THAMES TROUT-FISHING. 423 



throw I hooked a three-pounder, whom in spite of great local 

 difficulties I succeeded in landing. Precisely the same thing 

 happened to me in another fine Tasmanian stream. In these 

 waters, as in the Thames, the fish were large but scarce, and my 

 success was simply due to my assuming that they must there- 

 fore be sought not merely in likely places but in the very likeliest. 

 In these few words lies tne secret of effective fly-fishing for 

 Thames trout. 



But what are the ' very likeliest ' casts ? I have already said 

 that the selection of these must depend on the extent of the 

 angler's experience and the closeness of his observation. It is 

 impossible to define. But a good trout is often to be found at 

 the head or tail of a hollow-banked eyot where the stream runs 

 strong. And there are few surer finds than a 'ballast-hole ' in 

 a bright gravelly shallow, or the similar hollow at the back of 

 a last year's redd. In such spots the trout can 'lie low, 1 

 like Brer Fox in Uncle Remus, and there is always break 

 enough in the water to disguise the tackle. I may mention 

 that I have thrown a fly for a Thames trout only twice since 

 my return from Australia ten years ago, and on both occa- 

 sions have taken a pretty fish from one of these favourite 

 haunts. 



A great deal of fuss is made about flies for the Thames. I 

 remember being asked by one of our fashionable tackle-dealers 

 eighteen-pence for a mere soldier-palmer tied on gut which 

 might have scared a crocodile. And I have had all sorts of special 

 ' tips ' recommended to me in the shape of certain combinations 

 of feather silk and tinsel warranted irresistible. But as far as 

 my own experience goes, your Thames trout is by no means 

 particular about his fly, provided that it be a good mouthful 

 with a sufficient play of wings and legs to make its movements 

 life-like. I think if I had to fix on a standard cast my tail-fly 

 should be a large Alder-fly, with plenty of brown drake feather 

 for wings, legs of a dark hackle and a pretty substantial body 

 of peacock's herl. My dropper some five feet higher up, and 

 hancinz five inches clear of the casting-line should be a dark- 



