20 TROUT-FISHING FOR THE BEGINNER 



One of the great advantages of fly-fishing 

 lies in the fact that it is applicable to every 

 variety of water, from the placid lake to the 

 roaring stream. It is also the most difficult 

 phase of the angler's art. Clear-water worm 

 fishing runs it close, but in the one case you 

 are angling with an artificial insect, and in 

 the other with the genuine article in the 

 shape of a worm. It is easier to deceive with 

 the natural than the artificial, and for this 

 reason fly-fishing must certainly take the 

 palm as being the more difficult of the two. 



2. Upstream fishing. 

 In low, clear water, the man who can kill 

 a basket of trout by fishing the fly upstream 

 is a master of his art. Until comparatively 

 recent times, it was the custom to fly-fish 

 downstream. Fish can certainly be killed 

 in that way, especially when there is a good 

 volume of water, but it is working on a 

 wrong principle, i.e. advancing in front of 

 the fish instead of keeping behind them. 

 Again, when a trout seizes the fly, the least 

 jerk or movement of the angler's wrist pulls 

 the line away, whereas in fishing up, a quick 

 strike sends the hook home, into the trout's 

 mouth. Then, during the ensuing battle, 

 the captive can be rushed downstream at 



