TROUT FISHING. 293 



angler who never puts up a cast until he comes 

 to the brink of the stream. Arrived there, he 

 studies the colour of the fly then on the water, 

 and opening his book proceeds to construct 

 an animal as like it as possible. If the trout 

 are on the feed, and this personage knows how 

 to throw his line, there is no doubt he may be 

 successful ; but if the fish are not rising, all his 

 skill will serve him little. Flies look different 

 in the water according to the manner in which 

 they are played and fished. If, for instance, 

 you whisk a fly two or three times through the 

 air before dropping it in the brook in order to 

 dry it, and it is then kept well on the sur- 

 face of the stream, it will appear, for a while 

 at least, much as it did in the shopman's case ; 

 if, on the other hand, you let it sink (as is 

 often advisable), it wears quite another aspect. 

 Various rivers have their favourite flies and 

 colours, no doubt, but not nearly to the extent 

 imagined by simple tackle-makers. Any stream 

 may be attacked with confidence with half a 

 dozen sets of flies. The grand secret is really 

 to ascertain at what hour of the morning or 

 midday the trout are in the habit of feeding. 



