126 ANGLING. 



always try persuasion and gentle means first ; an attach. 

 in. -n i can often, in that way, be done away with, which 

 force would only make firmer. When you must break, 

 shorten your line as much as you can and pull steadily, 

 and if your tackle and line be properly constituted you 

 should only lose a fly. A stout bit of cord, some half-a- 

 dozen yards long, coiled in the basket, is often very useful. 

 You may either tie a small leaded grapnel or hook on to 

 one end, or even a stone may do if you have not one. This 

 thrown over a bough, that is out of reach will often be 

 found useful in saving flies. 



Trout grow very rapidly when the water and pro- 

 vision to be obtained are suitable to them, and they 

 grow to a larger size in ponds, millheads, and such 

 still, quiet, deep waters, than they do, as a rule, in 

 rapid and shallower waters; and there are hundreds, 

 and even thousands, of ponds in England, which now 

 only carry a few worthless carp and roach, which, with 

 a very little trouble, could be made to produce the finest 

 possible trout. I have known many instances where 

 this change has been advantageously made, and I have 

 not, as yet, met with a single failure ; and I hope that 

 the time will come when trout will be as common as roach 

 are round London. 



