no FLY FISHING 



The trout weighed a little over a pound, and 

 was hooked with a red quill gnat. It was 

 carried home proudly by hand, for I had no land- 

 ing net in those days ; and though there was no 

 more success for me that season, it was hence- 

 forth possible to give a willing answer to the 

 question whether I ever had caught anything. 



A small annual payment gave us the right 

 to fish in about half a mile of the river on the 

 part known as " Old Barge," and the Winchester 

 trout here had ways of their own, the result no 

 doubt of special education. Day tickets, as well 

 as season tickets, were issued for this piece of 

 water, and I have seen as many as eleven rods 

 fishing it at once, the average number of rods 

 in the best of the season being probably four 

 or five a day. The effect upon the trout was 

 curious but logical. They had become very 

 difficult to catch, or else none would have 

 survived ; there were plenty of them, and it 

 was only partly true to call them shy. As a 

 matter of fact, it was not nearly so hard to 

 approach them as it is on many waters much less 

 fished; nor did they take offence very readily 

 at clumsy casts. It was possible to go on casting 



