The Angler's Passion
All kinds of men have a passion for angling. Some come to the water with ancient rods that are shaky and droop as sadly as the willow, while others, the more prosperous, with the means to indulge their passion thoroughly, Wear deerstalker hats, and polarkoi0 glasses, and whip the air with rods as delicate as the wand of a magician. The simple man with his creaky rod wears his flies and cast round his cap and is essentially practical, so that as soon as he discovers that the .trout- are not able to see his fly in the murky water, he changes his offering to a red worm. The man who looks more like the angler in the catalogues has a score of flies, a fly-swatter and boxes for both flies and casts. He sometimes fails to catch fish because he suffers from what'he would call ethics. His ethics prevent him from offering anything but a fly. When the water is- coloured, he gets into his car and goes home. I have met both kinds of men by the water and like them equally well, for the thing they both have in common is enthusiasm, hope. When that bright day comes and they can both wander up and down the- stream, they do so, each absorbed in the passionate business of luring a fish up from the bottom of a pool
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