AMERICAN TROUT-STREAM INSECTS 



This selected list is intended for those who 

 fish with a single fly — dry or wet. I used to fish 

 with two, sometimes three, on a cast. After try- 

 ing all kinds of dodges to deceive trout, I go back 

 to the single fly, casting carefully at the right time 

 in the right place, with frequent changes, if re- 

 quired. When trout are repeatedly rising to a 

 heavy flight of a certain insect upon the surface, one 

 would imagine that three imitations, exactly alike, 

 would be most likely to capture a double, or at least 

 be more effective than a single imitation. But the 

 latter invariably proves the best rule. If three 

 small wet flies attached to a long leader be allowed 

 to dash sunk along a swift runway, one of them will 

 often be taken, usually the tail or end fly ; the other 

 two act as teasers. For really fine fishing, looped 

 snell flies — however far apart they may be attached 

 to the leader — destroy a good accurate cast, in- 

 stead of assisting, as one fly does. If trout are 

 feeding, a single fly, well cast, within the vision of 

 the trout, will be more likely to entice it to rise than 

 any number of flies on a single cast. 



APRIL 



The flies I recommend for this month's selected 

 list are Nos. 1, 4, 8, 9, 10, and 17. 



No. 1 is a little black fly, most useful at all times, 

 wet or dry, mornings or evenings. If the water is 



