SEASONS, ETC. 69 



rate Thames spinner standing on the top of a 

 weir, (which requires a strong head and good 

 nerves,) casting his bait into the foaming 

 waters below him, then gathering up the line 

 with the thumb and little finger of the left 

 hand, throwing out the spinning bait from a 

 twelve or thirteen feet rod with the right hand, 

 at the same time letting the gathered line go, 

 and spinning the bait across the eddies in a 

 masterly manner, while the left hand is again 

 collecting the line for another throw. All this 

 should be seen to be admired and imitated, for 

 no description can do it anything like justice. 

 Who that has ever experienced it can forget 

 the first rush of a noble Thames Trout in full 

 season, especially if the angler be spinning 

 from a weir ? He dashes down the run, some 

 sixty yards or so, like a flash of lightning, 

 making the line whistle through the rings, and 

 as if determined to carry all before him ; now 

 he rises to the surface, and, springing out full 

 a yard, throws a somersault in the air, and 

 tries by that means to rid himself of the hooks ; 

 but the skilful angler frustrates this little device 

 by lowering the point of the rod, and meeting 

 him half-way. By careful management he is 

 at last tired out, and his captor, taking advan- 

 tage of a moment's quiet, descends from his 

 position on the weir, and safely lands his prize 

 on the grassy bank below. 



The law allows Trout to be taken in the 

 Thames after January; but they are not in 



