On Aug 25, 4:50*am, James wrote:

I'm
quite happy to spend all day and into the night casting dry flies to
unsuspecting trout. *This gets my full attention. *For some of us,
patience is still a virtue.

Ha! You've risen in my estimation. I can spend days on the river; I
live over it. Most of the time I don't even put a fly on the hook.
Just the flash of sunlight on the metal should be enough to attract
the attention of a trout or a salmon. Of course, there is always some
American tourist who'll tell you the hook is bare, and one lady in
unsuitable shorts caught a locust and brought it to me and offered to
show me how to bait the hook...

Mr Trevor sold sports gear in the village until, an old, old man, he
died. One day I was in there when an American, standing over a bag of
at least half a dozen brandnew Shakespear rods, had just about every
reel of line on the counter, each one not good enough for him. I was
just waiting for it. And right on cue the American asked, 'Don't you
have any pre-stretched line?' Mr Trevor looked him straight in the eye
and said, 'Sir, if you don't have time to stretch your own line, you
don't have time to fish.'

Andre Jute
QED, but the fish don't agree