276 Fly-rods and Fly-tackle. 



But the manipulation of the fly after it has touched 

 the water is quite another matter. Without undue vio- 

 lation of the proprieties it may be considered a part of 

 the cast, and it is proposed so to treat it. 



Nothing during the past season has more impressed 

 me than the fact, if fact it be, that in no single point in 

 fly-fishing was error more common than in this. Not so 

 much where a strong current lends instant aid to the 

 angler is this apparent ; as in the fishing of pools and 

 of still-water the very places where the best fish are 

 usually to be found. Nor is it a fault of the beginner, 

 but rather of those whose proficiency is otherwise con- 

 siderable. 



To such, if any, who with limited practical experience 

 may become facile casters by following the precepts of 

 this chapter, a careful consideration of the following 

 problem is recommended, for they stand in a position of 

 special danger. The problem is : 



1st. To place the fly within reach of the trout without 

 alarming it. 



2d. So to handle it as to simulate a living creature, 

 and one tempting to its appetite. 



3d. To do this in such a manner that if the fly is 

 touched, the trout shall infallibly be fastened. 



It is neither to the first nor to the second of these 

 points that I would call attention. But the third is well 

 worthy the study of every angler, old or new. 



Confining our attention to pool and still-water angling, 

 it is rare that a trout, unless gaunt with famine, takes a 

 fly the moment it touches the water, and then only when 

 the stratum which intervenes between it and the fly is 

 shallow. Taking any season through, and I am inclined 

 to think that at least ninety-nine out of every hundred 



