MAY-FLY FISHING. 373 



the natural flies are floating down in droves of some six or 

 seven, with intervals, and especially in the case of the spent 

 gnat, a trout will often take every one passing over him ; in 

 such a case do not select the interval, but rather strive to let 

 your artificial fly come down the first of a drove. With very 

 shy fish on a calm day taking only an occasional fly, it is some- 

 times a good plan to wait patiently, and just as he rises cast 

 into the very ring he has made ; if he misses the natural it is 

 almost certain that he will come at the artificial, and even if 

 not, he will often turn round and seize the imitation as well as 

 the living insect. After such a fish has leisurely taken the fly 

 and gone down into the weeds to ruminate is perhaps the very 

 worst moment to select for throwing to him. 



Above all, remember that the first cast over a rising fish, 

 before his suspicions have been aroused, is the most likely one 

 to kill him. If it were possible to gauge the probability of 

 tempting a trout under any circumstances, and reduce the 

 problem to a question of odds, I should say that if at the first 

 cast the odds are three to one against rising the fish, at the 

 second they are ten to one, and at the third or any subsequent 

 cast fifty to one. If you wish to kill shy fish, take as your 

 guiding principle that delicacy and accuracy combined in the 

 first cast, before the trout has caught a glimpse of either the 

 fisher or his rod, is the great desideratum. 



Do not cast except to fish feeding or poised near the surface 

 on the look-out for food. Mark accurately the precise spot of 

 the rise, and when doing so do not forget that the ring made 

 by the trout is carried down at the pace of the stream ; thus, 

 though you cannot place the rise too high, you may easily place 

 it a yard too low down ; and this is a fortunate circumstance, 

 as it is a fatal error to make your first throw too high up and 

 bring too much of the gut, and possibly part of the reel line, 

 over your fish's nose. Crouch down and keep well out of 

 sight ; crawl up to the place from which you can most con- 

 veniently reach him. On a puffy day move during a catspaw, 

 wait during the calm interval, and cast during the next catspaw, 



