72 



The Gentle Art of Angling. 



river. For kneeling they come in 

 handy and take the place of pads. 

 So much for the outfit. 



In practice, dry-flyfishing lends 

 itself to the contemplative mood 

 more than any other method of 

 angling. By the riverside there 

 are the ephemeridse to study ; 

 trout in awkward places to circum- 

 vent ; the time the rise comes on 

 and goes off; the condition of the 

 water, &c. On the Test, Itchen, 

 and Avon, one or more species 

 of the dun family are generally 

 found afloat, and the first thing 

 will be to ascertain the pattern, 

 and mount a facsimile. The 

 flies vary from month to month, 

 and one must be supplied with 

 alders, sedges and moths for 

 evening use. The time of the 

 rise varies on different rivers. In 

 the early part of the season it 

 comes on in the morning ; later 

 on, morning and evening. On 

 portions of the Test there is a 

 rise the greater part of the day 

 during June. It is prudent to 

 spend a day by the river before- 

 hand and notice what is going 

 on ; for example, the species of 

 fly afloat, and mentally marking 

 the spot where good fish are feed- 

 ing. Where one has only a day 

 or two on a choice piece of water, 

 the time will not be wasted by a 

 little scouting. 



When fishing a river, one 

 chooses the side of the stream 

 which the breeze favours. The 

 place to look for fish is close to 

 the bank on the windward side ; 

 the flies drift in that direction, 

 and the trout follow them. If 

 the breeze raises a ripple, the 

 break made by a rising fish is so 

 slight as to be almost imper- 

 ceptible. Sometimes the suck of 

 the fish can be heard where the 

 break is not seen. A feeding 

 trout lies close to the surface of 

 the water, and takes down the 

 flies with the least possible 



movement : a falling seed would 

 scarcely make a slighter im- 

 pression. 



When a fish is on the rise, a 

 dry fly must be offered to him in 

 the most delicate fashion. Any 

 splashing of the line or gut would 

 be fatal. The kind of fly on 

 which he is feeding should be 

 mounted, and a size smaller 

 rather than larger. A few pre- 

 liminary casts should be made 

 below him to obtain the right 

 length of line, and the lure 

 dropped a few inches above his 

 nose. The closer it is placed to 

 the fish, the less gut is in 

 evidence, and it is the gut that 

 scares, not the fly. If the fly 

 floats by unheeded, let it get well 

 clear of the fish before re-casting. 

 Two or three throws should be 

 made over him, and if he persists 

 in refusing it, rest him a few 

 minutes until he begins to feed 

 on the natural insect again, then 

 follow up a drifting fly with the 

 artificial, and await develop- 

 ments ; a change must be made 

 if the fish is obdurate. Here, 

 again, close observation is neces- 

 sary. It is frequently discovered 

 that a feeding fish lets two or 

 three flies go by him, then rises 

 and sucks one down. This 

 generally means that there are 

 different kinds on the water, for 

 one of which the trout shows a 

 preference, probably an iron blue ; 

 to this kind trout are particularly 

 partial. One may not be near 

 enough to tell what the favourite 

 is, but when trout pick and 

 choose, it is safe to mount an 

 iron blue. A hare's ear is another 

 fly which makes an excellent 

 change. Trout feeding on olive 

 duns will rarely let one pass them. 



The moment the fly goes under 

 and its disappearance corresponds 

 with an unmistakable break in 

 the water, the fish must be struck. 

 This is a critical moment for the 



