The Fishing of Waters with the Wet Fly 25 



Then there was Webster, who wrote 

 "The Angler and the Loop Kod." He 

 chiefly fished the Clyde, also the upper 

 waters of the Tweed. In reading these 

 works, the beginner must remember that 

 trout were plentiful and fishers few, in 

 those good old days. Their records could 

 not be repeated on the same waters to-day. 



I think that they yield the very poetry 

 of sport. They can generally be com- 

 manded from bank to bank; they consist 

 of a delightful variation of pool and stream, 

 and, further; there is, what there never 

 can be to the same extent, in any large 

 river; an indefinable charm, arising from 

 the angler being generally able to locate 

 the likely places ; spoken of by Stewart as 

 "the habitat " of the larger trout. This 

 knowledge only comes with experience. It 

 is not quite so easy to acquire, as it may 

 seem, seeing that trout do not occupy the 

 same places (a) in early spring, (b) in 

 summer, and (c) in autumn ; and naturally 

 so : for trout, when in condition, seem to 

 glory in their strength. Hence, you will 

 find them in the strongest runs in summer ; 

 whereas, when they are not yet in condition, 

 or are beginning to fall off, their tendency 

 is to seek the quieter waters. 



