108 A SCOTTISH FLY-FISHER 



enable him to achieve his aim. By holding his rod 

 well up, he may so contrive his cast that the gut alone 

 falls on the water — beyond the obstacle to his success — 

 or he may cast with an up-stream curve on the line ; 

 since the line communicates no movement to the flies 

 until the curve has been straightened out by the action 

 of the current, he may find it possible to keep them 

 in position as long as he considers necessary. These, 

 at least, are the devices we are recommended to adopt, 

 and their efficacy is not to be denied, but their success- 

 ful execution implies a perfection in the art of casting 

 which one of us is far from havinor reached. Not 

 every angler profits by the opportunities for learning 

 with which the practice of his art provides him, and to 

 many the easiest way of dealing with a difficulty is to 

 pass it by. 



The angler should fish with care every spot in which 

 the trout are likely to seek harbour; and these spots, if 

 he has any faculty of observation, his experience will soon 

 enable him to recognise. In the shadow of every over- 

 hanging bush, beneath every hollow bank — especially a 

 bank towards which the current sets — under every stone 

 large enough to afford concealment, lurk trout waiting 

 expectantly on the bounty of the stream. Though, like 

 the poet, the angler may be born, he requires much 



