140 TROUT FISHING 



of the season a few years ago. He rose 

 to my companion. She had been casting 

 over a pool sheltered by banks so high 

 that the wind did not stir the surface in 

 the least. The peacefulness of the scene 

 was suddenly dispelled. The cast fell 

 close to the northern bank, where the 

 water was deep ; the fish threw himself 

 upon the tail fly with a ferocity strangely 

 out of keeping with the placidity of things. 

 I will not describe the subsequent pro- 

 cedure in detail. There is an absurd re- 

 collection of oneself upside-down, hanging 

 from one's toes upon the bank and head 

 towards the depths, striving to reach the 

 trout with a short landing-net. Suffice it 

 to say that we did land him, and that he 

 was a pounder in apparently excellent 

 condition. In England as well as in 

 Scotland trout often seem to be more 

 forward in April than they are sure to be 

 in June. That has puzzled me many a 

 time. The explanation cannot lie in 

 one's natural willingness to find the first 

 trout of the year surprisingly hale and 



