328 THE DRY-FLY MAN'S HANDBOOK 



the ultimate residue of decomposed vegetation in the 

 water is mud, generally black or dark in colour, foetid, 

 and foul-smelling. This treatment is the worst pos- 

 sible one for any fishery, and wherever it is indulged 

 in the trout are certain to be scarce. All the stock- 

 ing in the world will not cure this, because well- 

 fed healthy trout will not remain in such water, 

 but migrate to more favourable stretches above or 

 below. 



Some of the accumulations of mud are caused by 

 the wilful act of those who ought to know that it is at 

 once illegal and unsportsmanlike. They are, how- 

 ever, persuaded by keepers, and in some cases even 

 by so-called experts, to rake up the mud and let it 

 flow down to the next fishery. The unfortunate 

 tenant of the water below may stir it up and send it 

 down, increased in volume by his own accumulcitions, 

 to another length below, and thus in his turn commit 

 an illegal and an unsportsmanlike act. There is only 

 one right and proper method to deal with heavy mud- 

 banks, and that is to remove as much as possible by 

 panning it out and distributing it on the bank. It 

 serves too to help in the upkeep of the banks, because 

 they always tend to sink in level, and the deposition 

 of the mud is a means of restoring them to their 

 proper height above the surface of the stream. Even 

 with the greatest care .some of this mud is driven 

 down to one's neighbours, who will soon complain 

 if the volume of it is to their minds unreasonably 

 great. 



