172 THE MAYFLY IN HAMPSHIRE. 



an hour, which is rather trying, besides making 

 one feel a bit of a poacher as it grows, dusk. 



One cannot pretend that trout caught when 

 the fly cannot be seen, give much pleasure to 

 the angler; excepting in the sense of mere 

 possession. So long as one can see, not only 

 the rise but also the fly after it has pitched, 

 all is fair and above board in the matter of 

 skill. Where the rise can be seen, and the 

 fly cannot which so often is the case in this 

 evening fishing the strike is a matter of guess 

 work to a great extent, depriving the whole 

 sport of its dry fly character. 



The rule of * an hour after sunset ' is no 

 doubt a good one; but I am too well aware that 

 in many places it would spell a reprieve for each 

 and all of the old cannibals that haunt the deep 

 turns of many a river. 



