SUNDRY CONSIDERATIONS 77 



shrimps and other food in the weed-beds. The 

 frequent casting gave much opportunity for mis- 

 takes, and not infrequently I scared my fish, after 

 wasting half an hour or more over him ; but, on 

 the other hand, I seldom failed to secure at least 

 one fish, and oftener a leash. The method was 

 simplicity itself. I sat down below my fish, and 

 dropped a Pink Wickham a yard or so above 

 where his tail dimpled the surface, and floated it 

 down over him quite dry. This was repeated so 

 long as the fish was there, but if he lifted his 

 head in time to see the fly come over him, there 

 seemed to be some mysterious attraction in that 

 pattern which forbade him to refuse it. Whether 

 this is so in other waters I know not, but I often 

 regret the obliteration of the old race of tailers. 

 They were a great stand-by, and always put up 

 a big battle when hooked. The size of fly was 

 00 for smooth water, but in a ruflie the single 

 cipher size proved better medicine. 



The single occasion above referred to was in 

 May, 1909, in a different part of the river. The 

 water was running thinly over a broad shallow, 

 very full up with weed-beds, and, instead of 

 standing nearly perpendicularly on their heads in 

 order to tail, large numbers of trout and grayling 

 were grubbing at an acute angle with the bottom 

 among the weed-beds, and with violent wriggles 

 of head and body dislodging small insects, which 

 they pursued with rushes plainly marked upon the 



