46 AN ANGLER'S SEASON 



"strictly-preserved " streams. " What ? " 

 they will exclaim. "Allow worm and 

 minnow? Never!" It cannot be denied 

 that there will be a certain reasonableness 

 in their reluctance. Anglers using worm 

 or minnow would catch not the cannibals 

 only. They would catch young trout also. 

 Still, it is demonstrable that the remedy 

 suggested would do no lasting harm. 

 Whilst it is certain that worm and 

 minnow, deftly plied, would take many 

 a trout that had escaped the fly, the rule 

 as to what is a "sizable" trout would 

 remain in force. All fish under the limit 

 would be returned to the water. Only 

 those above the limit would be kept, and 

 of these not a few would be old trout of 

 no use to the fly-fisher and much worse 

 than of no use to the stock. Trout above 

 two pounds would become fewer ; but 

 trout of that weight, and trout between 

 it and the limit, would become so much 

 more plentiful that artificial stocking 

 would be no longer necessary. In other 

 parts of the Kingdom, the problem, as we 



