A PECK OF TROUBLES 233 



on these days do not really close their mouths on 

 the fly, and when one tightens on them the hook 

 gets no hold at all or at best an indifferent lodgement 

 in some outlying part of the jaw. 



In rather similar category are the wet-fly days 

 on which there are many rises that lead to nothing. 

 Here again the angler is prone to blame himself, 

 to think that by striking more swiftly, or more slowly, 

 he might have made better use of the opportunities. 

 I do not believe that this is so, in the case of any 

 angler of fair skill. I think that the trout which 

 rise in this way, making a lot of show but not getting 

 hooked, do not mean to take the fly at all. They 

 are interested enough to gambol close to it, but 

 not to make trial of its flavour. 



Nor do I think that it is often accurate to say 

 that a trout " missed " the fly. It does happen 

 sometimes in a lake when a fish has come out of the 

 deeps that he " loses " it, but the angler usually 

 helps there by pulling it out of the water prematurely. 

 If he can get it in again while the fish is still looking 

 about like a terrier for a vanished rat, he will pro- 

 bably get a real rise. But a genuine " miss " must 

 be very rare even in rough water. A trout has a 

 very good aim, though he is perhaps outdone in 

 this by a grayling, which can come up from deep 

 water and seize a fly on or near the surface with 

 marvellous precision. 



