FLY FISHING FOR TROUT AND GRAYLING. 177 



immediately overhead, all without visible effect upon the 

 fish. As regards the fisherman we fear the same obser- 

 vations do not apply with equal truth. The nearest 

 sycamore tree or honeysuckle hedge is sought, and the 

 angler is seldom to be convinced, save by practical argu- 

 ments, that the time for taking fish is while the rain 

 falls, just as the time for making hay is while the sun 

 shines, as the old adage has it. 



Between the tyro and the proficient grayling fisher 

 there exists a wider gulf than is the case with the ex- 

 perienced and inexperienced in any other branch in the 

 whole art of fishing. Practical skill and general artistic 

 bearing are more fully exemplified in fishing for grayling, 

 than for trout and salmon, whilst upon the same ground 

 the unskilled efforts of the bungler stand at a yet more 

 glaring contrast. Mark the long sweeping casts of the 

 adept across and up-stream, ever true to the circulating 

 eddy, the centre of which forms the " bull's-eye" at 

 which to aim. See the gradually whirled line, how 

 lightly and efficiently it is cast, the obstructive force of 

 the air and the flowing water being all taken into con- 

 sideration when that measured swing is given. Observe 

 the varying tactics resorted to when called for in varying 

 circumstances, and yet above all the efficient mode of 

 handling the hooked fish while it makes determined 

 efforts to free itself from the tiny thread so recently 

 ignored, and to avoid the necessity of a premature move to 

 other parts of the stream through undue disturbance of 

 the water. Upon the other hand the inexperienced gray- 

 ling fisher's awkwardly managed line is planted splash- 

 ingly upon the bosom of some tranquil pool or still deep 

 the collar, dancing and dangling in its aerial flight, 

 becoming hopelessly entangled (as it inevitably must) 

 the instant it nears the water, and causing a break 

 larger than the bold rise of a heavy fish. All these signs 

 make the presence of their owner known and appreci- 



