

52 THE SCIENCE OF DRY FLY FISHING. 



you at the time he leaves the water, and your line is straight 

 and not too long, continue to keep it fairly taut, as 

 this slight strain will keep the head of the fish toward you 

 and prevent his tail coming forward and striking against 

 your line ; also it will prevent the fly loosening in his mouth. 

 If ever a delicate wrist action be required, it is at this 

 moment. 



In Plate XII. , a taut line will keep his head toward you 

 and the line out of danger. 



In Plate XIII., by slackening the line at once, the fish 

 will get no purchase if his tail does strike the line. 



In both cases, just now, as you could see, the trout 

 was heading away from me and up stream, so I promptly lowered 

 my rod and kept my line clear of his tail. The lowering of 

 the point of the rod when the fish is heading as in Plate 

 XII., is just as dangerous as not lowering the point when 

 the fish is in such a position as Plate XIII. This latter 

 position is the more common one, and always lowering 

 the rod is better than always keeping it up. The best 

 advice I can give is always to lower the point when there 

 is a probability of the fish striking the line with his tail, 

 but it must be evident that if the trout, as in Plate XII., is likely 

 to throw a somersault so as to bring its tail down between 

 its head and the fisherman, this somersault will be all 

 the more easily executed if the line is slackened. 



By this time the fly is dry, and we will just touch it with a 

 little oil. We must go up stream a bit, as our big fight 



