18 AMID THE HIGH HILLS 
down, but was among the other rods ready for use, 
was given to me. Probably, had I been warned 
about the reel, I could have prevented it from 
falling off, though whether this would have made 
any difference it is impossible to say, as many a 
good fish has broken the cast by falling back on it 
after jumping at the end of a long rush, and the 
more line there is out the more danger of losing 
the fish when he jumps. 
In the words of one of the most experienced 
of fishermen, Mr. Horace G. Hutchinson : " There 
is one antic that a fish may perform which may, 
if you are unlucky, defeat you, however quick and 
skilful you are — that is, if he jumps and falls back 
on the cast. If you do not drop the point of the 
rod so as to let the gut go slack w^hen he jumps, 
you are nearly sure to be broken if he falls back 
on it. If you drop quickly enough, it is bad luck 
if you are broken, but it is bad luck which some- 
times does befall. If much of the reel line is in 
water, the drop of the rod top does not communi- 
cate slackness to the cast quickly enough ; the 
fish may come on to it when it is tolerably taut — 
result disaster ! " 
Being a Highlander and therefore of a super- 
stitious race, need I emphasise the fact that the 
