178 TROUT FISHING 



a matter of a stream's normal development than of 

 any special characteristics. The further a river runs 

 from its rocky beginnings the richer the land through 

 which it winds, and, in consequence, the more 

 bounteous its food-supplies and the fatter its trout. 

 Some of the famous mountain streams, such as the 

 Usk or the Don, have a greater proportion of rich 

 land to their mileage than others which produce 

 smaller trout. 



But even some of the barrenest rivers may have 

 their fertile reaches. Nothing, I should say, could 

 well be more suggestive of an eight-to-the-pound 

 average than the top part of the Cumberland Der- 

 went. In a solid week's fishing round about 

 Seathwaite I think I only got one trout which 

 exceeded six ounces. That was some twenty years 

 ago, but I do not suppose that conditions have 

 altered since then. Lower down, however, it is 

 a very different story. One day below Cocker mouth 

 a few years back I got a dozen trout which averaged 

 half a pound, and I heard of a catch of a dozen or 

 more which averaged over one pound. The lower 

 Derwent is naturally rich in fly and on the day 

 recorded I saw the biggest hatch of iron blues that 

 has ever gladdened my eyes. Of course I had no 

 such thing as an iron blue in my fly-book, and I had 

 to make shift with the darkest hackle-fly I could find. 

 It served fairly well, but if I had had some real iron 



