WET-FLY FISHING 



important for several reasons. If the fly strikes 

 too close to the fish it may alarm him by the 

 splash, while if it strikes the proper distance away 

 the splash may serve only to attract his attention, 

 and the light flash caused by the breaking of the 

 surface may make him come. It is always well to 

 begin putting the fly some distance from the place 

 you know the fish to be, and if he shows no sign of 

 interest, cast the fly so that it falls gradually nearer 

 and nearer to the fish. How often have I watched 

 fishermen beginning in a pool place their fly in 

 the best place for the fish on the first cast, thereby 

 scaring the fish so that they have no further chance 

 of raising them. If they had only begun with the 

 fly farther away and let it swing in, they would 

 almost certainly have hooked the fish. 



Quite often salmon are very slow and want to 

 see the fly an appreciable time before deciding to 

 take it. You will raise such a fish when the fly 

 goes by him slowly or works up and down in his 

 sight when there is no chance of attracting his 

 attention if the fly swings past him fast. I have 

 over and over again fished a pool and taken a fish 

 after my friends had just thrashed the water for 

 a long time, simply because I knew the proper 

 rate to have the fly travel for these particular 



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