40 MINOR TACTICS OF THE CHALK STREAM 



of No. 00 hooks to gut, with which the name of 

 Mr. Ewen M. Tod is associated. I had bought 

 them in the previous spring to experiment upon 

 bulging trout. These flies are known as "doubles," 

 and are not ready floaters. One puts a thumb-nail 

 between the barb, and forces them apart till the 

 two hooks form an angle of 45 degrees with each 

 other. The fly dropped a yard above the post and 

 sank. When it should have been nearing the 

 post, a faint swirl rising to the surface seemed a 

 sufficient indication of a movement below to 

 justify a raising of the rod-point, and the fish was 

 fast. In this manner it came about that a small 

 Greenwell's Glory on double hooks terminated the 

 cast when the glassy glide above adverted to was 

 reached. A trout lay out in it in position to feed, 

 but though he moved a little from side to side, 

 and may have been intercepting food, he made no 

 rise. Keeping well out of sight, I dropped the 

 Glory on the far side of and in front of the fish, and 

 it at once went under. Again came the small 

 disturbance welling quickly to the surface ; up 

 went my hand, and again a good trout was 

 fast. 



That afternoon I killed two and a half brace of 

 good fish with the wet fly fished into likely places 

 without seeing a single rise. The other three fish 

 — but that is another story. 



Since that day I have killed many a good fish in 

 that hitherto impossible spot, and one morning 



