296 Fly-rods and Fly-tackle. 



consider him, entitled to speak with authority on what- 

 ever pertained to the sport there ; yet his range of ob- 

 servation would be much narrower than that of these 

 guides. 



I have not jumped to the conclusions stated below. 

 Though my personal experience amply confirms them, it 

 is not so much my own views that I am about to express 

 as those of the guides, in which, I believe, they are quite 

 unanimous. 



The matter first came to my attention in the following 

 manner : During the first of a companionship in which 

 some of the happiest moments of my life have since been 

 passed, I was fishing under the tutelage of that well- 

 known guide, John S. Danforth. I asked him, "John, 

 who catches the most big fish of any sportsmen who 



come here ?" He replied that a Mr. S , of Boston, 



was the most successful in that respect. I asked him 

 how he handled his flies, and made him show me, rod in 

 hand. But a single fly was used, and that large one 

 tied on a No. 2 Harrison Sproat hook is none too. big. 

 The fly was cast fair and straight, allowed to sink six 

 inches or even a foot where it fell, then it was moved 

 very slowly three or four feet, then followed quite a 

 pause, when it was again put in motion, drawn slowly to 

 within convenient distance for the back cast, and taken 

 quietly and smoothly from the water. The main points 

 were to keep the fly below rather than on the surface, 

 and to move it slowly. Better fortune at once attended 

 the adoption of this system, especially in the size of the 

 fish taken. 



Those having the best opportunities of observation 

 think that in that region the large fish are not surface- 

 feeders, at least on insects. Of course every one has seen 



