THE SPORT OF FISHING 405 



inclined to deny the statement ; and a man must be 

 altogether deficient in the sporting instincts generally 

 possessed by an Englishman if, at the end of twenty 

 minutes with a twenty-pounder, he is not aware that 

 every drop of blood in his body is tingling, and his 

 heart beating in a manner which no ordinary cause 

 could bring about, and especially if he is new to the 

 sport. The playing and landing a well-conditioned, 

 hard-fighting fish with nothing stronger than a few 

 yards of gut is no mean triumph, believe me. If it is 

 a work of art to steer a horse with a difficult mouth 

 over a big country to hounds, it is infinitely more so to 

 bring- a good fish to gfaff or net, whether a salmon or 

 trout, as the case may be ; and a heavy trout on fine- 

 drawn gut can afford just as much excitement, and 

 demand even greater skill to secure, as any salmon 

 fresh up from the sea. Indeed, it may be honestly 

 asserted that the amount of skill and science required 

 to make a man a successful fisherman (I speak, ot 

 course, only of fly-fishing) is greater than that demanded 

 for success in any other sport. I trust I may be able 

 in the following pages to offer some practical help to 

 the beginner, and I will endeavour to steer clear ot 

 theory as much as possible. 



If my ideas on the subject do not fall in with the 

 view^s of those of my brethren of the rod, I must crave 

 their indulgence, inasmuch as, although my ways may 

 be somewhat different to theirs, we both have the same 

 object in view — that of catching fish — and so are, at 

 all events, united in our intentions. However, I have 

 found that my system of instructing a novice has met 

 with no little success, and I have thereby been able to 

 add many a disciple to the brotherhood. 



