An Angling Lesson
My friend M. was most anxious to fish, but it was a chilly evening and my usual enthusiasm was missing. At length I agreed to visit the stream we had been talking about, a meandering piece of water, sluggish in parts and in others well-stocked with tin can$ and other refuse. We left our rods at home because, as I had insisted, it was plain that no fish would be rising, that it was too cold, that the wind was against fishing and all was hopeless. I pointed out the bad state of the water as we walked slowly down to the sea. A fish rose. I declared it to be an escape of gas from the bed of the stream. A second ripple was of course caused by the same thing. The third time the water was disturbed we both saw a sea trout breaking the surface. In the faster water it looked as though fish were moving upstream. We retraced our steps sadly, meeting a youth with a rod in his hand. Oh yes, he said, he was after trout. There were some fair brown trout to be had and sea trout were coming up. We drove home agreeing that the youth had much to learn and he had time to learn too, while we only went to the water when conditions were just right, but we knew the truth was in the lesson that an angler should take his rod when he goes to the river in the season.
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