98 MINOR TACTICS OF THE CHALK STREAM 



Itchen angler once fished the whole of a season — it 

 may have been two — with the Red Quill in various 

 shades and sizes, and with differences introduced 

 by the presence or omission of tinsel tags, and 

 he achieved a success with that one pattern or 

 type quite as great as he enjoyed when he allowed 

 himself the full range of the hundred best and 

 some others. 



Clearly, he and " Detached Badger " have had 

 faith — the faith which, if it does not move moun- 

 tains, will at least move trout. And the angler 

 who takes his courage in both hands and experi- 

 ments boldly with the wet fly fished upstream 

 to his trout, or into the place where his trout 

 should be, will find his faith, as mine has been, 

 not without its reward. 



OF THE BANK OF VANTAGE. 



In looking back on a day's fly-fishing, one can 

 realize how much has depended upon the correct 

 selection of the bank to fish from, and an examina- 

 tion of some of the more important of the general 

 considerations governing choice may not be amiss. 

 Special conditions, such as height of banks, the 

 trees and bushes thereon, and the accessibility of 

 the water therefrom, may force upon us deviations 

 from what our judgment would otherwise dictate, 

 and it is impossible to dogmatize about these. 

 There are also cases where the winding character 

 of the stream presents such a constant variety of 



