WET-FLY AND DRY-FLY 219 



and sport of the two systems are concerned, there 

 is no comparison, the dry-fly having it all its own 

 way ; but let not the man who is wedded to this 

 style think that, because it is more difficult, and 

 he perhaps excels on a Southern chalk-stream, 

 he is therefore going to give the fish in a 

 Northern or Welsh stream a lesson hitherto un- 

 known to them, and the go-by to all the local 

 fishermen ; because, if he holds such opinions, 

 he will have to confess that he has altogether 

 overrated his own powers, and he will have to 

 learn a lesson, which for its A B C will neces- 

 sitate a large consumption of what is commonly 

 known as humble-pie. 



Strange to say, there are numberless stretches 

 of water in the streams of the North and North 

 Wales, etc., which appear most suitable for work- 

 ing with a dry-fly. The fish in these rivers do 

 not run large ; indeed, they appear to anyone 

 who is used to the large trout of the Southern 

 rivers contemptible fry. Yet these despised fish, 

 of five or six to the pound, positively refuse to be 

 cajoled into taking a dry-fly, no matter how skil- 

 fully offered them. I do not know why this is 

 the case, but it may be that they do not like to 

 see too much of the gut casting-line. I can 

 account for it in no other way. For wet-fly 

 fishing, the use of softer feathers for the wings of 

 the artificial imitation is advisable ; indeed, most 



