The Fishing of Rivers with the Wet Fly 93 



if the trout had not been rising, I still 

 meant to kill a good creelful here with such 

 a suitable wind for the sunk fly. The 

 evidence that some trout are really looking 

 out, naturally adds to my expectations very 

 considerably. I do not cast in the ordinary 

 manner. With a rapid switch, my line flies 

 upwards and across. Why? Should the 

 fisherman raise his rod vertically, the wind 

 will only belly out his line, and thus drag 

 it out of the water in no time. 



A fly drawn across a river in the opposite 

 direction to the then prevailing wind, is 

 being very badly fished. 



As a rule, a wet fly kills best when it 

 is allowed to float down stream, just as a 

 natural fly does. 



Now, a " drowned " fly must necessarily 

 follow the current, and therefore the thing 

 to aim at is to allow the artificial fly, when 

 sunk, to take a similar course i.e. the 

 course of the stream. At first blush, the 

 method which I employ at such a time, 

 seems to be unscientific, and a direct con- 

 tradiction to my own precepts. In reality 

 it is nothing of the kind. 



When I have thrown my fly across and 

 up, I then turn the point of the rod down 

 stream, holding it quite near to, and parallel 



