244 LATE OCTOBER GRAYLING FISHING. 



After waiting for half an hour I decided to 

 move on to a nice glide under the left bank, 

 where large fish are often taken at this time of 

 the evening. Almost before I reached the place 

 I saw a rise so close to me that I had to stoop 

 and back into the rushes. The very moment 

 the fly touched the water it was taken. The 

 strike suggested that it was a heavy fish but 

 a sluggish one. Had not the river been very 

 free from weeds just here the gut could not 

 have held, for after a desperate splashing on the 

 surface, I netted out a large trout of perhaps 

 two pounds and a quarter, seemingly in good 

 yellow condition, very fat and I suppose full 

 of spawn. 



I am ashamed to say I do not know the one 

 sex from the other. Anyhow I did not detain 

 him, or her, for long. The hook had caused 

 no pain or inconvenience; and he sailed back 

 into mid stream as though none the worse for 

 the adventure. A poor grayling caught out of 

 season often receives different treatment. 



After wandering higher up to a turn in the 

 river which we called ' duffer's corner ' and only 

 catching one insignificant fish, I came slowly 

 back to the hatch stile, wondering all the way 

 down what sort of luck a man would have who 

 was allowed to ' swim the worm ' or the maggot, 

 as he walked down stream. Not that I had the 

 slightest desire to do so; for, apart from never 

 being able to put a worm on to a hook, I should 

 not fancy handling or eating the fish that came 

 to so distasteful a bait. It is merely a case of 



