144 THE WAY OF A TROUT WITH A FLY 



and south-westerly winds, when the hatch of duns was 

 sparse, and when, in fact, all conditions were favourable 

 to the sunk and unfavourable to the floating fly. He 

 fished six days on a well-stocked reach of the river, and 

 killed in the aggregate seven trout weighing nine pounds. 

 Candidly, I was somewhat surprised at the good result, 

 and have often wondered whether he could repeat the 

 performance. Of course, the average weight of the fish, 

 one and a quarter pounds, was very small for the Test, and 

 two or three of them would have been returned by many 

 dry-fly fishermen. 



" Let it be clearly understood, however, that this fisher- 

 man was most skilful and painstaking, a^nd was a past- 

 master in the art of selecting the right spot, and in placing 

 his fly accurately and delicately there at the first attempt. 

 Had he merely fished the river up or down, or had he 

 bungled his cast or moved about rapidly, or, in fact, made 

 any mistakes, I do not believe he would have killed a single 

 trout; so that his bag represents the best possible result 

 under existing conditions for a wet-fly fisherman on a 

 stream like the Upper Test." 



The points which strike me about this account are these : 

 (i) That the Yorkshire angler fished "from morning to 

 evening " at a time of year when two hours, and often less, 

 will cover the time of the take; (2) that we are not told 

 that the Yorkshire angler ever cast to a rising fish or a 

 bulging fish, but only to likely places; (3) what would have 

 been the score assuming the Yorkshire angler had had, in 

 addition to his own special skill and equipment, Mr. Hal- 

 ford's knowledge of the water and the position of its fish ? 

 (4) a week at a time of year when the time of the take is so 

 limited is a short time for even the most accomplished 

 angler to get on terms with a strange and notoriously 

 difficult river. 



