TROUT FLY-FISHING IN AMERICA 



Advantage does not mean merit, and a restricted art 

 is not as comprehensive as one that is unrestricted, and it 

 is also true that a limited art cannot be as great or re- 

 quire such a degree of skill as one that is unlimited. 



In the London Field appeared this statement: 



"Startling as the statement may sound, it is probably true that 

 the really good wet-fly fisherman is a greater rarity than the really 

 good dry-fly man." 



In the London Fishing Gazette appeared this state- 

 ment: 



"A real expert with the wet-fly is a much rarer bird than one 

 with the dry." 



Do not these two statements, coming as they do from 

 the home of the dry-fly, indicate that greater skill is re- 

 quired to become a good wet-fly angler than to become a 

 good dry-fly angler? 



Emlyn M. Gill in "Practical Dry-Fly Fishing," says: 



"But to be a finished wet-fly angler one must possess as much 

 skill as the dry-fly fisherman." 



Henry P. Wells, the author of "Fly-Rods and Fly- 

 Tackle," was one of the greatest wet-fly fishermen this 

 country has ever known, and one whose knowledge of 

 how the art of fly-fishing should be practiced, and how 

 the tackle should be constructed, has never been sur- 

 passed. 



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