46 AN ANGLER'S HOURS m 



wading. If he is well advised he will not 

 begin close to the village, but will take the 

 lane leading uphill past the church, and 

 drop down through the copse on to the 

 river about half a mile higher up. 



Here, in a slight bend, there is the most 

 delightful pool possible. The stream turns 

 a sudden corner round an old willow, and 

 finds itself six feet deep before it has time to 

 realise it ; and thus for two-thirds of the 

 pool there is that slight nebulosity of deep 

 water running swiftly which really gives 

 the honest angler a chance. As a rule, 

 where Exe runs deep it delights to pretend 

 that it is a sheet of glass, which is not good 

 for fishing. At the tail of this pool Nature 

 has providently put a convenient bush stand- 

 ing a little back from the water, and round 

 this a man may very comfortably throw his 

 flies without being seen. To this bush our 

 friend goes, cautiously stooping, until he is 

 kneeling behind it. 



On his cast are three flies. He uses a 

 large March brown with yellow twist as 

 leader, a small hare's ear as first dropper 

 and a blue upright as second dropper, this 

 last in deference to public opinion in the 



