CLASSES OF CONDITIONS 147 



of these clean bright places for the big fish which 

 may enable him to save his blank on an unfavourable 

 day. 



The short bright green compact masses of water 



celery [Apium inundaium) are 



Celery-beds. the homes of great numbers of 



fresh -water shrimps, nymphs, 

 caddis, etc., and fish will generally be seen lying over 

 them and feeding. The beginner will imagine that 

 these trout are rising and taking the duns and other 

 insects on the surface. As a rule, he will be dis- 

 appointed, and find himself unable to get a response 

 even to the lightest of casts with the very best imita- 

 tions in his collection. If he will once more exercise 

 his powers of observation instead of casting and, in 

 fact, fish with his head rather than his hands, he will 

 soon realize that the class of food taken in such a 

 position is in the form of shrimps, snails, nymphs, 

 caddis, and other larvae rather than winged insects. 



The advisability of selecting fish rising close to 



the bank, and fishing them 



Recovering fly when from the same side of the 



hung up. river, has often been referred 



to in this book. With the 

 usual fringe of rushes, etc., along the margin, the 

 tyro is generally obsessed by the dread of getting 

 his fly caught up. He imagines that such an occur- 

 rence is the precursor of the loss of tackle or of the 

 necessity of showing himself to the trout when dis- 

 entangHng it. If he will try the experiment at a 



