Mr Stewart's Dictum. 167 



employ each lure in its own appropriate season, and 

 there is no question that the May-fly is " the most 

 certain and deadly of all fishing." 



No doubt trout were more plentiful in most of 

 our streams when Mr Stewart affirmed that "he 

 was not worthy of the name of angler who could 

 not, in any day of the month of July, when the 

 water was clear, kill from 15 Ib. to 20 Ib. weight 

 of trout in any county in the south of Scot- 

 land ; " but had such a test of skill been applied to 

 members of the angling community, even in his 

 days, whatever other good points may have dis- 

 tinguished the true disciples of old Izaak, I fear 

 me that the one outstanding characteristic of the 

 brotherhood must have been its selectness. After 

 writing off a fair amount for deterioration of 

 streams since then, as one old enough to have 

 fished before Stewart, and to have experience both 

 of the present and of the former days, I have no 

 hesitation in saying that his test of discipleship 

 would still remain much too high. For there are 

 days and many of them in July, when all the 

 arts of the worm -fisher, or of any other fisher, 

 utterly fail to obtain a tithe of that weight of fish. 

 This I say, not so much from any anxiety to be 

 still considered, in the face of such poor results, 

 " worthy of the name of angler," as from a convic- 

 tion that any aspirant to angling fame, who starts 



