"Sometimes and in some places," I
answer, remembering the reply of the
bayman when I asked the same question
years ago. "Most of my best fishing has
been done just as the tide turns to run
out and until it is about half out, though
I have caught some nice fish on the in-
coming tide, as you took your four-pound
fish this evening."

And so we chat until the doctor is made
miserable by repeated efforts to keep
awake; then we seek the berths, the old
man being snugly housed in the lower one,
and I blanketed to my chin in the one



The Weakfish 135

above him. Here we pass the night in
sweet repose, lulled betimes by the boom-
ing of the surf, the splashing of the high
tide, the leaping of heavy fish, the mur-
mur of the mild wind, and the cry of the
night bird.
' ' I may, peradventure, give you some instructions
that may be of use even in your own rivers ; and shall
bring you acquainted with more flies than Father Wal-
ton has taken notice of in his Compleat Angler.^'

Charles Cotton.
XVI



The Angler's Flies — Their Seasons
and Descriptions



137




138



XVI



The Angler's Flies — Their Seasons
and Descriptions

' ' The speckled trout practise at vaulting and leaping,
And stir the bright sand in their soft murmuring
pool ;
From daylight to dark night and all through the
moonlight
They practise the games that are taught in their
school.
