HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. 113 



moderate for trout, of which there has been some slight increase 

 in numbers at the expense of size ; and very moderate, indeed, 

 for salmon, although I must frankly admit that, partly owing to 

 his indomitable perseverance and skill and partly to his having 

 the command of some of the best pools on the river, my friend 

 Mr. Turner-Turner, of Avon Castle, has killed a very consider- 

 able number of splendid fish in his waters on one occasion, 

 if I remember rightly, landing no less than three, averaging 

 twenty pounds a-piece, before breakfast. " 



One swallow, however, does not make a summer, and, if I 

 were offered the range of the best salmon casts on the Avon 

 from mouth to source, I should decline with thanks. Men's 

 tastes differ, but for myself I must confess that the chance of 

 dropping upon what Dougal calls a 'happenin' baste' does not 

 sufficiently gratify my 'hunting' instincts. In my opinion 

 sport consists primarily in catching something, and if I cannot 

 make pretty sure of at least two or three salmon a day, irre- 

 spective of size, commend me to the nearest stream or loch 

 where I can fill my creel with trout. If trout cannot be got in 

 'remunerative' numbers I would try pike-fishing; or, failing 

 pike, perch-fishing ; or, failing perch, roach-fishing ; or, failing 

 roach, gudgeon-fishing any fish, in fact, which will afford the 

 amusement of catching as contrasted with endeavouring to 

 catch. I am afraid my ethics will recall the Frenchman's idea 

 of an Englishman. ' O, what a fine day ! Let's go and kill 

 something!' . . . The mistake the Frenchman made was in 

 supposing that it was the love of killing instead of the love of 

 sport. And yet what is sport ? Would it be sport if there were 

 no killing anything? But this is becoming casuistic. 



I have not that fierce thirst upon me which can only be 

 slaked with salmon blood, to quote the expression of my dear 

 old friend, Willie Peard, whose charming writings have given 

 delight to all lovers of fly-fishing, and who was himself one of 

 the most brilliant performers in practice of the art which he so 

 eloquently described in theory. 



Some time ago the Thames Angling Preservation Society 



ii. I 



