The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-09-11
LUCK WAS AGAINST HIM.

Tnc Experiences OF lonely Fisherman
Dull Day.
Friday was tho .ucllless day .of my
own failure and broken heart. saws
Andrew Lang in Good Words, Tho
water was still very heavy aud earbid,
fritntic wind WIS lashing the woods,
heaps Of Gcad leaves noatcd donn, and
several shcavcs of COTE wcro ,.rifted on
the current. Tho long bout rool ut
Yair, however, Is sheltered by wooded
banks, and II was possible enough to
cast, in spite of the winds fury. We
had driven from n place about five
miles distant, and we had not driven
thrcc hundred yards before l remcm-
bcrcd that vve had forgotten the land
ing net
But us l expected nothing, it did not
seem worth while to go back for this
Indispensable Implement We reached
the watcrsiGc, and found that the trout
were feeding below the pendant
branches of the trees and In the quiet,
deep eddies Of the long boat pool. Ono
cannot sec rising trout without casting
over them in preference to laboring
after salmon so l put mp Il small rod aud
diverted myself from the bank. 1t was
to little purpose. Tweed trout aac now
y
dry fly failed to do any execution worth
mentioning. Conscience compelled me,
as l had been sent out by Kind hosts
to fish for salmon, not to neglect MY
orders.
The ar-nor-thc pondcrous gcer Of
the fishcr-was put on with the enor-
equipped. Then came the beginning OF
ho1 1,,ff fl,c &C
mon flies comfortably rcposing at home.
We had also forgotten the whisky flask
Everything. i'll fact, except cigarettes,
had been left behind. Unluckily, not
quite everything: l had q trout fly
snlIncn fly, not Tweed fly, but q lure
that IS used on the beautiful but hopeless
waters of the distant Ken, in Galloway.
1t had brown wings. Il dark body, and
piece of iunglc-cocll feather, and it was
fastened to Il sca-trout casting line.
Now, if had possessed no salmon flies
at all must either have sent baclr for
some or gone On innocently dnilying
with trout
But this one wrctched fly iurcd Inc TO
E,y ruin. l saw that the casting line
had Il link which seemed rather twisted.
Ouixotc with his helmet did NOT try
it hard. waded into the easiest look
ing part of the pool, just above . huge
tree that dropped its boughs to the
water, and began casting, merely from
o sense of duty. had not cast . dozen
times before there was heavy, slow
plunge in the stream, and q glimpse of
purple and azure.
when there was a long. heavy drag at
the line. followed by shriclling Of the
reel, IA in William Blacks novels But
he soon came back, while one took In
line, and discussed his probable size
with tho trout-t1sher opposite. His size,
indeed! Nobody knows what il was,
for when he had como up 20 the point
whence he had started he begun q policy
of short tugs-not lingering" as it is
called, but plunging with all his weight
on the line. / bad clean forgotten the
slimncss of the tackle, and, as nc was
clearly well hooked, held him perhaps
too hard Only very raw beginner
likes to take hours over landing fish.
Perhaps held him too tight; at all
events after famous plunge, back
came tho line; tho casting line had
snapped ct the top link
Presently had another chance, but it
all ended just as disastrously. l had
borrowed on old ly from farmhouse
this time. There was slight pull such
rs a trout gives in midstrcnm under
water. ! raised the point, and again
the reel sang aloud and glccfuuy as the
salmon rushed down the stream farther
and faster than the first. 1t is very
pleasant thing to hook q salmon when
you are all alone, rs l was thcn-alonc
with yourself and the Goddess of Fish
ing. Tho salmon, just like tho other,
now came back, and instantly began
the old tactics of heavy plunging tugs.
But / knew the gut was sound this time,
md as I fancied he had risen TO the
sniggler / had no anxiety about the
tackle holding. One more plunge, and
back came the line as before Ito was
Off One could have sat down and
gnawcd the reel What had gone wrong?
Why, the brute had taken the old fly
and had snapped the loop that attaches
the gut
at IL Chinese Thcntcr.
Ono