FISH SKETCHES AND FISH STORIES 367 



numbness of my legs, and waited to give the 

 creature time to gorge the bait. The fish was a 

 primitive savage, and clinging manfully to the ten- 

 inch trout, had run two hundred feet of line off 

 a clicking reel without apparently noticing the snub- 

 bing resistance of the silk. It was very exciting, 

 but I was cool enough to give the creature time 

 after the rush. Presently, the line began to move 

 slowly about, and I judged 



THE MOMENT HAD ARRIVED 



for me to strike, and carefully and slowly I reeled 

 in the slack until I could "feel" the fish. Then, 

 with a quick movement of the wrist, I struck the 

 barbed hook into its mouth. It is no simple thing 

 to strike a fish successfully with a light fly rod 

 and two hundred feet of line deep down in the blue 

 water, but there was no doubt of the success of 

 my efforts, for the fish 



"PUT UP" A WILD AND CRAZY FIGHT, 



using neither the craft of a bass nor the judgment 

 of a brook trout. But it had the impetuosity and 

 fierceness of both combined, and soon ran out all 

 but a round or two of my line, and I thought that 

 I should lose him, for I doubted the power of my 

 tackle to withstand the force of a direct pull. Luck 

 was with me, however, for the next rush was to- 

 ward the shore, giving me the hoped-for oppor- 

 tunity to reel in some line and also a chance to run 



