They only averaged as a rule from three to two to the pound, but
they were strong and lively. In this pool there was a large tawny, table-
shaped stone, over which the current broke. Out of the eddy behind this
stone, one of my brothers one day caught three trout weighing over seven
pounds, a feat which nowadays sounds quite incredible. As soon as the
desirable eddy was empty, another trout, a trifle smaller than the
former, seems to have occupied it. The next mile and a half, from
Lindean to the junction with Tweed, was remarkable for excellent sport.
In the last pool of Ettrick, the water flowed by a steep bank, and, if
you cast almost on to the further side, you were perfectly safe to get
fish, even when the river was very low. The flies used, three on a cast,
were small and dusky, hare's ear and woodcock wing, black palmers, or, as
Stoddart sings,
Wee dour looking huiks are the thing,
Mouse body and laverock wing.
Next to Ettrick came Tweed: the former river joins the latter at the bend
of a long stretch of water, half stream, half pool, in which angling was
always good. In late September there were sea-trout, which, for some
reason, rose to the fly much more freely than sea-trout do now in the
upper Tweed. I particularly remember hooking one just under the railway
bridge.
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