TROUT FLY-FISHING IN AMERICA 



sized fish rises to his fly, and who says in so many words 

 that he prefers "a smash to not getting a rise." 



I do not intend to convey the idea that this very writer 

 is not an expert fly fisherman, but I do say most emphati- 

 cally that if his words express his idea of the proper use of 

 leaders for wet or dry-fly fishermen then he ought imme- 

 diately to relinquish all claim to being an expert fly fisher- 

 man, no matter how well he can cast a fly or how success- 

 ful he may be in causing fish to rise to it. 



The personal pleasure or gratification of the angler 

 has nothing to do with determining whether or not he is 

 an expert with either the wet or dry-fly ; but no one has the 

 right to gainsay how he shall fish or derive his greatest 

 pleasure at the sport. This, however, in no way entitles 

 any angler to be called an expert fly fisherman, no matter 

 what his method of fly-fishing may be. 



Let us consider this matter a little further and from 

 another viewpoint: the experienced angler who is an ex- 

 pert, or even one who is not an expert, ought to know in 

 the large majority of cases how hard he should strike with 

 any leader he elects to fish with, otherwise of what use to 

 him is his experience at the game? 



If in a number of instances he smashes leaders either 

 when striking or playing his fish he is not a good fly fisher- 

 man or a successful one, and therefore he cannot properly 

 be called an expert. 



The real expert fly fisherman, be he a wet or dry-fly 

 angler, is not the man who deliberately selects a weak 

 leader when he knowingly is about to cast for a good- 



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