1 88 AN ANGLER'S HOURS xi 



yet old enough or wise enough to have 

 thought out his latest and greatest triumph, 

 the spotted monster which has made his 

 name famous wherever angler fastens reel to 

 rod. What trout he has to show are small 

 ones borrowed from his tributaries. But 

 though he fails in that respect, in the matter 

 of chub it would be hard to find his equal. 

 I know of a quiet corner a few hundred 

 yards away, where in a clear spot between 

 the rushes and the water-lily leaves lie some 

 half-dozen chub of astonishing magnitude. 

 Two of these are certainly the better part 

 of a yard long. And there they will lie for 

 ever, I suppose, for no lure avails against 

 them. In the deep weedy holes here and 

 there are great pike and perch, and every- 

 where are roach and dace. But July is still 

 too early for bottom fishing. It is a month 

 for meditation in the shade until the even- 

 ing, when you may put on waders and fish 

 this delightful shallow for dace with a 

 dry fly. 



One of the few books that I carry with 

 me on a holidav is the Counsels Civil and 



/ 



Moral of Francis Bacon. It gives me a 

 comfortable sensation of the possession of 



