Chapt. xii. Estuary fishing unsatisfaptory. 153 



did sport they gave! We anchored the boat at the head 

 of the run, and fished below us in the middle of it. We 

 used a full sized salmon fly, made of nothing but the 

 white feather of a quill pen, tied palmer-fashion all over 

 it. Much the same fly is used for bass in England. How 

 freely they rose, and how vigorously they tugged. My 

 companion who put me up to it, and provided rod and 

 boat, lived there, and used to catch any number of them. 

 But there were certain seasons, he said, in which they 

 would not take at all. Which were the favorable and 

 which the unfavorable months, I cannot at this length of 

 time recall. Perhaps some reader will supply the omis- 

 sion, so that any future edition may be more useful to 

 brother anglers. Whether also there was any necessity 

 for watching the turn of the tide, I cannot say. 



But splendid sport though they give you at times, 

 I must repeat that in my estimation estuary fishing is 

 highly unsatisfactory, for the one simple reason that the 

 fish whose habits are governed by the tides, will not take 

 except at the turn of the tide. If the tide would always 

 turn conveniently, just half an hour after one got out of 

 Cutchery, I would not complain. But as it' is the chances 

 are just about twenty-three to one against your hitting 

 off the right time. If your time is your own like a native 

 fisherman's, and you do not mind a little sun, and -can 

 study the tides, and be on the spot at the right time, 

 then you may have excellent sport. But how few Eu- 

 ropeans there are in India that have the necessary leisure. 

 If you have the leisure, this very periodicity of their tak- 



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