v FLY-FISHER'S AFTERMATH 93 



landing-stages. I have often had to put my 

 whole trust in Providence, grasp the line, 

 and pull. It is worth remembering that a 

 line will in an emergency stand an immense 

 strain ; if it will not, it is a bad line and 

 not to be fished with. 



Of course the chub will not always be 

 lying under the angler's own bank. Very 

 often he will see a dark shape lying in the 

 middle of the river, or under the opposite 

 bank. The farther away the fish is, the 

 easier it is to approach it. Sometimes it is 

 lying very far off indeed, in fact out of 

 reach of the ordinary cast. It can then be 

 sometimes reached by what is called shoot- 

 ing the line, that is to say, by getting out as 

 much as one can in the ordinary way, and 

 then keeping an extra yard or two of slack 

 line in the left hand which is released when 

 the line is nearly extended. It is possible 

 to cast several yards more in this manner. 



The angler will thus work his way along 

 the bank, stalking every fish he sees, and 

 catching one here and there. By being 

 subtle as the serpent and working very hard, 

 there is no reason why he should not get 

 several brace of big fish, and that on a hot 



