WET-FLY FISHING 



lights and attracts the attention of other fish. 

 The fly also catches the light, particularly if it 

 carries air-bubbles along its feathers. I have fre- 

 quently found that I caught more fish if I oiled 

 my wet flies. They reflect the light better under 

 water and carry down more air. You will often 

 notice a fish come short to the fly, often several 

 times. I find this may be due to the fact that 

 from where the fish is laying the fly shows up with 

 a flash as it passes him, but when he starts toward 

 it, the light is such that the flash has disappeared 

 and he is no longer attracted to the fly. Often 

 in this case if the fly is cast from a different posi- 

 tion, and led past the fish at another angle to the 

 light, he will take it readily. In the chapter on 

 the fly from the point of view of the fish, I have 

 endeavored to make clear the part played by the 

 reflection of the fly against the upper surface of 

 the water when the fly is beyond the window of 

 the fish and the water surface is still. If the fish 

 is lying well below the fly, from where he sees it, 

 the fly itself is in shadow, while the upper surface 

 of the fly is brilliantly illuminated from above. 

 The reflection is, therefore, from this well-lighted 

 surface, and so is brighter than the real fly to the 

 eye of the fish. He naturally starts for the most 



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