154 MOSTLY ABOUT TROUT 



to lift the line out of the water. Soon we shall 

 know whether there will be a live strain thereon. 

 We must be fast in something. Is it the trout, 

 and if so, is the line clear or caught up ? Soon 

 the gut is lifting; it nearly touches the under- 

 side of the little bridge. We move the rod 

 downwards across the stream, keeping the point 

 low, so that the gut shall clear the bridge, and 

 he is on ! There is no mistaking the thrill 

 of the butt. It seems that he will never give 

 to the steady strain. He is deep down, and 

 well up the tunnel. At last he has to turn 

 his head, and the battle follows its normal course. 

 Down the long shallow he comes, and well 

 below him I keep, until, in a shallow backwater 

 just above the old King John bridge, he comes 

 to the net 4lb. 2oz., by the spring balance, 

 and a well-shaped beauty. 



At this point I woke up, went to breakfast 

 in the Fly-fishers' Club, and looked my fellow- 

 members in the face. I had fallen as a fly- 

 fisher only in a dream. The next day I returned 

 to the country, and watched the tail of that 

 trout still waving under the little footbridge. 

 Shall I be likely to fall while waking ? I wonder. 

 There are only two or three days to the end 

 of the trout-season in these parts. 



