INTRODUCTORY 7 



the angler to fish, its capture will always afford him 

 amusement, provided he has not been accustomed to 

 anything superior. The juvenile Cockney who bobs 

 for gudgeon and eels in the dubs and ditches in the 

 neighbourhood of London, and whom a trout of a 

 pound weight would scare out of a year's growth, 

 plies his lure as unremittingly as the sportsman who 

 captures the monarch of the streams in some noble 

 river, such as Tweed or Tay. 



Of" all the inhabitants of the fresh water, no fish 

 is looked upon with such favour by the angler, and 

 none affords him such varied and continuous sport, 

 as the common freshwater trout. This is owing to 

 its being the most difficult to capture of all the finny 

 tribe, not excepting the salmon itself, to the sport it 

 affords when hooked the trout being stronger than 

 any fish of its size and to its fine edible qualities. 



In some parts of England trout have almost dis- 

 appeared, and the angler has been compelled to have 

 recourse to meaner fare ; but in Scotland trout are 

 more plentiful than any other fish, and trout-fishing 

 is within the reach of all. The difficulty is not to 

 name a river where good sport may be had, but to 

 name a river where good sport may not be had, if 

 properly gone about. Railway travelling has afforded 

 the angler great facilities for the pursuit of his voca- 

 tion. One, or at most two hours 1 ride will convey 

 all lovers of sport in any large town in Scotland, and 

 in most of those in England, to streams where there 

 are plenty of trout; and, to do them justice, they 

 avail themselves of it to the utmost. On a holiday 



