io6 Wei- Fly Fishing 



when the wet fly should be distinctly sunk, 

 say that " they " would never sink it. The 

 whole position is illogical and absurd. I 

 honour the dry-fly purist, who never sinks 

 a fly on principle ; but once a man admits 

 the principle of fishing in our Northern 

 rivers with the wet fly, to refuse to sink it, 

 at times, rather more than is usual seems 

 ridiculous. 



A wet fly can be, and generally is, fished 

 quite near to the surface, but it is still 

 submerged. 



A "sunk fly" is often two, three, or 

 four inches under the surface (even more 

 at times). Here may I give an emphatic 

 word of warning to the beginner ? viz. let the 

 " sunk fly " "be your crutch, not your staff " 

 in Sir Walter Scott's strong words : let it, 

 in fact, be kept back ; nay, more, let it 

 be withheld, till you realize that all other 

 methods have failed on that day, and that 

 you are badly beaten. And (unless some 

 flies begin to hatch out and change the 

 aspect of things materially) then I say 

 boldly, try your luck with the sunk fly; 

 and remember 



For one man who understands how to 

 do this, to advantage, there are twenty at 

 least who do not, and whose sunk flies would 



