TROUT FLY-FISHING IN AMERICA 



sized fish ; but he is the man who selects a leader suitable 

 for the work he intends to put upon it and one that will not 

 smash if well handled under the circumstances and condi- 

 tions surrounding its use. 



The expert fly fisherman can be likened to the old- 

 time machinist. He was a man who was versatile, having 

 a knowledge of mechanics gained from a well-rounded 

 experience which brought to him success and who never 

 knowingly used an inferior quality or strength of ma- 

 terial for a given piece of work. 



The so-called expert fly fisherman of to-day, on the 

 other hand, is to be likened to the one-machine man who 

 can do only one thing well, but this latter is not a ma- 

 chinist any more than an expert caster is an expert fly 

 fisherman. 



By all means and at all times, give credit where it is 

 due, but give it properly and to the point ; for instance, call 

 the angler what he really is, not something he is not. 



If he is a good caster, a good fisher of the wet-fly, a 

 good player of a hooked fish, or a good lander of fish, call 

 him so, and if he excels in any one or more of these 

 branches of fly-fishing by all means call him an expert in 

 these branches. 



But do not call any angler who excels in any one or 

 more of the branches an expert fly fisherman unless he is 

 a successful fisherman with the fly and is a consistent per- 

 former season after season; otherwise you will be mis- 

 applying the word "expert." 



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