168 TROUT LORE 



enough fly-rod, one that will handle a fly satis- 

 factorily and, in the hands of a careful angler, 

 land a large trout. It is not for me to say which 

 fly-book, for every angler has his favorite. Also 

 the reel and line will be a matter of preference. 

 Than the foregoing a more simple outfit cannot 

 be devised unless you cut a rod on the stream's 

 bank and tie your line to the end thereof. With 

 all due respect and deference for boyhood days, 

 there is little sport in capturing trout without 

 giving them a chance to escape or having the op- 

 portunity of playing them. 



During those years of which I wrote in the 

 opening paragraph of this chapter, one June 

 afternoon I found myself in a little town where 

 I was to speak in the evening, and with some 

 three or four hours at my disposal. Of course 

 I was garbed a la rostrum, but that was a matter 

 of secondary importance. Borrowing a straw 

 hat and pair of rubbers, I made my way to a 

 little creek some half-mile or so from town. 

 Naturally I said nothing regarding my purpose, 

 nor mentioned the little rod, vest-pocket fly-book 

 and reel reposing so inconspicuously in my 

 pockets. It proved one of those rare days when 

 the trout were "jumping crazy for the fly," and 

 such sport as I had it is almost sacrilegious to 



