TROUT FLY-FISHING IN AMERICA 



In other words, the large majority (wet-fly anglers) 

 are wrong, and the small minority (dry-fly anglers) are 

 right, because they say they are, and this is, in their minds, 

 sufficient to settle the matter. 



You will find that American dry-fly anglers say many 

 unfair things about wet-fly anglers and their method, 

 largely in the form of abuse and untruthful statements. 



Where do you find the wet-fly anglers stating any such 

 things about dry-fly anglers? 



The strongest term I have heard applied to the dry- 

 fly man by the advocate of the wet-fly is that of "faddist." 



I have yet to find a single recorded instance where a 

 wet-fly angler has resorted to the same questionable tac- 

 tics as the American dry-fly angler, and I believe this to 

 be the case because he grants to the dry-fly man the same 

 right he claims for himself: the privilege of fishing as he 

 sees fit without damning any particular method or tell- 

 ing him how he should fish. 



The American dry-fly writer seems to delight in al- 

 ways speaking of the wet-fly as the "sodden" and "sunken" 

 fly, but that does not make it so in reality, nor does the 

 fact that the wet-fly writer has called the dry-fly a "fad" 

 and its user a "faddist" make it so. 



Of course it is possible, but not at all probable, that 

 some of the dry-fly writers know nothing about wet-fly 

 fishing or their knowledge has been gained not from good 

 but poor wet-fly men. In either case they should be for- 

 given for what they say, but not for writing about a sub- 

 ject in ignorance. 



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