XXVII 



WELL too well known to all fly-fishers is the pheno- 

 short menon of short-rising fish. Whence cometh 

 rising it? He who could make certain reply would 

 FiBh earn a crown of water- weeds, but what reward 

 were meet for him who should devise a remedy ? If I 

 cannot prescribe a cure, I may offer a suggestion as to 

 the mechanism of short-rising. First let me cite two 

 typical instances, one of fish taking well, second of their 

 taking short. The first day was on the Helmsdale, 26th 

 February 1900. There had been a heavy flood on the 

 two days previous, breaking up thick ice on the river 

 and carrying it crashing in great floes to the sea. There 

 was a light frost on the morning of the 26th, and before 

 it yielded to the low, feeble sun of Sutherland, I raised, 

 and just touched, three short-rising fish. Suddenly some 

 subtle change occurred ; every fish that came to the fly 

 took firm hold, and before the short day darkened into 

 night I had landed eleven spring salmon in eleven con- 

 secutive rises, without the intervention of a single kelt. 



Now for the other day. It was in May, upon the 

 Thurso, a river draining from the same uplands as the 

 Helmsdale. There had been a good spate, the water was 

 in fine trim, the light and air such as one would choose 

 for a day's salmon-fishing. Soon it was evident that there 



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