102 FLY FISHING 



it seemed to me, and I was inclined to think 

 that the condition of the fish was affected by 

 the flow of water : that they throve better, were 

 more active, and had better appetites in a good 

 flow of fresh water. But the year 1898 entirely 

 upset this theory, for in that season in May 

 and June the average condition of the trout in 

 the same water was again exceptionally fine, 

 though the head of water in the river was excep- 

 tionally low. The first suggestion of course will 

 be that the abnormally mild winter of 1897-98 

 accounted for this, but the winter which pre- 

 ceded May 1887 was not very mild, and other 

 observations have not given me any support for 

 the theory that a mild winter ensures good condi- 

 tion in chalk stream trout. 



