24 CATCHING THE WILY SEA-TROUT 



" Oh, us allus calls a dung-fork a evil." In that par- 

 ticular instance there does seem to be a genuine re- 

 lationship. 



To furnish a complete list of all the rivers in the country 

 wherein sea-trout may reasonably be expected would be 

 too ambitious for a book dealing in general terms with 

 sea-trout angling, so I will content myself by mention- 

 ing those rivers which have afforded me some reward, 

 together with others which have been thoroughly 

 recommended to me by reputable angling friends 

 who have given prolonged trials to the waters of their 

 choice. 



Forming an opinion of any river by an abbreviated 

 visit of an odd week or so is too superficial to constitute 

 a reliable guide to the possibilities of the water, as not 

 only can successive years produce marked fluctuations 

 in the sport obtainable, but even in a single season there 

 is an enormous dissimilarity in the conditions for attack, 

 and thus there is no standard for any river. 



Cases after cases have come to my knowledge where 

 followers of the art have made short sojourns to a river, 

 and, having experienced lean times, have spoken most 

 disparagingly of the water. These reports have been 

 neither fair to the river nor to other anglers who have 

 contemplated future visits. 



Had the expressed views been qualified by a clear 

 statement of the attendant circumstances, the opinions 

 would have conveyed a totally different meaning regard- 

 ing the actual value of the water. 



The result of an angler's efforts, whether poor or other- 

 wise, during one week is no criterion as to what will 

 happen to another rodster at a later date. 



Luckily, we anglers live in inexhaustible hope, and 

 each believes that his essay will be an improvement on 

 that of the other fellow. 



