106 A SCOTTISH FLY-FISHER 



Trout eagerly awaiting the descent of food are often 

 to be seen in numbers poised in the water at the pool- 

 foot. In the absence of wind, however, the unaccom- 

 plished angler need not seek them there ; since it re- 

 quires skilful fishing to induce a rise in water smooth 

 of surface, the artist alone is likely to succeed. The 

 tyro should confine himself to broken water ; water 

 which will aid him in dissembling the fictitious nature of 

 his lure, and in which his lack of science may possibly 

 elude the observation of the trout. That, he will meet 

 with towards the upper end of the pool. He should, 

 from choice, fish from the shallow side of the stream, 

 and before directing his attention to the farther bank 

 may, with advantage, make a tentative, up-stream cast 

 or two near that he occupies. In casting across the 

 stream he should throw his fly obliquely upwards, the 

 angle at which his first cast is made depending, of 

 course, on the breadth of the pool. When the current 

 has borne his flies a short distance down stream, he 

 must recover his line and cast again a few feet higher 

 up. In a series of casts he should describe the arc of a 

 circle, beginning at the far bank and ending near that 

 on which he is standing ; but I am not prepared to say 

 that his creel will be appreciably lighter should he re- 

 verse the process and, starting from the near bank, 



