EIVEE-ANGLING 



MY first advice to the beginner in river-fishing is to give 

 himself little trouble about the old-fashioned descriptions 

 and arrangement of flies, such as good old Isaac (un- 

 equalled in every other department) has so elaborately, 

 and, I must say, so unnecessarily discussed. The theory 

 of fly-fishing has been much simplified since his day, and 

 a few directions as to its practice are all I think necessary 

 to give. For the sake of illustration, I will take the 

 Almond and Water of Leith near Colt Bridge, two 

 streams well known to all Edinburgh anglers, and which 

 also bear a strong resemblance to many of the English 

 rivers. The trout in both these waters, especially the 

 latter, are shy, well fed, and lazy ; and here, if 

 anywhere, one would imagine the whole absurd catalogue 

 of artificial flies would be needed to tempt their dainty 

 appetites. So far, however, from this being the case, I 

 have never used more than three or four different kinds 

 during the whole spring and summer, and was generally 

 at least as successful as any of my numerous competitors. 



