FLY FISHING FOR TROUT 25 



ing for trout, even though the state of the water and 

 light might seem to render it unnecessary our 

 angler begins to fish carefully, with a longish line, the 

 stream on his own side of the river. Gradually, little 

 by little, he works across the water till he is fishing 

 close to the farther bank, when a faintly perceptible 

 break in the wind-touched river and a slight tug pro- 

 claim that a trout has * come at ' his fly just under 

 water and has missed hooking itself. And why was 

 this? The strike was made quickly and fairly, but 

 the fish was only just pricked. The reason is a 

 simple one. When fishing down-stream many more 

 fish are touched and not hooked than when fishing 

 up-stream ; for, in striking, the hook is obviously 

 pulled away from the fish's mouth, as all fish lie with 

 their heads up stream instead of down. That is one 

 difference in the two methods. Another is, that 

 whereas in up-stream fishing with a dry fly the great 

 object is to let the fly float on the water as quietly 

 and naturally as possible, in down-stream fishing a 

 slight movement should be imparted to it, presum- 

 ably, as the fly is either partially or altogether under 

 water, in order to imitate the struggles of a drowning 

 insect. When fishing up-stream, one can generally 

 manage, unless the fish is a very large and obstinate 

 one, to prevent it from going far above where it was 



