A CURIOUS CONTRAST 99 



Rough Olive reached the holt ere my rod was a hoop and 

 I was battling with a big fish. Alas ! he elected to go 

 down, and the spinney and its barbed-wire fence forbade 

 any following. I had to hold and chance losing him, and 

 in a few moments he had kicked off. Two or three minutes 

 later the same fly tempted a very bright fish, just over 

 one pound, and he went into the basket. A few yards 

 farther on, over a bright-green weed patch, a big fish was 

 cruising, and alternating bulging rushes with soft, tiny 

 little rises. I suspected him of an occasional dry fly, and 

 watching him I found him guilty. Accordingly I put up 

 a small Pope's Nondescript, tied with hare's-ear legs, and 

 was about to approach him, when another trout broke 

 the surface a little nearer. He had the first offer, and 

 must have followed the fly down, for I was lifting the fly 

 for the next case when he slashed it and missed. I lost 

 no time in covering the larger fish beyond. He came up 

 promptly and was hooked, but got off after a flounder or 

 two on the surface. 



I had now reached a broad shallow in which there were 

 several fish in position, and, selecting a good one, I put the 

 same fly over him several times. Presently, just as I was 

 about to lift it for another cast, the fly was taken by a 

 smaller fish lying below him and to the far side. He was, 

 however, a nice pounder, who looked as if he had not 

 spawned, he was so fat and bright. His struggles, how- 

 ever, put off all the other fish on the shallow and I moved on. 



I now came to a place where a long belt of trees protected 

 the water from the north-west wind and left it absolutely 

 unruffled. Under the far bank there were one or two fish 

 rising at intervals to a very small pale dun, which began 

 to hatch out in nice quantity. I missed the first fish, 

 which I covered with a No. 1 Whitchurch, tied with honey- 

 dun cock's hackle on a No. 00 hook; but the second fish, 



