THE TROUT. 133 



seem to vary much from one year to another, though the 

 numbers actually captured during the trout season — i.e. 

 from the beginning of April till the 10th of September — do 

 vary. It would almost seem that some recondite law is at 

 work which keeps down, at a certain low average, the veri- 

 table Thames/arios . Taking one year with another, perhaps 

 not more than a hundred, sometimes not so many, fish are 

 captured in the season between Teddington and Oxford ; 

 and this in round numbers does not give one fish to each 

 mile of water, and probably there is not an average of 

 four fish, say over 3 lbs. each} disporting themselves per 

 mile for that distance. 



It may be asked, therefore, whether it is worth while 

 to try for Thames trout at all ? Is the game worth the 

 candle ? The ardent fisherman will certainly say — yes, 

 by all means ; for he knows that the slayer of a large 

 Thames trout at once becomes a piscatorial celebrity. But 

 it is not every one who can pursue Thames trout-fishing, 

 for it involves time and money; and it is not every 

 one who can get a Thames trout, never mind what time 

 and trouble he expend. Still there are many anglers who 

 specially affect Thames trout-fishing. The lottery which 

 in a certain sense success is, and the skill required in this 

 kind of fishing, are to them among its chief charms. 



To spin properly for your quarry you must be an adept 

 at the art, and you often have to practise it under great 

 difficulties — as, for instance, when the only available van- 

 tage-ground for fishing a weir is from a narrow weir-beam, 

 with the water rushing and thundering beneath your feet 

 like any Cataract of Lodore. It is a sight worth seeing to 

 watch a Thames puntsman fish a weir from this coign of 

 vantage, and gather his line in the palm of his left hand 



