3G 



It is much more difficult to cock u fly on the water by 

 overhand casting than it is by the underhand process, for 

 the reason that you tlirow the fly slig^htly u})wards from the 

 water b}^ the latter method, and in falling it comes down by 

 natural gravitation, wings uppermost, like a shuttlecock. 



Some men adopt the rule of never casting until they find 

 {• feeding fish, but this is a great mistake, because you can 

 often rise a trout by casting in likely places, and I never 

 pass them over. Keep out of sight is one of the golden 

 maxims to be observed ; and never cast your fly across 

 the river if you can get it up stream, is another golden rul« 

 which no one can disregard and become a successful fisht^r- 

 maii. Some exponents of the dry fly art carry this self- 

 effacement to th extent of crawling about on their stomachs 

 with kneecaps on, but these gymnastic performances are 

 not. in ni}' experience, necessary to the catching of tnmt, 

 although they may be very interesting to the spectators. 



Dry fly-fishing seldom kills well in the early part of the 

 season, except upon those streams which produce a con- 

 siderable amount of surface food in the months of March 

 and April. On the chalk stream where most of my dry fly 

 work is done, I seldom succeed in catching a basket of 

 irout before the month of May — but there have been excep- 

 tions to this rule. Curiously enough, these exceptions 

 have usually resulted from the use of a floating March 

 Brown, although the river in question does not produce this 

 fly, and the fish have not even seen the natural insect. 



Upon the question of flies, I would strongly urge the 

 beginner not to start with too many varieties. With some 

 trepidation I recommend the following short selection : 

 Olive Duns, dark, medium, and pale ; Ginger and Red 

 Quill Gnats Alders, Governors, Sedges, March Browns, 

 and Badger Hackle Midges. Every dry fly-man would be 

 sure to declare that the list was not sufficient — that some 

 of the best flies were omitted — but the beginner need not 

 be afraid to meet his enemy at the river side with the above 

 stock in his fly-box. He will be able to add to them as he 

 gains experience, but the foregoing flies will kill trout 

 wherever thev are to be found. 



