STEWART AND THE UPSTREAM SCHOOL. 105 



but downstream in a thick water or with the 

 artificial. Therefore the verdict is four in 

 favour of downstream, Franck, Barker, 

 Chetham and Smith; and two, Cotton and 

 Venables neutral, inclining rather to down than 

 to up, but showing that an upstream school 

 existed. 



In the eighteenth century Bowlker (1747) 

 says that 'when you see a Fish rise at the 

 natural Fly, the best way is to throw a Yard 

 above him, rather than directly over his Head, 

 and let your Fly move gently towards him, by 

 which means you will show it to him more 

 naturally. ' Wise and admirable man ! It is 

 not clear whether he means you to fish up, or 

 across, or across and up : but the point to bear 

 in mind is that you are to cast above and let the 

 fly float down, and he belongs to the upstream 

 school. Best, in the Art of Angling (1787) is 

 not clear, but he is probably a downstream 

 fisher. Hewlett's Angler's Sure Guide (1706) 

 and Brookes' Art of Angling (1740) both recom- 

 mend downstream. Shirley in the Angler's 

 Museum (1784) copies Bowlker, and is therefore 

 upstream. Scotcher, in his quite excellent 

 manual (I wish it were not so scarce) the Fly- 

 Fisher's Legacy (about 1800), bids you some- 

 times to throw up a stream and sometimes 

 down, as you can best be hidden, treating 

 concealment as the more important factor. 

 Therefore the verdict is three, Best, Howlett 

 and Brookes in favour of downstream; one, 



