88 FLY FISHING. 



stray line would be carried straight onward by tbe stream, I 

 cut a nice ragged piece of white thorn, and stripping off the leaves 

 I fitted it exactly in the ferrule of the joint next the top, which 

 diving close down by the bank till I reached the bottom, and then 

 raising gently up, the very first dip I made I crossed the lost foot 

 line, and as it is a very easy matter to entangle a line securely in 

 a thorn twig, I found no difficulty in accomplishing it here, and 

 then by a steady determined pull compelled the trout to abandon 

 his hover, and eventually made him my own, in addition to the 

 regaining of my lost tackle, which really gave me more satisfac- 

 tion than catching half a score of such fish would have done, 

 though, unless my memory deceives me, it was the means of 

 my catching more thai) twice that number before the day was 

 over. Since that time I have more than once had occasion to call 

 in the ragged stick to my assistance, and in almost every 

 instance have I either regained the whole or the greater portion 

 of my lost tackle. 



A dapping rod should also be very thickly ringed, containing at 

 least twice as many as we commonly see on angling rods ; other- 

 wise the bagging of the line in the spaces between the rings 

 is perpetually causing it to get foul of some twig or branch, which 

 indeed ring a rod as closely as you may you cannot wholly prevent; 

 on which account a great many experienced anglers only make use 

 of a line tied on to the top of the rod. Another thing to be at- 

 tended to is always to have the ends of the knots or joins in the 

 footline whipped with fine silk, for unless this be done, however 

 neatly the ends may be cut off they will still receive a check from 

 every slight obstacle they come in contact with, which occasioning 

 a sudden jerk, often causes the hook to get foul of something or 

 other, which you must then clear again the best way you can ; 

 an evil that in some degree may be prevented by having the ends 

 well whipped. It is also a good plan to rub on a little copal var- 

 nish with a camel hair pencil over these whippings, which will 

 prevent their loosening or becoming unravelled; as it also is for the 

 same reason to apply it to the finishings and fastenings of an arti- 

 ficial fly, as we may perceive is usually done in those purchased at 

 the crack fishing tackle shops. 



Besides the green drake there is the stone fly I have already al- 

 luded to, and many other flies that roay be fished with in the same 

 manner, and with nearly equal success, particularly in those rivers 



