The Fishing of Rivers with the Wet Fly 125 



success there was largely owing to my love 

 for, and knowledge of, the river, its fishing, 

 and its romantic surroundings. 



Lest I be accused (like the heathen) of 

 "conceiving a vain thing," I may remark 

 that few anglers have been more frequently 

 beaten, yes, hopelessly and entirely beaten, 

 by the trout, than myself. All my angling 

 diaries prove this. Especially has this been 

 so when I have been fishing the Tweed and 

 the Teviot, for any length of time, con- 

 tinuously. For, in these hard-poached and 

 harder-fished rivers open to all, night and 

 day the state of the river itself, and of the 

 weather, is often unfavourable for sport, and 

 the daily record ; till some change occurs, 

 such as a big flood to sweep the river-bed 

 clean, is apt to prove disappointing. At 

 times, one's holiday begins under very 

 favourable conditions, and we go home, when 

 our two or three weeks have come to an 

 end, little thinking how much our success 

 has been due to circumstances entirely 

 beyond our control. Here is an instance. 



On my first visit to the Cumberland 

 Eden (it was rather late in the season it is 

 true) the river was never once in condition. 

 In disgust, I went on a tour through the 

 Lake District for four or five days, and 



