90 A SCOTTISH FLY-FISHER 



Possibly he may think the game not worth the candle. 

 That is, of course, his own concern, but he is a luke- 

 warm angler if he can contemplate with placid mind 

 the wave created by a great trout speeding in fear of 

 him towards the sanctuary of the depths. 



Raised banks should, if possible, be shunned. When 

 circumstances permit, the angler should fish from the 

 level of the stream or, still better, from the bed of the 

 stream itself; he should wade. While in the water he 

 is an inconspicuous feature of the landscape, and no- 

 where else is he so likely to escape the observation 

 of the keen-eyed trout. Wading, too, gives him com- 

 mand of a greater extent of water and enables him to 

 secure all the advantages of a short line. 



In wading an unknown water the angler should 

 proceed with the utmost care. Especially in fishing 

 down is it imperative that his attention should not be 

 wholly devoted to the trout ; his situation claims a part 

 in it. It is so easy to move forward with the stream 

 that, in his preoccupation, he may wander on uncon- 

 scious of the risk he runs until suddenly startled to an 

 unpleasant sense of danger. He will be happy — com- 

 paratively, at least — if he recognises the peril while 

 there is yet time to avert it, but he may have a few 

 bad moments before he regains the bank and feels free 



