148 FLY FISHING 



Of variety of fish and rivers and pools there 

 is no end in this sort of trout fishing. There 

 are so many sorts of water, from the swift to the 

 still, from the rough to the smooth, and all 

 degrees between them. The banks and beds of 

 the rivers may be of rock or stones or shingle 

 or sand or even mud. The height and the colour 

 of the water vary from time to time. Even 

 the difference of size in the trout is an attrac- 

 tion; there are rivers, where two-pounders are 

 at least possible, where one or two trout of a 

 pound or more may be expected on any day in 

 the best of the fly fishing season, and yet where 

 trout of a quarter of a pound are no disappoint- 

 ment. The country in which we fish may be the 

 wildest or the most homely bare and barren, or 

 woody and fertile. If any special choice had to 

 be made, I would choose a river with steep, 

 woody banks as the most attractive of all for 

 trout fishing; and strong streams in a wild, 

 open country for rougher sport, such as salmon 

 fishing. But all have their charms, and memories 

 of wet fly fishing call up a whole world of 

 varied aspects of beauty. In one element of 

 variety alone have dry fly rivers an undisputed 



