214 riSHES AND FISHING. 



Mr. W. his mortification. I caught several brace 

 which I laid upon the lawn, and then said, " I hoped 

 I had gratified him (Mr. W.) by complying with his 

 wishes ; that I would take one brace for Mrs. M.'s 

 supper, and leave the rest." On our road home, Mr. 

 M. enjoyed the fun, and said he thought Mr. W. 

 would never press any one to angle again, if he saw 

 an umbrella in the hand of the person, lest it should 

 turn out to be a fly rod. 



In corroboration of Mr. Ronnie's observation before 

 referred to, as to the uselessness of the multiplicity 

 of artificial flies, the following may be confirmatory of 

 his opinion, and I believe of most experienced fly- 

 fishers. 



*' The inexperienced trout fisher generally encum- 

 bers himself with a large book, containing a whole 

 host of flies, for the dressing of which, he has resorted 

 to the fur of every animal under the sun, and the 

 feathers of every bird that cleaves the air ! He has 

 materials without end, flies without number, with as 

 many names as would puzzle and confound the most 

 skilful entomologist. 



" This is all useless. The genuine trout fisher, on 

 the contrary, takes with him very few flies, and kills 

 as many fish as he pleases. But he is by no means 

 an inattentive observer of every thing, — every indi- 

 cation of weather, — every change in the state of the 



