i8o FLY FISHING 



of hooking large fish without using a heavy rod 

 and heavy tackle. There is less rule and less 

 formality about it than there is about salmon 

 fishing, and there seems more scope for the in- 

 dividuality of the angler. Perhaps this is partly 

 because the sea trout season comes so directly 

 after a long period of work in the stale air of 

 cities, and coincides with the first burst into 

 freedom and fresh atmosphere. The difference 

 is so great in August, after a few days of exercise 

 in the air of the North, that there come times 

 when the angler, who wanders alone after sea 

 trout down glens and over moors, has a sense 

 of physical energy and strength beyond all his 

 experience in ordinary life. Often after walking 

 a mile or two on the way to the river, at a brisk 

 pace, there comes upon one a feeling of " fitness," 

 of being made of nothing but health and strength 

 so perfect, that life need have no other end but 

 to enjoy them. It is as though till that moment 

 one had breathed with only a part of one's lungs, 

 and as though now for the first time the whole 

 lungs were filling with air. The pure act of 

 breathing at such times seems glorious. People 

 talk of being a child of nature, and moments 



