158 A QUOTATION FROM " EPHEMERA'S " 



short line at first, may attempt to cast within an 

 inch or two of the paper, and afterwards, by 

 degrees, lengthen his line as his improvement 

 proceeds: he may then try to throw in such a 

 direction that the wind may, in some measure, 

 oppose the line and rod ; and, lastly, he may 

 practise throwing against the wind. In this way 

 any person may become an adept in throwing a 

 fly much sooner than by trusting solely to the 

 experience which he may get when on the water- 

 side, for his attention being then wholly engrossed 

 by the hopes of a rise, &c., a bad habit may be 

 very easily engendered, which will not be as 

 easily got rid of." 



" Ephemera," in his admirable " Hand Book 

 of Angling," gives the following useful hints : 

 " In what precise shape artificial flies, floating on 

 the water or just beneath it, present themselves 

 to the fish, I cannot truly tell. They certainly 

 cannot present themselves in the exact living 

 forms of natural insects, but their appearance 

 must be something like them. If I were to 

 guess, I should say that the artificial flies for the 

 common trout and grayling present the appear- 

 ance of drowning or drowned natural flies ; or of 

 living insects struggling on or underneath the 

 water. I do not think this surmise fanciful. At 



