90 AN ANGLER'S YEAR 



minutes after another of this species rewarded (?) my 

 endeavours. 



Further up the river a good trout was seen on the 

 shallow on the other side of the river; he never rose to 

 the natural fly at all, but when the artificial was put 

 over him he turned round, sailed downstream after it, 

 and refused it. 



This settled the matter, and as the fly weakened 

 about three, we adjourned under the shade of a friendly 

 haystack for lunch. 



While investigating the construction of a most 

 excellent veal-and-ham pie we heard repeated splashes 

 on a weedy shallow just above; so, postponing further 

 food till a more convenient season, we raced off to see 

 if, perchance, we might find trout at last feeding on the 

 Mayfly. Here, there, and everywhere the fish were 

 rising busily, and each cast was rewarded with a rise. 

 After some little trouble a dace was captured, and then 

 a roach; but over an hour's careful fishing did not 

 yield one trout. By this time we made up our minds to 

 walk up and try the upper water, so struck across the 

 fields, arriving at a favourite shallow about half-past 

 five. Here a fellow-fisher told us that he had been 

 having good sport, and had taken four and a half 

 brace of sizeable trout, and had been broken up two or 

 three times with heavy fish : further, he said that the 

 rise had been on from one to four, and that the fish 

 then fed greedily. Certainly they must have fed well 

 prior to our appearing on the scene, for after our 

 arrival they refused to look at any pattern of Mayfly 

 either light wing or dark, grey hackle or red, straw body 

 or chenille or even Spent Gnat. First cast my old 

 friend got broken up casting downstream with a wet 

 Mayfly, but, although he tried the same lure for an 

 hour or two after, no further offer rewarded his efforts. 

 The fish seemed thoroughly satisfied, and although as 

 the sun went down a good show of sedge came on the 

 water, not a fish stirred a fin, and, indeed, could be 

 seen lying motionless in the runs, letting Sedges, May- 

 flies, Spent Gnats, &c., go by unharmed. And so the 



