 



patience to fix its exact position by waiting for 

 its next rise. When these things were discovered, 

 however, each fish took my fly confidently, and 

 it seemed as if only the biggest and fattest trout 

 were rising. With each of the first seven fish 

 hooked there was a moment when a catastrophe 

 seemed imminent, and yet all were landed. They 

 averaged just over two pounds apiece, and after 

 each one the sense of triumph and success 

 mounted higher, till it produced a feeling of 

 confidence in my own skill and luck, which I 

 knew was not justified, but which was irresistible. 

 Then everything changed and one disaster suc- 

 ceeded another. I lost more than seven large 

 trout successively. Some broke my tackle, in the 

 case of others the small hook lost its hold unex- 

 pectedly, whilst others again went into weeds and 

 there freed themselves from the hook. Indeed 

 I had a very bad time all round. At the end of 

 the rise my basket was heavy, but I had a sense 

 of being much chastened, and I could have 

 wished that the luck had been more evenly 

 distributed. 



After two o'clock on this June day the angler 

 will probably find that it becomes increasingly 



