WET-FLY FISHING 39 



fore so long as those streams remain as heretofore, the 

 wet fly is likely to continue to hold the premier position 

 in the filling of a North Countryman's creel. 



There are two methods of fishing the wet fly, up- 

 stream and downstream. Follows an attempt to give 

 a brief outline of how and when each method may be 

 used to the best advantage. 



The use of the word " downstream " in this con- 

 nection is, perhaps, somewhat misleading, for it is not 

 intended to refer to that method of fishing in which the 

 angler casts his flies across and downstream, allowing 

 the current to sweep them round to a point below 

 him, in the same manner as when fishing the salmon 

 fly. To fish an imitation of a natural insect in such 

 a way as to make it resist the onward flow of the 

 water in a most unnatural manner, is, in the 

 writers' judgment, unsound, and they wish it to be 

 understood that, by "downstream," they do not allude 

 to this manner of fishing. 



The downstream method advocated might quite 

 appropriately be termed across-stream fishing, as the 

 angler faces the bank towards which he purposes 

 fishing, casts across and slightly upstream, then 

 allows the flies to be carried without drag till they 

 reach a point a few yards below where they aHghted 

 upon the water. Wading downstream a yard or more, 

 he repeats the cast, until the whole stream has been 

 worked in this manner. The only reason for the term 



