Still, the
trout were undeniably _there_, and that was a great encouragement. They
are there still, but infinitely more cunning than of old. Then, if they
were feeding, they took the artificial fly freely; now it must be exactly
of the right size and shade or they will have none of it. They come
provokingly short, too; just plucking at the hook, and running out a foot
of line or so, then taking their departure. For some reason the Tweed is
more difficult to fish with the dry fly than--the Test, for example. The
water is swifter and very dark, it drowns the fly soon, and on the
surface the fly is less easily distinguished than at Whitchurch, in the
pellucid streams. The Leader a tributary, may be fished with dry fly; on
the Tweed one can hardly manage it. There is a plan by which rising
trout may be taken--namely, by baiting with a small red worm and casting
as in fly-fishing. But that is so hard on the worm! Probably he who can
catch trout with fly on the Tweed between Melrose and Holy Lee can catch
them anywhere. On a good day in April great baskets are still made in
preserved parts of the Tweed, but, if they are made in open water, it
must be, I fancy, with worm, or with the "screw," the lava of the May-
fly. The screw is a hideous and venomous-looking animal, which is fixed
on a particular kind of tackle, and cast up stream with a short line.
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