194 FLY FISHING 



line well, and knows the river best, will hook 

 most fish in the season. 



I know nothing which raises anticipation to 

 such a pitch as salmon fishing, and nothing 

 which so often wears it down by sheer un- 

 rewarded toil. There is much monotony about 

 it; each cast down a long even stream is very 

 much a repetition of the one before it, and 

 when there is no result the angler first loses 

 expectation, and then hope, and falls into a 

 dull mechanical state. In summer and autumn 

 salmon and grilse are often jumping and show- 

 ing themselves, but in spring there are no 

 grilse, the salmon do not jump, and you some- 

 times cast all day without seeing any sign of 

 a fish, even when there are plenty of them 

 in the river. I must admit that, after cast- 

 ing for hours without a rise, great despond- 

 ency comes upon me, when it is a question of 

 fishing a second time over a long piece of water 

 that has already been tried with one fly without 

 success. How often have I sat on the bank 

 and looked at the unsuccessful fly, and 

 wondered whether it was too big or too little, 

 and then at my other flies, feeling that there 



