The Fishing of Rivers with the Wet Fly 89 



during the time of the take. Can anything 

 be more absurd ? 



This brings me to a subject of very 

 great interest indeed : a subject, all the 

 same, which I approach with considerable 

 misgiving. I mean fishing, not only with 

 a wet fly, but with a fly that is purposely 

 allowed to sink, the " drowned " or " sunk " 



fly. 



The beginner yea, even he who is 

 more than a beginner may naturally ask 

 such questions as these. 



Under what circumstances is it wise to 

 sink the fly ? What seasons, conditions of 

 wind, water, and so forth ? To which 

 questions I can only say that when I my- 

 self go forth of a morning, I cannot tell 

 how I shall fish on that particular day. 

 Nature is largely my guide, and the trout 

 my best teachers. 



Much depends upon how the day turns 

 out if it be windy or calm, sunny or dull, 

 warm or cold ; whether the trout rise freely 

 at the natural insect, or hardly rise at all. 

 And last, whether the wind strikes the 

 water from below upwards, or from above 

 downwards : a circumstance which affects 

 the manner of my own fly-fishing materi- 

 ally. Of course, though I cannot lay down 



