35 



are some men who manage to get their share of trout with- 

 out troubling- themselves about the study of minute insect 

 life. For myself, this study constitutes the chief charm of 

 angling, and to master the life's history of all the teeming- 

 insects with which a trout stream abounds, is one of the 

 most delightful studies that an angler can devote himself 

 to. Sometimes I am disposed to think that we fishers of 

 the floating fly are getting far too scientific and far too 

 fastidious about fishing only with flies that are absolutely 

 true to nature and the exact counterpart of the fly that 

 happens to be upon the water. Of course, there are times 

 when the fish are feeding upon some particular member of 

 the ephemera family that they will not look at anytliing 

 «lse, but it IS doubtful whether the man who disregards 

 nature and uses only fancy patterns would not in the long 

 run kill as many fish as the scientific angler. This is little 

 short of rank heresy, I know, but it is the result of my 

 own experience, especially upon water that is very much 

 fished. 



As to the advantages of eyed hooks for floating flies, 

 there is no room for discussion ; and although it took 

 some time to convert me to their use, I would not use 

 snooded hooks again if anyone would supply them free of 

 cost. Upon the relative merits of turned up and turned 

 •down eyes for floaters there is much difference of opinion, 

 but I am inclined to give the down turned eyes the pre- 

 ference, both for a straight pull and a cocked fly. In this 

 liook you get all the weight of metal in head and barb below 

 the water, and it acts as ballast to keep the fly upright on 

 the surface. 



Considerable importance is attached to the cocking of the 

 fly when it alights on the water, and those who find them- 

 selves unable to acquire this knack should give up the use 

 of winged flies and adopt hackled quills. I used them very 

 successfully for several seasons, and found them kill even 

 Letter without wings than with them. But the diflScultv 

 of getting natural hackles of the correct shades, to match 

 the various duns, drove me back at last to the orthodox 

 split- winged flies, except for midges. 



