DRY-FLY FISHING 



the strain of the line and fighting the current 

 gradually tire him out. With the light rod it 

 often takes quite a time to get a fish close enough 

 to gaff; he makes many short runs as he sees the 

 guide, but the pull of the line gradually brings 

 him in and at last he is landed on the beach, a 

 fine fifteen-pound fish. This is all right for a 

 starter but there are five more fish there. We 

 look and see that the disturbance of the pool has 

 not caused them to move. Again I get into posi- 

 tion for another cast and put the fly over the next 

 nearest fish. Twenty casts or so fail to make him 

 move in the least, so I cast a little farther over to 

 the next two fish which are almost in line with 

 each other; the second one moves upward, here is 

 another chance for a rise. The fly lights only a 

 few inches in front of his nose. He turns his head 

 upward and instead of making a turn to take the 

 fly he raises his head vertically upward and pushes 

 his whole body out of water as far as the back fin 

 with the fly in his mouth. The strike pulls him 

 over and he seems astonished as he jumps at once 

 four or five feet clear of the water, a fine fourteen- 

 pound fish, and off he goes again across the pool 

 directly over the bunch of fish I had been fishing 

 for. This makes them restless and they take up 



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