SEA TROUT FISHING 163 



fish do not intend to take the fly, and their rises 

 are the results of high spirits and exuberant 

 activity. And so the angler appears to have an 

 excellent chance each time of hooking a fish, 

 when the fish has perhaps never opened its 

 mouth at all. Sometimes a sea trout that has 

 risen and not been touched by the hook will rise 

 again, but they are very uncertain in this respect, 

 and I do not fish over one a second time with 

 the same expectation of another rise, that I feel 

 in the case of a salmon that has risen once and 

 missed the fly. Of course one always feels 

 wronged and aggrieved when a sea trout, which 

 has not been pricked and has no excuse, refuses 

 to give another chance, but there are days when 

 fish after fish rises once, and only once, without 

 touching the hook. On the whole, however, sea 

 trout, when they do rise, may be said to take 

 hold very well. 



It was said just now that sea trout fishing was 

 especially dependent upon the state of the water, 

 and it is true that a falling river after a spate is 

 the great opportunity, but the angler need not 

 despair even when the water is at its lowest, if 

 there have previously been floods to bring fish 



