A SPRING FISHING 21 



the shadow, the fly floating free a foot 

 above, and at once a fish had it. On this 

 fine gear he gave me all the fun I wanted, 

 the chief trouble being to work him down- 

 stream, and so avoid those sudden rushes 

 up which would disturb other feeding fish 

 above. From pool to pool one trout after 

 another came safely to the net. And 

 what trout they were I Not big fellows, 

 but short and stocky, and all of them a 

 good quarter of a pound, as beautiful fish 

 as I have ever seen. 



Above me the river took a sharp bend, 

 and beneath a clump of dock-leaves I 

 noted a dimple on the slowly moving 

 water. All the rises I had hitherto marked 

 had been more noisy and pretentious. 

 Here, perhaps, was a heavier fish. Stalk- 

 ing on all fours, I made my first cast at 

 least a yard too short ; my second attempt 

 was equally unfortunate, for my line 

 caught on a bramble and produced a 

 nasty drag. I waited, w^atching that 

 clump of weeds till the ripples on the 

 water began again. The third cast was 

 more successful. The shadow of a dock- 

 leaf dimpled, and I was fast in a good fish. 



