GENERAL MANAGEMENT 339 



good-conditioned sizable trout as the result of any 

 day's fishing. 



Probably more ill-considered advice has been prof- 

 fered in respect of the question 

 Returning undersized of returning undersized fish 

 fish. than on any other branch of the 



subject. Writers who should 

 know better have asserted that hooking and returning 

 the young trout has done more to render them shy 

 than any other treatment by the angler. It is true 

 that for a short time the yearling that has been pricked 

 or landed and restored to its native element is not 

 disposed to feed, but this is merely a passing mood. 

 The alternative of killing every fish landed without 

 regard to its size as compared with the average of 

 the river is too terrible to contemplate. Many years 

 ago a soi-disant sportsman promulgated the theory 

 that every trout large enough to take a fly is big 

 enough for the basket, and this was his defence to a 

 keeper on a chalk-stream, who searched his basket 

 and' pockets to find them crammed with trout of ^-Ib. , 

 or even less, in weight. Let there be no mistake 

 about it ! The pot-hunter wishes to kill all he can, 

 regardless of size, and the sportsman is not only 

 willing to return any below the legal limit of the water, 

 but exercises the greatest care both in extracting the 

 hook and in returning the fish to the water. A small 

 net bag is useful for weighing fish when in doubt as to 

 their being sizable. 



Every set of rules for a fly-fishing club or private 



