EFFECTS OF WORKING FLIES UP AND DOWN. 41 



water — will feel the action less than the rod, but 

 somewhat more than the casting-line and fly. In 

 performing this up-and-down action, the line must 

 be drawn in a little by directing the upward 

 motion of the rod a little towards yourself. 



I will explain the effect of this action, when 

 properly performed. It is an upright zig-zag 

 one, with oblique tendency towards the angler. 

 The rod and line, when lifted up and down, will 

 cut out empty spaces not unlike those between the 

 teeth of a saw. ^Yhen the rod and line are lifted 

 up, so will be the fly, and the resistance it meets 

 from the superincumbent water against which, in 

 an upward direction, it is forced, will press down 

 its wings on the body, compressing, of course, 

 the fibres of the feathery or fur material of which 

 wings, body, and legs, are made. When by the 

 next motion, a sinking one, of the rod and line, 

 the fly goes downwards against the water, the 

 resistance it meets with from beneath opens all 

 the fibres of the wing-feathers and of the hackles, 

 displays the colours of each, discloses the body 

 and the tinsel with which it is ribbed. When by 

 the motion that occurs between the two others, 

 the fly is drawn towards the angler, the w^ater 

 presses it from above and below — indeed on all 

 sides — and all the materials of which it is made 



