224 ROD AND RIVER 



' putting the fish down,' as it is termed. It is 

 therefore well to endeavour to guard against all 

 risks of failure by thus taking stock of the posi- 

 tion. Such caution takes but a very little time, 

 and tends to ensure success. A fly should never 

 be cast at the actual spot where the rise is seen, 

 nor, if visible to the angler, where the fish is 

 lying. It should be planted well above the latter, 

 say a foot or two, and allowed to sail gently down 

 towards it. Neither should it be cast so that 

 more of the gut than can possibly be helped 

 passes over the fish. It should rather be en- 

 deavoured to place it in such a position that, 

 while it floats head foremost, and with its 

 wings well cocked, down truly over the fish, 

 the main portion of the gut passes away to the 

 side of it. If it is not taken at the first 

 attempt, the angler should not repeat the cast 

 until he has seen the fish rise once or twice again, 

 thereby affording proof that it has not been in 

 any way scared. 



Some fish, when they first come out to feed, 

 have a habit of wandering about before they 

 finally settle down ; they take a fly here, another 

 there, and it seems impossible to hit off their 

 whereabouts. At one time they move up-stream, 

 and just as the angler is making ready to follow 

 them up and put in a cast, lo and behold ! they 

 will turn back and rise again close to him. When 



