138 AA'GL/AG SKETCHES 



now no more flies, except a small ' cobbery,' a 

 sea-trout fly from the Sound of ]\Iull. It was time 

 for us to go, with a heavy heart and a basket 

 empty, except for two or three miserable trout. 

 The loss of those two salmon, ^\-hether big or 

 little fish, was not the whole misfortune. All the 

 chances of the day were gone, and seldom have 

 salmon risen so freely. I had not been casting 

 long enough to smoke half a cigarette, when I 

 hooked each of those fish. They rose at flies 

 which were the exact opposites of each other 

 in size, character, and colour. They were ready 

 to rise at anything but the sniggler. And I had 

 nothing to offer them, absolutely nothing bigger 

 than a small red-spinner from the Test. On that 

 day a fisher, not far off, hooked nine salmon and 

 landed four of them, in one pool I never had 

 such a chance before ; the heavy flood and high 

 wind had made the salmon as ' silly ' as perch. 

 One might ha\"e caught half a dozen of the great 

 sturdy fellows, \\'\\o make all trout, even sea-trout, 

 seem despicable minnows. Xext day I fished 

 again in the same water, with a friend. I rose a 



