101 



FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT 



Time. 9 a.m. of a Morning in May. 



Place. Under a Sycamore-tree by the side of a stream in 

 England. 

 Persons. Piscator (Izaak Walton) and Venator (his disciple). 



Pise. I shall now give you some directions for fly- 

 fishing. First, let your rod be light, and very gentle : 

 I take the best to be of five pieces. And let not your 

 line exceed, especially near the hook, three or four 

 hairs at the most ; though you may fish a little stronger 

 above in the upper part of your line. But, if you can 

 attain to angle with one hair, you shall have more 

 rises and catch more fish. Now, you must be sure not 

 to cumber yourself with too long a line, as most do. 



10 And, before you begin to angle, cast to have the wind 

 on your back ; and the sun (if it shines) to be before 

 you ; and to fish down the stream ; and to carry the 

 point or top of your rod downward, by which means 

 the shadow of yourself, and rod too, will be the least 

 offensive to the fish, for the sight of any shade amazes 

 the fish, and spoils your sport, of which you must 

 take great care. In the middle of March (till which 

 time a man should not in honesty catch a trout), 

 or in April, if the weather be dark or a little windy 



20 or cloudy, the best fishing is with the palmer worm 

 (or caterpillar). But the May-fly is the ground of all 

 fly-angling. I confess no direction can be given to 

 make a man of a dull capacity able to make a fly 

 well ; and yet I know that some directions with a 

 little practice will help an ingenious angler in a good 

 degree. But to see a fly made by an artist in that 



