10 WET OR SUNK PLY- FISHING. 



utilised so as to reduce muscular exertion to a 

 minimum. 



UP AND DOWN STREAM FISHING. As has 

 been already indicated, there are two modes of 

 fishing, up-stream and down-stream, and it 

 is now necessary to say something as to their 

 respective merits. In the former the angler 

 works his way up the river, casting his line above 

 him, and never allowing it to float past him : in 

 the latter the line is cast across or down stream 

 and allowed to float downwards. It can hardly 

 be doubted that up-stream fishing is theoretically 

 the better style to adopt. Its advantages, as 

 set forth by Mr. Stewart in the Practical Angler, 

 have never been successfully controverted. As 

 the trout lie with their heads facing the current, 

 it stands to reason that they are less likely to be 

 alarmed if approached from the rear; a shorter line 

 can thus be used, it is much easier to strike gently 

 with the current than against it, and in running 

 a trout it is only the water already fished over 

 that is disturbed. These are all most important 

 considerations, but, as usual, there are two sides 

 to the question. In fishing up stream, the flies 

 are carried more quickly downwards, and they 

 are apt, especially in a current of any depth, un- 

 less when the trout are on the surface looking 

 out for the natural insect, to be swept past un- 

 noticed. Moreover, wading up a large river, or 



