Down- Stream Fishing. 81 



ful up-stream fishing implies more knowledge of 

 the habits and habitats of the fish, more nicety and 

 precision in casting, greater dexterity in managing 

 the line when cast and in bringing it properly home, 

 a quicker eye in detecting a rise, and a readier 

 hand in responding thereto. But surely these at- 

 tainments will follow intelligent practice ; and the 

 beginner will be less disposed to shirk the diffi- 

 culties than to face them, when he remembers the 

 dictum of Plato, that "what is good is difficult," 

 and is assured on the word of many an " honest 

 angler " that, be the difficulties what they may, 

 they are not more real than the success which 

 attends their overthrow. 



There are circumstances, however, in which fish- 

 ing down-stream may be practised ; indeed there is 

 one in which no other method will suit, and that 

 is, of course, when the wind is too strong to permit 

 of fishing either up or across. But should the 

 element of wind not enter into our calculations, we 

 have still to consider sometimes the condition of 

 the water ; and though generally in all conditions 

 fishing up is the most profitable, there are one or 

 two cases in which good sport may be obtained by 

 fishing down. 



The angler may adopt this method with some 

 success when the water is black, or when full and 

 heavy though clear. In a full black water, with a 

 F 



