THE ANGLER 143 



bridges and watching the ribbony wave to and fro of 

 the bright weeds, and admiring the perfect clearness 

 of the water, is one of the most delightful things 

 in the experience of an angler ; it appealed strongly to 

 me even when the idea of ever rising from the humble 

 class of baited hook and float to that of fly-fisher 

 and for such splendid trout as these streams held 

 could hardly have flitted across my mind. One of 

 my companions then was going to fish in the Anton a 

 day or two later ; and I chanced to be on the lawn at 

 Enham House where he was staying when with com- 

 plete happiness he brought out after his sport two 

 trout on a dish to show his host and friends. I had 

 never seen trout so close before. They seemed im- 

 mense fish though probably not more than a pound 

 and a half each after the half-pound dace and perch 

 I had been catching in a Berkshire stream, the Cole, 

 with a worm and a bamboo rod fitted with hairpins 

 for rings. If they were taken from the head waters 

 of the Anton a mile or two distant, Shepherd's Spring, 

 he must have been a very good angler. Shepherd's 

 Spring trout, I should say, are as hard as any trout to 

 take. Small streams are sometimes easier to take 

 trout from than large ones; but I think it is not 

 so with those mere ditches through the pastures : to 

 cast a line on such tiny waters is to scare the trout 

 unless the day is full of wind and rain. He really is 

 the master who can so manage his tackle and so 

 understand and study the trout as to succeed in 



