The Darenth in June 133 



To get to him it was necessary to cast 

 through a couple of willows on my side of 

 the bank, and to cast underhanded ; not a 

 pleasant business at all, especially as the fly, 

 when it did alight fairly near the fish, was 

 almost certain to be drowned by the * drag.' 

 Half a dozen times, perhaps, he came after 

 the fly — a darkish olive dun — and once or 

 twice broke the water, without getting 

 hooked. The fly was then changed, and a 

 bright little * governor,' often very effective 

 in Hertfordshire, substituted. 



Ultimately I returned to the olive dun, 

 and had just resolved, after half an hour's 

 hard work, to give it up as a bad business, 

 when the fish followed the flv down for 

 perhaps the eighth or ninth time, rose, was 

 hooked, and rushed into a bed of weeds. 

 Some anglers advise a loose line in the case 

 of a fish that has ' weeded ' you, and others 

 say on no account fail to keep your line taut. 

 Inclining to the latter in this instance, I 

 held on for about five minutes, when out 

 he came, and played as though just hooked. 



