54 THE TROUT ARE RISING 
with no result other than leaving a cast of gut 
in an overhanging bough. It was retrieved in 
the daylight by the process of wading in and 
bringing the branch to hand by means of a hook 
fixed at the end of the long handle of a landing 
net—a useful weapon, by the way. I saw this 
trout several times. Once, with a long line from 
over the bridge, I had hopes of him. He did 
me the honour of inspecting the fly, but that 
was all. 
The Ettrick is an inviting river in respect of 
its excellent bank fishing. Wading is useful, very ; 
but without entering the water you can get a 
series of casts at almost any spot near Tushielaw, 
One of the best evenings I had there was when I 
was fishing without waders from the bank. Here 
and there the banks are steep. You can either 
cast from the opposite side, running the risk of 
blunting your hook by repeatedly hitting the 
gravel, or you can creep along the high bank up 
stream—and throw up close under it. Either 
method answers on the Ettrick, so the angler need 
not necessarily take waders, Jur if he likes them 
he will be able to use them to advantage. As 
regards flies, the ordinary wet-fly patterns at 
the right periods may be relied on, but the teal- 
and-claret and the woodcock-and-hare’s ear are 
particularly good. A motor-car, a motor-bicycle, 
or even a bicycle would be found of great use 
for reaching distant spots ; but without such aid 
plenty of trout fishing is to be had practically at 
the inn door. 
