6 Wet-Fly Fishing 



then only, do I seem to see " the disciple 

 of the dry fly" " wiping the eye" of his 

 wet-fly brother throughout Scotland. It 

 is certainly most desirable that our rivers 

 should run pure, and that trout fishing 

 should be as carefully guarded in Scotland, 

 as it is in England, on private and club 

 waters. 



I have dear friends belonging to both 

 " schools," and I am, I trust, wholly with- 

 out controversial bitterness. All the same, 

 I hold that the time is far distant when the 

 dry-fly invader from the south will be able 

 to wrest from the expert north country fly 

 fisherman, the premier position on, the 

 streams and rivers of his " ain Countree." 

 In other words I hold that if the men of 

 the dry fly go to Scotland, they must do 

 as Scotland does (in the main) at the present 

 day. 



Before I close this introductory chapter, 

 I desire to say a few words on a subject 

 which I rather shrink from handling ; I 

 mean the well-known and, to my own think- 

 ing, very tiresome jokes about fishermen's 

 " tales " concerning fish and fishing. 



Nothing can be more contemptible than 

 the publication of false reports, and the 

 man who needs to adopt such tactics is 



