THE GRAYLING. 221 



hatches on a Sunday in September, really 

 magnificent grayling are occasionally seen a 

 Cabinet Council as it were, all of two and three 

 pounders; eight or ten lying sulkily within 

 a few yards of each other in a pool the size) 

 of a board-room. Needless to say, they will 

 no more rise on such an occasion than a 

 politician challenged by the opposite party. 

 The water is not to their liking in current or 

 volume; and they either avoid weed cover, or 

 are in reality sifting some form of food off 

 the chalky mud. If watched through opera 

 glasses they appear to have a constant swaying 

 motion, or parallax, within a foot circle while 

 keeping station like a fleet of battleships at 

 anchor. 



Walk up to another part of the same river 

 and there, in a sparkling run or a swiftly 

 moving shallow, small fish maiden grayling 

 of from seven to ten ounces will be found 

 rising freely ; so much so that, as a species of 

 pretty practice, one can keep on throwing for 

 them with the left hand for an hour at a time, 

 rising dozens and perhaps only hooking three 

 or four. 



There is this difference between trout and 

 grayling in the matter of surface food that a 

 trout far more means business as a rule. His 

 rise is either hunger or savageness. He is the 

 dog with the bone. The grayling is the 

 kitten with the cork. 



Then again, the trout appreciates the old 

 fashioned solid imitations of the natural flv. 



