144 GOLDEN DAYS 



bank, I had fished the whole length of 

 water with the wind behind me. All drag 

 had been avoided, and not one fish had 

 stirred. Now the behaviour of these 

 particular trout may be accounted for by 

 the fact that they were lying low ; they 

 were not feeding, but were apparently 

 prepared to come up and feed if anything 

 sufficiently lively and attractive was 

 brought to their notice. From the further 

 bank my fly had floated perfectly but 

 unobtrusively along the wavelets. From 

 the near bank, thrown against the wind 

 and dragged upon the surface, it was much 

 more alive and flagrant, and, be it noted, 

 the deliberate drag was not one of reten- 

 tion. The fly was pulled with the wind, 

 not against it, playing the part of some 

 buffeted creature trying to escape. 



August 1st. — Weather close . . . water 

 clear . . . fish very shy. . . . 



In fact, one of those muggy grey days 

 that we are so apt to designate '* perfect 

 fishing weather," as we perform that 

 perilous early morning shave (one eye on 

 the looking-glass while the other wanders 

 hopefully towards the open window). 



