The Little Pang 35 



hillside. Practice and care alone will tell 

 the angler how near he can approach a fish 

 without alarming it. And herein, to no 

 small extent, lies the difference between a 

 good and a bad fly-fisherman. The former 

 creeps patiently towards his fish inch by inch, 

 and often on hands and knees ; he makes one 

 or two casts in the air, to judge the distance 

 to a nicety, and keeps the point of his rod 

 well down, to avoid flinging a shadow on the 

 water. The latter strides forward with his 

 rod held straight up, and instantly makes a 

 bungling cast. The trout sees the rod or 

 the angler himself, and is gone like a flash 

 of lightning. 



Fly-fishing in our chalk streams is indeed 

 a distinct branch of the art of angling. It 

 takes us through no wild mountainous scenery 

 like that of the North, but through peaceful 

 fields and woodlands, and by clear limpid 

 streams, where there is the fragrance of 

 the flowers, the brimful joy of the summer 

 days, and the ever-murmurous refrain of the 

 brook. 



