198 FLY FISHING 



after a few yards plunged under a sheet of ice 

 unbroken from bank to bank. I have no accu- 

 rate record of the shade temperatures of that 

 time. There was a thermometer hanging on the 

 side of the lodge exposed to the sun in the day- 

 time, which registered remarkable extremes. On 

 one night it fell to 5 (27 of frost). The fol- 

 lowing day was still and cloudless, and with the 

 sun full upon the wall the thermometer rose to 

 90. The next night it fell to 3 (29 of frost). 

 I remember on that day spreading a mackintosh 

 upon the snow, and lying in the March sun 

 without an overcoat in great comfort, looking at 

 the frozen river. In very severe frosts, when the 

 air is very still and cold the water freezes on the 

 line, the fly becomes frozen hard and stiff, and 

 the line with its coating of ice becomes too heavy 

 for casting. The smaller rings on the top joint 

 of the rod then become solid blocks of ice, and 

 the line cannot run. You thaw the fly in your 

 mouth, strip the ice off the line and clear the 

 rings, but it all forms again, and little progress 

 is made. In a moderate frost, when the sun is 

 strong and thaws a little snow and ice in the 

 middle of the day, the river will rise a few inches 



