70 MODERN PRACTICAL ANGLER. 



*ind {b), that from the way in which the fly must be pre- 

 •sented to them it is difficult to be recognised ; the 

 logical deduction is, not that form is of no consequence, 

 but on the contrary that it is of the utmost consequence, 

 and that the fly should be as " fly-like" and characteristic 

 .as possible, so that, notwithstanding its rapid and un- 

 natural movements, it may be at once and immistakably 

 ddentijied as a fly. 



I do not see any escape from this position, which if 

 :accepted puts the colourists as entirely *^ out of court" 

 as by the previous argument are the formalists. 



The superadded theory of the latter, that the imitation 

 of the natural fly on the water at any given time is that 

 which the fish will take best, falls as a logical sequence 

 with the proposition on which it was based. As might 

 be expected, this theory was never found to stand the 

 test of practice, the experience of every fly-fisher teach- 

 ing him that when a particular natural fly is on the 

 water in abundance. Trout will commonly take better an 

 artificial fly imitative of any other species. To this 

 principle there is only one exception — namely, the case 

 of *' May-fly fishing with the dry fly." In this case, owing 

 to the large size of the fly, it is possible to really simulate 

 nature by presenting the artificial insect literally dryy and 

 Jloating passively. Thus the exception proves the rule. 



Mr. Stewart, who has written one of the most able 

 books of modern times on Trout fishing in clear water, 

 founding on the same sound proposition as Mr. Ronalds 



