68 CATCHING THE WILY SEA-TROUT 



and my astonishment was great when I saw that the 

 impeccable ones had not moved. 



I was in a quandary, as my vauntful lures had been 

 despised. Making myself comfortable in the shade of 

 the trees, I looked in the pockets of my fly-book to see 

 whether there was anything which would arouse the 

 curiosity of these disobliging fish, but my search was 

 unsatisfactory to me. Then I chanced upon an envelope 

 containing some flies which I use for pollack when fishing 

 from the rocks : gaudy, clumsy dressings that are fit for 

 only stupid fish. However, I decided to mount one, 

 consoling myself with the thought that, at the worst, 

 I could but put the fish down and that was more than I 

 had achieved with flies of repute. 



Occupying the same stance as previously, I put my 

 wretched counterfeit well under the far bushes, and, 

 almost before I had time to straighten my line, a sudden 

 thud told its own tale. Within a quarter of an hour, 

 three sea-trout were on the bank, but that was the finish 

 as evidently the turmoil of the hooked ones had sent the 

 remainder of their kin to safety. 



A cyclist, who from the bridge had been watching me, 

 intimated excitedly to me that that was the first time he 

 had seen three sea-trout caught in so short a time, and 

 that he was content if he brought a brace to his net in a 

 day. 



As an item of interest I will describe the dressing of 

 the fly which did the damage. Two tail feathers from a 

 fowl are employed, one white and the other dyed red. 

 These are sufficient to dress dozens of flies. The eyed 

 hook used is number 6 Redditch scale, or number 9 

 Pennell or " New " scale. Along the upper side of 

 the shank are placed a few fibres of the white feather, 

 and along the lower side is placed a somewhat smaller 

 quantity of red fibres. A piece of yellow worsted is next 



