94 Wet- Fly Fishing 



with, the surface of the water, as thus held, 

 the wind has little or no opportunity of 

 tearing the line violently out of the water. 



At first I do not give any motion, how- 

 ever small, to my flies. Presently, how- 

 ever, I impart a little life to them, still 

 holding the rod low and the point down 

 stream. To hold the rod, at present, up 

 stream, would be folly. The line being cast 

 in a slanting direction above the angler, and 

 then allowed to sink three to five inches, 

 the only hope of keeping in constant touch 

 with one's flies is to hold one's rod well 

 down stream. I now give, as it were, a 

 pull, and then allow the line to become 

 perfectly slack. If I did not pull upon it 

 occasionally, it would sink too much. 



The while I am pulling I generally do 

 nothing. I will be understood when I add 

 that, as I slack off and allow the flies to 

 follow the current, then indeed am I all 

 alive. My eye is on the line as well as on 

 the flies. When I see my line suddenly get 

 tauty my hand responds simultaneously. 

 The main object, of course, is to get on 

 terms with the trout as quickly as possible, 

 so as to avoid any direct pull of the fish 

 upon the butt of the rod. This is very apt 

 to occur in this style of fishing, because, of 



