96 FLY FISHING 



I have occasionally been clearly conscious of touch- 

 ing a trout in striking, and seen it continue to 

 rise afterwards. With one trout I had a curious 

 experience it was a fish of at least two pounds' 

 weight and apparently in very good condition. 

 It rose to my fly at the first cast ; I struck, and for 

 a just perceptible moment the rod bent, and I 

 thought I had the trout, but the fly came back to 

 me, and I saw the fish drop down stream and lie 

 at the bottom, apparently meditative rather than 

 frightened. Very soon it began to work up stream, 

 and in a few minutes was rising again in the same 

 place as before. Again I made what seemed to 

 me a cast much like the first one, but this time 

 it had the effect of putting the trout down 

 altogether. On more than one subsequent day in 

 the same season, though there was a fish, which I 

 believe to be the identical one referred to above 

 rising in that spot, I never could get a rise from 

 it, and it generally disappeared at the first cast. 

 I have given this instance of an individual trout 

 having found safety in education, because on 

 the first occasion I never for a moment lost sight 

 of the fish, and could be sure of its identity 

 during the whole time. There would otherwise 



