TROUT FISHING. 77 



Thames Trout, our friends of years gone by. 

 My largest weighed nearly thirteen pounds, but 

 they are occasionally taken of much greater 

 weight. One was taken in May 1863, in 

 Marlow Weirpool, weighing fifteen pounds ; 

 another, of fourteen pounds, at Teddington 

 Weir, in 1869. 



If the water should be clear, and you should 

 be able to see a Trout come at the bait, do 

 not hurry, but continue to spin steadily, so as 

 not to check the pace at which the bait is 

 travelling, or the Trout may suspect something 

 wrong, and stop short. Observe not to strike 

 until you feel that he has taken the bait, and 

 then you will probably do so instinctively ; so 

 that it is somewhat superfluous to tell you, as 

 one writer does, to strike a second time to 

 make sure ; the first strike will generally hook 

 your fish, but the second strike will, in all 

 probability, either break the gut or your hooks, 

 if these be fine. When hooked, keep a steady 

 gentle strain on your fish, giving line only 

 when necessary ; but be prepared for a rush if 

 the Trout is a large one and the stream sharp. 

 Get below your fish if possible, as nothing is 

 so likely to cause you to lose a fish as to 

 allow him to pull away from you down-stream 

 with his head up and towards you. As he 

 rushes away, hold him gently but firmly, not 

 straining on him too much ; after checking 

 him a few times when you find his struggles 

 becoming weaker, guide him within reach of 



