TROUT FISHING. 285 



as crystal, the creel may be furnished by a re- 

 sort to living decoys. I am ashamed to 

 admit that I am acquainted with the manner 

 of doing the deed : the stealthy approach with 

 shortened rod to the tree that overhangs a 

 shadowed pool, or dark swirl round a boulder 

 I know that by letting the unfortunate in- 

 sect (a grain of small shot may be attached 

 to the finest gut near the hook) gently down 

 on the water that but these are demoralizing 

 revelations. To be sure our father, Izaak, was 

 an inveterate bait fisher a dealer in singular 

 unguents and pastes. His was a primitive age. 

 We must be judged in our pastimes by more 

 intelligent standards. After having acquired 

 sound principles on the subject of trout 

 angling, there is more to be learned ; the 

 technical ethics of the pursuit do not exhaust 

 its mysteries. You must study the art of 

 casting. Clumsy men often break down at 

 this point. To cast a tiout-fly properly 

 necessitates the possession of a light hand, a 

 calculating eye, and an absence of nervous 

 haste. Pelting a trout with hooks covered 

 with tinsel, fur, or feathers will never tend to 



