The same worthy is equally scathing about the novice angler who, lacking a proper wading jacket, wore a full length coat outside his chest waders. Moving down to the lower limbs, it is amazing how much can be deduced about an angler's social standing by the footwear he favours. The ubiquitous wellie now comes in many forms. The beige French jobs with gussetted zip fastenings indicate that their incumbent arrived at the river in a Jag or Range Rover. Green ones, with or without studs, are the sign of a city gent while the black variety not only denote the wearer's occupational group, they will very often bear the logo of his employer.
Waders are similarly informative.
The new neoprene variety with battery operated foot warmers suggest that the angler was not hardened by a traditional apprenticeship dodging ice flows on the Tay in January. Black waders indicate a graduation from coarse fishing while yellow thigh boots are normally worn only by off-duty firemen. Setting aside the misfortune of our American friend on the River Dee, clothing may do little to positively aid us to catch fish but the well dressed angler should have chosen so as to be comfortable in his pursuit of salmon and trout and to avoid offending the susceptibilities of his fellow fishers.