WET-FLY FISHING 41 



him vibrate the point of his rod shghtly by an up and 

 down motion in order to make his flies appear as though 

 they were struggHng to reach the surface of the water. 

 Ten to one before the stream is fished out a sharp pluck 

 will be felt, but the beginner, unprepared, will in many 

 cases leave his fly in the fish or miss him altogether. 

 The hooking of trout under such conditions is difficult 

 in the extreme, as frequently no rise is seen ; and it is 

 only by perseverance, leading to appreciation of the 

 moment to strike, that he can hope to succeed. 



To teach in theory the correct method and timing 

 of the strike under such conditions, is beyond the 

 writers. The knowledge seems to come to the per- 

 severing almost as a sixth sense. At times it is 

 positively uncanny to watch an " artist," in his 

 instinctive response to the rises of fish under the 

 conditions described, for they are totally invisible to 

 the average man. 



Practice, coupled with intelligent reasoning out of 

 the whys and wherefores of success and failure, will 

 do more to help the novice than anything else. But, 

 even with the rod in the hands of a past-master, this 

 method of downstream fishing will not always succeed, 

 though the waiting hour before the rise may often be 

 well spent in giving these tactics a trial. 



As soon, however, as the first insects floating on the 

 surface have been noticed by the fish, the time has 

 come to change methods and to fish upstream. 



