296 FISHING GOSSIP. 



anglers will occasionally fish up the pools (as for 

 fishing up a strong stream they never think of it) 

 but even then they do not do it properly, and meet 

 with little better success than if they had followed 

 their usual method. They will also, if going to some 

 place up a river, walk up, not fish up to it, their plan 

 being to go to the top of a pool and then fish it down, 

 never casting their line above them at all. 



We shall now mention in detail the advantages 

 of fishing up, in order to show its superiority over the 

 old method. 



The first and great advantage is, that the angler 

 is unseen by the trout. Trout, as is well known, keep 

 their heads up stream ; they cannot remain stationary 

 in any other position. This being the case, they see 

 objects above and on both sides of them, but cannot 

 discern anything behind them, so that the angler fish- 

 ing down will be seen by them twenty yards off; 

 whereas the angler fishing up will be unseen, al- 

 though he be but a few yards in their rear. The ad- 

 vantages of this it is impossible to over-estimate. No 

 creatures are more easily scared than trout ; if they 

 see any object moving on the river's bank, they run 

 into deep water, or beneath banks and stones, from 

 which they will not stir for some time. A bird flying 

 across the water, or the shadow of a rod, will some- 

 times alarm them ; and nothing connected with 

 angling is more certain than this, that if the trout see 



