134 A SCOTTISH FLY-FISHER 



attention to the windward shore, "as in the very curl 

 of the small wave you will often get a pull from the 

 very best fish." The bewildered angler wonders how, 

 while fishing from the windward bank, he is to reach 

 the small wave beating on that opposite, perhaps a mile 

 away, and seeks in vain for help. When, however, he 

 learns in the course of his enquiry that " If it be rough 

 you will be compelled to fish the leeward shores," it 

 becomes apparent that the author of A Book on Angling 

 had overlooked the inadvertence of his printer — it is 

 not to be supposed that he was ignorant of the meaning 

 of the terms he used. 



Whether the angler fish from the windward or the 

 leeward bank will, of course, be determined largely by 

 the wind. If that be light, he will confine his attention 

 wholly to the latter ; in the small wave is his only hope. 

 Except in a light wind, however, there is nothing to be 

 gained by fishing from a lee-shore. The angler is, I 

 know, given many reasons why he should select that 

 in preference to the other bank, but they possess no 

 weight, and need not in the least affect his choice. 

 With the advice, for instance, to cast up-wind that he 

 may draw his flies towards him in the direction of the 

 wave, he has no occasion to concern himself. The 

 spectacle of an insect freely traversing the water of 



