38 ANGLING FOB GAME FISH. 



withdrawing it for a fresh cast, the fly will be drawn through 

 the water, and be thoroughly soaked. Hence, greasing the line 

 (take care no grease gets on the gut) saves a very great deal 

 of labour in drying the fly. "When the fly is once wet, it 

 must be waved backwards and forwards in the air until 

 sufliciently dry to float. When it is thoroughly soaked, let it 

 dry in or on your cap, and put up a fresh fly. 



This method of fishing is usually practised up or across the 

 stream, but it sometimes happens that the angler is absolutely 

 obliged to let his fly drift down stream over a feeding fish — this 

 is termed drifting. 



If the fish refuses the fly, try him again, unless you have put 

 him down — i.e., have caused him to cease feeding. If after 

 four trials, in each of which your fly has passed over him, he 

 still feeds and still refuses, stop fishing for four or five minutes, 

 and in the meantime put up another fly; and my advice is, so 

 long as that fish feeds (provided you are certain he is feeding 

 on flies) continue to fish for him, and in the long run you will 

 have him. Some fly-fishermen would say, " Give the fish a 

 rest"; but I have always noticed that it is the men who per- 

 sistently stick at rising fish who catch the most trout. 



When the fish takes the fly, strike, but not too hard, and play 

 him in the manner already described. It is, perhaps, as well, 

 especially for a beginner, not to touch the line when striking, 

 but to strike, as it is termed, from the reel. 



The dry-fly fisherman is, nautically speaking, on his beam 

 ends when the fish are bulging, i.e., swimming about after the 

 larvae of flies ; or smutting, i.e., feeding on very small black 

 smutty- looking flies, when they usually refuse the artificial fly 

 altogether; or tailing, i.e., rising with their tails only, their 

 heads being either buried in the weeds in search of larvae, water 

 shrimps, &c., or at work on the bottom ; and generally when the 

 trout are not taking the natural fly from the surface of the water. 



The points to which the beginner in dry-fly fishing should 

 give particular attention are : Not allowing the trout to have the 

 least inkling of his presence ; keeping well below the fish ; greasing 

 the line ; accurate casting ; using as good an imitation as possible 

 of the fly on the water ; the use of the horizontal or underhand 



