DRY-FLY FISHING 59 



trout landed himself high and dry on the shingle 

 where he broke the hold, and, continuing his antics, 

 regained the water. Long ere this he must have made 

 room for his descendants, as agile, let it be hoped, as 

 himself. 



How inordinately fond trout must be of the 

 " fisherman's curse " — a term which covers, no 

 doubt, several varieties of fly — for it will be found 

 to have occurred in the trout's menu with unfailing 

 regularity throughout the summer and autumn. It 

 almost always is the fly which the trout pick off the 

 surface of the water when they rise in the quiet flats 

 the livelong day, days which, most anglers will agree, 

 are usually the most difficult. Sometimes something 

 may be done with Ginger or Red Spinners, wet or dry, 

 under such conditions, when imitations of the " curses,'* 

 probably on account of their size, fail to attract. 



The Ginger and Red Spinners described have only 

 by degrees worked their way into the inner circle of 

 the writers' flies. Experience has proved their useful- 

 ness, for they will often be taken when aU else fails. 

 These dry patterns have killed fish under particularly 

 difficult and hopeless conditions ; and their use is 

 recommended with the greatest confidence. 



Such then is a brief outline of the occasions on which 

 the dry fly has been found to be of most use to the 

 North Countryman ; but no hard and fast rules can 

 be made, for the angler's discernment must play the 



