38 MOSTLY ABOUT TROUT 



in prospect and a long walk home with an 

 empty bag much more tiring to carry than 

 a full one, after a long fishing-day. 



I wish that I was better at this casting business 

 with a light wagtail bait and a wind blowing. 

 It is so difficult to get fly-fishing out of one's 

 head and to realize that it is a different art 

 altogether. I remember that I used to find 

 it fairly easy from a boat, with a nice flat board 

 to coil the spare line on before swinging out 

 with the bait, but what with grass and mud 

 and old rushes and pools of water along the 

 banks, that way will not do, so, years ago, 

 I provided myself with a very extravagant 

 contraption in the way of a patent reel which 

 runs free if you press a little trigger, less freely 

 if you do not, and with a heavy check on the 

 line if you touch another thing. I suppose 

 that it would be all right if one fished for pike 

 every day, and it would come naturally to 

 touch the right thing instead of the wrong 

 one, but, as it is, I sometimes in casting keep 

 the free-wheel arrangement on after the wag- 

 tail has dropped in the water on the other side 

 of the river (or wherever else it may have 

 fallen after a bad cast). If you press the trigger 

 for a fraction of a second too long, the drum 

 goes on free-wheeling and overruns yards and 



