146 NOTES ON FISH AND FISHING. 



All the above, for this simple reason, that the trout, the 

 most quicksighted of fish, may not see you more than you 

 can help; for remember that according to the teaching 

 of Mr. Eonalds (referred to in the Note on Ichthyology), 

 your figure, and even the part of it which you sometimes 

 fancy is hidden, is projected by refraction far up above 

 the fish's line of sight. Hence, also, fish up stream when 

 you can rather than down. Moreover, as trout lie with 

 their heads up stream, and cannot see behind them, you 

 can get pretty near them, and so use a short line, which 

 of course you can throw to a desired spot with much 

 greater accuracy than a long one. There have been many 

 literary battles over the up stream and down stream 

 theories of fishing. The up stream fishing is the most 

 difficult in consequence of your collar and line having an 

 unpleasant tendency to make their way very quietly to 

 your feet ; but there can be no doubt about its being the 

 right practice. A good fisherman working up stream will 

 kill nearly two fish to every one killed by a good fisherman 

 working down. Sometimes the wind and other circum- 

 stances make it impossible to fish up : then, of course, 

 nothing remains but to fish down. 



As you come to each reach of a stream, make your dis- 

 positions thoughtfully, as a general would, how best to 

 work it — mark the most likely spots for your fish to lie, 

 and determine how they are best fished. This done, 

 fish the water nearest to you first, and so on till you have 

 thoroughly searched the whole. Remember that a very 

 shallow spot will hold a big fish. 



Watch your line and collar very carefully, for in rapid 

 streams — such, for instance, as they mostly are in Devon- 

 shire — your fly will very often be under water when taken, 



