FLIES AND FLY FISHING. 11 



the fishing having become so bad in this country, and that 

 it is bad cannot, I think, be denied. 



On salmon rivers the means taken for preservation are 

 greater, and the law is also stricter ; but the prizes to be 

 drawn by poachers being also greater, they are in conse- 

 quence more daring. 



Of one thing I am quite convinced, that both salmon 

 and trout are very much scarcer for the rod fisherman in 

 these days, when there is so much talk of preservation, 

 than they were when the rivers were hardly preserved 

 at all. 



There is no fishing which requires so much skill and 

 experience as fly fishing for brown trout. Every man 

 who is fond of fishing can, with practice, become fairly 

 proficient for salmon or white trout, but he requires to 

 have a natural aptitude, as well as a great passion for it, 

 to be really successful in fishing for brown trout in small 

 rivers and brooks. He also requires to have a good eye 

 for water, a thorough knowledge of the habits of the fish, 

 and also as to the seasons, weather, time, and water in 

 which the different flies they feed on come out, and the 

 "general habits of these insects; and, lastly, great persever- 

 ance, and a sanguineness that cannot be entirely depressed, 

 however bad his sport may be. 



