58 ARTIFICIAL FLY-FISHING. 



blank dismay, and in a very unenviable frame of 

 mind ; indeed, of all the trials of the temper which 

 occur in the ordinary course of life, there is none 

 to compare with that of losing a good trout at the 

 last moment, and anglers have various ways of giv- 

 ing vent to their pent-up feelings, depending upon 

 their peculiar idiosyncrasy. But of all the different 

 means of relief there is perhaps none at once so satis- 

 factory and so reprehensible as that referred to by 

 a late great humorist, who, if not an angler, was 

 the friend and associate of anglers : 



"The flask frae my pocket 



I poured into the socket, 

 For I was provokit unto the last degree ; 



And to my way o' thinkin', 



There's naething for 't but drinkin', 

 When a trout he lies winkin' and lauchin* at me." 



Everything combines to render fly-fishing the 

 most attractive of all the branches of the angler's 

 art. The attempt to capture trout which are seen 

 to rise at natural flies is in itself an excitement 

 which no other method possesses. Then the small- 

 ness of the hook and the fineness of the tackle 

 necessary for success increase the danger of escape, 

 and consequently the excitement and pleasure of 

 the capture ; and for our own part we would rather 

 hook, play, and capture a trout of a pound weight 

 with fly than one of a pound and a half with min- 

 now or worm, where the hooks being larger there 

 is less chance of their losing their hold, and the gut 



