54 A SCOTTISH FLY-FISHER 



multitude of counsellors there is said to be wisdom ; in 

 a multitude of anglers one need look for nothing save 

 confusion. Personally, I have seldom had occasion to 

 suppose that the colour of my flies played an important 

 part in my success — or failure ; I am doubtful if my 

 results were seriously affected even by the depth or the 

 lightness of their tone. Once only, as I have already 

 said, have I been satisfied that the trout deliberately 

 selected one among the many flies of which I offered 

 them a choice, and on that occasion their fancy did not 

 stray. Whether the water sparkled in the light of a 

 burning sun or grew dull and leaden under a lowering 

 sky, they remained steadfast in their affection for a Red 

 Hackle. Their constancy was admirable. It seemed 

 that I had at last discovered that thing of myth, the fly 

 peculiar to the water ; but should fate again grant me 

 an opportunity of seeking the infrequent trout of Ran- 

 noch, I shall not be surprised to find their love trans- 

 ferred to quite another variety of lure. 



We really know nothing of the way in which the eye 

 of the trout is affected by the colour of our flies. The 

 subject is the theme of unending discussion ; discussion 

 which is barren of result and leaves us just as ignorant 

 as before. We speculate and theorise, but our theories, 

 spun from broken threads of knowledge, we fail to 



